Climate Change and Its Solution

Many people probably heard global warming and climate change that are used interchangeably. Both terms
describe changes in the Earth's climate. It is stated that global warming is only about rising temperature on the
Earth's surface. At the same time, climate change refers to warming and its side effect, such as melting glaciers,
heavier rainstorms (Caitlyn & Rebacca Lindsey, 2015). Climate change can be caused by human activities and
natural events, such as volcanoes; however, human-based sources are evaluated mostly these days. The climate
has changed significantly under the influence of human activities and fossil fuel burning, which increases
greenhouse gas levels in Earth's atmosphere, and Earth's average surface temperature. According to NASA data,
since the pre-industrial period, human activities have caused an increase in Earth's global average temperature by
about 1 degree Celsius. That number is currently increasing by 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade. The greenhouse
effect's intensification has caused carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration, which is the most significant greenhouse
gas, to increase by almost 50% since the industrial revolution began. In other words, the natural greenhouse
gases are changing due to the burning of fossil fuel and oil, which has given rise to increasing the concentration
of atmospheric carbon dioxide. It is not easy to estimate the consequences of changing CO2 concentration, but
some effects seem probable. Some laboratory experiments show that higher CO2 levels can bring about an
increase in plant growth. Although this increase can seem positive effect on crop yields, the result of higher CO2
levels, such as changing temperatures, ozone, and water and nutrient constraints, may more than neutralize the
potential increase in yield. Moreover, weeds, pests, and fungi can also thrive under warmer temperatures, wetter
climates, and increased CO2 levels, and climate change will probably enhance the effects of weeds and pests.
Nevertheless, it can be accomplishable to reduce greenhouse emissions and CO2 levels through carbon capture
and storage technology.

Fundamentally, carbon capture and storage (CSS) is the process that enables CO2 to be captured and stored
before it is released into the atmosphere. It is stated that facilities with CCS can capture up to 90% of CO₂ they
produce during burning fossil fuels in electricity generation and industrial processes (Gonzales et al., 2020).CSS
consists of three parts: capture, transportation, and storage. There are several different technologies to capture
CO2 at the sources (the facility emitting CO₂). After CO2 is captured, it becomes liquid by compressed into a
fluid and transported to a suitable storage site by pipelines or vehicles such as ships or trains. Lastly, as a third
step, the CO2 is injected into deep, underground geological formations. It is stored there long time instead of
being released into the atmosphere.

There are some advantages and disadvantages of CSS. The most significant disadvantages are that the capture
process and transporting are expensive. A plant with CCS uses more fuel than one while extracting, pump, and
compressing the CO2. As a result, it has high deployment and energy costs. Also, it is necessary to maintain high
pressure throughout pipelines during transporting, and the pipelines themselves are expensive and must be
designed specifically. Nonetheless, CSS has some remarkable benefits. Out of its potential for tackling climate
change, it can enable us to create more fuel. Technically, to convert CO2 into fuel is possible. There are several
ways to achieve this, but it is a barrier to the cost and process. The other advantage is that CSS can enable it to
generate additional energy. CO2-based steam cycles can transfer heat quite easily and spend less energy to
compress steam. Moreover, geologically stored CO2 can make it easy to extract geothermal heat from injecting
in the same location and producing renewable geothermal energy. Captured CO2 can benefit from strengthening
concrete and result in increased infrastructure durability. Manufacturing operations can use it to boost
themselves, such as making chemicals and plastics. Lastly, it can give people new job opportunities. If more CSS
operations are implemented, skilled technicians will be needed more to manage them.

To sum up, climate change is a contemporary environmental problem; however, it has an effective solution:
capture carbon and storage. This technology can help us to decrease CO2 levels in the atmosphere. It should be
improved instead of focusing on negative aspects, such as being an expensive process. Its benefits should not
ignore because it can have a huge impact on the economy and production. We are not aware of the problem truly
and cannot see its effects in a short period, but it is a fact that an increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere affects
Earth and many lives. In other saying, climate change and global warming can be defined as the silent killer.
Many people do not care about these issues or know what they are, but these are happening. We should attach
importance to the point and raise awareness on this issue.
 References
Gonzales, V., Krupnick, A., Dunlap, L., (2020, May 6) Carbon Capture and Storage 101 Resource
of the Future
https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/carbon-capture-and-storage-101/
Granthma Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (2018) What is carbon
capture and storage and what role can it play in tackling climate change? The London
School of Economics and Political Science
https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-carbon-capture-and-
storage-and-what-role-can-it-play-in-tackling-climate-change/
Kennedy, C&R (2015, June, 17). What’s the difference between global warming and climate
change? NOAA Climate.gov
https://www.climate.gov/news-features/climate-qa/whats-difference-between-global-
warming-and-climate-change
Mikhaylov, A., Moiseev, N., Aleshin, K., Burkhardt, T. 2020. Global climate change and
greenhouse effect. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 7(4), 2897-2913.
http://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2020.7.4(21)
NASA: Global Climate Change (n.d.) Overview: Weather, Global Warming and Climate Change
NASA
https://climate.nasa.gov/resources/global-warming-vs-climate-change/
Rackley, S., A. (2017). Carbon Capture and Storage. Joe Hayton.
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