Kevin Trenberth, based on NOAA data, CC BY-ND The black line is adjusted for the average seasonal cycle. The monthly mean, in red, rises and falls with the growing seasons. This relentless increase, through the pandemic and in spite of efforts in many countries to cut emissions, shows how enormous the problem is.Ĭarbon dioxide concentrations at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. The average annual increase in carbon dioxide concentration has accelerated, from about 1 part per million by volume per year in the 1960s to 1.5 in the 1990s, to 2.5 in recent years since 2010. Scientists have been measuring carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa, Hawaii, since 1958 and elsewhere. Recent studies show that the risks to trees from stress, wildfires, drought and insects as temperatures rise will also be larger than expected. It’s relatively cheap.īut trees aren’t permanent. Trees and vegetation take up carbon dioxide though photosynthesis and produce wood and other plant material.

Planting trees is often embraced as a solution for offsetting corporate greenhouse gas emissions. Sudden changes in these particles or poor distribution could have dramatic effects.īoris Johnson, then mayor of London, plants a tree in 2008. Between the incoming solar and outgoing radiation is the whole weather and climate system and the hydrological cycle. The global warming problem is not sunshine, but rather that infrared radiation emitted from Earth is being trapped by greenhouse gases. It might partially work, but it could have concerning side effects. Geoengineering often means “solar radiation management,” which aims to emulate a volcano and add particulates to the stratosphere to reflect incoming solar radiation back to space and produce a cooling. These include geoengineering carbon capture and storage, including “direct air capture” and planting trees. Instead of drastically cutting emissions, companies and politicians have grasped at alternatives. Unfortunately, this changeover to renewables has been slow, due in large part to the the huge and expensive infrastructure related to fossil fuels, along with the vast amount of dollars that can buy influence with politicians. This means sharply increasing use of renewable energy – solar and wind cost less than new fossil fuel plants in much of the world today – and the use of electric vehicles. Studies show that the most effective way to address the climate change problem is to decarbonize the economies of the world’s nations. Modern society needs energy, but it does not have to be from fossil fuels. Kevin Trenberth, Author provided What works to slow climate change?

Some of that energy increases temperatures, and some increases evaporation and fuels storms and rains.Įstimated shares of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels in 2018 compared with cumulative emissions over time, based on data released by BP. When the amount of energy arriving from the Sun exceeds the amount of energy radiating back into space, the climate heats up. As more carbon dioxide is added, its increasing concentration acts like a blanket, trapping energy near Earth’s surface that would otherwise escape into space. Carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for centuries. When fossil fuels are burned for energy or used in transportation, they release carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas that is the main cause of global heating. What’s causing climate change?Īs has been well established now for several decades, the global climate is changing, and that change is caused by human activities. Let’s take a minute to come to grips with some of the rhetoric around climate change and clear the air, so to speak. I’ve been working on climate change for over four decades. There are many proposals for removing carbon dioxide, but most make differences only at the edges, and carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have continued to increase relentlessly, even through the pandemic. What they don’t mention is just how much these proposals or geoengineering would cost to allow the world to continue burning fossil fuels.

When politicians talk about reaching “net zero” emissions, they’re often counting on trees or technology that can pull carbon dioxide out of the air.

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