IELTS Writing Task 2 Practice: Weather and Climate Change

The weather has become noticeably more extreme in recent years, and people disagree about why. Some argue that these changes are part of a natural, temporary cycle, while others believe that human activity is permanently and dangerously altering the global climate. Although natural factors do play a role, I am convinced that human activity is the main cause.

Those who see the changes as natural point out that the Earth’s climate has always fluctuated. There were ice ages long before industrialisation, and events such as volcanic eruptions and variations in solar activity can cool or warm the planet for several years. From this perspective, a series of unusually hot summers or severe storms may simply reflect normal variability, and it would be premature to blame humans.

However, the evidence for human influence is far stronger. Burning fossil fuels and clearing forests have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to levels not seen for hundreds of thousands of years, and the vast majority of climate scientists agree that this is driving global warming. Natural cycles also cannot explain the speed of current changes: temperatures have risen sharply within a single century, glaciers are retreating worldwide, and heatwaves that were once rare now occur almost every year.

In my view, even if some uncertainty remained, the sensible course of action would be the same. If human activity is responsible and we fail to act, the consequences – rising sea levels, food shortages and mass migration – could be irreversible. Reducing emissions, by contrast, brings additional benefits such as cleaner air and new industries.

In conclusion, while the climate has always varied naturally, the scale and speed of recent changes point clearly to human causes. Governments and individuals should therefore treat climate change as a long-term threat that requires urgent action rather than waiting for the weather to return to normal.