Climate change

Climate change is the catch-all term for the shift in worldwide weather phenomena associated with an increase in global average temperatures. It's real and temperatures have been going up around the world for many decades.

Nasa defines climate change as: "a broad range of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels, which add heat-trapping gases to Earth’s atmosphere. These phenomena include the increased temperature trends described by global warming, but also encompass changes such as sea level rise; ice mass loss in Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and mountain glaciers worldwide; shifts in flower/plant blooming; and extreme weather events."

What are the effects of climate change?

The effects of anthropogenic – human-caused – climate change range from more frequent and severe droughts to snowstorms and extreme winter weather in temperate regions as a result of warming Arctic weather fronts.

It's not only humans that are affected. Warming ocean temperatures are increasing the frequency of coral reef bleaching; warmer, drier weather means that forests in some regions are no longer recovering from wildfires and wildlife habitats around the world are becoming less hospitable to animals.

Climate change is having economic and socio-political effects, too. Food security is already being impacted in a number of African countries and researchers are studying suggestive links between climate change and an increased likelihood of military conflict.

We're already seeing the first climate refugees as people are displaced by rising sea levels, melting Arctic permafrost and other extreme weather.

What are the causes of climate change?

We are. While a wide range of natural phenomena can radically affect the climate, publishing climate scientists overwhelmingly agree that global warming and resultant climate effects that we're witnessing are the result of human activity.

Life on Earth is dependent on an atmospheric "greenhouse" – a layer of gasses, primarily water vapour, in the lower atmosphere that trap heat from the sun as it's reflected back from the Earth, radiating it back and keeping our planet at a temperature capable of supporting life.

Why is climate denial a thing?

For many years, oil companies were heavily invested in pushing the narrative that fossil fuels did not have an impact on climate change. To this end, they bought advertising and funded organizations to cast doubt on climate change, even while their own research conclusively showed that fossil fuels are a major contributing cause of climate change. (article/what-is-climate-change-definition-causes-effects)

Global warming - the phenomenon of increasing average air temperatures near the surface of Earth over the past one to two centuries. Climate scientists have since the mid-20th century gathered detailed observations of various weather phenomena (such as temperatures, precipitation, and storms) and of related influences on climate (such as ocean currents and the atmosphere’s chemical composition). (britannica.com/science/global-warming)

A fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes, such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing energy originating in ancient photosynthesis. Such organisms and their resulting fossil fuels typically have an age of millions of years, and sometimes more than 650 million years. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuel)

Greenhouse gas, any gas that has the property of absorbing infrared radiation (net heat energy) emitted from Earth’s surface and reradiating it back to Earth’s surface, thus contributing to the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapour are the most important greenhouse gases. a gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing infrared radiation, e.g., carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons. (britannica.com/science/greenhouse-gas)

The greenhouse effect is the process by which radiation from a planet's atmosphere warms the planet's surface to a temperature above what it would be without this atmosphere. Radiatively active gases in a planet's atmosphere radiate energy in all directions. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect)

A carbon footprint is historically defined as the total emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent. A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide—released into the atmosphere by a particular human activity. A carbon footprint can be a broad measure or be applied to the actions of an individual, a family, an event, an organization, or even an entire nation. It is usually measured as tons of CO2 emitted per year, a number that can be supplemented by tons of CO2-equivalent gases, including methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases. (takepart.com/flashcards/what-is-a-carbon-footprint/index.html)

Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) is a marine renewable energy technology that harnesses the solar energy absorbed by the oceans to generate electric power. The sun’s heat warms the surface water a lot more than the deep ocean water, which creates the ocean’s naturally available temperature gradient, or thermal energy. (otecnews.org/what-is-otec)

Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources, which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural (off-grid) energy services. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy)

A non-renewable resource is a resource of economic value that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a quick enough pace to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuel. The original organic matter, with the aid of heat and pressure, becomes a fuel such as oil or gas. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-renewable_resource)

Biomass is plant or animal material used for energy production, or in various industrial processes as raw material for a range of products. It can be purposely grown energy crops, wood or forest residues, waste from food crops, horticulture, food processing, animal farming, or human waste from sewage plants. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass)

Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Greenhouse gases trap heat and make the planet warmer. Human activities are responsible for almost all of the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years

EPA tracks total U.S. emissions by publishing the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks. This annual report estimates the total national greenhouse gas emissions and removals associated with human activities across the United States.

·         Transportation (28.9 percent of 2017 greenhouse gas emissions) – The transportation sector generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation primarily come from burning fossil fuel for our cars, trucks, ships, trains, and planes. Over 90 percent of the fuel used for transportation is petroleum based, which includes primarily gasoline and diesel.

·         Electricity production (27.5 percent of 2017 greenhouse gas emissions) – Electricity production generates the second largest share of greenhouse gas emissions. Approximately 62.9 percent of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels, mostly coal and natural gas.

·         Industry (22.2 percent of 2017 greenhouse gas emissions) – Greenhouse gas emissions from industry primarily come from burning fossil fuels for energy, as well as greenhouse gas emissions from certain chemical reactions necessary to produce goods from raw materials.

·         Commercial and Residential (11.6 percent of 2017 greenhouse gas emissions) – Greenhouse gas emissions from businesses and homes arise primarily from fossil fuels burned for heat, the use of certain products that contain greenhouse gases, and the handling of waste.

·         Agriculture (9.0 percent of 2017 greenhouse gas emissions) – Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture come from livestock such as cows, agricultural soils, and rice production.

·         Land Use and Forestry (offset of 11.1 percent of 2017 greenhouse gas emissions) – Land areas can act as a sink (absorbing CO2 from the atmosphere) or a source of greenhouse gas emissions. In the United States, since 1990, managed forests and other lands have absorbed more CO2 from the atmosphere than they emit. (epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions)

Enhanced greenhouse effect

The problem we now face is that human activities – particularly burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas), agriculture and land clearing – are increasing the concentrations of greenhouse gases. This is the enhanced greenhouse effect, which is contributing to warming of the Earth. (environment.gov.au/climate-change/climate-science-data/climate-science/greenhouse-effect)

The natural greenhouse effect is a phenomenon caused by gases naturally present in the atmosphere that affect the behaviour of the heat energy radiated by the sun. In simple terms, sunlight (shortwave radiation) passes through the atmosphere, and is absorbed by Earth’s surface. This warms Earth’s surface, and then Earth radiates some of this energy (as infrared, or longwave radiation) back towards space. As it passes through the atmosphere, gases such as (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide absorb most of the energy. The energy is then re-emitted in all directions, so some energy escapes into space, but less than would have escaped if the atmosphere and its greenhouse gases weren’t there. The result is that some of the sun's energy becomes ‘trapped’—making the lower part of the atmosphere, and Earth, warmer than it would be otherwise.

The enhanced greenhouse effect and climate change

The disruption to Earth’s climate equilibrium caused by the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases has led to an increase in the global average surface temperatures. This process is called the enhanced greenhouse effect. (science.org.au/curious/earth-environment/enhanced-greenhouse-effect)

10 Ways to Stop Global Warming

·         Change a light – Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb will save 150 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. 

·         Drive less – Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more often. You'll save one pound of carbon dioxide for every mile you don't drive!

·         Recycle more – You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste.

·         Check your tires – Keeping your tires inflated properly can improve your gas mileage by more than 3 percent. Every gallon of gasoline saved keeps 20 pounds of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

·         Use less hot water – It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water by taking shorter and cooler showers and washing your clothes in cold or warm instead of hot water (more than 500 pounds of carbon dioxide saved per year).

·         Avoid products with a lot of packaging – You can save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide if you reduce your garbage by 10 percent.

·         Adjust your thermostat – Moving your thermostat down just 2 degrees in winter and up 2 degrees in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

·         Plant a tree – A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.

·         Turn off electronic devices – Simply turning off your television, DVD player, stereo, and computer, when you're not using them, will save you thousands of pounds of carbon dioxide a year. (northwestern.edu/fm/fm-staff/10-ways-to-stop-global-warming.html)

Top 10 Renewable Energy Sources

1.       Biomass or bio-energy, the energy from organic matter for thousands of years, ever since people started burning wood to cook food. Wood is still our largest biomass energy resource even today. Other sources of biomass can be used including plants, residues from agriculture or forestry and the organic components. Plants and animal matters are used for production of fibers chemicals or heat. The net emission of carbon dioxide will be zero as long as plants continue to be replenished for biomass energy purposes. Burning of plant or animal matters causes’ air and water pollution. The burning of dung destroys essential nitrogen and phosphorus. Therefore, it is more useful to convert the biomass into biogas or bio fuels.

2.       Biogas is a mixture of methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and hydrogen sulphite, the major constituents being methane. Biogas is produced by anaerobic degradation of animal and plant wastes in the presence of water. Anaerobic degradation is to break down the organic matter by bacteria in the absence of oxygen. It is a non-polluting, clean and low cost fuel which is very useful for rural areas. Biogas plants used in our country are of two types; fixed dome biogas plant and floating drum biogas plant.

3.       Tidal energy is not a very popular energy source, but has immense potential of becoming one in the near future. Tidal energy can be generated in two ways, tidal stream generators or by barrage generation. The power created through tidal generators is generally environmental friendly and causes less impact on established ecosystems. It is similar to the wind energy. Tidal energy is the only form of energy that derives directly from the motions of the Earth-Moon system. The tidal forces produced by the Moon-Sun in combination with Earth’s rotation are responsible for the tides.

4.       Wind energy is a conversion of wind energy by wind turbines into a useful form, such as electricity or mechanical energy. Wind farms are installed on agricultural land or grazing areas, have one of the lowest environmental impacts of all energy sources. The principal application of wind power today is the generation of electricity, historically; it has been used directly to propel sailing ships or converted into mechanical energy for pumping water or grinding grains.

5.       Geothermal energy is the heat from Earth. It’s clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth’s surface and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma. The steam or hot water comes out of the cracks in the Earth and when it doesn’t find any way to come out, holes are drilled with pipes in it to gush the hot water out due to high pressure which turn the turbines of a generator to produce electricity.

6.       Radiant Energy - 99% of the cost of normal electricity can be saved by the use of radiant energy. It performs the same functions, but doesn’t possess behavior similar to electricity. Nikola Tesla’s magnifying transmitter, T Henry Moray’s radiant energy device, Edwin Gray’s EMA motor & Paul Baumann’s Testatika machine all ran on radiant energy. Nikola Tesla built one of the earliest wireless telephones to be based on radiant energy.

7.       Hydro Electricity - This is the most widely used form of renewable energy. The gravitation force of falling water is the key point in hydroelectricity generation. Small scale hydro or micro-hydro power has been an increasingly popular alternative energy source, especially in remote areas where other power sources are not viable. The hydro power sites has a few major environmental problems like water logging and siltation, Causes loss to biodiversity of fish population and other aquatic animals. It also displaces local people and creates problems of rehabilitation and related socio-economic problems.

8.       Compressed Natural Gas - Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a substitute for gasoline, diesel or propane fuel. It is cleaner and safer to use as it diffuses easily into the surroundings if leaked. However, burning it does release a few greenhouse gases in the air. CNG is used in traditional gasoline internal combustion engine cars that have been converted into bi-fuel vehicles.

9.       Solar Energy - The sun offers an ideal energy source, unlimited in supply, expensive, which does not add to the earth’s total heat burden and does not produce air and water pollutants. Solar installations in recent years have also largely begun to expand into residential areas with government offering incentive programs to make “green” energy a more economically viable option.

10.   Nuclear Energy - Proponents of nuclear energy contend that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions and increases energy security by decreasing dependence on foreign oil. Nuclear fission is used to extract energy from atomic nuclei via controlled nuclear reactions. Utility scale reactors are use to produce steam which is then converted into mechanical work for the purpose of generating electricity or propulsion. (atomberg.com/top-10-renewable-energy-sources)

Types of Non-Renewable Energy

·         Coal comes from the remains of plants that died hundreds of millions of years ago. It has the highest level of carbon of all fossil fuels.

·         Oil – also known as petroleum – can be extracted and refined in order to make products such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

·         Natural gas was formed from the remains of tiny sea plants and animals that died millions of years ago. It is mainly composed of methane.

·         Nuclear energy is released when atoms' nuclei are fused together (fusion) or split apart (fission). Nuclear power plants produce electricity through nuclear fission.

Causes of the Energy Crisis

It would be easy to point a finger at one practice or industry and lay the blame for the entire energy crisis at their door, but that would be a very naive and unrealistic interpretation of the cause of the crisis.

1. Overconsumption: The energy crisis is a result of many different strains on our natural resources, not just one. There is a strain on fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal due to overconsumption – which then in turn can put a strain on our water and oxygen resources by causing pollution.

2. Overpopulation: Another cause of the crisis has been the steady increase in the world’s population and its demands for fuel and products. No matter what type of food or products you choose to use – from fair trade and organic to those made from petroleum products in a sweatshop – not one of them is made or transported without a significant drain on our energy resources.

3. Poor Infrastructure: Aging infrastructure of power generating equipment is yet another reason for energy shortage. Most of the energy producing firms keep on using outdated equipment that restricts the production of energy. It is the responsibility of utilities to keep on upgrading the infrastructure and set a high standard of performance.

4. Unexplored Renewable Energy Options: Renewable energy still remains unused is most of the countries. Most of the energy comes from non-renewable sources like coal. It still remains the top choice to produce energy. Unless we give renewable energy a serious thought, the problem of energy crisis cannot be solved. Renewable energy sources can reduce our dependance on fossil fuels and also helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

5. Delay in Commissioning of Power Plants: In few countries, there is a significant delay in commissioning of new power plants that can fill the gap between demand and supply of energy. The result is that old plants come under huge stress to meet the daily demand for power. When supply doesn’t matches demand, it results in load shedding and breakdown.

6. Wastage of Energy: In most parts of the world, people do not realize the importance of conserving energy. It is only limited to books, internet, newspaper ads, lip service and seminars. Unless we give it a serious thought, things are not going to change anytime sooner. Simple things like switching off fans and lights when not in use, using maximum daylight, walking instead of driving for short distances, using CFL instead of traditional bulbs, proper insulation for leakage of energy can go a long way in saving energy. Read here about 151 ways of saving energy.

7. Poor Distribution System: Frequent tripping and breakdown are result of a poor distribution system.

8. Major Accidents and Natural Calamities: Major accidents like pipeline burst and natural calamities like eruption of volcanoes, floods, earthquakes can also cause interruptions to energy supplies. The huge gap between supply and demand of energy can raise the price of essential items which can give rise to inflation.

9. Wars and Attacks: Wars between countries can also hamper supply of energy specially if it happens in Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, UAE or Qatar. That’s what happened during 1990 Gulf war when price of oil reached its peak causing global shortages and created major problem for energy consumers.

10. Miscellaneous Factors: Tax hikes, strikes, military coup, political events, severe hot summers or cold winters can cause sudden increase in demand of energy and can choke supply. A strike by unions in an oil producing firm can definitely cause an energy crisis.

Possible Solutions of the Energy Crisis

Many of the possible solutions are already in place today, but they have not been widely adopted.

1. Move Towards Renewable Resources: The best possible solution is to reduce the world’s dependence on non-renewable resources and to improve overall conservation efforts. Much of the industrial age was created using fossil fuels, but there is also known technology that uses other types of renewable energies – such as steam, solar and wind. The major concern isn’t so much that we will run out of gas or oil, but that the use of coal is going to continue to pollute the atmosphere and destroy other natural resources in the process of mining the coal that it has to be replaced as an energy source. This isn’t easy as many of the leading industries use coal, not gas or oil, as their primary source of power for manufacturing.

2. Buy Energy Efficient products: Replace traditional bulbs with CFL’s and LED’s. They use less watts of electricity and last longer. If millions of people across the globe use LED’s and CFL’s for residential and commercial purposes, the demand for energy can go down and an energy crisis can be averted.

3. Lighting Controls: There are a number of new technologies out there that make lighting controls that much more interesting and they help to save a lot of energy and cash in the long run. Preset lighting controls, slide lighting, touch dimmers, integrated lighting controls are few of the lighting controls that can help to conserve energy and reduce overall lighting costs.

4. Easier Grid Access: People who use different options to generate power must be given permission to plug into the grid and getting credit for power you feed into it. The hassles of getting credit of supplying surplus power back into the grid should be removed. Apart from that, subsidy on solar panels should be given to encourage more people to explore renewable options.

5. Energy Simulation: Energy simulation software can be used by big corporates and corporations to redesign building unit and reduce running business energy cost. Engineers, architects and designers could use this design to come with most energy efficient building and reduce carbon footprint.

6. Perform Energy Audit: Energy audit is a process that helps you to identify the areas where your home or office is losing energy and what steps you can take to improve energy efficiency. Energy audit when done by a professional can help you to reduce your carbon footprint, save energy and money and avoid energy crisis.

7. Common Stand on Climate Change: Both developed and developing countries should adopt a common stand on climate change. They should focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through an effective cross border mechanism. With current population growth and over consumption of resources, the consequences of global warming and climate change cannot be ruled out. Both developed and developing countries must focus on emissions cuts to cut their emission levels to half from current levels by 2050.