What was the likely cause of major warming during the first 50 years of the 20th century?

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Question: What was the likely cause of major warming during the first 50 years of the 20th century?

Option 1: Greenhouse effect due to the industrial revolution. This choice points to increased greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, methane, etc.) from rising industrial activity starting in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which is a plausible contributor to the observed warming in the early 20th century as atmospheric concentrations rose. It aligns with the understanding that human activities began to alter the global climate system well before mid-century.

Option 2: Deforestation of the earth's rainforests. While deforestation can impact regional climate and carbon balance, the broad, global warming signal in the early 1900s is not primarily attributed to deforestation on its own. Deforestation effects are more pronounced regionally and over longer timescales, and this option oversimplifies the global warming signal of that era.

Option 3: A sudden increase in solar activity. Solar variations do affect climate, but a single sudden increase in solar output does not adequately explain the magnitude and pattern of warming observed in the first half of the 20th century. The scientific consensus attributes solar forcing to be smaller than the warming attributed to rising greenhouse gases during that period.

Option 4: None of the choices are correct. Given the prevailing explanations that link early 20th-century warming to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and natural variability, this option is unlikely to be accurate since at least the greenhouse gas effect is a recognized contributing factor.

In summary, option 1 is the most consistent with the idea that increasing industrial activity and associated greenhouse gas emissions contributed to the warming observed in the early 1900s, even though natural variability also played a role. The other options either downplay or misattribute the primary drivers of that warming period, or posit an cause (like a sole solar surge) that does not match the broader climate science consensus for that era.

2025SpringA-X-GPH314-16235-13806 Practice Final

What was the likely cause of major warming during the first 50 years of the 20th century?

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2025SpringA-X-GPH314-16235-13806 Practice Final

What was the likely cause of major warming during the first 50 years of the 20th century?

View Explanation

Log in for full answers

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