Climate Change - Global Overview
‘We have a single mission; to protect and hand on the planet to the next generation!’
Climate change is a phenomenon that occurs naturally and affects all living beings. The climate is changing at a pace that's far faster than anything seen in 65 million years. With speeds up to a hundred times faster than in the past, ecosystems are finding it hard to adjust. So what has happened in the last 150 years that has changed our climate and landscape so drastically?
introduction
The greenhouse effect is a natural process that is millions of years old. It plays a critical role in regulating the overall temperature of the Earth. The greenhouse effect was first discovered by Joseph Fourier in 1827, experimentally verified by John Tyndall in 1861, and quantified by Svante Arrhenius in 1896.
Greenhouse gas refers to the mix of gases that is in our atmosphere. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. They occur naturally in our atmosphere.
When sunlight reaches the surface of the Earth, some of it is absorbed which warms the ground and some bounces back to space as heat. Greenhouse gases that are in the atmosphere absorb and then redirect some of this heat back towards the Earth.
We need greenhouse gas to keep us warm, without these gases the temperature on the planet would be at the maximum of -18C°, and the human kind wouldn’t survive, as frostbite can occur within 5 minutes in temperatures between -17.8C° and -28.3C°.
Although water vapor holds most of the Earth’s greenhouse gas, it does not control the Earth’s temperature, it is controlled by temperature. The temperature is controlled by non-condensable gases, mainly carbon dioxide (73%) and with smaller contributions from methane (18%), nitrous oxide (6%) and man-made fluorinated gases (3%). Non-condensable gases have been building up in the atmosphere ever since Industrial Revolution at around 1750, when we began burning large amounts of fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas), releasing carbon that has been stored underground for millions of years. But since the middle of the 20th century, small amounts of man-made gases, mostly chlorine- and fluorine-containing solvents and refrigerants, have been added to the mix. Because these gases are not condensable at atmospheric temperatures and pressures, the atmosphere can pack in much more of these gases. And all these extra greenhouse gas, as well as other gases, like methane from melting tundras as well as cattle, means the atmosphere is warming, globally.
We all, at least once, have heard about climate change, global warming or their consequences. But do we really know what it is? In his talk, David Roberts speaks about the process of climate change and how such an event can happen. Here is a small video explaining what climate change is and where it comes from.
Main types of greenhouse gases emitted by human activities:
An updated list of the GWP AR5 can be found here.
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. In 2016, CO2 accounted for about 78% of all Europe greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. Carbon dioxide is naturally present in the atmosphere as part of the Earth's gases necessary for the life cycle and mostly plants and trees. Human activities are altering the life-cycle for both by adding more CO2 to the atmosphere and by influencing the size of natural carbon transformers, like forests for example, in order to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. While CO2 emissions come from a variety of natural sources, human-related emissions are responsible for this dangerous increase in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution.
Methane
In 2016, Methane was the second emitted gas in Europe, with approximately 12% of the emissions. Methane is 25 to 100 times more destructive than carbon dioxide. Animal agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, more than the combined exhaust from all transportation. This gas is a threat for the greenhouse effect and if we reduce methane emissions, the level of the atmosphere can go down very quickly, even within decades. This is the reason why countries focus on reducing emissions of this gas more than others.
Nitrous oxide
Represents 6% of global emissions. It comes from agricultural activities, such as burning of biomass and chemicals such as nitric acid. This gas is approximately 256 times more dangerous than CO2. Livestock is responsible for 65% of all nitrous oxide emissions.
Fluorinated gases
It represents 3% of all emissions in Europe. These gases are used in refrigeration systems and in aerosols and foam insulation. Fluorinated gases have a warming power 1,300 to 24,000 times than that of carbon dioxide and a very long lifespan. This is why they represent a real danger despite the modest share they represent in the total Greenhouse Gases emissions. The most impactful Fluorinated gas is Sulfur Hexafluoride, a gas used in tennis balls, which is 22.800 times more impact than 1kg of CO2.
Main causes of an increased greenhouse effect
Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the most important sources of gas emissions. This sector emits CO2, nitrous gases, fluorinated gases and the most important methane. Approximately 70% of the total methane emissions come from livestock farming and has a warming potential 86 times more than CO2 for the planet. Nitrous emissions are also very harmful because it is a gas with 256 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide and which can stay in the atmosphere more than 150 years.
According to studies, animal agriculture is responsible for at least 50% of the human caused climate change. This number is terrifying because scientists are predicting a rise of 80% in animal agriculture for 2040, if nothing changes. Livestock and its byproducts are also responsible for the destruction of rain forests. Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 91% of Amazon destruction. Since trees play a crucial role in the storage of CO2, cutting them also means that greenhouse gases increase.
Transport
Transportation contributes 13% of the total CO2 emissions. According to research by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), real-world emissions of CO2 are up to 40% higher than emissions measured in the testing laboratory. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) are the two main air pollutants from road transport. But much is unknown about the maritime transport and the lack of regulation about the fuels they use. Air transportation also plays a huge role in nitrous emissions, with the absence of filters on their exhaust.
Although CO2 is necessary for green life, in extremely high and concentrated doses it does the exact opposite, causing a greenhouse effect. The train is the best way of transportation, with the lowest spending in energy, the rail transportation represents only 0.5% of the emissions of greenhouse gases in the transportation sector. Instead of making air flights so cheap, they should make the train rides much cheaper!
Industry
Industry in Holland is one of the biggest sources of emissions with more than 28% of the total emissions. For this sector, the real problem is about the type of gases and chemical products that are emitted by companies. They use harmful products that can be more than 250 times more dangerous than carbon dioxide. These products are for instance nitrous gases, fuels, pesticides, and methane.
Household (private use)
Even if individual effort made by people are concentrated on reducing our consumption on electricity or water, the share on climate change for a private use is quite small compared to the industry or agriculture. Even if this share is around 11% of the total emissions, it is not so significant because private use emits mostly CO2 which is the least harmful greenhouse gas. According to studies, private emissions are responsible of 6% of the total climate change.
Deforestation
We don’t really know the share of deforestation in the process of global warming because we don’t account it as an emission, but we do know it leads to other harmful activities. Trees are very important as they are able to transform CO2 into oxygen, which is essential for humans and animals in order to breathe. They also play at vital role in cloud forming and the cooling of our planet. It is estimated that trees in tropical rain forests lower the planet’s temperature around -15 degrees Celsius.
In just 40 years we have lost half of all our rain forests, the equivalent of Europe. And we are losing 27 soccer fields of rain forest every minute. And with it, over 50% of all living land species. Over time we have lost all forests globally. The seas fringing land make up less than a tenth of the world’s oceans, yet astonishingly, 90 percent of all marine creatures live in these coastal waters. The shallow seas are vitally important in the fight against climate change. Seagrass absorb 35 times as much carbon dioxide as the same area of rain forest.
The rest of the oxygen you breath (60%) comes from marine photosynthesizers. Our climate change is causing large-scale ocean deoxygenation, as warmer waters hold less oxygen.
Clouds affect the energy Earth receives, keeps and emits back to space - it's all a matter of balance. Dr. Bruce Wielicki is senior scientist for Earth science at NASA's Langley Research Center. His research has focused on clouds and their role in Earth's radiative energy balance for more than 25 years. He served as principal investigator on NASA's CERES science team and as co-investigator on the CALIPSO missions. NASA is now gearing up for a mission to compile the most accurate climate data ever. Dr. Wielicki is Mission Scientist for CLARREO which will provide accurate, credible and tested climate records that lay the groundwork for decisions on policies that address the effects of climate change on society.
global warming and sea ice
We can already feel the effects of global warming in our environment, as there is an increase of environmental disasters like storms, droughts, wildfires or hurricanes. Human activities are estimated to have caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels, with a likely range of 0.8°C to 1.2°C. Global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate. If the predictions from scientists are true, the global warming can even reach 5C° above pre-industrial levels, by 2100.
Every 20 Minutes 75 tons of ice breaks in green land. Glaciers always gave ice to the sea, but now it happens twice as fast as it did 10 years ago. Therefore sweet water is now blending with salt water, disrupting ocean currents.
Sea Ice is not just crucial to the lives of those creatures that live around the poles. It plays a vital role in determining the climate of the whole planet. A white surface keeps the earth cool by reflecting most of the sun’s energy back into space. A dark surface does the opposite, absorbing over 90% of the sun’s energy and so warming the earth.
As the sea ice shrinks we’re starting to lose on of our planet’s protective white shields. For thousands of year there’s been a balance in the advance and retreat of the sea ice, but that is no longer the case. Today during the summer months there is 40 percent less sea ice cover than there was in 1980. The arctic is warming twice as fast as anywhere else on our planet. By 2040, the ocean here will be largely free of ice during the summer months.
This loss of ice will inevitably have devastating consequences for all those that still depend on it. All across our planet crucial connections are being disrupted. The stability that we and all life relies upon is being lost. What we do in the next 20 years will determine the future for all life on earth.
If you want to know what the changing climate is doing to the earth, ask someone who's been there. Jason Briner has been above the Arctic Circle more than 35 times. He takes the big topic of global warming and shows you what it's doing to a very important place in this talk. Jason P. Briner is an Associate Professor of Geology at the University at Buffalo. Briner’s research expertise lies in glaciers and climate, specifically in Arctic regions. His passion for Arctic environs obviously explains why, in 2005, Briner moved to Buffalo, NY. Briner has been above the Arctic Circle more than 35 times for his research, in the remote corners of Alaska, Arctic Canada, Greenland and Norway.
What if we took out more greenhouse gases than we put into the atmosphere? This hypothetical scenario, known as "drawdown," is our only hope of averting climate disaster, says strategist Chad Frischmann. In a forward-thinking talk, he shares solutions to climate change that exist today, conventional tactics like the use of renewable energy and better land management as well as some lesser-known approaches, like changes to food production, better family planning and the education of girls. Learn more about how we can reverse global warming and create a world where regeneration, not destruction, is the rule.
This week at the conscious club we will present in detail all the ways climate change is affecting our world today, including possible solutions to see what you can do to help!
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Film: Our Planet (2019), Chasing Coral (2017), Cowspiracy (2014)
