Nature at it's finest; Natural causes of global temperature fluctuations.

Essay by Almost-DoctorUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, August 2004

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Gail McDonald, President of the Global Climate Coalition quotes Science magazine with, "Many climate experts caution that it is not at all clear yet that human activities have begun to warm the planet" (p. 1); she then goes on to say that there is a very real issue of scientific uncertainty in this area(p. 1). Because of this uncertainty, we felt it was necessary to explore all the possible phenomenon that could contribute to global climatic warming. In this article, we will briefly look at the effects of: respiration and decay of plant and animal matter, forest fires, clouds and volcanoes, the sun, and finally the moon.

        The Global Climate Change Information Programme (GCCIP) explains that the Earth has a "natural green-house effect." They explain that carbon dioxide (CO2) is naturally produced through the respiration of animals(p. 2) We are taught in our high school biology classes that the natural waste products of animal respiration in CO2; and that plants use this carbon dioxide in their photosynthetic processes.

Upon their death and decay, plants will naturally give of the carbon dioxide that they have stored. The GCCIP also explains that through natural forest fires comes the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere(p. 2). These reasons, and a few that will be presented later, contribute to the natural green-house effect that was present before the "industrial revolution."

        The GCCIP also informs us of the Sun's own contribution to increasing temperatures on the Earth's surface. They state that Dr. I. Charvatova wrote in the Journal of Climate Change 29(3) that," [he] suggested that changes in the global surface temperature over the last few centuries, including this one, may have been due to the changes in the motion of the Sun within the Solar System"(p. 1). Dr. Charvatova states that through his examinations...