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The Paradox of Human-made Pollution and Climate Changes

May 8, 2006
by Rodrigue Tremblay

Presently, there is growing and compelling evidence that the Earth's surface is getting warmer. In particular, it is warmer today than it was a century ago. Sea surface temperatures, for example, are running about 1 to 2 degrees Centigrade (approximately 1.8 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above normal. There have been two relatively rapid periods of temperature increases, one between 1910 and 1940, and the other between 1960 and today.

Many scientists believe the current trend of global warming is one of the greatest environmental threats facing humanity, next to a nuclear cataclysm. For instance, climate warming could accelerate the melting of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (anchored in the ocean below sea level) and of the Greenland Ice Cap. The resulting rise in sea level over the next century could threaten major coastal communities. The implications of the current phase of global warming for modern civilization could be very serious, even though all its damaging effects remain to be fully ascertained.

Because so many forces influence the Earth's climate, there is still some uncertainty about the relative importance of each set of causes behind the current observed climate warming. For example, some scientists estimate that part of the trend in Earth's warming could be caused by natural factors acting within a very long cycle, such as a recurring closer proximity of the Earth to the Sun, the star that supplies our planet with heatand energy. The remaining observed warming is attributed to human-made pollution, such as the release of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas into the atmosphere.

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