Climate Change :- The Next Big Disaster.

Hello Folks,

We all know how our activities is slowly warming the earth. We all have studied in our primary science classes how greenhouse gases are catastrophic and horrendous for our ecosystem and nature's balance. In fact, the very first blog of Impulsum was on Nature after CoViD-19 Pandemic where we had discussed about how majestically nature was rejuvenating itself during global lockdowns where net carbon emissions from industries, transport etc was totally stopped. Check out that blog now, the very first of Impulsum :- Nature's Maintenance

For today's blog, we will discuss how important it is for us to do something effective about climate disaster.

My friends, I will speak my heart out to you, for me, the branch of science field that needs the most attention and most innovation is the branch of Climate Change and Sustainable Ecosystem. If you still think your future is safe studying engineering etc then think again, because the future of the very humankind is at stake here if we cannot do something globally about Climate Change.

Doing something about Climate Disaster is not just an opinion of 15 years old trying to cover his tuesday blog with a random topic - it is the biggest concern that humanity would face in next 5-7 years according to Bill Gates and many other Global Influencers!

Bill Gates, in an interview with Veritasium YouTube Channel says that doing something innovative about Climate Change will be tougher than CoViD-19, tougher than inventing Smallpox Vaccine and even tougher than installing computers and mobile phones to every desk at every home. According to him, innovative companies and genius startups are needed internationally to grope Climate Change and we humans need to change every single thing we do in our daily routines. The whole technological progress, the whole average lifestyle of the entire population is needed to be changed to support nature's ecosystem.

You see,  By 2050, the global population is

projected to rise to 9.7 billion, which is more than two billion more people to feed than today. When crops fail and starvation threatens, people are forced to fight or flee. ... So will the decline of mountain ice, which is a source of meltwater for a quarter of the world's population. Satisfying the mountain-high demands of the masses will be an impossible task. With all material shortage already on the way, the global temperatures will rise due to Global Warming and as glaciers will melt, floods can eat up most of the major cities in the coastal areas like Mumbai of India and large chunks of Indonesian and Srilankan land.

Now, here I am also going to share Bill Gates' opinion on what exactly can we do and what should we be aware of and focus on. 

As a Citizen

When you ask yourself what you can do to limit climate change, it’s natural to think of things like driving an electric car or eating less meat. This sort of personal action is important for the signals it sends to the marketplace—see the next section for more on that point—but the bulk of our emissions comes from the larger systems in which we live our daily lives.

When somebody wants toast for breakfast, we need to make sure there’s a system in place that can deliver the bread, the toaster, and the electricity to run the toaster without adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. We aren’t going to solve the climate problem by telling people not to eat toast.

But putting this new energy system in place requires concerted political action. That’s why engaging in the political process is the most important single step that people from every walk of life can take to help avoid a climate disaster.

Quick: Think of some inventions that help fight climate change.

What came to mind first? I bet you thought of solar panels and wind turbines. In my experience, that’s what people point to when they think about reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

They’re not wrong. Renewables are getting cheaper and many countries are committing to rely more on them and less on fossil fuels for their electricity needs. That’s good news, at least in places that get a lot of sunlight or wind. Everyone who cares about climate change should hope we continue to de-carbonize the way we generate electricity.

I wish that were enough to solve the problem. Unfortunately, it isn’t.

Making electricity is responsible for only 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions each year. So even if we could generate all the electricity we need without emitting a single molecule of greenhouse gases (which we’re a long way from doing), we would cut total emissions by just a quarter.

To prevent the worst effects of climate change, we need to get to zero net greenhouse gas emissions in every sector of the economy within 50 years—and as the IPCC recently found, we need to be on a path to doing it in the next 10 years. That means dealing with electricity, and the other resources too. 

Quick: Think of some inventions that help fight climate change.

What came to mind first? I bet you thought of solar panels and wind turbines. In my experience, that’s what people point to when they think about reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

They’re not wrong. Renewables are getting cheaper and many countries are committing to rely more on them and less on fossil fuels for their electricity needs. That’s good news, at least in places that get a lot of sunlight or wind. Everyone who cares about climate change should hope we continue to de-carbonize the way we generate electricity.

I wish that were enough to solve the problem. Unfortunately, it isn’t.

Making electricity is responsible for only 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions each year. So even if we could generate all the electricity we need without emitting a single molecule of greenhouse gases (which we’re a long way from doing), we would cut total emissions by just a quarter.

To prevent the worst effects of climate change, we need to get to zero net greenhouse gas emissions in every sector of the economy within 50 years—and as the IPCC recently found, we need to be on a path to doing it in the next 10 years. That means dealing with electricity, and the other 75% too.

Where do greenhouse gas emissions come from? I like to break it down into five main categories—what I call the grand challenges in stopping climate change:

Electricity (25%) :-  Although there’s been progress in the renewable energy market, we still need more breakthroughs. For example, wind and solar need zero-carbon backup sources for windless days, long periods of cloudy weather, and nighttime. We also need to make the electric grid a lot more efficient so clean energy can be delivered where it’s needed, when it’s needed.

Agriculture (24%) :-  Cattle are a huge source of methane; in fact, if they were a country, they would be the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases! In addition, deforestation—clearing land for crops, for instance—removes trees that pull CO2 out of the air, and when the trees are burned, they release all their carbon back into the atmosphere.

Manufacturing (21%) :-  Look at the plastic, steel, and cement around you. All of it contributed to climate change. Making cement and steel requires lots of energy from fossil fuels, and it involves chemical reactions that release carbon as a byproduct. So even if we could make all the stuff we need with zero-carbon energy, we’d still need to deal with the byproducts.

Transportation (14%) :- Low-emission cars are great, but cars account for a little less than half of transportation-related emissions today—and that share will shrink in the future. More emissions come from airplanes, cargo ships, and trucks. Right now we don’t have practical zero-carbon options for any of these.

Buildings (6%) :- Do you live or work in a place with air conditioning? The refrigerant inside your AC unit is a greenhouse gas. In addition, it takes a lot of energy to run air conditioners, heaters, lights, and other appliances. Things like more-efficient windows and insulation would help. This area will be more important over the next few decades as the global population moves to cities. The world’s building stock will double in area by 2060. That’s like adding another New York City every month for 40 years.

(The final 10% is a sixth, miscellaneous category that includes things like the energy it takes to extract oil and gas.)

I think these grand challenges are a helpful way to think about climate change. They show how energy isn’t just what runs your house and your car. It’s core to nearly every part of your life: the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the home you live in, the products you use. To stop the planet from getting substantially warmer, we need breakthroughs in how we make things, grow food, and move people and goods—not just how we power our homes and cars.

These challenges are only getting more urgent. The world’s middle class has been growing at an unprecedented rate, and as you move up the income ladder, your carbon footprint expands. Instead of walking everywhere, you can afford a bicycle (which doesn’t use gas but is likely made with energy-intensive metal and gets to you via cargo ships and trucks that run on fossil fuels). Eventually you get a motorbike so you can travel farther from home to work a better job and afford to send your kids to school. Your family eats more eggs, meat, and dairy, so they get better nutrition. You’re in the market for a refrigerator, electric lights so your kids can study at night, and a sturdy home built with metal and concrete.

All of that new consumption translates into tangible improvements in people’s lives. It is good for the world overall—but it will be very bad for the climate, unless we find ways to do it without adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

This is undoubtedly a tough problem. It is not obvious what the big breakthroughs will look like. Most likely we will need several solutions to each challenge. That is why we need to invest in lots of research and development, across all five areas, now.

So guys, this was my effort to let you all be aware of possible climate crises that we may face in future. Yes, keep that in mind that even Bill Gates, the person who predicted a possibility of a Global Epidemic, has now warned us about Climate Disasters.

Thanks,

Daksh Parekh.