How is global warming caused by the sun?

Answer 1

All energy on earth comes originally from the sun. But the earth's energy budget would remain balanced, with no global warming, if the build-up of greenhouse gases was not stopping heat escaping to space.

Over the past few decades of global warming, the sun and the earth's temperature have actually been going in opposite directions. The sun has been cooling slightly. And the earth has been warming.

This has led scientists to conclude that the sun is not responsible for the recent rise in global temperature.

One of the common myths about global warming is that the sun is causing the increased warming. But don't be fooled!

The myth cherry-picks the data. It uses past periods when the sun and climate moved together, and it ignores the last few decades where they are going in opposite directions.

Global warming is not happening because of the sun, but because of the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and deforestation (cutting down trees which previously removed carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere). These extra greenhouse gases are causing global warming.
The Sun is the source of our heat on Earth.
The sun hasn't changed, it is emitting virtually the same amount of sunlight as it has done throughout human history (there is an extremely tiny increase that does not affect global warming). It is the Earth's atmosphere that has changed, because of increased amounts of greenhouse gases.

Answer 2

Global warming is not directly caused by the sun. The sun's energy reaches Earth as sunlight, which warms the surface. However, human activities like burning fossil fuels release greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to global warming.