A Practical Understanding Of Climate Change: Part 2

This posting is Part 2 of my conversations with Michael Patterson, a retired engineer, who I met along with his wife and daughter while vacationing in Exuma. Michael has been a consulting environmental engineer since 1982. He is a graduate of Penn State University. 

In this Q&A, Michael poses and answers more questions about climate change. As always your comments and questions are welcome.

Q: At present, how much of global energy consumption involves burning fossil carbon to produce heat?

A: Approximately 80%. Coal and natural gas power plants convert heat energy to electricity.

Q: What other ways do we generate power?

A: The remaining power we produce comes from hydroelectric power sites, nuclear power plants, solar arrays, wind turbines, and to a lesser extent from geothermal and tide sources.

Q: What is power?

A: Power refers to energy flows coming from electricity generators and the burning of fossil carbon in furnaces, industrial manufacturing processes, and for transportation.

Q: What has been the result of burning fossil carbon?

A: Rising atmospheric temperatures as described in Part 1 of this two-part series.

Q: What is the reason why so many Americans are not concerned about global warming?

A: American leadership from the Oval Office to Congress and state governments are not discouraging the burning of gasoline, diesel, and natural gas.

Q: Who are the biggest global emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2)?

A: China = 30%, United States = 11%, India = 8%.

Q: Why can’t these nations commit to a common strategy?

A: They do not have the same populations to feed and look after. A quick comparison shows that China has a population of 1.408 billion and a GDP per capita of $13,870 US. India has 1.425 billion and a GDP per capita of $2,940. The United States has 343 million and a GDP per capita of $89,680.

Q: Will removal of CO2 from the Troposphere result in cooler global surfaces?

A:  Yes, but this will require the removal of about 20% to produce significant cooling.

Q: What is the total weight of CO2 in the Troposphere?

A: 3,300 metric gigatons.

Q: How much needs to be removed to cool to the mean global temperature in 1990?

A: 660 metric gigatons.

Q: How much CO2 can new experimental carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies remove?

A: 13 metric gigatons per year.

Q: What area of land is needed for significant CO2 removal by planting trees?

A: An area equivalent in size to the United States and Canada.

Q: How long will it take to plant these trees and ensure they survive?

A: At least one hundred years.

Q: Will new trees we plant to naturally remove CO2 take up land currently being used to grow food?

A: Yes.

Q: Will humans need to stop current animal husbandry farming and tying up land to produce feed for livestock?

A: Yes. Humans, particularly in meat-consuming countries, have to reduce herd sizes of high-emission livestock like cattle, and find protein equivalent low-emission alternate food sources.

Q: Is our human population eventually going to stop increasing?

A: Yes. The current rate of growth is 0.9% annually or between 70-80 million people. Human population growth, however, is expected to eventually reach a peak within this century of approximately 10.3 billion by 2085 before starting to gradually decline.

Q: How much warmer could global surfaces be in the next three decades?

A: By the year 2055, global surface temperatures are projected to be 0.55 degrees Celsius (1.0 Fahrenheit) degrees warmer.

Q: Are future weather events going to be catastrophic?

A: Yes.