BACKGROUND INFORMATION

What Is Carbon?

No one would blame you if you're sick of hearing about carbon. Every day it seems there are news stories about rising carbon levels, the search for new carbon-based life forms, and carbon emissions. It's enough to leave anyone wondering just what carbon is and where it resides.

Carbon is very available to humans, being the sixth most common element in the universe and the 15th most common one in the Earth's crust.

It is the building block for all life on Earth, and a good chunk of the total amount of it is in organic molecules, living and dead. That means it's not only in humans and their dogs but also in fossil fuels.

Fossil Fuels are long-dead carbon-rich organisms, and they are burnt to create energy for humans, releasing Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere.

This practice has been implemented into human society since the Industrial Revolution, ruining ecosystems and changing the Earth's climate.

When carbon (CO2 or carbon dioxide) and other heat-trapping emissions are released into the air, they act like a blanket, holding heat in our atmosphere and warming the planet.

Overloading our atmosphere with carbon has far-reaching effects for people all around the world, including rising sea levels, increasing wildfires, more extreme weather, deadly heatwaves, and more severe droughts. Because of this, reducing carbon emissions has become increasingly important as a movement.

Carbon Emission Simulation

CO2

After too much Carbon Dioxide is injected into the atmosphere, there are few life forms and it is virtually impossible to go back

CO2

Add CO2

Remove CO2

Removing more CO2 would actually be harmful to life on Earth

RESET

Emission Simulation

"In 2012, more than one in four deaths of children under the age of five were caused by the unhealthy environments in which they lived...[One such] environmental exposure is air pollution"

- World Health Organization

The Past

Before the Industrial Revolution started in the mid-1700s, the global average amount of carbon dioxide was about 280 ppm. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased along with human emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. Emissions rose slowly to about 5 billion tons per year in the mid-20th century before skyrocketing to more than 35 billion tons per year by the end of the century.

Human activities are responsible for almost all of the increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere over the last 150 years, and the continuation of carbon emissions will cause irreversible effects of global warming.

The Carbon Footprint is around 60% of humanity's overall Ecological Footprint and its most rapidly growing component. Humanity's carbon Footprint has increased at least 5-fold since 1961.

Predictions for Carbon Dioxide levels to 2100 (GHG Online)

Before 1750, CO2 levels oscillated around 280ppm; currently, CO2 levels are steady at 400ppm; and in 80 years CO2 levels will likely surpass 600ppm.

The Past

The Present

According to National Geographic, in 2018, carbon dioxide levels reached 411 parts per million at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory, the highest monthly average ever recorded.

Pie Chart Of United States Gas Emissions

In today's world, greenhouse gases contribute to respiratory disease, food supply disruptions, and increased wildfires. The typical weather patterns we've grown to expect are changing, and some species are going extinct/endangered. Less directly, Carbon Emissions cause climate change; American climate scientist James E. Hansen testified to Congress in 2013 that “The greenhouse effect has been detected and is changing our climate now." Symptoms of climate change include melting

polar ice caps, rising sea levels, disturbance of animals' natural habitats, extreme weather events, and other dangerous side effects.

At the same time, global governments and communities are becoming more aware and proactive when it comes to Carbon Emissions. Unfortunately, it's still not enough.

The Future

1. Precipitation Patterns Will Alter

This is already observable, as some regions have received downpours and tropical storms of greater magnitude, whereas others have received worse droughts and very little rainfall compared to historically 'normal' levels. C2ES (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions) backs this evidence up by stating, "In the North Atlantic Basin, the long-term (1966-2009) average number of tropical storms is about 11 annually, with about six becoming hurricanes. More recently (2000-2014), the average is over 15 tropical storms annually, including about seven hurricanes," and "Warmer temperatures enhance evaporation, which reduces surface water and dries out soils and vegetation. This makes periods with low precipitation drier than they would be in cooler conditions." Clearly, climate change affects weather patterns and therefore endangers people living in regions with already harsh weather.

2. The Global Sea Level Will Rise 1 to 8 Feet

Since 1880 the global sea level has already risen by about 8 inches. It is projected to rise another 1 to 8 feet by 2100. This is the result of added water from melting land ice and the expansion of seawater as it warms. 1 to 8 feet may not seem like a lot, but even one foot can erode typically beautiful beaches and damage infrastructure. More importantly, rising sea levels are linked to the intensity of tropical storms.

3. The Ozone Layer Might Disappear

Although unlikely, the increasing levels of pollution and carbon-based chemicals may strip the atmosphere of its ozone necessary for life. A thinning of the ozone layer would allow high levels of UV radiation from the sun to come through the atmosphere and damage organic cells.