Carbon Dioxide as a Natural Gas and the Greenhouse Effect - Essay Example

Introduction Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major component of the atmosphere. It is released through human activities such as burning fossil fuels, natural processes such as volcanic eruptions and respiration (William and Sarofirn 1991). Over the last decades, burning of coal and other fossil fuels has increased the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide (Houghton 2004). Global warming refers to climate change that occurs due to increase in the average temperature on the global earth surface and oceans. Carbon dioxide has internal vibrational modes since it has more than two atoms per molecule thus can absorb and radiate heat thus leading to the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide also can stay in the atmosphere for many years unlike water vapor thus acts as a controlling factor of the earth’s surface temperatures (Houghton 2004). Carbon dioxide and global warming Natural gases including oil and coal in automobile engines will raise the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (Pepper, Gerba and Brusseau 2006). Farming practices such use of nitrous oxide and deforestation also contributes to emission of carbon dioxide (Maslin 2002). Generally, the sun releases sunlight and heat to the earth’s surface but only 70 percent of the sunlight manages to reach the earth’s surface (Oxlade 2003). The sunlight is reflected back to the atmosphere through infrared radiation but the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reflects back the heat to the earth’s surface thus leading to global warming (Farrar 2008). Some of the longer wavelengths will be absorbed by the greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide thus warming up the atmosphere (Oxlade 2003). The carbon dioxide will act like a mirror by reflecting back to the earth heat energy thus would otherwise be lost in the atmosphere thus leading to global warming. It is estimated that carbon dioxide (CO2) caused about 6 to 26 percent of the greenhouse effect on earth’s surface (Farrar 2008). According to available statistics, the earth’s surface temperature has risen by 0.74 degrees and is expected to rise by 1.8 degrees to 4 degrees by the end of the current century (Houghton 2004). The earth’s atmosphere is composed of thousands of absorption lines (Yudelson 2008). The absorption of heat depends on the spectral location (wavelength), the strength and also the shape of each particular line. Suppose the absorption line is an inverted bell-shaped line, the amplitude of the curve or the depth will be determined by the strength of the absorption line and amount of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere (Oxlade 2003). Negative effects of global warming One of the negative impacts of global warming is melting of the polar ice caps that will lead to rise in sea levels. According to Snow data, the absolute melting of all glaciers would raise the sea levels by 230 feet (Farrar 2008). The desalination of the seas will distort the currents that control the sea temperature. The glaciers are white in colour and usually reflect some sunlight thus cooling the earth’s surface. The melting of the ices will also endanger the habitants of some special species thus leading to their extinction (Colls 2004). The increase in global warming will contribute to intense droughts and heat waves especially in dry areas such as Africa (Farrar 2008). Global warming will also lead to warmer seas thus leading to disasters like strong hurricanes that can lead to lose of lives and property especially in coastline areas (Wang, Pereira and Hung 2004). Increase in the warming will lead to migration of insects thus leading to spread of diseases by the disease carrying insects especially in Northern countries (Williams 2002). The species in arctic areas, mountains and tropical seas will migrate thus spreading diseases (Farrar 2008). The United Kingdom reduced the six greenhouse gases covered by Kyoto protocol by 549.3 million tones of carbon dioxide in 2011. Carbon dioxide alone accounted for 84 percent of the UK greenhouse emissions in 2010. The carbon dioxide emissions were 495 million tones in 2010. There has been a reduction in Carbon dioxide emissions in most of the sectors. For instance, the energy sector decreased the carbon dioxide emissions by 183.8 million tones due to repairs in the technical problems in nuclear facilities. Regulation of carbon dioxide emissions The Kyoto protocol is the main regulatory framework for reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. The protocol was negotiated in 1997 by several industrialized countries in that committed to the reduction of greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and sulphur hexafluoride (Claussen 2001). The protocol provides the action plans which each country should undertake to achieve the carbon dioxide emission targets between 2008 and 2012. The main goal was to reduce to collectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 5.2 percent below the emission level of 1990. The US was assigned a higher target of 7 percent which was the level in 1990. Countries that permit the emissions above their targets can engage in carbon trading by buying carbon credits from countries that have achieved their targets. For instance, the EU was targeted to reduce emissions by at least 7.5 percent in 2005 and 10 percent in 2010 while USA was expected to return to 1990 level by 2010. The UK was expected to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by between 5- 10 percent in 2010 (Ferrey 2010). The Clean Air Act of the United States mandates the Environmental Protection Agency to set air quality standards. Since 1997, the emissions of toxics in the air had declined by 98 percent while the emissions of carbon dioxide have dropped by 35 percent despite the increase in motor vehicles (Reitze 2001). The Clean Air Act 1993 of UK establishes smoke control areas and advocates for use of cleaner fuels thus controlling the levels of industrial and domestic carbon dioxide emissions. The Environmental protection Act of 1990 UK controls carbon dioxide nuisance through regulating smoke emitted from private dwellings, business premises or industrial areas (Reitz 2001). The US Environmental Protection Agency has proposed carbon pollution standard for the newly constructed power plants that will see the reduction of carbon emissions by 1,000 pounds per megawatt per hour. The European Union established the European Union Emissions trading system (EU ETS) in 2005 in order to address climate change due to increase in carbon dioxide emissions. The system covers more than ten thousand factories that are spread in thirty countries. The installations covered are responsible for about forty percent of the emissions (Claussen 2001). The installations including power plants must monitor and record their emissions and submit their reports to the governments. The installations receive credits from their national allowance plans for reducing the carbon dioxide emissions. According to the EU, the emissions declined by 17,000 tonnes per each installation since 2005. The system has not allowed credits on carbon sinks such as planting trees but plans are underway to lobby for the inclusion (Ferrey 2010). Policies and methods of controlling carbon dioxide emissions Many countries have accepted climate change due to greenhouse gas effect as a reality and implemented measures of controlling the emissions. Some countries have adapted by building dikes in order to off-set the negative effects of sea storms due to rising sea levels. However, this is not a serious carbon dioxide emission response since the effects of climate change are long term (Cuff and Goudie 2008). Climate engineering responses include screening the atmosphere from direct sun rays in order to alter the reflection of the rays on the earth’s surface (See 2001). This is one of the policy responses that have been rejected due to lack of economic viability. Abatement policies and strategies have been implemented to lower the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere (Haldar 2011). The options include sink enhancement emissions abatement. Sink enhancement include the technologies of filtering the carbon dioxide from the source or converting it in to solid material for safe disposal (Cuff and Goudie 2008). One of the sink enhancement strategies that have been applied worldwide is limiting deforestation and planting more trees and switching to cleaner energy sources like fuels that emit low levels of carbon dioxide (Ferrey 2010). A number of countries have implemented emission reduction targets through penalizing the manufacturing companies that exceed their carbon dioxide emission target with pollution taxes (Haldar 2011). An estimated 500,000 jobs can be created through construction and operation of bio-reactors technology. This technology can be useful in reducing the carbon dioxide emissions at the source. The bio-reactors will control the emissions by turning the air pollution in to green fuel (Claussen 2001). Carbon dioxide capture and storage is another method that can be utilized in controlling climate change. Carbon dioxide emissions are captured from the power plants and stored safely thus avoiding the release in the atmosphere (See 2001). The Intergovernmental Panel on climate change predicts that carbon dioxide capture and storage can contribute to about 15 to 55 percent to the carbon dioxide mitigation efforts in the next century. However, it requires additional energy to capture and store the carbon dioxide from the coal plants. Norway is one of the countries that have implemented the technology and has cut carbon dioxide emissions by millions of tonnes each year to almost 3 percent of the 1990 level (Haldar 2011). Conclusion Carbon dioxide is a natural gas that leads to the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is mainly responsible for global warming. There are numerous laws and international agreements like the Kyoto protocol that have been enacted to control the emissions. Carbon dioxide reflects back the sunlight to the earth’s surface thus leading to global warming. Some of the negative impacts of global warming include the rising sea levels, droughts and diseases and even extinction of some species that live in glaciers or mountains. Bibliography: Claussen, E. 2001. Climate change: science, strategies and solutions. Leiden. Brill. Colls, J.2004. Air pollution. New York. Oxford University Press. 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