The Debate Surrounding Global Climate Change Affects Millions Of People

Global warming is one of the most tumultuous topics in today’s society. Some believe it is happening as we speak, while others question its very existence, So, is it real, or is merely a hoax? There is no one answer, but evidence does overwhelmingly support the former. Surely we have all heard this word at one time or another, but few individuals actually know its true definition. Justifiably, however, global warming is not that simply explained. In layman’s terms, it is the dramatic increase in the Earth’s average air and ocean temperature since the 20th century. This increase is primarily attributed to two main culprits: the greenhouse effect and human activity, such as fossil fuel burning. In both cases, carbon dioxide (CO2) is the

The rapidly increasing amount of carbon dioxide may be one of the factors that cause climate change. As Hillman states, “Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are increasing, and have done so since the Industrial Revolution.” An atmospheric CO2 concentration, research shows that there is a dramatic increase from 280 parts per million (ppm) in 1750 to 373 ppm in 2002, a rise of the third. Furthermore, the linear chart demonstrated the trend of annual global CO2

Does the high level of Carbon Dioxide (C02) possibly harm the Earth’s planetary biosphere, or has it already done so; in fact, many worldwide scientists have protested that the Earth is at its ‘tipping point’ but no efforts have been adapted to save the biosphere? A support of this controversial topic; congressional meeting and testimony, is from one of the top U.S. climate scientists, James Hansen to Former Vice President Al Gore, with an emphasis on the cause of C02. Beyond the ozone layer is atmospherically holey, Earth’s temperature is rising, and the climate changing conversely, one that people trivialized the most is: Global warming. Increasingly, subject to concern not only via online discussion, magazine and

In today’s world, the topic of energy is dominated by one thing: ancient organic matter. Carbon and oxygen that existed in this matter when it was alive is still present and is released in the form of carbon dioxide when the coal and oil it was compressed into is burned. The problem is that the carbon that was buried over millions of years was never naturally supposed to be released back into the atmosphere it used to exist in at such an alarming rate. The amount of carbon dioxide flooding into our atmosphere needs to be limited or there will be severe consequences in our future.

Global warming and climate change attributed to increased emission of greenhouse gases have continued to be pressing issues in today’s society since they threaten the stability of the climate, population, and economy of the world (“Meeting the Energy Challenge”, 2007). The challenges associated with global warming and climate change is attributed to the fact that 75 percent of world’s carbon dioxide

Scranton writes, “Many critics question whether renewable energy will ever be a feasible alternative to carbon fuels, pointing out that its cost-to-energy ratios are simply too high” (46). Renewable energy sources are expensive to set-up and maintain and their energy is not efficient or reliable enough for widespread use. CCS shares the problem of cost with renewable energy along with being underdeveloped. Scranton writes, “CCS is a new and expensive technology that stands little chance of being developed on a global scale quickly enough for it to make a real difference” (50). Scranton helps the reader understand, in practice, CCS is unlikely to solve global warming because it is too expensive to develop on a scale that might make a difference.

We have all heard statistics over how unmitigated global warming can lead to rising sea levels, increased temperatures, lower rates of precipitation. The Congressional Budget Office recently found that climate change, if unmitigated, would create costly damage not only to the United States’s economy, but also to the world as a whole (source). Despite a scientific and general consensus that climate change is real and a problem, actual committed action against climate change has been disappointingly slow, until recently. We also know the cause of climate change. The United States EPA finds that “Carbon dioxide accounts for most of the nation’s emissions and most of the increase since 1990” (EPA). What we don’t know is a solution.

Climate change, specifically in reference to C02 Emissions released by human use of fossil fuels and their consequential effects on the environment, is perhaps one of the most pressing issues we, not just as Americans, but as human beings face in our lifetimes. Though it may sound like a sensationalist statement the facts are hard to deny. In May of 2013, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Climate change or colloquially known as global warming, now pose a new threat to civilization as the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) are soaring to new levels. The most significant contributor to greenhouse gasses would be Carbon Dioxide (Co2). The levels of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) gas have risen to levels civilization has not seen before. As such, the effects of these levels are not known to civilization as data gathered from the ice cores drilled in the Antarctica only shows data up to 650,000 years ago. However we can conclude that present CO2 concentrations are higher compared to any time in the last 650,000 years (IPCC 2007). Current carbon dioxide concentrations are hovering around 389 parts per million (ppm) as of September 2011,

This is not only a benefit to the environment, but it also benefits the shareholders as a more efficient company will turn a better profit. Suncor has made it a goal to improve energy efficiency by 10% by 2015. To do this is had focused on developing technologies to increase energy efficiency and recapture. Carbon capture and storage (CCS), Integrated CO2 Network (ICO2N) and CO2 Capture Project (CCP3) are all developed policy and technology projects that have been deployed throughout the Suncor organization. Suncor is also taking a leadership role in Carbon Management Canada (CMC). Suncor is revisiting future growth project designs to evaluate GHG reduction opportunities. Suncor is also participating in advanced research on GHG abatement technologies through CMC, ICO2N, CCP3 and other groups.

Global warming has been a controversial topic for years and some have even denied its existence; however, as more studies are being published every day in regards to our changing climate, it is hard to ignore this growing issue and how humans contribute to it. The term greenhouse gases refers to the group of gases that are primarily responsible for global warming and chief among these gases is carbon dioxide. Rising carbon dioxide levels can be attributed to a combination of burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum as well as deforestation in general ( Source A). To slow the effects of global warming, it is important for leaders in our society to consider their greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, and make

In the article “What they don’t tell you about climate change,” authors discuss the issues related to climate change while describing key suggestions to help combat the issue. As stated in the text, there has been a global goal to keep global temperature “well below 2°C hotter than pre-industrial times.” This goal had not been met, while carbon dioxide emissions are simply not enough to “limit the rise in temperature successfully.” Moreover, the authors have claimed that “Stopping the flow of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is not enough. It has to be sucked out, too.” This process, however, is very difficult and “nearly improbable.” Other alternatives including mass chemical filters, carbon dioxide binds to from carbonated rocks, and

Present days emissions will impact on the severisity of CC in future Year. So in planning for CC the focus should be reducing

It is very difficult to replace the heavy capital invested in the fossil fuel industry . Thus nations are several years away from decarbonisation. NETs are flexible mitigation technologies allowing the use of existing energy infrastructure to meet increasing power demands minus the resulting carbon emissions. One of the promising features of NETs such as CCS is its ability to pull out the undesirable CO2 emissions, allowing the use of domestically available supplies of fossil fuels . This can lead to huge cost savings.

According to IEA’s (2012) ‘Technology Perspectives 2012 2oC’ report, limiting the long term global temperature increase to 2oC necessitates CCS to account for one-sixth of emission reduction from a ‘business as usual scenario’ by 2050 (IEA, 2013a, p.5). This implies that the amount of captured and stored CO2 across the power generation sector should hit about 7.8 GtCO2 in 2050 (IEA, 2012). Achieving these rather ambitious targets requires comprehensive policy frameworks both nationally & internationally, to promote both demonstration and commercial CCS deployment and also ensure it is undertaken in a safe and environmentally friendly manner (IEA, 2014). These policies should be inclusive enough to comprise both reliable emission reduction measures and an integrated support (including funding) for Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) (Figure 14) (IEA, 2012).