Climate change is happening now.
Luckily, there are steps that we can take to manage/mitigate climate change which can reduce the likelihood of negative impacts.
Luckily, there are steps that we can take to manage/mitigate climate change which can reduce the likelihood of negative impacts.
Alternative energy sources:
Fossil fuels contributes 87% of all human-produced CO2 emissions. Deforestation produces 9% and Industrial processes like making cement, produces 4%. To reduce carbon emissions, countries are using alternative sources of energy. Some are renewable and don't produce CO2:
Some countries also use nuclear power which doesn't produce CO2, but isn't renewable and it produces nuclear waste which is very challenging to dispose of safely. |
Carbon capture and storage:
This is a way that we can continue using coal, but without releasing the damaging greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
It is possible to capture up to 90% of the CO2 that would otherwise enter the atmosphere. This diagram shows the three ways that carbon can be captured. The carbon gas is compressed and transported by pipeline into a suitable geological reservoir. 1. Pumped into disused coal fields- can be used to release methane that is used as fuel. 2. Saline geological formations- good ‘sinks’- absorb C02 well. 3. Enhanced recovery- pumping C02 into oil/gas reservoirs that are depleting to ease the extraction. International agreements:
Climate change is a global issue and requires global solution. The Paris agreement in 2015 was the first ever universal and legally binding global climate deal. 195 countries signed up, but the USA intends to pull out and there are no way of enforcing the targets. |