Climate change

Have you ever heard your elders say something along the lines of, “back in the day we never had this kind of weather” or “man I miss the weather of old”? Well the reason statements like this come out from time to time is not because of them feeling nostalgic for their youth or anything of that sort, it`s because the climate really has changed.

Global temperatures have been increasing at a frightening pace this last century. What would have been a cold winter`s day just 20 years ago is now a hot sizzling day with temperatures breaking all records. Well, records are meant to be broken but not like this. The reason behind this as most of us are aware(unless you`re a politician in power) is climate change

What is climate change?

Climate change is essentially changing the climate. According to the UN,” Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.”

Burning fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas emissions that act like a blanket wrapped around the Earth, trapping the sun’s heat and raising temperatures.

Causes of global warming

Global warming is caused by many factors but they can be broadly classified into two categories:
1. Natural causes 2. Man-made causes

1) Natural causes:

The gas molecules in the air absorb heat and trap it causing a natural greenhouse effect. It heats the earth up and causes a rise in temperature. The gases that cause this effect are often released by sources like volcanoes and can be affected by factors such as the rotation of the earth or various other causes.

Looking at the charts we can see that till the end of the 19th century global temperatures were more or less steady but since the industrial revolution, it has skyrocketed. This rise can be attributed to the burning of fossil fuels and other man-made causes.

2) Man-made causes:

Humans through their actions may not directly cause climate change but our various actions do indeed accelerate climate change. Human factors that cause climate change include :
• Power generations: When power is generated by the burning of fossil fuels it releases a lot of gases like CO2, NO2, CO, etc.
• Release of gaseous emissions from various sources like automobiles release gases that accelerate the greenhouse effect.
• Deforestation: Forests remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Cutting them down means that carbon dioxide builds up quicker since there are no trees to absorb it. Not only that, trees release the carbon they stored when we burn them.
• Agriculture and livestock rearing: Planting crops and rearing animals releases many different types of greenhouse gases into the air. For example, animals produce methane, which is 30 times more powerful than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. The nitrous oxide used for fertilisers is ten times worse and is nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Our responsibility as chemical engineers

As the climate changes traditional practices that were followed for centuries cease to be effective. We as a society must learn to adapt. New methods and new practices are needed. Let me put my point across with an example.

In the years past the monsoon season in India used to begin around the last week of May to the first week of June. Rainfall then would be consistent with no extreme weather events taking place. Now however the rainfall has become more erratic with a large amount of rainfall taking place in a small amount of time. These events affect our lives to such a degree that we cannot imagine. Think about it – the heavier rain tends to wash our roads away as a result of which post the monsoon season ends what we are left with are mud tracks that do no favour to drivers leading to grave accidents and even deaths. Now as an engineer we could develop a new formula for making the tar that goes onto the roads so that it sticks better to the mud surface thereby preventing the road from getting washed away. Tar which is also manufactured using products produced by the refining of crude oil and stone which is produced by quarrying is not sustainable in the long run. This would not be an issue if we develop a method by which tar is actually produced by say plastics because we would be able to tackle two separate issues (plastic content in the atmosphere as well as the sustainability aspect) simultaneously.

Another sector where engineers particularly chemical engineers would be able to contribute immensely would be the energy sector. Currently, a big percentage of world energy is produced through the burning of coal a major pollutant. Moreover, coal is a non-renewable resource so we won’t have much of it left in the future. Now if we are able to develop an alternate source of energy with similar efficiency as that of coal we will be able to replace coal with this thereby solving the energy problem. Solar energy, for instance, has massive potential but all the current methods are rather inefficient so this could be technology that could be worked on.

Areas of research under environmental engineering

1) Sustainable energy: This involves research of various means of energy that do not involve conventional sources of energy. You can research such topics in various research institutes in India like BAARC, NERF-CISR and many other institutes in the nation.

2) Industrial waste treatment: This field is of great importance as it deals with the safe treatment and disposal of industrial waste. There is a lot of scope in this topic. There is also a great potential for employability as there are greater pressures on industries to have safe waste disposal systems which give rise to the need for environmental engineers.

3) Hydrogen production and economy: In the future hydrogen is predicted to be the most sought-after fuel source. There haven’t been many breakthroughs in the field so the potential for research is still very high. Companies like Reliance and Adani have also signed MOUs to increase existing hydrogen gas plants and install new ones to increase production of this future fuel source.

There are many more examples of what we could do and how we can contribute to the world. The need of the hour is innovation. The old mentality that these are problems of the future must be eliminated. The problems of the future now are problems of the present. We must work together and with an element of scientific curiosity and innovation, we will be able to find a solution to all our problems and change the world.