Carbon dioxide (CO2) is released into the atmosphere naturally and through human activities like burning fossil fuels. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere, causing the greenhouse effect. Natural processes emit and remove CO2 in the carbon cycle, but human activities have upset the balance. Fossil fuel burning, mineral production, and deforestation have increased CO2 emissions, while natural removal processes are impeded. These emissions are caused by electricity generation, transportation, and industrial processes.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions occur when carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, either naturally or through human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms that exists in the phase of a gas in the earth’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is a series of layers of gases that surround the Earth. These gases are bound to the planet and are prevented from floating in space due to Earth’s gravity. The atmosphere is composed mostly of nitrogen and oxygen, but many other gases also exist, including a small amount of carbon dioxide.
Human emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, however, have upset this balance. A greenhouse gas is an atmospheric gas that lets sunlight pass through the atmosphere to reach the Earth. When light hits the Earth, some of it bounces back to space as infrared radiation or heat. Greenhouse gases trap this heat in the atmosphere, thus making the world hotter in a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. A certain amount of greenhouse gases is needed to control the Earth’s climate and make the planet warm enough for life, but excessive warming can also threaten life.
Natural processes occur that emit and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in a complex ongoing exchange known as the carbon cycle. The processes responsible for carbon dioxide emissions are called sources, and those that remove carbon dioxide are called sinks. Natural sources of CO2 include plant and animal respiration, such as human fumes and volcanic eruptions. Natural sinks include plant photosynthesis, during which plants remove carbon dioxide from the air to produce sugars and store them in plant biomass. Oceans are both a sink and a source, with tropical waters typically releasing carbon dioxide and cooler ocean waters absorbing carbon dioxide.
In a healthy carbon cycle, carbon dioxide emissions are canceled out by carbon dioxide removals so that there is no net change in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Human activities such as metal production, mineral production and burning of fossil fuels have increased carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, ocean pollution and deforestation, the felling of trees and other plants for timber, agriculture and urban development, have impeded natural carbon dioxide removal processes. In the period between the Industrial Revolution of the 1700s and 2005, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by 35%, indicating that the sources of the carbon cycle have exceeded sinks.
When fossil fuels, such as coal, gas or oil, are burned to create energy, they release carbon in the form of CO2. These fossil fuels are commonly burned to generate residential and industrial electricity, create heat, and move vehicles such as airplanes, trains, cars, and boats. The mineral production processes of lime, cement and soda ash involve chemical reactions that transform the chemicals within the raw materials to create carbon dioxide emissions. CO2 emissions occur by similar means in the production of metals such as iron, zinc and lead. The degradation of petroleum-based products and the production of chemicals such as ammonia also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions.
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