How Carbon Emissions Impact the Environment

When carbon emissions are mentioned, the most common thought that arises is the impacts on the environment. Beyond the simple descriptions, carbon emissions impact the environment in many ways, some ranging from minimal disruption to immense ecosystem damage. The following information below describes the implications of carbon emissions on the environment and the degrees of their impact.

Ocean Acidification

Whether in school or through online searches, you may have once come across or heard of measuring ‘pH’ in a science-related course. In a simple definition, pH is a unitless scale from 0 to 14 that describes the concentration of hydrogen in a solution. If a solution has a lower pH, it is more acidic and if the pH is higher, the solution is more basic. While this may sound complicated, the only significant information you need to know is that aquatic organisms may be harmed if the water becomes significantly acidic. Ocean acidification is a phenomenon that occurs when carbon dioxide is up-taken by the ocean and thus, the water becomes acidic.

Ocean acidification causes harm to species that are accustomed to a higher pH and survive best under basic conditions. Many fish, coral, and other species experience death or must migrate to areas that have higher pH in order to survive. Oftentimes, migratable species meet predators in other areas or potentially become invasive to the alternative environment. In addition, a common impact of ocean acidification is the dissolving of shells for oysters, clams, and other organisms. Shell formation in the ocean requires carbonate (CO3) to form strong, healthy shells. However, carbon dioxide in the ocean goes through multiple reactions that ultimately uses carbonate that is needed for shell formation. As a result, organisms in the ocean form weak and vulnerable shells from the impact of ocean acidification.

As an economic consequence, ocean acidification also lowers the profit for fisheries that depend on certain fish and other organisms to thrive. As some countries are based off of fishery profits and are more aquaculture-based, people may experience food shortages and profit decreases.

Greenhouse Gas

While carbon dioxide may be falsely portrayed as a direct harm to human health, carbon should not be seen as an air pollutant. On the other hand, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming. The concerns of global warming may be apparent, such as warming the atmosphere to higher levels than current comfort. However, there are other impacts as well such as creating more polarized weather conditions. Global warming makes areas experience extreme low and high temperatures in the year, making desirable places less enjoyable. In addition, agricultural practices may shift between areas and soil layers may experience alterations in composition. Generally, climate change brings all biomes more north, towards the North Pole.

Warming of temperatures causes sea level rising through glaciers and ice sheets melting. However, the rising of sea levels is also caused through warm temperatures evoking thermal expansion. Water molecules are separated further apart when heated, making sea levels rise. Economic impacts of sea level rising include people having to relocate to new regions, floods increasing around new areas, and groundwater contamination through saltwater intrusion into previously freshwater resources.

As a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide increases the chain reaction of events that occur through sea level rising and shifts in temperature.

Atmospheric Carbon

Although emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere may seem completely harmful or detrimental to the environment, we need carbon dioxide to keep Earth slightly warm. Otherwise, the Earth would become significantly cold. Greenhouse gasses in general are needed to sustain an amount of heat in the atmosphere, or Earth will become extremely cold. However, a high amount of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gasses may result in an extremely hot temperature condition. Therefore, researchers and environmentalists alike are seeking to create an optimal balance between emitting greenhouse gasses and preventing high emissions.

While carbon dioxide itself does not contribute as significantly as chlorofluorocarbons or other gasses, it controls the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. Either way, atmospheric carbon dioxide and greenhouse gasses must be regulated to reduce potentially harmful trends.

Summary

Carbon dioxide emissions cause a variety of negative effects on the environment such as ocean acidification, sea level warming, shifting in biomes, and deterring fisheries. Nevertheless, it is important to have carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but at a sustainable level for the Earth.