Key Definitions Part 2
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) - done prior to the carbon infiltrating our atmosphere before it goes out of the smokestacks. Critical for halting further emissions until the dirty energy fades away in favor of clean energy.
Direct Air Capture (DAC) - exactly the same as CCS except that the carbon collected already escaped the smokestacks and is blanketing our atmosphere. This is a process to vacuum greenhouse gas out of the air and is very expensive. Currently the technology is in the process of being scaled and needs to increase greatly as fast as possible.
Net-Zero Emissions - or “net zero” - when all greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere by human activities is offset by carbon removal of said gasses from the atmosphere. This is achieved when human generated emissions are reduced to an absolute minimum primarily through energy transition from fossil fuel to clean energy; plus the implementation of the CCS and DAC methods of carbon capture. When this finally occurs, the correct balance of atmospheric carbon will be regulated by Earth’s natural carbon cycle resulting in the absorption and radiation of the correct quantities of heat.
The Seven Spheres:
The atmosphere is the envelope layers of gasses that surround Earth stretching up about 6,214 miles. There are five major layers and several secondary layers.
The troposphere is the first layer, where all the weather events occur, which goes up about eight miles where passenger planes fly. This is where greenhouse gas is most dense.
The stratosphere is next, a deeper, dryer layer that reaches upward 32 miles where you’ll find the ozone layer that absorbs most of the ultraviolet radiation the sun sends us. Life is not possible without the ozone layer.
The hydrosphere refers to all waters on this planet.
The biosphere is where all living organisms exist.
The hemisphere is “half an Earth”. Either north or south, or east and west. Used as a reference point.
And the cryosphere which refers to solid precipitation, namely snow, hail and different forms of ice.
The IPCC - the only international governing body that can unite humanity towards a solution to our warming planet. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a United Nations authority formed in 1988, that thirty years later warned the world that Earth’s average temperature cannot rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, over the pre-industrial (1750-1850) average temperature without serious climate related consequences. Our planet has already warmed up 2+ degrees Fahrenheit and the early signs of a warmer planet are obvious.