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Climate Change

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Climate change is caused by an increase in the earth’s temperature. Natural causes can include volcanic activity, a change in the energy from the sun and variations in the earth’s orbit around the sun. NATURAL CAUSES There is little evidence of dramatic changes in any of these factors sufficient to account for the dramatic temperature increases of the past few decades, and scientists have concluded that the main cause is the increase of the gases water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. These gases trap the sun’s energy which reaches the earth’s surface, and reduce the amount reflecting back into space, thus warming the earth’s surface. HUMAN CAUSES The major source of the increased gases is human activity, which has significantly increased these gases since the industrial revolution. The major causes are the burning of fossil fuels for energy generation and transport, and agricultural activities (land clearing, fertiliser u