How Humans Have Created Global Warming

Global warming has become a world wide issue. For years, scientists have studied the world's climate change. Scientists have been warning that our Earth is warming. Scientists have been warning us of the potential effects of this global warming. Presidents from around the world have passed and are working on additional legislation to stem the potential side effects, of global warming. Celebrities are calling for Americans to do their part to stem global warming. Scientists tell us that a large cause of global warming is pollution. The pollution habits of humans points to the need of sustainable energy to stem global warming.

Pollution add to greenhouse gases. Pollution consists of greenhouse gases such carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrous oxide, and methane. Thinkquest.com explained greenhouse gases, "trap heat and light from the sun in the earth's atmosphere, which increases the temperature." The more pollutants that are trapped in the environment then the worse the greenhouse effect.

Pollution comes form two main sources either point source or non-point source. Point sources pollution is pretty much self explanatory. Point source pollution is when pollution is being created by a single source. In point source pollution, the pollution source may be identified and singled out. Point source pollution may cause acute issues in one geographic area but does contribute to greenhouse gases. Non-point source pollution can affect much larger areas such as large bodies of water.

Pollution is not a new problem. Humans have been polluting for many millennium. When humans first started working with fire then they began polluting. As humans began making weapons, eating utensils, etc. out of metal, humans began creating pollution. Wikipedia states, "The forging of metals appears to be a key turning point in the creation of significant air pollution levels. Core samples of glaciers in Greenland indicate increases in air pollution associated with Greek, Roman and Chinese metal production." As humans began taking up a larger part of nature, humans' pollution began growing faster then nature could heal itself.

Through time, human civilization has been growing and developing. Human growth and development increased pollution's effect of the environment. As humans began developing further technology, human pollution increase. The Industrial Revolution is considered an important turning point in pollution. The Industrial Revolution set a large portion of the world down the road to widespread manufacturing. Over the years, human pollution had enough effect on the environment for scientists to begin noticing it.

The 20th century brought environmental changes that scientists could not deny. During World War II, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki highlighted the destructive effect human's could have on the environment. The atomic bomb was just one example. In the early 1950s, London was the site of an environmental disaster. De Angelo stated that London England, "was the site of a dense smog caused by heavy coal combustion...which killed approximately 12,000 people."

Governments, including the United States, began trying to mitigate the effects of pollution. Wikipedia states, "Pollution began to draw major public attention in the United States between the mid-1950s and early 1970s, when Congress passed the Noise Control Act, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act." Through the 1990s until present day, the discovery of global warming's potential effects has caused the United States and many other countries to again consider pollution legislation.

Pollution has a strong root in the world's need for energy. As the world's population grows and more countries become industrial powers then the world's need for energy increases. This steady, constant energy need increases our output of pollution. Humans need for energy is not likely to decrease. Mitigating pollution's negative environmental impacts rests of finding energy sources that do not harm the environment and are renewable.

References
Pollution. n.d. Wikipedia. Retrieved on December 3, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollution
De Angelo, Laura (Lead Author); Brian Black (Topic Editor). 2008. "London smog disaster, England." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 21, 2006; Last revised February 8, 2008; Retrieved December 3, 2009]. http://www.eoearth.org/article/London_smog_disaster,_England