Many climate scientists agree that the main cause
of global warming is human expansion of the
“greenhouse effect”, and certain gases in
the atmosphere block heat from escaping. Gases that contribute to the
greenhouse effect are, for example, the well-known
carbon dioxide (CO2), methane or water vapor. The “greenhouse
effect” is the cycle by which these named gases become trapped in the
atmosphere and heat the planet.1 Carbon
dioxide is colorless. We produce it just by
breathing.2 That
means, that human activities are changing the natural greenhouse. Since the
industrial revolution, the production of carbon dioxide and also other greenhouse gases have
been enormously high. Carbon dioxide is produced
primarily through the burning of fossil fuel, e. g. oil, natural gas, coal,
solid waste, wood and trees products. The consequences are hard to predict,
but certain effects seem likely for example that the earth will become warmer, the
sea level will rise, regions will vary, some regions are getting dryer and
others wetter.3 Nowadays, climate
change is a scientific fact and, more
than 97 % of climate scientists agree that changes to the global climate in the
last century have been caused by anthropogenic activity.4 This
essay will focus on the main factors that are responsible for high carbon
dioxide emissions and what measures are taken to reduce those.

Over the last 150 years the
burning of fossil fuels like oil and coal has expanded the concentration of
carbon dioxide (CO2) because the burning process of those fossil
fuels combines carbon with oxygen to become CO2. To say
it even more precisely: human activities has increased concentrations of
greenhouse gases. This leads to consequences like warmer temperature, melt
glaciers or the increasing sea level. 5

The World Economic Forum suggested in the year 2016 that climate change
is the most serious challenge for global business.6 Climate change leads to more
risks than ever before, because it is also responsible for economic
instabilities or human migration and this has a huge impact on international
firms when it comes to decision-making. The Refugee crisis, in which people
arrived in Europe fleeing from conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa,
was due to extreme weather events, climate change, natural catastrophes and also
some regional conflicts. Furthermore, the European refugee crisis and terrorism
have raised global political instability. Companies have to consider the
implications of these risks, which could lead to cancelled projects, revoked
licences or interrupted production.7 

 

One of the main drivers for CO2 Emissions is the extended use of private cars and
their consumption of fossil fuel. There are many different types of CO2 Emissions like the traffic in big cities or air
traffic, which lead to global warming, as 87 percent of all human-produced
carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels like coal,
natural gas and oil. The other results from the clearing of forests and other
land use changes (9%), as well as some industrial processes (4%).8

 

 

The combustion of conventional fuels strongly harms
the environment and crude oil becomes more and more scarce. Today, there is a
huge increase for alternative fuels such as electric and hybrid cars.9
Electric and hybrid cars have a higher carbon footprint during the production
than normal vehicles, but still offer a quite lower footprint over the full
life cycle. In addition renewable energy is the future and that means that electric
cars, electric trains and bicycles are the future.10

 

Based on the given information, the international air
traffic also increasingly contributes to climate change. Since 1990 the CO2 output of the air traffic has almost doubled, which is
an enormous increase. Short distance flights less than 500 km show a bigger
environmental impact than long distance flights, as the fuel consumption is
much higher during the take-off and landing than during flying at optimal height.

At the moment the air traffic must not put any measures to the climate
protection, because the Kyoto protocol does not encloses issues from the air
traffic.11

 

This brings us to the second type of CO2 Emissions, which are caused by the industry (21% of
2010 global greenhouse gas emissions). Greenhouse gas emissions from the industry
sector primarily involve fossil fuels burned on site at facilities for energy.12
Many different types of activities cause the release of greenhouse gases from
the industrial sector: the burning of fossil fuels, farming, deforestation and
some industrial processes. The industry sector produces raw materials and also
goods for everyday use. The greenhouse gases that industrial productions emit
are split into two categories: Direct emissions (Greenhouse emissions that are produced
at the facility itself) and indirect emissions (associated with the facility’s
use of energy, but happens off site). Coal is the only fossil fuel plentiful
enough to contribute the amount of CO2 necessary to trigger irreversible
climate change. It definitely makes sense for companies that make to switch
from coal to more sustainable energy sources, such as wind or solar power, can
help to reduce CO2 emissions greatly.13
 

 

There are also some easy ways to reduce CO2 emissions on your own. You can reduce CO2 Emissions by turning down the heat while at night and
keeping temperatures moderate at all times. If you set the thermostat in your
flat or house just 2 degrees higher in summer and 2 degrees lower in winter you
could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year. Even if
President Trump says, we should go back to the “good old coal” you should stand
up against it.14

 

Even though some people do not believe that climate
change and increasing temperatures are real, it is a scientific fact and there are a lot of
measures taken to limit CO2 emissions
and ease their impact on climate change. The
Europe 2020 strategy sets three main points for energy and climate policy. These three objectives should be reached by 2020. The
first point deals with moving towards a 20 % increase in energy efficiency, the
second objective deals with renewable energy in final energy consumption to 20
% and the last objective should reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20
% compared with 1990 levels. This 3 objectives/points are also known as the
“20-20-20” targets. The EU is presently discussing the energy and climate
targets for 2030.15

 

Furthermore there are also measures taken
internationally with i. e the Paris Climate Deal. The arrangement in Paris
ended with a deal for 195 countries to control global warming.16
This pact was a big step in reducing emissions to avoid global warming.17
The idea of the Paris deal was that every country would set targets to restrict
carbon emissions to avoid the unacceptable effects of climate change. In
addition, the deal sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to
avoid climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C.18
It was the first global pact but President Trump announced that he would pull
the United States out of it. Unfortunately, the U.S are responsible for almost
a third of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere but under the terms of
agreement, the United States cannot leave the pact until November 2020. The United States will join Syria and Nicaragua as the only countries
that are not a part of the Paris climate deal.19

 

 

We opened this essay with
the focus on the main factors that are responsible for high carbon dioxide
emissions and what measures have been taken to reduce those. Finally, it can be
said that there are different types that cause CO2 emissions, which leads to
climate change since the industrial revolution. One of the main drivers for CO2 emissions is the extended
use of private cars and their consumption of fossil fuel or air traffic, which
lead to global warming and the other main driver is the industry itself. The
arguments given above prove that greenhouse gas emissions from the industry
sector primarily involve fossil fuels burned on site at facilities for energy.

We can see then, that a lot of measures have been taken to reduce CO2 emissions like the Europe
2020 strategy or the Paris agreement. Many large countries try to reduce their
impact on climate change, except for the USA that plan to withdraw from the
Paris Agreement in 2020. In summary, there are also a lot of measures you can
take on your own. Setting the thermostat just 2 degrees higher in summer and
lower in winter, could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each
year. Another possibility is the use of electric cars, electric trains and
bicycles. Renouncing taking short distance flights can also reduce CO2 emissions. There are also
a lot of apps and websites where people can track their CO2 emissions and can get tips
on how to reduce them even more.

On balance climate change
and increasing temperatures are real and the future will show how countries and
people will deal with it. We only have one planet, which we should take good
care of to ensure that the next generations will still be able to live
comfortably.

1 Vgl. climate
(2018) online.

2 Vgl. wired
(2018) online.

3 Vgl. climate
(2018) online.

4
Vgl. wired (2018) online.

5 Vgl. climate
(2018) online.

6
Vgl. scientificamerican (2018) online.

7 Vgl.

climatecentral (2018) online.

8 Vgl.

whatsyourimpact (2018) online.

9 Vgl.

co2online (2018) online.

10 Vgl.

beaglybrown (2018) online.

11 Vgl. wua-wien
(2018) online.

12 Vgl. epa (2018) online.

13 Vgl.

thebalance (2018) online.

14 Vgl.

thebalance (2018) online.

15 Vgl. europa
(2018) online.

16 Vgl.

iflscience (2018) online.

17 Vgl. nytimes
(2018) online.

18 Vgl. ec.

Europa (2018) online.

19 Vgl. nytimes
(2018) online.