By Bhaskar Anand
What is climate change? You might say, "I know more or less about climate change." However, you may or may not know about the ongoing changes which add up to a surplus amount of greenhouse gases (such as CO2, CH4, gaseous H2O, N2O, and CFC). The presence of these gases in the atmosphere acts like a lid that traps heat from solar radiation and contains it for a long duration similar to the lid on a cooking vessel. Why is the climate changing? For this, I quote Newton's third law of motion, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
For instance, here the term, "action" in the law simply corresponds to human anthropogenic activity which generates the surplus unwanted greenhouse gases. As a result, Earth and its atmosphere respond in the form of global warming, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and droughts, which may be considered a "reaction" to our action.
Generally, it is said that humans are the smartest species among a total of 8.7 million on Earth. I sometimes doubt our collective intelligence as a smart species. As we evolve and develop, we become individualistic, ignorant and greedy for personal benefits. We tend to do activities that make our life comfortable and close surroundings systematic (reducing randomness). Such actions are short-sighted. Although they might reduce randomness locally, they add much more entropy globally to the environment. According to the second law of thermodynamics, the level of disorder in a closed system ― like our universe ― gradually increases. Any systems tend to move from ordered behavior to more random behavior to achieve stability.
Since the pre-industrial period, anthropogenic activities are estimated to have increased the Earth's global average temperature by about 1 °C in a century. In the recent past, the global average temperature has been found to be increasing by 0.2 °C per decade, which is double the original increase each century. The alarming current warming trends will probably result in an unprecedented temperature rise leading to catastrophic events, similar to what is already being witnessed. According to predictions from the second law of thermodynamics, the universe including earth will end in a "heat death." When everything will be at the same temperature and this is the ultimate level of disorder. As everything will be at the same temperature, no work can be done, and all the energy will end up as the random motion of atoms and molecules.
However, we can prevent the early extinction of humankind by slowing down climate change, and in doing so we extend sustainability. The only solution to this crisis is to take the initiative in reducing carbon emissions as much as possible (as recommended in the 2016 Paris Climate Accord). These changes should be mandatorily focused on reducing carbon emissions. If we make such changes, it will take a few years to gradually have a positive impact that can be witnessed on the national and later global scale. Finally, we can hope that the dynamic equilibrium between man-made carbon emissions and carbon sinks will be established. This balance will reduce stress on the carbon cycle, and we may be able to save ourselves and have a sustainable life until some other extinction threat emerges again in the future.
Bhaskar Anand (abhaskar@hanyang.ac.kr; https://sites.google.com/view/bhaskaranand) is a doctoral student working in the field of air quality and material application at the Department of Civil and environmental engineering, Hanyang University.
 |
For instance, here the term, "action" in the law simply corresponds to human anthropogenic activity which generates the surplus unwanted greenhouse gases. As a result, Earth and its atmosphere respond in the form of global warming, extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and droughts, which may be considered a "reaction" to our action.
Generally, it is said that humans are the smartest species among a total of 8.7 million on Earth. I sometimes doubt our collective intelligence as a smart species. As we evolve and develop, we become individualistic, ignorant and greedy for personal benefits. We tend to do activities that make our life comfortable and close surroundings systematic (reducing randomness). Such actions are short-sighted. Although they might reduce randomness locally, they add much more entropy globally to the environment. According to the second law of thermodynamics, the level of disorder in a closed system ― like our universe ― gradually increases. Any systems tend to move from ordered behavior to more random behavior to achieve stability.
Since the pre-industrial period, anthropogenic activities are estimated to have increased the Earth's global average temperature by about 1 °C in a century. In the recent past, the global average temperature has been found to be increasing by 0.2 °C per decade, which is double the original increase each century. The alarming current warming trends will probably result in an unprecedented temperature rise leading to catastrophic events, similar to what is already being witnessed. According to predictions from the second law of thermodynamics, the universe including earth will end in a "heat death." When everything will be at the same temperature and this is the ultimate level of disorder. As everything will be at the same temperature, no work can be done, and all the energy will end up as the random motion of atoms and molecules.
However, we can prevent the early extinction of humankind by slowing down climate change, and in doing so we extend sustainability. The only solution to this crisis is to take the initiative in reducing carbon emissions as much as possible (as recommended in the 2016 Paris Climate Accord). These changes should be mandatorily focused on reducing carbon emissions. If we make such changes, it will take a few years to gradually have a positive impact that can be witnessed on the national and later global scale. Finally, we can hope that the dynamic equilibrium between man-made carbon emissions and carbon sinks will be established. This balance will reduce stress on the carbon cycle, and we may be able to save ourselves and have a sustainable life until some other extinction threat emerges again in the future.
Bhaskar Anand (abhaskar@hanyang.ac.kr; https://sites.google.com/view/bhaskaranand) is a doctoral student working in the field of air quality and material application at the Department of Civil and environmental engineering, Hanyang University.
