Global Climate Change: History and Current Issues

Global Climate Change
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Global Climate Change
Evidence points to the unequivocal fact that the globe is warming at a rate never experienced before, which has generated growing concern among the masses. Even though the earth’s climate has been changing over the years, the rate at which it is currently happening has soared to worrying levels. Scientific researchers have established beyond any reasonable doubt that human activities have contributed significantly to the unprecedented global climate change (NASA, 2023). Those human activities, including industrialization, have continued to emit toxic gases into the atmosphere that retain more of the sun’s energy in the Earth system. Consequently, the trapped extra energy continues to considerably warm and occasion rapid changes on the land, atmosphere, and oceans. By and large, global warming has radically altered human life and made it increasingly intolerable. As the United Nations posit (2019), climate change is a global threat that can potentially worsen most of the challenges plaguing humanity, including hunger, poverty, and health. That said, it is imperative for relevant entities to get to the root of the matter and formulate urgent climate actions that will resolve the issue conclusively.
History of Global Climate Change
Before seeking a lasting solution to the prevalent and drastic climate change, it would be prudent to explore its history and how it has evolved over the years. Throughout the history of the world, global climate has undergone remarkable changes through a continuous process. For instance, in the last 800,000 years, eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods have occurred in the earth’s system (NASA, 2023). The end of the last ice age happened around 11,700 years ago and marked the genesis of the modern climate era that coincided with the beginning of civilization. Those changes that took place before the advent of civilization were attributed to alterations in the amount of solar energy the earth receives due to variations in the earth's orbit.
However, with the emergence of human civilization, the trend changed tremendously, and human activities began to significantly fuel climate change. The trend, which got into motion in the mid-19th century, has been proceeding at an alarming rate, causing far-reaching implications. For instance, unmitigated climate change has drastically escalated global and ocean temperatures (NASA, 2023). To prove this, in 1938, a steam engineer called Calendar did calculations that brought him to the discovery that global temperatures had risen by 0.3% in the previous 50 years (UK Research and Innovation, n.d.). Similarly, climate change has precipitated the shrinking of ice sheets and diminished snow cover, among other effects. In summation, human activities have impacted the earth in ways that would prove irrevocable if immediate and appropriate action is taken to counter the trend.
Factors Affecting Climate Change
Before delving into the nitty gritty of the factors that influence climate change, it would be critical to differentiate between weather and climate change. According to USGS (n.d.), weather c...