IN the year 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius predicted climate change and for the first time stated that fossil fuel consumption will contribute and lead to climate change. He predicted that because of the greenhouse effect increased carbon dioxide levels could significantly affect and alter Earth’s surface temperature. He discovered a connection between carbon dioxide concentrations and surface temperatures. Now it is safe to say that his prediction was not false. At that point of time, scale of human activities in this regard had little influence on climate change and the prediction was forgotten by the world. But it is only in recent years that the effects became widely noticeable.
In the 1800s, Earth’s average surface temperature just increased by 0.08 degree Celsius, barely detectable. However, in the 1900’s the average surface temperature increased by more than twice of the 1800s, 0.18 degree Celsius per decade (Lindsey, 2023). As of right now, temperature fluctuations are higher than any other point in history, with 2022 being the sixth warmest year on record, with its surface temperature rise being 0.86 degree Celsius (Lindsey, 2023). This surface temperature increase is causing global warming which in turn has an influence on climate change.
Climate change by the UN is defined as the long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These temperature shifts could be natural, as found in the 1800s. However for now and since the 20th Century, this phenomenon has become unnatural and abnormal, being influenced by human activities such as increased use of fossil fuels for example in power generation, industrial and domestic use. When greenhouse gases are released from the burning of fossil fuels, they form a blanket around the Earth, which not only traps carbon dioxide inside the atmosphere, but it also traps the sun’s heat, thus resulting in increasing surface temperatures causing climate change.
Changes to Earth’s climate and weather patterns are caused by global warming which in turn, depends on harmful human activities and are having widespread effects on Earth’s environment and ecosystems. The burning of fossil fuels is directly linked to Climate change. When these non-renewable energy resources are burnt, these release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In industrialized first-world countries, sectors like power generation and transportation account for three-quarters of world carbon emissions. In the year 2022, about 36.8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide were released into the atmosphere (Anon, 2023). Furthermore, it is not only carbon dioxide, other gases such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are also released as a result of fossil fuel combustion and effect climate, causing smog and acid rain. The use and burning of these fossil fuels is highly unsustainable and detrimental for the well-being of our ecosystems. And with the rapidly increasing population (200,000 people per day) , expanding cities, increase in demand for electricity and more transportation needs due to globalization, the use of fossil fuels is set to increase.
In fact there are a plethora of factors that contribute to global warming and climate change, all of which are interconnected in some way or the other. Some of the major ones are given below. The generation of electricity is mainly done by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. These fossil fuels account for a major portion of greenhouse gas releases. For over 150 years, these non-renewable resources have been powering economies and they account for 80% of the world’s energy needs (Anon., 2021). In 2019, about 64% of electricity came from non-renewable resources (Ritchie, 2021). Cities consume about 75% of global energy and emit about 60% of green-house gases despite only residing on 2% of the Earth’s land mass (Anon, nd).
Scientists estimate that by the year 2050, 2.5 billion people will reside in major cities (Anon., 2018), so the numbers are destined to increase. Most transportation vehicles, such as cars, bikes, trucks and aircrafts rely on fossil fuels as a power source. The transport sector alone accounts for 60% of oil demand. About 3% of world-wide carbon emissions come from ocean freighters (Anon., 2021). This makes them a high contributor to global warming. One of the most catastrophic and major threats to climate change comes from deforestation which is the cutting down of trees or forests for human activities such as making farms, cities, etc.
Trees, like magnets, attract and take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, refresh the environment by releasing fresh oxygen, provide shade and cooling effect. Trees are extremely necessary for the natural environment to stay intact. When trees are cut for human activities, all the carbon dioxide stored inside them is released and hence builds up in the atmosphere, this is known as ‘sequestration’. Cutting trees weakens nature’s ability to control carbon dioxide concentration, keep it in the safe zone and to keep emissions out of the atmosphere. A lack of fresh air due to deforestation causes several health conditions as well.
Climate change and Global warming did not receive much attention until the late 1900s. In the 19th century human activities weren’t on such a large scale and were insignificant towards climate change. It wasn’t until 1988 that it was finally acknowledged that the temperature and climate of Earth was warmer than the 19th century. Research proved that carbon dioxide had an atmospheric lifespan of about ten years and the theory that large water bodies like oceans would absorb most of the carbon dioxide was fading away. Then beyond 1998, the effects of climate change really started to show, as the ozone layer rapidly started to deteriorate. —To be continued.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
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