And this leads me to my thesis statement,  that humans are the main and most detrimental cause of global warming.     US Government officials must recognize that climate change exists and that human-produced-gases and the greenhouse gas effect are the primary causes for this pressing issue. The officials need to realize that humans are the primary cause for global warming because, an overwhelming amount of scientific organizations state that it is an indisputable fact that climate change exists, that the steadily rising amount of human-produced-gases into the atmosphere creates a “greenhouse gas” effect that warms up the earth and causes global warming, and finally, there has been a massive increase in CO2 in the last century that was clearly caused by human activity because the rate of increase was far greater than is naturally possible. First, a copious amount of scientific consensus exists that  clearly states that humans are most definitely the primary cause of global warming.  In 2010, there was a study done by William R.L Anderegg on the number of climate researchers  who had published papers publishing indicating affirm agreement  that humans are the main cause for climate change.  The result was an overwhelming 97-98% strongly believe that humans are mainly responsible for global climate change.   The same study also found that the knowledge in the subject of the environment for those who denied that humans were the primarily responsible for climate change was “substantially below” that of those who were part of the 97-98% emergency (Anderegg et al.). Additionally, there are  many different scientific organisations who have clearly stated that humans are mainly responsible for global warming and Climate change.  NASA lists some of these organisations that include: The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Chemical Society (ACS), and also the American Meteorological Society (AMS).  In fact, the previous president of the AMS made a statement in 2012 on global warming that said: “It is clear from extensive scientific evidence that the dominant cause of the rapid change in climate of the past half century is human-induced increases in the amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, methane, and nitrous oxide.” (qtd. In NASA) Clearly, these sources are credible enough to be trusted due to the fact that NASA has listed them on one of their websites that is devoted to spreading awareness on global warming and climate change. Now, a common argument against this position is that “There are over 1000 scientists who disagree that humans are the primary cause of global warming”. (Climate Depot) This claim seems reasonable until you dig deeper.  The previously mentioned study done by William Andregg found out that 37.7% of the aforementioned scientists did not specialise in a field that had anything to do with the environment. Additionally, the same study found that 14.2% of the scientists were not primarily publishing in the field of environmental study.  As previously stated, the study also found that the environmental knowledge of the scientists that were against the notion that humans are the main cause of climate change was “substantially below” that of proponents for the idea that climate change is the caused primarily by humans.  Clearly, while this point might be valid by itself, once you delve deeper you are able to conclude that it is immensely misleading. Second, the US Government officials should recognise that climate change exists and humans need to recognise that humans are the primary cause of climate change is an argument which is based on evidence suggesting that the rising levels of human produced gases into our atmosphere creates a “greenhouse” effect that traps heat and causes global warming.  As the sun’s rays hit the earth, some of their heat is absorbed by gases in the atmosphere, such gases include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (NO2).  The aforementioned gases trap heat and cause the planet to heat up in a process called the “greenhouse effect”. This has been happening since the industrial revolution in the 18th century.  In fact, the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Centre (CDIAC) states that since 1751, over 337 billion metric tons of CO2 have been released into our atmosphere. All of this CO2 comes from the burning of fossil fuels, cement production, and other everyday human activities.  CH4, that is primarily released through fossil fuel burning and agriculture traps 84 times as much heat as CO2 for the first 20 years that it is in the atmosphere.  It is responsible for about 1/5th of global warming since 1751. NO2 traps about 300 times more heat than carbon dioxide.  The number may seem miniscule but it is detrimental towards the ice caps and the environment as a hole. Finally, US Government officials should recognise that climate change exists and humans need to recognise that humans are the primary cause of climate change is because the rise of CO2 in the atmosphere was clearly caused by humans due to the fact that it happened at a much greater rate than is naturally possible in the environment.  According to NASA, over the past 650,000 years the Earth’s atmospheric levels of CO2 did not rise above 300 parts per million (PPM). This was up until the mid-20th century.  Since 1958, CO2 levels have risen from an average of 317 ppm, to a whopping average of 400 ppm in 2013.  The atmospheric CO2 level is expected to rise to 450 ppm by 2040.  According to Scripps Institution of Oceanology,”The extreme speed at which carbon dioxide concentrations are increasing is unprecedented.  An increase of 10 parts per million might have needed 100 years or more to come to pass during ancient climate change” (SIC). It is clear what this means, climate change is happening and it is happening at an incredibly rapid rate.  If we do not do something and do it fast, the world and all of its inhabitants are doomed. In conclusion, climate change is a pressing issue that is primarily caused by humans that must be not only acknowledged by all current US government officials, but also must be dealt with immediately.  This is due to the fact that an overwhelming amount of scientific organizations state that it is an indisputable fact that climate change exists. Additionally, the steadily rising amount of human-produced-gases into the atmosphere creates greenhouse gas effect that heats up the atmosphere and causes global warming. Finally, there has been a massive increase in CO2 in the last century that was clearly caused by human activity because the rate of the increase was far greater than is naturally possible.  As a final thought, Stephen Hawking said in an interview on the Jan. 8th 2012 that,  “It is possible that the human race could become extinct but it is not inevitable. I think it is almost certain that a disaster, such as global warming will befall the earth within a thousand years.” If government officials can see that global warming is a preventable disaster, then the human race can persevere.  It is up to us to stop and recognise climate change as a problem because only man can prevent and try to repair a man-made disaster.