According to preliminary estimates, worldwide average atmospheric carbon dioxide in 2020 and beyond will be 412.5 parts per million (ppm), a new high notwithstanding the global economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 epidemic. In fact, the 2.6 ppm increase over 2019 levels was the fifth-highest in NOAA’s 63-year record. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased by 43.5 parts per million (ppm) since 2000, a 12 percent rise.
Carbon dioxide levels are now higher than they have been in at least 800,000 years. In reality, the last time atmospheric CO2 levels were this high was more than 3 million years ago, during the Mid-Pliocene Warm Period, when temperatures were 2°–3°C (3.6°–5.4°F) higher than today’s and sea levels were 15–25 metres (50–80 feet) higher.
With all these figures, it might be overwhelming for laymen to understand what is wrong with CO2!
Imagine being a room full of people and you suddenly feel too hot or suffocated. The reason is the higher level of CO2 in the room. In confined areas, a CO2 monitor portable can be used to check the level of this gas.
Portable co2 and o2 analyser is used in many facilities to understand the balance between the two gases and thus maintain a healthy working or staying condition.
How does carbon dioxide trap heat?
Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases behave like a blanket or cap, trapping part of the heat that Earth would otherwise release into space. But how do specific molecules capture heat in the first place?
When sunlight reaches Earth’s surface, some of the energy is absorbed by the surface and re radiated as infrared waves, which humans perceive as heat. These infrared radiation move up into the atmosphere and, if unobstructed, will return to space.
Infrared waves in the atmosphere are unaffected by oxygen and nitrogen. This is due to the fact that molecules are finicky about the wavelengths with which they interact. It’s not the same with CO2 and other greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide, for example, absorbs energy at wavelengths ranging from 2,000 to 15,000 nanometers, which overlaps with the infrared spectrum. CO2 absorbs the infrared radiation and re-emits into the atmosphere. About half of that energy is ejected into space, while the other half is returned to Earth as heat, resulting in the ‘greenhouse effect.’
One of the predominant reasons why Carbon dioxide levels are rising is because of the excessive use of fossil fuels for energy. Coal and oil contain carbon that was removed through photosynthesis but took millions of years; humans, on the other hand, are returning that carbon to the atmosphere in only a few hundred years making the balance almost impossible to keep up.
CO2 levels now are the highest they’ve been in at least 3 million years. Despite the fact that they only make up 0.04 percent of the atmosphere, this equates to billions upon billions of tonnes of heat-trapping gas. For example, humanity emitted 36.44 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere in 2019, which will linger in the atmosphere for hundreds of years. So, the result is accumulation of huge amounts of CO2 molecules that affect the earth’s temperature.
The heat of the atmosphere is a ratio of how much energy gets in versus how much energy goes out in the case of greenhouse gases. In the end, any increase in heat-trapping means that the Earth’s surface will become hotter.
Can the plants, ocean, and soil absorb all the excess CO2?
Finally… after a few thousand years or so.
Plants, seas, and soil all act as natural carbon sinks, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it underground, underwater, or in the roots and trunks of trees. The massive amounts of carbon in coal, oil, and natural gas resources would have remained underground and mostly separate from the rest of the carbon cycle if it hadn’t been for human activities. However, by burning fossil fuels, humans are releasing a lot more carbon into the atmosphere and ocean, and carbon sinks aren’t able to keep up. Our atmosphere and seas are being swamped with CO2, and we can see that carbon sinks are unable to keep up since CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere and oceans are rapidly increasing.
Why does carbon dioxide matter?
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and is responsible for absorbing and reflecting heat. Earth’s land and ocean surfaces, which have been warmed by sunlight, continuously emit thermal infrared radiation (heat). Unlike oxygen or nitrogen, which makes up the lionshare of the atmosphere, greenhouse gases retain heat and slowly release it, much like bricks in a fireplace after the fire has gone out. Without this natural greenhouse effect, the average annual temperature on Earth would be below freezing, rather than near 60°F. Increases in greenhouse gases, on the other hand, have actually trapped more heat and caused a huge change in the planet’s average temperature.
Carbon dioxide is very significant in the Earth system because it dissolves in the ocean like the fizz in a soda can. It combines with water molecules to produce carbonic acid, which lowers the pH of the ocean. The pH of the ocean’s surface waters has declined from 8.21 to 8.10 since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
Over the past million years, there has been a gradual increase in carbon dioxide concentrations. This saw a periodic rise in Earth’s temperature during ice age cycles. Warm periods (interglacials) began with a minor increase in sunshine caused by a little wobble in Earth’s axis of rotation or orbit around the Sun.
Carbon cycle impacts every reservoir on the surface of the planet. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere warms the earth and aids plant growth on land. The presence of too much carbon in the ocean results in acidification of the water body, putting marine life at jeopardy. Scientists have discovered that carbon dioxide is the gas that sets the temperature, despite the fact that it contributes less to the overall greenhouse effect than water vapour. The amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, and hence the extent of the greenhouse effect, is controlled by carbon dioxide.
Climate change and global warming is real and is already being caused by rising carbon dioxide levels. Since 1880, average global temperatures have risen 0.8 degrees Celsius (1.4 degrees Fahrenheit) at the same time as greenhouse gas emissions have increased.
