Is the rise in the level of CO2 in the air the only cause of global warming?

Question

Is the rise in the level of CO2 in the air the only cause of global warming?

Answer 1

no the temperature rise has caused C02 to rise

Answer 2

In the past the Earth's climate has changed as a result of natural causes in our atmosphere.

The changes we are witnessing and those that are predicted are largely due to human behaviour: we are burning fossil fuels, and heating up the planet at the same time. We blow exponential amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere every year – 29 billion tonnes of it (2004) and rising – and this warms the globe.

Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been burning fossil fuels on a massive scale. We use this energy, almost without care for the consequences, to run vehicles, heat homes, conduct business, and power factories.

Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide stored millions of years ago as oil, coal or natural gas. In the last 200 years we have burned a large part of these stores, resulting in an increase in CO2 in our atmosphere. Deforestation also releases CO2 stored in trees and in the soil.

The increase of CO2 in the atmosphere thickens the 'greenhouse blanket', with the result that too much heat is trapped into the Earth's atmosphere. This causes global warming: global temperatures rise and cause climate change.

Note: CO2 is the most important gas causing global warming. Others include methane (CH4), nitrous dioxide (NO2), and several artificial gases (Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Perfluorocarbons (PFCs); and Sulphur hexafluoride (SF6). These 6 groups are accounted for under the Kyoto Protocol.

Answer 3

No - The Sun contributes to global warming as well.  

"Global warming results not from the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but from an unusually high level of solar radiation and a lengthy - almost throughout the last century - growth in its intensity," Abdusamatov told RIA Novosti in an interview.

Answer 4

If it weren't for Humans...... the Earth's climate would always stay the same.........cough..cough...cough.

Answer 5

No.

There are various factors warming (e.g. holding onto energy from the sun) and cooling (reflecting back into space energy from the sun) the planet.  When they are all in balance, the global average temperature will remain fairly stable.  When we get too many warming factors or too many cooling factors, changes will occur.

CO2, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and halocarbons are all now larger warming factors than in preindustrial times.

Solar irradiance levels are also currently a little higher than in 1750.

Aerosols are a cooling factor, relative to preindustrial times.

Answer 6

Clearly it is not the sole cause of heating, nor is it the only cause of recent warming.

Water vapor is, remains, our most significant greenhouse gas. as temperatures rise we see an ever increasing contribution to both heating and warming.

CO2 may indeed have contributed very significantly.

That i If we had not had an increasing2 levels of human origin, natural cooling events might by now have left us much cooler. This is a valid argument primarily because the premise is false.

That is to say, we have had that rise in CO2.

We can not say with confidence that we would have had no increase in CO2 had it not been for human activity, We know that in previous periods, without human intervention we have had rises in CO2 that were coincident with global warming periods. What we can say with confidence is that burning of fossil fuels more than accounts for all the rise in atmospheric CO2, this time.

This is unfortunately just a test of dogma. In terms of making good decisions we have to evaluate the consequences of continuing to add the CO2 from fossil fuels to whatever increase may be beyond our control. What is beyond our control we need not be able to alter to take ownership of our own contribution.

Answer 7

I just thought I'd add that, as others said, methane is a major greenhouse gas.

We have way to many cattle in the world.  This isn't a natural condition.

When bison roamed the American plains, they were in a symbiotic relationship with the other plants and animals in the prairie.  The presence of the bison contributed to a healthy prairie

That is not so with cattle.

But we can harness this methane, and put it to work, while removing it from the mix of greenhouse gases.

Here is just one example, on one farm, of what is possible.

Wild Rose Dairy in Webster Township, WI is home to an innovative renewable energy facility powered by cow manure and other organic waste. The farm is home to 900 dairy cows, and an on-site anaerobic digester creates methane-rich biogas from their waste, which is used to generate 750 kilowatts of electricity per hour—enough to power 600 local homes 24/7.

Answer 8

No.

Global warming is caused my many factors as scientists have discovered recently.

There are:

* The rise in greenhouse gasses

* Dramatic fall in woodland environment causing wind sheer and other factors

* Geothermal disruptions

* Changes in oceanic current patterns

Primarily, Yes the rise in greenhouse gasses, mainly CO2 is the biggest factor in global warming.