Climate Change Explained for Dummies

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Climate Change Explained for Dummies

By Joe Burgett - March 27, 2021

The Car In A Garage Concept

If you ever need a visual example, or perhaps just an interesting example to use so that people understand what humans are doing to the environment, we recommend the “Car In A Garage” concept. If you drive a car that uses gas, you’d always open your garage before starting up the engine. Why is this? Because most cars release something out of their tailpipe called “carbon monoxide.” This can be produced from other sources too, which is why it is now a law for apartment complexes to have a CM Detector in America. Many homes utilize them too.

The reason it is such a problem is that CM is colorless and odorless. Yet it can kill human beings. If you sit in your car in your garage, you’ll die if you leave your car on inside it. This is a small space, of course, so how does that relate to the environment? Once you open the garage, this deadly gas among multiple others the car produces is now going into the air. Where do you think that goes? It does not go into space or something. In fact, it never actually leaves the atmosphere. Therefore, something that could kill you in a small space is now joining more of its gas kind worldwide. Does this not sound like a problem?

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Man-Made Climate Change Cause: The Reliance On Fossil Fuels

When you see the term “fossil fuels,” it does not mean we found dinosaur fossils and somehow used them to power the world somehow. Rather, fossil fuels are pretty much those greenhouse gases we referenced. The two biggest gases used in the greenhouse gas sector are obviously carbon dioxide and Methane. However, greenhouse gases are not the only problem. In fact, there are some major pollutants that have been released by factories since the Industrial Revolution.

There are tons of pollutants they release. Among them, you’ll see: sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds mercury, peroxyacetyl nitrates, lead, cadmium, biological oxygen demand, and several other heavy industrial metals. This is not even including the toxic waste and major chemical spills that happen. Heck, some of the toxic waste has been radioactive. Much of which is disposed of in water areas!!

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Man-Made Climate Change Cause: Coal And Gas/Oil

While simply stating “fossil fuels” are a big problem, many might not understand what exactly this involves. When we reference them, we’re often targeting factories that pollute the environment. However, we are also talking about the use of gas-powered vehicles of any kind. Yet the biggest thing most are referencing is the use of coal. In fact, coal usage is one of the main drivers of climate change. Oil and gas are pretty much neck and neck with coal, however.

Both push chemicals into the environment that are harmful to everyone, especially animals. This led to some of the particles or waste ending up in the water, causing multiple issues to the environment and even the death of nearby animals who drank the toxic water. Oil spills, which have become far more common than anyone would like, also cause severe issues to the environment. Yet coal and oil also affect the air we breathe, which is why so many nations had to force factories to contain chemicals. However, nothing is really stopping the harm vehicles and lawn equipment cause.

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Man-Made Climate Change Cause: Deforestation

One major reason for a lot of our climate issues is deforestation. On top of that, it has negatively affected the environment overall as well as several ecosystems. Many animals live in trees. Those animals die off when they do not have shelter. Meaning, they are either picked off by predators or die from exposure to elements, lack of food, etc. This prevents them from mating, which then prevents future generations. When the smaller creatures die off, larger creatures end up dying too.

Therefore, deforestation just kills entire ecosystems. Yet it also connects heavily to climate change because trees also absorb and even store carbon dioxide. This is important because they also put out oxygen too. When you take out trees, you take out a major oxygen source for humans and animals alike. Meanwhile, you also take out one of the very things helping us to keep CO2 numbers down. This does not happen naturally, obviously. It is directly tied to man-made interference.

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Man-Made Climate Change Cause: Increased Agriculture

While some might see something like this and scoff, it is likely due to not understanding the concept behind it. Yes, we’ve been producing agricultural materials for literally thousands of years. This means, quite obviously, it could not have done THAT much damage if we did it for so long, right? Yes, but that does not relate to the present. Agricultural production was never a major issue due to humans not using the same materials we see today. Pesticides alone can be terrible.

However, intensive agriculture that only keeps increasing has become a major issue. In fact, in the United States, the agricultural sector makes up just under 11% of the nation’s total emissions. When you employ food provisions, you’re releasing greenhouse gases. Farmers release a large portion of methane and nitrous oxide. Why is this such an issue? Mostly due to nations feeling like they must make more than they need. This results in a need for keeping food fresh, with more and more being made that require the need for this. Thus, causing far more greenhouse gases to be used.

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Man-Made Climate Change Cause: CAFOs

If you’re unaware of what CAFOs are, the word is an acronym for “Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation.” This connects to agriculture but it’s deserving of its own section too. See, CAFOs end up keeping animals in a specific location where they will be overfed to get large. That way, it equates to more usable meat when they’re slaughtered. Most CAFOs have 1,000 animal units that are confined usually for about 45 days. If you’re wondering “1,000 animal units” equals 700 dairy cows, 1,000 meat cows, 2,500 pigs at 55lbs, 10,000 pigs weighing under 55lbs, along with 55,000 turkeys and 125,000 chickens.

Of course, this means there are specific CAFOs where you’ll see pigs and others for cows or chickens. There are over 212,000 animal feeding operations in the United States and nearly 20,000 are CAFOs. Why are they a problem? They produce heavy amounts of methane. Yet they also have to poop and pee, and that has to end up somewhere. It’s usually washed out and drains into a watering sector. That very same water might be used by local farmers to water their agriculture. Are you starting to see why they are so problematic for our overall environment?

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What Have We Done To Help Solve This Problem?

Nations have gathered to try to come up with ways to fix this ordeal. Many nations like China and India have slowly started to reduce their pollution, while others have cut pollution drastically. The Paris Climate Accord was employed and signed by many nations. The United Nations has also pushed for more environmental measures. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization pushed for reductions in agricultural pollution and intensive agriculture increases.

Many nations, such as the United States, have been focusing on giving rebates to people for buying things such as an electric car over gas-powered. This might also include tax breaks for businesses that are willing to reduce their carbon footprint. Europe as well as other areas have focused on using renewable resources for power. That includes solar energy, wind energy, hydro, hydro-electric, as well as others. However, none of these measures have been drastically effective yet because most of the world has not converted to eco-friendly concepts. In fact, some have fallen for BS tactics.

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The Clean Coal Lie

If you’ve ever seen the words “clean coal,” you’re seeing a literal lie. Coal cannot and never will be clean. This was put into play by some coal companies as a way of making coal look good in public. While there have been some reductions in pollution put into the environment by those employing clean coal technology, it is not as big as people assume. Moreover, it’s ultimately not even getting rid of the major pollution coal creates. Rather, this stores pollutants to keep them out of the atmosphere. Many times, that storage is underground.

The issue here is that you cannot store it forever. Plus, in order to even employ this method, you have to use a lot of power. Up to 25% more coal use, in fact. Of course, they are not getting that power from other clean coal. Do you think all of this is cheap for companies? Not at all. Therefore, it’s more expensive and uses more power and therefore more coal to accomplish. That is the very reason why it’s not even widespread in the United States and barely touched worldwide. You’re actually better off using coal normally based on the idiotic measures clean coal tech needs.

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The Potential Of Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy, when you say it out loud, sounds horrific. As if to say, you’re using what amounts to a bomb. However, this is not what nuclear energy actually is. In fact, among all renewable resources, it is considered by far the most powerful, efficient, and even the safest for people to utilize. The United States already employs Nuclear Energy to power homes. It’s the second most used source of power in the country, in fact.

Power companies also love nuclear energy because, while a nuclear plant might take a good chunk of money to form, it’ll then easy to get energy from them. It’s cheap to produce energy with low operating costs. Nuclear energy also has a high-energy-density. Seriously, they run 24/7 and only need to be refueled about every 2 years. They are operating at full power 93% of the time according to the U.S. Department of Energy. This makes it literally the most reliable energy source on the planet. Best of all? Nuclear energy gives off ZERO carbon emissions!

Sources:

United States Department of Energy

National Center for Atmospheric Research

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Institutes of Health

Union of Concerned Scientists

National Geographic