Global warming is defined as an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that increasing greenhouse gas concentrations resulting from human activity such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation caused most of the observed temperature increase since the middle of the 20th century. The IPCC also concludes that variations in natural phenomena such as solar radiation and volcanoes produced most of the warming from pre-industrial times to 1950 and had a small cooling effect afterward.

These basic conclusions have been endorsed by more than 40 scientific societies and academies of science, including all of the national academies of science of the major industrialized countries. According to the National Climatic Data Center, the average global surface temperature has risen approximately 1.2°F (0.7°C) since 1880. However, this fact alone does not tell us the causes of the warming.

Below you will find some answers to common questions related to Global Warming.

What Are The Causes of Global Warming?

The challenge is to separate natural and human causes, especially when we still know so little about the factors in climate change. We know from Scripture that the Great Flood changed the earth’s climate dramatically, and ocean sediments indicate that plate tectonics during the Flood had greatly heated the oceans, rising to a temperature at least 36°F (20°C) warmer than today’s oceans. From that warm period, temperatures dropped dramatically as the earth entered an Ice Age.

Since the Ice Age, the earth’s temperature has fluctuated by only a few degrees. For example, a medieval warm period, AD 900 to 1300, was followed by a little ice age, 1300 to 1880, when the overall temperature dropped about 2°F (1°C).

These relatively recent fluctuations can be correlated to natural changes, such as volcanic eruptions and cycles in the sun’s radiation. (When the earth receives more energy from the sun, the earth gets warmer.) It is logical to assume that similar factors continue to have some influence on today’s global warming.

What About Human Causes of Global Warming?
Alarmists would have us believe that increased CO₂ emissions have triggered global warming. But it is important to understand greenhouse gases. Basically, these are gases in the earth’s atmosphere that regulate temperature by holding in heat from the sun, and as such these gases are necessary for life. The primary greenhouse gas, which is responsible for the vast majority of the greenhouse effect, is water vapor. Carbon dioxide, the second most common greenhouse gas, provides only a tiny fraction of the greenhouse effect.

It is certainly true that the burning of fossils fuels is pumping more and more CO₂ into the atmosphere, but it does not necessarily follow that these gases are the sole cause of the warming. In fact, higher concentrations of CO₂ may be, in part, a result of warmer temperatures. The oceans have much more CO₂ than the atmosphere, and when the oceans warm up, the CO₂ escapes into the atmosphere. (We see a similar effect when we see gas bubbling out of a glass of warm Coke.)

We have much more to learn about climate change. But looking at the current evidence, it seems very likely that both natural and human factors are at fault, perhaps as much as 50-50. 

Will Global Warming Cause Many Animals and Plants to Go Extinct?
Receding glaciers, melting ice caps, and other changes are, of course, likely to affect a variety of animal and plant species. But based on the fossil record, it appears that many species, such as the Miohippus (a small three-toed, woodland horse) and the woolly mammoth, flourished in the changing climates after Noah’s Flood, and eventually went extinct

According to some climate models, which use current data and a variety of assumptions to predict future climate patterns, several plant and animal species could go extinct by 2050 due to climate change. Currently, however, there are no documented extinctions resulting from global warming.

Will The Oceans Rise Dramatically in The Next Century?
While this would certainly be alarming if it were true, no hard scientific evidence exists to back up the prediction. Based on climate models, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that ocean levels will rise approximately 16 inches (25 cm) during this century. While this could result in many inconveniences (without proper planning), it is certainly not the “doomsday” that’s been so widely predicted. Nor does such a change seem very significant compared to the rapid rise of the oceans in the past—approximately 200–300 feet (60–90 m)—when the ice melted at the end of the Ice Age, flooding the coasts and burying early human settlements after Babel.

Will Global Warming Cause an Increasing Number of Weather Catastrophes?
Global warming has been blamed for increased hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures. But we must keep a few things in mind. First, extreme weather has never been out of the ordinary since Noah’s Flood. Secondly, scientists now have satellites and other advanced equipment that can identify and record modern weather events that would have gone unrecorded in the past, making it difficult to validate whether these events have been increasing.

While the number of hurricanes has increased in recent decades, a recent study in the journal Nature Geoscience concludes that global warming is not to blame for increased hurricanes and, in fact, hurricanes are likely to decrease by the end of the century. Currently, there is insufficient evidence to clearly identify global warming as the cause of extreme weather events.

 
Global Warming in The Bible

When God gave Adam dominion over the earth, he was told to take care of the garden."And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." - Genesis 1:26.

In verse after verse of Scripture, we learn that God made us stewards of His earth, caretakers of the natural resources that He has provided on this planet. "The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods." - Psalm 24:1,2.

The burden of Isaiah for the nations is now all brought together in a picture of worldwide desolation which will occur in the final bringing together of God’s purposes."The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." - Isaiah 24:3-6.

Global Warming: How Should Christians Respond?

God did not create human beings merely to serve or “preserve” the earth. Rather, He made us in His image, as His highest creation, and He gave us the privilege and duty to glorify Him in everything we do, including managing the earth to make it more beautiful and productive. Just as God “planted a garden,” we want to be good gardeners, too.

The earth was made as our dwelling place, and while it is our responsibility to maintain it, we must not place higher importance on the environment than on the people who inhabit it. The Industrial Revolution, so often vilified by global warming activists, has improved the quality of life for millions, even billions, of people. It has also “saved” the lives of untold millions.

Whatever action we take, whether as individuals or through government action, we must carefully weigh the consequences. While many people support laws to reduce CO₂ emissions, believing that this will appreciably slow the progress of global warming, we must consider whether the science supports this claim. We must also beware of unintended consequences, such as the loss of personal liberties.

Whatever a person’s view of the government’s role, it is undeniable that laws to limit CO₂ output would have far-reaching effects on the poor. The increased costs of producing food, powering vehicles, and heating and cooling homes are only a few of the potential negative results. Lower-income families, especially in less-developed countries, would be hit especially hard.

There are practical things individuals can do to maintain our planet and keep it beautiful and safe for the next generation, such as reducing waste, recycling, and driving fuel-efficient vehicles. The choice to take any of these, or stronger measures should always be based on a clear understanding of the facts and the eternal principles in God’s Word.

God’s Word tells us about a “new heaven and a new earth” that He is planning for His people, free of sin and the Curse. Our current environmental problems are serious and worth further thought and action, but the Bible puts all such issues into proper perspective. While we need to behave wisely in the fleeting moments we have on this earth, a much greater change is coming, one that should modify our behavior—the “global warming”, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." -II Peter 3:10.