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Anthropogenic Impact on Climate Change

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Submitted By jayceehanks
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Pages 10
Jessica Hankins
Professor Vanderheiden
ENVS 3140: Environmental Ethics
December 3, 2015
Anthropogenic Climate Change and Its Impacts
The Earth’s climate is immensely susceptible to perturbations of natural systems. These fluctuations are incredibly cyclic, and have been studied to shift between periods of warm and cold temperature anomalies. Although the Earth cycles naturally on its own, it is evident that excessive emission production is enhancing the greenhouse effect, and therefore causing natural climatic shifts to happen at a faster rate. People are discernibly prone to assume that since Earth’s climate cycles naturally, that Global warming is autonomous of anthropogenic impact. Global warming is not the root of climate change, but instead the medium between anthropogenic intoxication of the atmosphere, and the response of Earth’s dynamic systems. It is not the actions of one individual that have an impact on the balance of Earth’s climate system; rather, it is the actions of many people, over a long period of time that will cause a chemical imbalance of the atmosphere, resulting in climate change. Nations that emit greenhouse gases at levels beyond their fair share of safe global emissions are obligated to aid in financing reasonable adaptation essentials and unavoidable damages of low-emitting countries and individuals that have done little to cause climate change.
There is no one individual that can be held responsible for the damage associated with climate change. Instead of a single cause, millions of people will have made tiny, almost imperceptible casual contributions through apparently innocent acts (Vanderheiden, Steven). These small acts, when combined, cause the Carbon dioxide concentration in the air to increase exponentially, greatly enhancing the greenhouse effect over a period of time. Despite Carbon dioxide concentrations increasing at an

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