Human made emissions
Equilibrium and climate change
The extraction and processing of materials, fuels and food contribute half of total global greenhouse gas emissions and over 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress.
Source: www.un.orgCO2 is one of the atmosphere components. Before the Industrial Revolution in the middle of the last century, the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere were rather steady; not for a couple, but for thousands of years.
Natural CO2 emissions, like outgassing from the ocean, decomposing vegetation and other biomass, venting volcanoes and, naturally occurring wildfires, are part of the very natural carbon cycle.
The Earth was able to generate, absorb, and cycle through carbon dioxide naturally for generations.
Like CO2, Methane (CH4), carbon monoxide, and black carbon are other greenhouse gases also present in the atmosphere. The amount of these gases has been increasing rapidly since the preindustrial era. For example, there is about 40% more CO2 and about 150% more methane in the atmosphere than in 1800. This fact has changed the natural equilibrium of the atmosphere and the carbon cycle.
Source: www.epa.gov
Principal sources of greenhouse gases emissions
Reducing CO2 emissions is essential to fight climate change
Climate change is harmful to life on earth and does not know frontiers. In order for the world to limit the warming of the planet, action is required across the world. It is the responsibility of all countries, persons, politics and industry to take coordinated action to reduce emissions and to adapt to climate change.
Examples of How Emissions Can be Reduced
- Energy Efficiency – Improving the insulation of buildings, traveling in more fuel-efficient vehicles, and using more efficient electrical appliances are all ways to reduce energy use, and thus CO2 emissions.
- Energy Conservation – Reducing personal energy use by turning off lights and electronics when not in use reduces electricity demand. Reducing distance traveled in vehicles reduces petroleum consumption. Both are ways to reduce energy CO2 emissions through conservation.
- Fuel Switching – Producing more energy from renewable sources and using fuels with lower carbon contents are ways to reduce carbon emissions.
- Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) – Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration is a set of technologies that can potentially greatly reduce CO2 emissions from new and existing coal- and gas-fired power plants, industrial processes, and other stationary sources of CO2. For example, capturing CO2 from the stacks of a coal-fired power plant before it enters the atmosphere, transporting the CO2 via pipeline, and injecting the CO2 deep underground at a carefully selected and suitable subsurface geologic formation, such as a nearby abandoned oil field, where it is securely stored.
- Changes in Uses of Land and Land Management Practices
Source: www.epa.gov
About this website
Hi, I’m Andrea, a Graphic and Web designer based in Germany.
This website is part of my graduation Master’s degree project (Audiovisual Arts Computer), where my research question was:
“How can designers and visual communicators contribute to transmit scientific knowledge and facts to a non-expert public in an understandable and relevant way, to generate awareness, motivate reflection and behavioral change.”
You can see the paper here:
Understanding climate change – Visual communication for scientific facts