Is global warming the result of using nonrenewable resources?

Answer 1

Yes. Climate scientists almost universally concur present warming is caused primarily by the use of fossil fuels. The total additional carbon dioxide green house gas added to our environment by this use is 43% (from 280 ppm before the industrial revolution to 400 ppm today). Humans will nearly double the natural CO2 concentration to 500 ppm by 2050.

Measurements of atmospheric CO2 levels from the steam engine era must be taken with a cattle salt lick. Many of these measurements were made in urban areas where coal was burned in abundance for cooking and heating, or within confined laboratories where CO2 levels were much higher. CO2 in human occupied buildings is substantially higher, up to 1000 ppm, than levels from remote mountain peaks where the air is thoroughly mixed and averaged. Technology for making accurate CO2 measurements was greatly improved in the 1950s, to the point where previously unknown (but theorized) seasonal variations could be detected.

Please see the attached link "Trends in Global CO2 Levels."

As a direct consequence of the use of non renewable fossil fuels, human activity is implicated as the primary factor driving climate change, now occurring about twenty times faster than any previous natural rate.