Are humans causing global warming?

Question

How much CO2 are humans putting into the atmosphere compared to the total increase in total atmospheric CO2? This is the most logical stat. to prove that humans are causing global warming; however I can't find this anywhere.

How many metric tons of CO2 do humans put into the air every year?
How many metric tons of CO2 are in the atmosphere?
How many more metric tons of CO2 are going into the atmosphere every year?

Answer 1

Me neither, I looked for the same info but it has either never mentioned(weird) or it is put another way that isn't easily understood. There are so many articles that are almost impossible to read without at least a degree in the subject.
Whatever the reality of all this global warming subject what I want to know is why do people risk the future of the planet.
If we make it inhospitable by not doing anything then that would be stupid, especially since most of the changes we could make just involve saving our money. If we save energy and it doesn't happen we will just have a better bank balance.

Additional Answer:

Humans add over 6500 million tones of CO2 a year
volcanoes add 255 million tons (this used to be a major CO2 source)

there is 2.996 x 10^12 tons ( 2996000 million tons) of CO2 in the atmosphere

37% of that CO2 is extra that we have added (over a third of it WOW!) and most of that 37% was in the last 40 years (19% in 40 years)

in the past 400 000 years the CO2 levels have never been anywhere near today's levels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png
you can see from 1800 to the present day the amount sharply increasing. It has to be down to us.
I wasn't sure before but now seeing that I am.

Great question.

Answer 2

The increase in CO2 over the past forty years has averaged about 12 billion metric tons, which is comparable to the estimated production of the stuff by human activity. But this is not conclusive; there is evidence that CO2 increases have followed, rather than preceded, episodes of warming over the past several hundred million years, and if that is the case, human activity cannot be held responsible. CO2 levels depend on the interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean, which contains fifty times as much CO2 as the air does.

Answer 3

Won't answer for you but will show you were to look. Great site on the subject, articles by real scientists, not propagandists like algore.

CO2 and Temperature: Ice Core Correlations Reference
Fischer, H., Wahlen, M., Smith, J., Mastroianni, D. and Deck B. 1999. Ice core records of atmospheric CO2 around the last three glacial terminations. Science 283: 1712-1714.

What was done
The authors examined contemporaneous records of atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature derived from Antarctic ice cores that extended back in time through the last three glacial-interglacial transitions.

What was learned
In all three of the most recent glacial terminations, the earth warmed well before there was any increase in the air's CO2 content. In the words of the authors, "the time lag of the rise in CO2 concentrations with respect to temperature change is on the order of 400 to 1000 years during all three glacial-interglacial transitions." During the penultimate (next to last) warm period, there is also a 15,000-year time interval where distinct cooling does not elicit any change in atmospheric CO2; and when the air's CO2 content gradually drops over the next 20,000 years, air temperatures either rise or remain fairly constant.

What it means
One of the reasons for conducting studies of this type is to see what can be learned about the ability of increases in atmospheric CO2 to enhance earth's natural greenhouse effect and induce global warming. As is readily evident from the work described here, however, the relationship between temperature and CO2 appears to be just the reverse of what is assumed in all of the climate model studies that warn of dramatic warming in response to the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content: temperature rises first, and then comes an increase in atmospheric CO2. Or, CO2 remains essentially unchanged while temperatures drop. Or, CO2 drops while air temperature remains unchanged or actually rises. Nothing even comes close to resembling what we are continually being warned about by state-of-the-art global climate models.

So what is one to believe? Theoretical predictions or historical fact? The choice of wisdom would appear to us to be history. It has an uncanny way of repeating itself.

Answer 4

global warming is only a theory that a bunch of nut jobs take seriously. It hasn't been proven so don't be worried. the could have shifted on its axis, or changed a little off course which would bring it closer to the sun. this last reason is very possible because the sun is what we revolve around and since it is so big the earth is attracted to it and so gets closer. that is the theory i believe so GLOBAL WARMING= THEORY!!!!

Answer 5

Well, humans are adding 2 ppm of CO2 to the atmosphere every year.When you consider that the nominal average over the last hundred thousand years was 285 ppm, that's an addition of .67 percent. It doesn't sound like much, but over 100 years that's a 2/3 increase, which is enormous!

Answer 6

We may be contibuting, but I believe it is incredibly arrogant to think that we can have such a significant impact on a system as immense as our planet.

Did humans cause the last ice age? We need to stop worrying about the cause and figure out how to survive the coming environmental changes. If your house was on fire would you investigate how the fire started, or get out of there and worry about the causes later.

Even if we are 100% responsible, we don't know how to reverse the damage. If all of humanity was magically transported off the planet, it would still take centuries (if not millenia) for the Earth to return to its "pristine" state. If this is the case, what possible global effect can we expect by reducing our total carbon emissions by 10% over the next decade?

Move, adapt, or die. Them's the rules.

Answer 7

Yes, I do think that humans are causing global warming because ever since people started driving cars and factories have been created the temperatures have been rising because those things pollute the environment.

Answer 8

The average surface temperature of Earth is about 15°C (59°F). Over the last century, this average has risen by about 0.6 Celsius degree (1 Fahrenheit degree). Scientists predict further warming of 1.4 to 5.8 Celsius degrees (2.5 to 10.4 Fahrenheit degrees) by the year 2100. This temperature rise is expected to melt polar ice caps and glaciers as well as warm the oceans, all of which will expand ocean volume and raise sea level by an estimated 9 to 100 cm (4 to 40 in), flooding some coastal regions and even entire islands. Some regions in warmer climates will receive more rainfall than before, but soils will dry out faster between storms. This soil desiccation may damage food crops, disrupting food supplies in some parts of the world. Plant and animal species will shift their ranges toward the poles or to higher elevations seeking cooler temperatures, and species that cannot do so may become extinct. The potential consequences of global warming are so great that many of the world's leading scientists have called for international cooperation and immediate action to counteract the problem.

the carbon dioxide (CO2), at present accounts for about 340 parts per million of dry air.
Currently, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are more than 360 parts per million, an increase that far exceeds the historic variation from glacial to interglacial periods. Most scientists attribute this increase to the growth of human agriculture and industry.
the researchers also found evidence that carbon dioxide levels can remain high for thousands of years after a new ice age begins. The likely explanation for this, they hypothesized, was that plants and animals flourish during long interglacial periods, creating large amounts of decaying organic material—a key source of carbon dioxide. Atmospheric carbon dioxide, therefore, can act as a brake on global cooling, keeping temperatures higher than they might otherwise be.
Ultimately, the oceans and other natural processes absorb excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. However, human activities have caused carbon dioxide to be released to the atmosphere at rates much faster than that at which Earth’s natural processes can cycle this gas. In 1750 there were about 281 molecules of carbon dioxide per million molecules of air (abbreviated as parts per million, or ppm). Today atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are 368 ppm, which reflects a 31 percent increase. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration increases by about 1.5 ppm per year. If current predictions prove accurate, by the year 2100 carbon dioxide will reach concentrations of more than 540 to 970 ppm.

Greenhouse gas concentrations are increasing. Temperatures are rising. But does the gas increase necessarily cause the warming, and will these two phenomena continue to occur together? In 1988 the United Nations Environment Program and the World Meteorological Organization established a panel of 200 leading scientists to consider the evidence. In its Third Assessment Report, released in 2001, this Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that global air temperature had increased 0.6 Celsius degree (1 Fahrenheit degree) since 1861. The panel agreed that the warming was caused primarily by human activities that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The IPCC predicted in 2001 that the average global temperature would rise by another 1.4 to 5.8 Celsius degrees (2.5 to 10.4 Fahrenheit degrees) by the year 2100.

The IPCC panel cautioned that even if greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere ceased growing by the year 2100, the climate would continue to warm for a period after that as a result of past emissions. Carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for a century or more before nature can dispose of it. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, experts predict that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere could rise to more than three times preindustrial levels early in the 22nd century, resulting in dramatic climate changes. Large climate changes of the type predicted are not unprecedented; indeed, they have occurred many times in the history of Earth. However, human beings would face this latest climate swing with a huge population at risk.

Answer 9

Well. . .They are speeding it up. The gas that comes out from our cars, the smoke from our factories. . .So if we cut down our resources, we could probably slow it down. Before the ice melts in Antarctica, and everyone on the coasts will be flooded out of their homes.

Answer 10

Hot air emitted by politicians and pundits may be a major contributor.