You have probably heard of CO 2 emissions in the news regarding global warming. Indoor carbon dioxide concentrations are driven by a combination of outdoor CO 2 , indoor breathing and the ventilation rate of the building. As buildings and homes become more energy-efficient and airtight, this means we have less fresh air. Many of the ventilation systems we use today recycle air to conserve energy, essentially moving the contaminated air around rather than cycling in new air.
This results in high CO 2 concentrations and poor indoor air quality. High levels are directly correlated to low productivity and high sick leave making this a crucial concern in offices, schools and home environments. Studies show that people have a much harder time learning, performing simple and complex tasks, and making decisions, as CO 2 levels rise.
Students in a classroom with CO 2 levels of ppm had much worse test scores than at ppm. CO 2 levels rise and fall regularly indoors. There are many factors that affect CO 2 levels including ventilation, amount of people, and length of time in an enclosed space. When fossil fuels burn, we mostly get three things: heat, water, and CO 2.
We also get some solid forms of carbon, like soot and grease. So that's where all the old carbon goes. All that carbon stored in all those plants and animals over hundreds of millions of years is getting pumped back into the atmosphere over just one or two hundred years. Did you know that burning 6. Want to know how? Here's the big, important thing about CO 2 : It's a greenhouse gas. That means CO 2 in the atmosphere works to trap heat close to Earth.
It helps Earth to hold on to some of the energy it gets from the Sun so the energy doesn't all leak back out into space.
If it weren't for this greenhouse effect, Earth's oceans would be frozen solid. Earth would not be the beautiful blue and green planet of life that it is. So, CO 2 and other greenhouse gases are good—up to a point. But CO 2 is so good at holding in heat from the Sun, that even a small increase in CO 2 in the atmosphere can cause Earth to get even warmer. Throughout Earth's history, whenever the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere has gone up, the temperature of Earth has also gone up.
And when the temperature goes up, the CO 2 in the atmosphere goes up even more. This graph shows how temperature and carbon dioxide have increased and decreased together over the past , years. NASA's research satellites are studying how much carbon plants take out of the atmosphere and how carbon moves around the planet. Check out the Climate Time Machine to see how CO 2 and temperature have changed together through history.
Apart from CO2, there are many more gasses that enhance the Greenhouse effect and influence global warming. These include CH4, water vapor and nitrous oxide. Below a brief explanation of how these gasses get into the air;. Another valuable and easy tip to reduce your CO2-emissions : install the TreeClick plugin in your browser.
With this plugin you support the planting of trees with every online click and purchase. Living sustainably can be so easy. Do it immediately. Facts and figures Most of us have probably heard about the ice age and how it has passed. The average temperature would be degrees Celsius, therefore nearly impossible for humans to live.
Until the year , our planet was still green and out of danger for global warming. Shortly after that, the level of CO2 emission rose and started global warming. This is mostly caused by keeping more livestock, cutting down forests and consuming fossil fuels like oil and gas.
The highest level of CO2 emission found in the air is in The Global Carbon Project report that has been released, concludes that the Co2 emission has risen 2. What happens during the Greenhouse effect? The effects of CO2 emission The effects of CO2 carbon emissions is a well-debated topic, due to the fact that it is not completely clear what the actual effects are.
Global warming and other causes of CO2 emission Apart from that, there are many more consequences including; New kind of climates will appear in various countries. New kind of temperature such as much colder or way hotter will arise. Also, the amount of rainfall will rise globally and extreme weather will occur more often. Desertification will arise and the fertile ground will be lost. This means that more dry areas will appear in countries where it is already very hot. This is for instance already happening with the driest desert on earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile.
The desert is moving towards the capital, Santiago de Chile. This causes extreme dry periods and more air pollution. Also, Acidification will arise. This means that seawater will get more acid and eventually will affect the coral reefs and species that live there.
Especially coral reefs already are having a difficult time and due to climate change, the extinction will have a negative effect on our environment. Coral reefs are home and food to many fishes. This will cause a complete shake-up in the natural circle of life.
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