Carbon-dioxide: A Challenge to Global Warming

By Okoko Chidozie Christian

SINCE the eighteenth centuries, human activities have been the main driver of global warming, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (non-renewable source of energy) like coal, natural gas, oil etc.

Research from the United Nations, (UN) shows that burning fuel generates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that acts like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures. And, the main greenhouse gases that are causing this global warming include: carbon-dioxide, (CO₂) and methane, (CH₄) among others.

Although, the above-mentioned gases came from using gasoline for driving a car or coal for heating a building. Clearing of land and cutting down world’s forests (deforestation) can also release carbon-dioxide.

Fossil fuels, as the largest contributor to global warming accounts for over seventy-five percent (75%) of greenhouse gas emissions and nearly ninety percent (90%) of all carbon-dioxide emitted, meaning that the world is warming faster than at any point recorded in history, and the warmer temperature over time are changing weather patterns and disrupting the usual balance of nature.

Think of the problem confronting the world today which has posed threats to human beings, and other forms of life on Earth; “we simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late…”, according to the former US politician- Arnold Schwarzenegger.

However, results of research reveals creditably that global impacts are being felt everywhere thereby harming people around the world and causing tens of thousands of deaths through extreme heat waves. This is why the consensus (general agreement) of scientific opinions are increasingly concerned about the steady worldwide build-up of carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere- how much carbon-dioxide the environment absorbs, and how the long term global carbon-dioxide balance is maintained.

The greenhouse effect which refers to as “how certain gases in the Earth’s atmosphere allow shortwave radiation in, but trap longwave thermal radiation emitted from the Earth’s surface” is what keeps the Earth habitable- otherwise it would be too cold at night.

This process happens because stars emit shortwave radiations that passes through greenhouse gases, but planets emit longwave radiations that are partly absorbed by greenhouse gases. This difference reduces the rate at which a planet can cool off in response to being warmed by its host, the star. Adding to greenhouse gases further, reduces the rate a planet emits radiation to space, raising its average surface temperature. These facts are aligned with evidence that the Earth is warming. (Excerpt from wikipedia.org).

Curbing dangerous global warming requires very deep cuts in emissions as well as the use of alternatives to fossil fuels worldwide. The good news is that countries around the globe have formally committed as part of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to lower their emission by setting new standards and crafting new policies to meet or even exceed those standards. But, the bad news is that we are not working faster.

To avoid the worst impacts of this global warming, scientists tells us that we need to reduce global carbon emission by forty percent (40%) before the year 2030. Yearly, scientists learn more about the consequences of global warming, and we gain new evidence of its devastating impact on people and the planet.

As the heat waves, droughts and floods associated with global warming become common and intensified, communities suffer and death toll rise. If we are unable to reduce our emissions, scientists believe that global warming could lead to the death of more than 250,000 people around the globe every year and drag 100 million people into poverty by the year 2030.

For that to happen, the global communities must take immediate concrete steps like to decarbonize electricity generation by equitably transition from fossil fuel-based production to renewable source of energy such as wind energy, solar energy, geothermal as written in my previous article “Renewable and Clean energy: A Recovering Package of Major Economies” on 9^th January, 2024.

Today, the American automotive industry is finding new ways to produce cars and trucks that are more fuel efficient and is committing itself to putting on the road more zero-emitting electric vehicles which use electricity stored in batteries to propel vehicle, and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles which convert hydrogen and oxygen to water, liberating electric energy for propulsion (Yamamura et al, 2022).

Nevertheless, several countries in Europe and Asia have begun their journeys towards adopting cleaner transport options and implementing zero-emission policies where the People Republic of China and Europe have the highest registration of electric vehicles.

But, it is regrettable that electric vehicles are still new in Africa and almost inexistence in Nigeria. This transition is not a rapid process and may differ in pace and pathway for different countries, especially petroleum-dependent countries like Nigeria, Zambia, Chad, Western Sahara to mention but a few.

All hands on deck to proffer a lasting solution in mitigating these great menace of carbon-dioxide emission into the atmosphere for our dear lives and that of the ecosystem at large.