Climate Change is Our Responsibility

Humans are responsible for a lot of changes in the environment, especially the amount of greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere that contribute to global warming. Industrial emissions release carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which greatly speeds up global warming. 

We rely heavily on fossil fuels to run our cars and machinery which is not sustainable in the long term. Wildfires cause even more air pollution, and they consistently happen because of arid environments worldwide.

Ever since data collection of carbon dioxide in the air, measured in parts per million (PPM), started in 1979, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere has only steadily risen. From 337 PPM in 1979 to 417 PPM in 2023, there has been an increase of over 20 percent. Because of this, we have seen hotter days and heatwaves because of the contribution to the effect of global warming. 

Storms are more severe and more likely to occur. Changes in temperature lead to changes in precipitation, ultimately causing floods and landslides. Not to mention the increased severity of droughts.

Humans contribute to these emissions by running factories, cars, stoves, and industrial facilities. We need to find a clean and renewable source of energy before the planet turns into an unbearable warmth. 

The only way we can stop the process is to reduce our carbon emissions by the tons of fossil fuels burned. We will be unable to stop the excessive use of fossil fuels unless we first find a better source of energy such as solar polar, wind power, bioenergy, and hydroelectric power. 

A way that we can begin to stop global warming is once again by switching to the right energy source, but also we have to remove and store the tons of greenhouse gasses that already exist in our atmosphere. A few methods have been hypothesized such as Direct Air Capture (DAC) extracts carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere at any source. 

Carbon Capture, utilization, and storage (CCUP) starts by separating carbon dioxide, then it is compressed and transported, then it is pumped back into depleted carbon reservoirs, like gas and oil. While DAC may have fewer processes for capturing carbon dioxide, since it takes in carbon dioxide directly, it takes a lot of energy to run facilities.

Together we can reverse the horrible effects of increased carbon in the atmosphere and therefore reduce the effects of global warming.