Anthropogenic Causes Of Climate Change

1. Introduction

Climate change has a direct influence on the biophysical domain and is defined by different factors such as: temperature, precipitation and humidity that are being influenced by factors such as anthropogenic climate change (Sango & Godwell, 2015:1, 2; Parmesan et al., 2013:58). In the last hundred years the climate has been more variable which often leads to disrupting changes in ecosystems (Sango & Godwell, 2015:1; Nigh, 2014:377). Climate change is a slow process with the immediate effects causing only a small amount of damage compared to the high cost it will lead to (Mendelsohn, 2015:728).

2. Anthropogenic causes of climate change

Natural as well as anthropogenic factors drive climate change (Baker et al., 2007:36).

The changing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere along with solar radiation and the change in land cover change the energy balance in the climatic system of earth and this drives climate change (Baker et al., 2007:37).

3. Impacts of climate change

The change in global climate has been accepted as an emerging driver of environmental change in many parts of the world (Thapa et al., 2016:345; Reuss, 2015:36). Climate change can cause the degradation and loss of biodiversity and the decrease of ecosystem productivity which in turn lead to severe consequences on forest and human welfare (Thapa et al., 2016:345; Sango & Godwell, 2015:1; Boehlert et al., 2015:1326; Seely et al., 2015:1). In southern Africa warmer temperature and a decrease in precipitation have been observed (Sango & Godwell, 2015:1). Across the world an increase in occurrence as well as severity of weather extremes such as droughts are experienced (Sango & Godwell, 2015:1; Reuss, 2015:36). The impacts of climate change can be seen in the rise of

Adaption refers to the change in behaviour towards these changes (thus communities adapt to the changes) while mitigation refers to taking action towards climate change prevention (Reuss, 2015:37; 56). A key challenge is to persuade people that anthropogenic climate change is a real problem (Van Prooijen & Sparks, 2013:929), but according to Hamilton et al., (2014:1) half of the public in the USA accepts the consent that the change of the earth’s climate is primarily caused by the activities of mankind. In order to inform individuals environmental movements have been put in to place (Van Prooijen & Sparks, 2013:930). Mitigation is important to try and limit the threats associated with climate change (Howard-Grenville, et al., 2014:618). For mitigation to be successful cities have to become more efficient in the way they use resources with government facing the challenge of getting citizens support on the changes needed, which can be rectified by the education of individuals about the changes in the world’s climate (Howard-Grenville, et al., 2014:618; Van Prooijen & Sparks, 2013:929; 59). Changes in the use of energy, transport and infrastructure as well as the regulation of carbon release are