Is global warming caused by the sun?

Answer 1

There is a natural greenhouse effect which has kept the earth warm since before life began. This is supported by the carbon and water cycles which move carbon and water in and out of the atmosphere. However, anthropogenic (man-made) global warming is not caused by nature. Man discovered fossil fuels and started seriously burning them 250 years ago, at the start of the Industrial Age. Coal, oil and natural gas have been very useful to power industry, transport and to generate electricity. The big problem is they release carbon dioxide (CO2) which has been buried underground for millions of years. This extra CO2 has overwhelmed the carbon cycle, which has not been able to move the extra out of the atmosphere. CO2 levels were about 270 ppm in 1750 but are now (June 2011) around 394 ppm (parts per million, or 0.0394%), a rise of 40%..

Answer 2

Yes, the sun is the driving force behind the warming, but without human activity the earth would still be the samecomfortably warm that it has been for millennia. Scientists have determined that a number of human activities (burning fossil fuel and deforestation) are contributing to global warming by adding excessive amounts of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide accumulate in the atmosphere and trap heat that normally would exit into outer space.

A:Yes, it's true! All energy on earth comes originally from the sun. However, 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).

A: The sun causes all warming of the planet. All energy on earth is from the sun in one form or another (except a tiny bit of geothermal heat!).

Man has caused the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (by burning fossil fuels, and by deforestation). The increased greenhouse gases capture and retain more of the sun's heat, which is causing global warming.

So, yes, the sun, together with man's activity since the Industrial Revolution, is causing global warming.

Answer 3

No, there are no natural factors that can explain the swift rise in temperature since 1750, and especially in the past 40 years.

Climate scientists are sure that the rise in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere is caused by deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels and is causing global warming.