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Covalence Global
Climate Change
What is climate change? Why is it an issue so prevalent today? What steps do we need to take to solve this problem? These are the questions we will work to answer on this page.
The Basics
A process known as "The Greenhouse Effect" causes greenhouse gasses (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc.) to warm up the earth:
Sunlight is emitted. Most of it passes through greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
However, the earth does not absorb all of the sun's energy; some energy is radiated back into space.
Some of this reflected energy hits greenhouse gasses in just the right radiation wavelength such that it causes the molecules to block the radiation, soak up energy, and vibrate faster. Molecules that vibrate faster generate more heat.
The overdrive of greenhouse gas emissions causes earth's temperature to rise excessively.
Temperatures are rising more than any period in earth's existence. This is causing climate change. A few of the MANY effects of a rise in temperature include...
More Thunderstorms and More Extreme Storms - rise in temperatures creates more water evaporation, as there is more potential energy to break away from liquid state and into gas state. As more water vapor condenses, more energy is released when it falls back to the earth, increasing the frequency and severity of thunderstorms.
More Droughts and Drier soil - Because hotter air expands and rises, it holds more moisture. As a result, water vapor drinks up more moisture from soil.
More Frequent and Destructive Wildfires - Less moisture in plants and soil causes trees to be more prone to burning because fire needs oxygen, and moisture has it.
Sea Levels Increase - 90% of trapped greenhouse gas heat is absorbed by oceans. This causes ocean temperatures to rise, leading the water to expand, as warm water takes up more volume than cold water. This means that beach areas and cities on porous land are at great risks!
Since certain crops are heat sensitive (corn, wheat, rice) this could lead to a global food crisis.
Warmer air also leads to more heat stroke because there is a point at which air can't absorb any more moisture, including people's sweat.
Permafrost (sections of the earth's previously frozen ground) is melting, releasing great amounts of methane.
The overdrive of greenhouse gas emissions is due to the Industrial Revolution. One big reason is that humanity began relying on great amounts of fossil fuels to generate electricity. Our temperature has risen approximately 1.1 degrees Celsius since preindustrial times. It is crucial that we stay below a 1.5 degrees Celsius increase.
We emit approximately 51 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalents every year. Carbon dioxide equivalents mean "the total climate change impact of all the greenhouse gasses caused by an item or activity expressed in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide that would have the same impact over a one-hunder-year period." (The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee) And we need to get to net-negative emissions, meaning we must remove more greenhouse gasses than greenhouse gasses that have been put into the air.
Our main forms of combat are adaptation, minimizing the impact of changes, and mitigation, stopping adding greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere. When we begin to think about solutions, it is key to remember the five questions to ask in every climate conversation (from How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates):
How much of the 51 billion tons are we talking about? - "Convert any amount of ghg to tons and then a percentage of 51 billion."
What's your plan for cement? - "Emissions come from five different categories and we need to find solutions to all of them (obviously, a solution to one could affect a solution to the other)."
How much power are we talking about? - "Kilowatt - think house, gigawatt - think city, a hundred or more gigawatts - think big country."
How much space do you need? - "Consider how much space a source of energy will take up to produce a given amount of energy."
How much is this going to cost? - "Consider Green Premiums (the cost comparison of an eco-friendly solution to its ghg-emitting counterpart) and if they're low enough for the middle-income countries to pay."
Note: This page is in progress. We still have so much more to write about. Keep checking for updates!