CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the study.
The
fingerprint of human activity has been detected in the recently observed
warming on global and continental scales (Christidis et al 2011: 1922). This
was also confirmed by Riebeek (2007:1) when he said that scientists have
evidenced that humans are to be blamed for the global warming that is happening
now due to the fact that for decades cars and factories have spewed billions of
tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and these gases tend to make
temperature to rise. Global warming is defined as the increase of the average
temperature on earth. According to Smitha 2011: 1923), the buildup of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere mainly from fossil fuel emissions, is the most
significant human cause of global warming. Carbon dioxide is released everytime
people burn things like car, airplane, or coal plant. This means people should
burn less fossil fuel.
Also,
deforestation increases the severity of global warming. Carbon dioxide is
released from the human conversion of forests and grasslands into farmland and
cities. All living plants store carbon dioxide. When those plants die and
decay, it is released back into the atmosphere. Although global warming is
scientifically accepted, its cause is still disputed. Nordell (2003) suggested
a most natural explanation; that this warming is a result of heat emissions
from the global consumption of non-renewable energy.
Statement
of the problem
Global
warming is putting pressure on ecosystems, the plants and animals that co-exist
in a particular climate. According to Riebeek (2007: 14), global warming will
impact life on earth in many ways, but the extent of the change is up to us.
Scientists have shown that human emissions of greenhouses gases are pushing
global temperatures up, and many aspects of climate are responding to the
warming in the way that scientists predicted they would. Ecosystems across the
globe are already affected and surprising changes have already taken place
since greenhouse gases are long-lived, the planet will continue to warm and
changes will continue to warm and changes will continue to happen, but the
degree to which global warming changes life on earth depends on our decisions.
Also, the IPCC reports that both heat waves and intense rain events have
increased in frequency during the last 50years, and human-induced global
warming more likely than not contributed to the trend.
It
is against this background that this study intends to take an indepth study of
the activities of human on global warming. This study is a great contribution
to the literature as other authors have focused on the causes and effects of
global warming, even though some authors have written on human causes of global
warming, only few have focuses on assessment of human activities on global
warming. This is the gap this study intends to fill in the literature.
Objective
of the study
The
main objective of this study is to assess the impact of human activities on
global warming. In order to achieve this objective, the following are the
specific objectives:
1.)
To trace the history of global warming and also examine the causes of global
warming
2.)
To understand how human activities have triggered global warming.
Research
Questions.
1.)
What is the meaning of global warming?
2.)
What are the factors that can lead to global warming?
3.)
How has human activities caused global warming?
Research
Hypothesis.
1.)
Human activities do not lead to global warming
2.)
Human activities lead to global warming.
Significance
of the study.
This
study is very significant for its timely nature. It will help policy makers to
make policies that would minimize the way human activities cause climate change
hence leading to global warming. It will help humans to put a check on how
their activities affect the environment. This will also help student
researchers that want to look into the effect of human activities on global
warming and the policies and recommendations will further assist the government
and make the environment sustainable.
Scope
of the study.
This
study covers the factors that are responsible for global warming with
particular focus on how human activities to global warming. The various
activities carried out by humans will be examined and the various effects on
their global system will be analysed.
Limitation
of the study.
This
study is limited in terms of gathering information as regards the human
activities. Due to the peculiarity of this topic, there was constraint in terms
of finding the relevant materials.
Definition
of terms.
1.)
Global warming: this means the heat has been accumulating in air, water, and
ground. It is the increase in average temperature of the earth (Venkataramanan
and Smitha 2011: 226).
2.)
Greenhouse gases: this refers to the gases that contribute to the greenhouse
effect. The major greenhouse gases include watervapour, carbon dioxide,
methane, and ozone. Other greenhouse gases include but not limited to
nitriousoxide, chlorofocarbon, etc. The largest contributing source of
greenhouse gas is the burning of fossil fuels leading to the emission of carbon
dioxide.
3.)
Greenhouse effect: this refers to a situation of reflecting back the heat
energy by the atmosphere.
4.)
Deforestation: this refers to the cutting down of trees by humans. It is known
as one of the human causes of global warming.
References
1.)
Riebeek, H. (2007), "Global Warming", Earth Observatory, 1-15.
2.)
Venkataramanan, M. and Smitha (2011), "Causes and Effects of Global
Warming", Indian Journal of Science
and Technology, 4(3): 226-229.
3.)
Christidis, N., Stott, P. and Brown, S. (2011), "The Role of Human
Activity in the recent warming of extremely warm daytime temperatures", Journal of Climate volume 24: 1922-1930.