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By Euan McDonnell

The Chemistry of Climate Change

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Eighteen months after the first earthrise picture was seen on earth, the modern environmental movement began; the first earth day was organised and we learned that the sky is not the limitless expanse it appears to be.

We are on a dangerous path to surging oceans, stronger storms, extreme heat and crippling drought but if we step back and think for a second surely we can solve this climate change crisis, before it seals our doom.

Introduction

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Beliefs on climate change vary around the world.

A global median of 78% support the idea of their country joining a global agreement in Paris to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

While 67% of people believe they will have to make major lifestyle changes to combat climate change, and just 22% say technology will solve the problem.

Our Views

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The average temperature on the surface of the Earth would be about -20°C if it wasn’t for the greenhouse effect, keeping the Earth at a temperature sustainable to life. But it can potentially warm the Earth at a faster rate than life can adapt to.

Carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons and water vapour let sunlight pass through the atmosphere. When the sunlight hits the Earth’s surface, it changes to heat and then gets trapped by the greenhouse gases on its way back towards space.

Greenhouse Effect

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Scientists have been drilling and collecting ice core samples for over 50 years, microscopic air bubbles trapped in these ice cores show that the current concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide is 100 parts per million higher than any time in the last 400,000 years.

Examples include the Law Dome, Siple and Vostok ice cores collected in Antarctica which provide 400,000 years of history.

Ice Core Data

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0.04% of the atmosphere is Carbon Dioxide, much higher than at any time in the last 400,000 years, and could soon reach levels comparable to 3 million years ago, when the sea level was at least fifty feet higher.

Carbon Dioxide

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Atmospheric concentrations of methane are rising at an increasingly dramatic rate across the globe, especially in the tropics which accounts for 2/3 of the world’s methane releases.

Concentrations are now reaching more than 1,840 parts per billion today, a level unseen in at least two decades and over double the concentrations of the pre-industrial era, 700 ppb.

A much more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, methane is said to be the main contributor to recent global warming and is mainly produced in the agricultural field; cattle producing the most.

Although it is also a main component of natural gas, America’s leading power source for electricity, it can leak during the fracking process and escape from pipelines unnoticed.

Methane

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Natural causes, such as volcanic activity, changes in the shape of the Earth’s orbit, changes in the tilt of the Earth’s axis, and the increasing amount of energy being outputted by the sun, have caused climate changes on Earth over the past 4.5 billion years. Yet the increase of temperatures today is mostly due to modern industry and transportation.

Today, we are spewing 110 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every 24 hours, from agriculture, diet, population, management of forests, transportation, the oceans, melting of the permafrost and dirty carbon based fuels, the latter accounting for 85% of all the energy that our world burns every year.

Different Causes

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15 of the top 16 hottest years on record have come since the year 2000.

Average humidity worldwide has gone up more than 4%.

2016 began with an average temperature 1.5 degrees greater than the pre-industrial age and places in the Middle East are already experiencing temperatures in excess of 50 degrees.

By 2015, the earth had experienced the highest on record global ocean heat content, global surface temperature and global sea level, the latter 70mm higher than that observed in 1993.

Global Warming So Far

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Due to the rapid rate at which the world is warming, 50% of all living species on Earth could be extinct by 2100. Goldenrod, a North American plant, was introduced to Europe in the 18th century and has only now adapted to each of its local environments. Only versatile species like cockroaches, tawny owls and pink salmon are going to have enough time to adapt.

Animals including mosquitoes and ticks which carry microbial diseases, are moving toward the poles at an average rate of 15 feet per day.

Effect on Wildlife

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Oceans are evaporating more water vapour into the skies, creating atmospheric rivers that funnel the water vapour over the land, and storm conditions are triggering massive record-breaking downpours.

In July 2014, it rained for two days in Houston, Texas: 162 billion gallons.

Wetter Climates

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A 2 metre rise of the water level, which some climate experts say is a modest forecast, could sink much of the Maldives, the coastal areas of Bangladesh, and as much as four fifths of Florida’s economy.

Some buildings under construction in Miami Beach may already be too low, as flooding has begun to submerge whole city blocks.

Although melting to a record low since 2002, the floating Arctic ice displaces as much water as it weighs, and so the melting of it won’t cause a rise in sea level. But the melting of glaciers and ice sheets in Antarctica, Greenland and Glacier National Park, Montana, the latter set to lose all its glaciers by 2070, is resulting in the rise of sea level.

Rise in Sea Level

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The world’s tallest thermometer is in Baker, California, and can record temperatures as high as 59°C, but in 30 years this thermometer, scientists believe, may not be high enough.

The extra heat is causing deeper, longer, more persuasive droughts, drying out the vegetation and causing more fires; the 2006-2011 drought in Syria displaced 1.5 million refugees.

Drier Climates

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Hurricanes have also increased in quantity by 40% over the last fifty years. As the earth warms up, the oceans warm up and there is more energy available for extreme tropical cyclones.

Windier Climates

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The Tar Sands oil region of Alberta Canada is one of North America’s biggest suppliers of energy, and has made Canada the largest carbon polluter per capita on earth. Communities based near the facility have experienced high rates of cancer, which many believe is due to the chemical run-off now collecting in toxic pools large enough to be seen from space.

The accumulated amount of man-made global warming pollution now traps as much extra heat energy as would be released by 400,000 Hiroshima classed atomic bombs exploding every 24 hours, 365 days a year.

Current Damage

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Although having only 0.85% of the worlds population, the UK represents 2% of world emissions averaging out at nearly 10 tons of CO2 per person annually.

On the other hand the US has only 4% of the world’s population, yet it emits 19% of the worlds CO2.

Level of Pollution by Country

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Pre-21st century scientists Tyndall, Arrhenius, Callendar and Keeling predicted global warming.

Researchers claim that the agricultural sector; the flooding of rice paddies, the management of manure and enteric fermentation in the stomachs of ruminant animals such as cattle, is responsible for 15% – 25% of global greenhouse gas annually.

Scientific Research

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Over 10 years ago, Joe Dorgan, a Prince Edward Island dairy farmer, decided to go into business producing seaweed feed for cattle after he discovered that his cows were more productive eating it.

A Nova Scotia researcher discovered that the feed cut the amount of methane gas produced in cows by about 20 per cent, and agricultural scientist, Rob Kinley, found seaweeds in Australia that virtually eliminated the methane.

Right now, there’s not enough of the particular seaweed readily available to make it commercially viable, but other seaweeds are already being farmed for use in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and fertilizers.

Seaweed and Cattle

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If the climate turns out to be more sensitive than we think, then we will most likely exceed the 2°C we had hoped to keep below in the Paris Agreement.

Scientists have now developed thoughts surrounding geoengineering to battle climate change. Two examples of geoengineering are; gathering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and preventing sunlight from entering the atmosphere. This ongoing research is reassuring however there is still some way to go. More research is required to establish how effective these methods of geoengineering are.

Scientific Ideas

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Engineers and geophysicists are also designing floating cities, synthetic trees that can absorb over a thousand times more CO2 than real ones, and modern electric cars.

Since 2007, scientists have also begun a citizen science project on the website Zooniverse, which digitises all ship records on temperature going back to the 18th century, for people to transcribe.

Inventions

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18 years ago, we thought at best we would be able to install 30 GW of wind capacity by 2010; we beat that mark 14.5 times.

16 years ago we thought at best we would install 1 GW of solar capacity per year by 2010; we beat that mark 17 times.

On one day alone in December 2015, Germany got 81% of all its energy from renewable sources.

Previous Expectations

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Every hour we get enough energy from the sun to supply the world’s energy needs for an entire year.

Because of places like Bangladesh, which installs 2 solar cell systems per minute on average per day, the demand for solar has helped the cost drop 10% per year for the last 30 years.

Solar

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On April 22, 2016, agreement was reached between leaders and representatives from more than 150 countries at the United Nations Climate Change conference.

Leading from this, a plan to develop 65% renewable energy and 35% nuclear energy or carbon sequestration by 2030, has been developed to decarbonise the UK electricity supply.

Governments

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Last year, China announced that starting in 2017, they will adopt a nationwide Cap and Trade system.

The Cap and Trade Scheme forces large polluters to keep their emissions below a certain level, the cap, to do this they can embrace cleaner energy, buy carbon offsets generated by projects that reduce carbon emissions, or face a hefty fine.

Cap and Trade

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Walk, ride bikes, use public transport, buy electric cars, invest in renewable energy or buy green products while also encouraging government representatives to deal with climate change.

What Can We Do?

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At the moment, some islanders are seeing their low-lying lands sink beneath the sea, water supplies are literally evaporating into thin air and, historic hurricanes and tsunamis are ravaging worldwide coastlines.

There is no question that we have got the technology and knowhow to change the world, but technology alone won’t save us, it begins with attitude.

We are making some efforts in solving this crisis, but only after we all accept that its happening and we are causing it, can we ever hope to solve it before it is too late.

Every single thing, each and everyone of us does, affects everybody all over the world, because its one global ecosystem. So use less energy, drive less inefficient cars, turn off the lights and in doing so, you will be helping secure a better future for generations to come.

Conclusion