From my friend DWN.
Here is a list of natural causes that affect global atmospheric temperatures:
- solar activity (frequency and strength of sun flares)
- geothermal vents and underwater volcanoes cosmic ray flux
- orbital eccentricity-axial tilt-and-precession of Earth’s orbit
- magnetic effects of other planets
- heat distribution between oceanic and atmospheric systems
- changes in radioative forcing (balance between solar-radiation energy absorbed by Earth’s surfaces and energy radiated back into space)
- the large difference in land:sea ratio between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere
“Human activity” contributes something, but the effect is well under 1%, i.e. it’s not statistically detectable. (Yet. Could be in 100-500 years.)
Really nice video from NASA here.