Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
One factor accelerating the amount of carbon dioxide that humans add to the atmosphere is the increased con-
tributions of developing nations, especially China and India. As these countries undergo industrialization, they
burn more fossil fuels, especially in coal-burning power plants (though many newer coal power plants are
somewhat cleaner than the older designs). The overall increase of CO
2
emissions between 2003 and 2008 was
over 30 percent for the world and over 61 percent for China. The following table shows the change in coal pro-
duction from 2003 to 2008 for the larger coal producers. To date, humans have developed no way to success-
fully capture carbon dioxide once it is emitted into the atmosphere.
Impacts and Consequences of Global Warming
Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO
2
) have increased steadily since the Industrial Revolution and con-
tinue to rise at a pace consistent with the steady increase of the global economy. Historically, natural climate
changes have caused large-scale geographical shifts in weather patterns and in the habitats of all living organ-
isms. However, the current pace of global climate change is unprecedented. If greenhouse gases continue on
pace to double in the next 65 years, the global temperature could rise at least 1°C to 5°C. If this rise continues
into the next century, the global average temperature may reach higher values than have occurred in the last
million years. This rapid environmental change can cause glaciers to melt, surface temperature changes, altera-
tion of weather patterns, rising sea levels, changes in biodiversity, and the extinction of species.