Introduction
The observed phenomenon on climate changes can be regarded as a hot topic that has elicited heated debates across the world. Over the years, environmental scientists have been heavily involved in research regarding the changes in climate conditions and effects that these changes have on the environment.
There has been consensus that climate change has played a critical role in the recent weather extremes being witnessed across the world (Gillis, para. 2). Gillis discussed the differences in opinions and research findings regarding what causes climate changes.
In his article, Gillis reveals that environmental scientists do not fully agree on whether human activities or natural, environmental variations can be blamed for climate change (Gillis, para. 9 and 20).
Global warming
Since the early 1980s, the world has witnessed increased human activities. These activities have had a drastic impact on the climate. Increased greenhouse gas emission from burning of fossil fuel in the recent years has been a subject worth discussion in scientific researches on environment.
Scientists have believed that the continued human activities and industrial processes have had profound effects on weather extremes such as heavy rains and snowstorms (Gillis, para. 9).
According to recent scientific papers and reports, the percentage of earth temperature stood at less than 1 during the past century. Gillis observes that the earth’s land surface continues to gain extreme heat, which is thought to be as much as 13 per cent, in recent years (para. 1).
The Texas heat wave of 2011, the Russian heat wave of 2010, and the European heat wave of 2003 are some of the recent weather extremes that attracted studies to ascertain their exact causes (Gillis, para. 2).
Gillis looked at James E. Hansen’s scientific paper that focused on the causes of climate change. He found that the scientist, together with his colleagues, had attributed the climate changes to global warming. In the paper, the scientists have established that, during the summer periods of 1951 and 1980, only 0.2 per cent of land surface was subjected to extreme heat.
On the other hand, the period between 2006 and 2011 witnessed extreme heat over the earth’s surface. This ranged from 4 to 13 per cent. The scientists concluded that global warming has facilitated climate changes in the recent times (Gillis, para. 12).
The report has attracted mixed responses from various environmental scientists who sharply differ with James E. Hansen (Gillis, para. 5 and 6). Some scientists argue that Hansen’s findings are not backed by persuasive evidence. Also, the findings were based on solid ground of greater overall likelihood that global warming may cause heat waves (Gillis, para. 18).
In addition, the findings of Hansen are highly debatable. This is particularly so through research suggestions provided by Dr. Hoerling, which noted that natural climate variability and largely contributed to the Russian heat wave and Texas draught (Gillis, para. 20).
Conclusion
The effect of global warming on climate changes has been a contested issue by many environmental specialists. The various research findings carried out by the scientists continue to note that increased human activities are significantly impacting on the climate.
Today, researchers continue to struggle in finding the answer to the question as to whether climate changes are human-induced or natural. Regardless of the disagreements as to what exactly is causing this global climatic changes, there is a consensus that the earth is continuously being covered with anomalous warm events.
Works Cited
Gillis, Justin. Study Finds More of Earth Is Hotter and Says Global Warming Is at Work. 2012. Web.