Human activities are contributing to climate catastrophe

We are causing changes in Earth’s atmosphere with the amounts of greenhouse gases emitted, due to our activities. The largest known contribution comes from the burning of fossil fuels, which releases carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere. On February 16, 1938 engineer Guy S. Callendar published an influential study suggesting increased atmospheric carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion was causing global warming. Many scientists and scientific thinkers at that time were sceptical of Callendar’s conclusion.

They argued that natural fluctuations and atmospheric circulation changes determined the climate, not carbon dioxide emissions. According to climatechange.procon.org, in March 1958, US climate scientist Charles Keeling began measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii for use in climate modelling. Using these measurements, Keeling became the first scientist to confirm that atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were in fact rising rather than being fully absorbed by forests and oceans. When Keeling began his measurements, the levels stood at 315 parts per million (ppm). This figure has been rising constantly. The current average annual concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere according to the Mauna Loa Observatory is 398.25 parts per million (ppm).

True that many corporate giants that use fossil fuels in production are contributing to a global climate catastrophe, but so is the consumption of these products, at an individual level. Every person needs to make an informed decision to reduce carbon footprint. From Ms Rosemary Peter Research Associate at University of Saskatchewan, Canada