Carbon Dioxide: Hero to Villain

By: Kirstin Petzer

I know what you might be thinking ‘how could carbon dioxide ever be a hero?’. Well gasses such as carbon dioxide, called greenhouse gasses, are essential to life on earth. For life on earth to thrive we need the right temperature and carbon dioxide helps us by trapping heat that the sun produces. Without the help of natural greenhouse gasses our earth would be too cold for any life to survive.

Ironically it is that very process that made life possible, that turned carbon dioxide into a modern-day villain. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere the better a job the carbon dioxide gasses does trapping heat. From the industrial period to the present there has been a huge increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from human activity called anthropogenic carbon dioxide.

The increase anthropogenic carbon dioxide has led to our atmospheric warming which is generally referred to global warming. In some regions if the weather gets a little warmer, it might be a welcome change but unfortunately can be devastating for others. One example of the negative impacts is hurricanes. Hurricanes get their energy from the ocean, if the atmosphere is warmer than usual then the ocean will also be warmer. If the ocean is warmer, then there is even more energy that can be given to hurricanes, and they can cause even more devastation.

Global warming is a complicated issue. It is easy to feel overwhelmed but if we don’t keep the industries we use accountable, to stive for substantiality, then we will keep seeing the impacts of climate change. If you would like more information on carbon dioxide or the impacts of global warming, please look at the links below.

 

Acknowledgements:

https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/how-climate-works/carbon-dioxide

https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/climate/climate-change-impacts