Climate Change Science

Subject – Environment

Context – CoP26: The science everyone needs to know about climate change.

Concept –

How much the CO2 concentration increased each year

The primary focus of the negotiations is on carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is released when fossil fuels — coal, oil and natural gas — are burned, as well as by forest fires, land use changes and natural sources.
The Industrial Revolution of the late 1800s started an enormous increase in the burning of fossil fuels. It powered homes, industries and opened up the planet to travel.
That same century, scientists identified carbon dioxide’s potential to increase global temperatures, which at the time was considered a possible benefit to the planet.

How long does CO2 stay in the atmosphere?

Once in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide tends to stay there for a very long time.
If civilization stopped its carbon dioxide-emitting activities today, it would still take many hundreds of years for the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to fall enough naturally to bring the planet’s carbon cycle back into balance because of carbon dioxide’s long life in the atmosphere.
Long-term records from ice cores, tree rings and corals show that when carbon dioxide levels have been high, temperatures have also been high.
- Our neighboring planets also offer evidence. Venus’ atmosphere is thick with carbon dioxide, and it is the hottest planet in our solar system as a result, even though Mercury is closer to the sun.