The facts we need to know about Climate Change

How to avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates

51 Billion to Zero

51 Billion tonnes is how much carbon dioxide we are adding to the atmosphere every year and we will only see it increase as people and their lifestyles improve. Zero is what must all aim for. There is absolutely no other way, otherwise, the impact on mankind will be catastrophic.

Three things we must do :
1. To avoid climate disaster we have to achieve zero
2. The need to deploy existing tools, like solar, wind
3. Find breakthrough technologies

In the same way that our ambitions have been driven towards science, careers, economics, politics the same ambition has to be a driving force into finding ways in which we can stop climate change. The lack of awareness is not going to get us anywhere. As a group of people aware of the consequences, we must do what is in our hands to stop this.

Why do we need to get to zero?

Greenhouse gases that we all learned about as kids, must have been forgotten, but not so, from the atmosphere. They trap heat and cause the average surface temperature of the earth to go up. Once they are in the atmosphere they remain there for a very long time, as long as 10000 years. A 50% drop in emissions also won’t stop the temperature rise rather just postpone the inevitable.
The main point to get to zero means that we have to find ways to remove the existing carbon dioxide already emitted and to make sure to not add more. Clearly, not an easy task.

As we recall from chemistry and physics classes all molecules vibrate. The faster they vibrate, the hotter they are. When molecules are with radiation at certain wavelengths, they block radiation, soak up the energy and vibrate faster. Carbon Dioxide and methane have the right structure to absorb radiation and start heating up (keep in mind methane is 120 times more warming than CO2).

All the cattle raised for beef and dairy burp and fart out methane, which has the same warming effect as 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide, accounting for almost 4% of the total global emissions. Poop is also another common greenhouse gas. When it decomposes it releases a powerful mixture of nitrous oxide, methane, sulfur, and ammonia. This is why it has been suggested to shift to as much of a plant-based diet as possible. When the demand for meat reduces, fast food companies and others will reduce their food production, hence greenhouse gas emissions will reduce.

When trees are burned down, they release all the CO2 they contain. When we remove a tree out of the ground, it disturbs the soil pattern, as it turns out that the soil contains more CO2 than in the atmosphere and plant life combined. So, this CO2 gets released into the atmosphere, hence increasing temperatures once again.

How much greenhouse gas is emitted by the things we do?

Making things (cement, plastic) 31%
Plugging in (electricity) 27%
Growing things (food) 19%
Getting around (planes, buses, cars) 16%
Keeping warm and cool (refrigeration) 7%

Most of the zero-carbon solutions are more expensive than fossil fuels counterpart and this difference in their cost is what is called ‘Green Premiums’. Keeping in mind the low-income countries and people, who will suffer the most. The green premiums will also have to be made affordable to a global mass. Mostly all of it is related to generating electricity. If we find an effective way to generate electricity, we will reduce our emissions by a great margin with respect to all the above-listed activities. As he says, this will be the most difficult global problem the world has ever had to face.

Urge you all to read this book to get a better perspective on our stance today and where we all will be tomorrow if we don’t act fast and smart.