Before we understand the impact climate change will have on our planet, we first need to understand why atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are increasing and how high they could go.
The Earth’s atmosphere consists of a variety of gases that wrap the entire surface of the planet.1 These gases, which are held in place by gravity, are made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon and trace amounts of a variety of other gases.2 It also contains a variable amount of water vapour, on average around 2%.3 The atmosphere is essential to all life on Earth.4 It provides oxygen for us to breathe, it filters out harmful light, and it stores the heat created by the sun.5 Without the atmosphere, the Earth would be a frozen, lifeless rock floating in space.6
The planet’s ability to retain the sun’s heat depends primarily on the trace gases, more commonly known as greenhouse gases, contained within the atmosphere.7 This is made possible by the more complex molecular structure of the greenhouse gases which allows them to capture the heat created by the sun.8 This effectively creates a warm blanket protecting us from the cold of outer space.9 It also means higher concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere make the Earth warmer and lower concentrations of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere make the Earth cooler. Due to the burning of fossil fuels, and a variety of other human activities, concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are increasing, which is resulting in progressively rising global temperatures.10 Of these gases, the most prominent is carbon dioxide, with all other gases measured in relation to the impact carbon dioxide has on our atmosphere.11
Since the beginning of the industrial age, the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere has increased from around 285 to 430 parts per million (ppm).12 This is the greatest amount of carbon dioxide equivalent in the atmosphere in nearly five million years.13 Incredibly though, if our greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at the current rate, we could soon be locked into concentrations of more than 1,000 ppm.14 That is nearly a four-fold increase from pre-industrial levels and will almost certainly lead to a global temperature rise of some 4°C.15 While a temperature rise of this magnitude may not sound like a problem to many of us, the consequences would be cataclysmic.
To demonstrate just how serious things are, let’s assume that our emissions continue to increase at the current rate and see what scientists believe our planet is going to look like by the end of the century.
Image created by SUPER RADICAL LTD. Earth underlay sourced from ‘Station View of Tropical Storm Arthur‘, taken by NASA and reproduced in accordance with NASA guidelines. Satellite overlay sourced from ‘Hubble in Orbit‘, taken by the ESA/Hubble and reproduced under Creative Commons license CC BY 4.0. Stars underlay sourced from ‘Starry Night‘ taken by Kamil Porembiński, released on Flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons license CC BY-SA 2.0.
Barrels of oil equivalent is based on 1628.2 kWh of energy being contained within each barrel. Data sourced from Unit Juggler – 'Converter: Barrel of Oil Equivalent to Kilowatt-Hour' – unitjuggler.com.
The volume of one tonne of carbon dioxide is equivalent to 556.2 cubic metres. Sourced from International Carbon Bank and Exchange – 'CO2 Volume Calculation' – www.icbe.com.
For further information about any of the sources listed, please visit the ZERO EMISSION WORLD Works Cited page.
For further information about any of the above sources, please visit the ZERO EMISSION WORLD Works Cited page.
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Imagine that we stop all human-made greenhouse gas emissions today. Would this put a stop to climate change and reverse the damage that has already been done or would climate change still happen anyway?
Our planet could look very different come 2100. Even assuming we stop all human-made emissions by 2060, temperatures will likely rise by more than 4°C and sea-levels by 1.5 metres. This will lead to billions losing their lives.
Our increasing demand for fossil fuel is likely to tip Greenland's ice sheets into runaway melting, result in entire nations being washed away and cause over two-hundred million people to lose their life before the conclusion of the 2030s.
Even if we switch to renewables by 2060, the last ten years of the 21st century will likely witness average global temperatures rising by some 4.1°C, peak temperatures rising by 14°C and occurrences of El Niño and La Niña doubling.
Stopping human-made greenhouse gas emissions by 2060 will not prevent climate. In fact, by the 2080s, it will likely have resulted in the equivalent of half the world's cropland being destroyed as well as sea levels rising by nearly one metre.
Even if our greenhouse gas emissions stop come 2060, the 2070s will likely see average global temperatures rise by some 3.5°C, giant bushfires devastate Australia and much of the Amazon being destroyed by forest fires.
If our emissions continue to increase at the current rate, the 2060s will see most of the much of the tropical ocean becoming toxic to marine life, entire cities being abandoned and much of the world's water supplies drying up.
By the middle of the century, our increasing emissions will likely result in Africa being abandoned, torrential rail flooding much of China, one-third of all species going extinct and our vegetation releasing more carbon dioxide than it absorbs.
Should our emissions continue to increase at the current rate, forest fires are likely to batter much of Europe while rising sea-levels and raging storms are likely to decimate many of the world's most famous cities.
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Make no mistake, climate change is the biggest threat we have ever faced. If we continue to emit greenhouse gases at the current rate, our planet will be beyond salvation in less than a decade. We need to act fast, and we need to act now, but what can we do? ZERO EMISSION WORLD is an all-encompassing graphical solution to climate change that demonstrates how human-made emissions can be reduced to zero by the year 2050. This includes explaining how we can dramatically reduce the amount of energy our buildings, vehicles, and factories consume while also demonstrating how we can power our remaining energy demand using only renewable technologies.
If you found this article interesting, please donate to ZERO EMISSION WORLD. By doing this, you will help us to create more articles just like this one. Furthermore, your donation will help us travel to schools, colleges, businesses and universities where we will not only talk about the climate change, but also how to stop it. Finally, your donations will help us to create a travelling ZERO EMISSION WORLD exhibition that will further educate people on how to put a stop climate change.
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March 13, 2020 @ 3:00 pm
This is a test comment. Just testing whether it works when the placeholders are added.
March 14, 2020 @ 12:05 pm
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