Published

1 year ago

October 31, 2023

Alice Rush

What You Need to Know About Carbon Dioxide and Climate Change

Do you know the impact of carbon dioxide on climate change?

It’s crucial for you to understand how this gas traps heat and contributes to the greenhouse effect.

The burning of fossil fuels and deforestation are major sources of carbon dioxide emissions.

As you read on, we will explore the carbon cycle and its role in this complex issue.

Arm yourself with knowledge to better comprehend the relationship between carbon dioxide and climate change.

Key Takeaways

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that absorbs and emits heat energy, contributing to the greenhouse effect.
Burning fossil fuels and deforestation are human activities that intensify the greenhouse effect by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Approximately 90% of human-made carbon dioxide emissions come from burning fossil fuels.
Deforestation is responsible for about 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions, as trees act as carbon sinks and their removal releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere.

Trapping Heat

To understand the impact of carbon dioxide on climate change, you need to know how it traps heat.

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, meaning it has the ability to absorb and emit heat energy.

When sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface, it warms the planet. Some of this heat is then radiated back into space, while the rest is trapped by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.

As carbon dioxide levels increase in the atmosphere, more heat is trapped, leading to a phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. This effect causes the Earth’s temperature to rise, resulting in climate change.

The increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, primarily due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, is amplifying this greenhouse effect and contributing to global warming.

Greenhouse Effect

As carbon dioxide levels increase in the atmosphere, it traps more heat, leading to the greenhouse effect. This phenomenon occurs when certain gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor, absorb and re-emit infrared radiation from the Earth’s surface. These gases act like a blanket, trapping heat and preventing it from escaping back into space.

As a result, the Earth’s temperature rises, causing changes in climate patterns and weather conditions. The greenhouse effect is a natural process that has been occurring for millions of years, keeping the planet warm enough to support life. However, human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, have significantly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, intensifying the greenhouse effect and contributing to global warming.

Fossil Fuel Combustion

Burning fossil fuels releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, exacerbating the greenhouse effect and amplifying climate change. Fossil fuel combustion is the process of burning coal, oil, and natural gas to produce energy for various purposes, such as electricity generation, transportation, and industrial processes.

When these fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is released as a byproduct. This carbon dioxide then accumulates in the atmosphere, trapping heat and contributing to the warming of the planet. It’s estimated that about 90% of human-made carbon dioxide emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels.

As a result, reducing our dependence on these fuels and transitioning to cleaner energy sources is crucial in mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Deforestation

When it comes to addressing the issue of deforestation, you need to be aware of the significant role it plays in contributing to carbon dioxide emissions and exacerbating climate change.

Deforestation is the clearing of forests for purposes such as agriculture, logging, or urbanization. Trees act as carbon sinks, meaning they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in their biomass.

When forests are cut down, the stored carbon is released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, deforestation is responsible for about 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Additionally, forests also play a crucial role in regulating the climate by influencing rainfall patterns and maintaining biodiversity.

Thus, addressing deforestation is essential in mitigating climate change and preserving the health of our planet.

Carbon Cycle

To understand the impact of deforestation on carbon dioxide emissions and climate change, it’s crucial to delve into the carbon cycle. The carbon cycle is the process by which carbon moves between the atmosphere, land, and oceans. It’s a natural and necessary process that helps regulate the Earth’s climate.

Carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, plays a significant role in the carbon cycle. Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, converting it into organic matter. When plants die and decompose, or when forests are burned, carbon is released back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Deforestation disrupts this cycle by eliminating the trees that absorb carbon dioxide, leading to an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and contributing to climate change. Therefore, understanding and protecting the carbon cycle is crucial for mitigating the effects of deforestation on climate change.

Conclusion

So there you have it, now you know the basics about carbon dioxide and its role in climate change.

It traps heat, contributes to the greenhouse effect, and is primarily emitted through fossil fuel combustion and deforestation.

Understanding the carbon cycle is key to addressing this issue.

By reducing our carbon emissions and promoting sustainable practices, we can work towards mitigating the impacts of climate change and preserving our planet for future generations.

Climate Change

Electricity demand surges, expanding both renewables and fossil fuels in 2024

Published

12 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Alice Rush

Despite record additions, clean energy sources could not fully meet a surge in electricity demand in 2024, driven mainly by the effects of rising temperatures, an annual review by the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed on Monday.

Renewables and nuclear energy provided four-fifths of the rise in electricity generation, which increased by 4% last year – marking “a significant acceleration” from the average annual growth seen in the last 15 years, the IEA said. The rest of the growth was covered by coal – still the largest source in the total global electricity mix – and by an expanding supply of fossil gas power.

Record temperatures push up power demand

Soaring use of cooling technologies like air conditioning in response to extreme heat was a key factor in the growing appetite for electricity, especially in China and India, which are heavy users of coal power, the IEA said.

Last year was the hottest on record and the global average temperature for 2024 exceeded the Paris Agreement benchmark of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the first time.

It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector

Growing electricity consumption by industry, the rollout of electric vehicles and the expansion of data centres also drove power demand, the Paris-based watchdog said.

Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said in a briefing on Monday that “even though oil and gas will remain essential energy carriers, we hear the footsteps of the age of electricity coming”.

He also noted that demand for all major fuels and energy technologies rose in 2024 as a result of rapidly growing electricity use.

World uses more coal, gas and renewables

Power generation from solar panels and wind turbines increased at a record pace thanks to a rapid rate of new installations, while nuclear power output was boosted by new projects and the restarting of reactors in France and Japan, the report noted.

But electricity generation from fossil gas and coal kept growing and, overall, fossil fuels still represented 60% of the global electricity mix last year.

While almost all regions saw an acceleration in electricity consumption, China and Southeast Asia saw the fastest increases in 2024, according to the IEA report.

After a decline in 2023, advanced economies led by the United States saw a return to growth in electricity consumption driven by strong demand for cooling, growth in the data-centre sector and a pickup in industrial production.

China continued to lead global expansion of renewables, making up almost two-thirds of all
renewable capacity connected to the grid in 2024. The United States, India and Brazil also saw record levels of solar photovoltaic roll-outs last year.

But intense heatwaves pushed coal and gas use higher in both China and India, while the United States and Eurasia also saw strong increases in gas demand for electricity, the IEA report noted.

Energy-related emissions still rising

Rising gas and coal use fuelled a 0.8% increase in global carbon dioxide emissions generated by the energy sector in 2024, the IEA said – but trends varied widely across regions.

While energy-related emissions dipped in advanced economies, whose growth has become less polluting, the decline was outweighed by marked increases in emerging economies – especially India – and the international aviation sector.

Clean hydrogen hype fades as high costs dampen demand

Speaking to journalists, Laura Cozzi, the IEA’s director of sustainability, noted that planet-heating emissions could have been exponentially higher without the rapid adoption of clean technologies – a development that is keeping 2.6 gigatonnes of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

“Those are fossil fuels that are being displaced,” she said, adding that the transition is moving “very fast” in the electricity sector.

The post Electricity demand surges, expanding both renewables and fossil fuels in 2024 appeared first on Climate Home News.

Electricity demand surges, expanding renewables and fossil fuels in 2024

Climate Change

It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector

Published

18 hours ago

March 24, 2025

Alice Rush

Ambassador Ali Mohamed is Kenya’s Special Envoy for Climate Change.

Kenya is a frontline casualty of the climate crisis. Escalating temperatures, unpredictable rainfall, and prolonged droughts are slashing food production, depleting water resources, and destabilising our economy. Our coastal ecosystems, vital to the “blue economy”, are besieged by rising sea levels, coral bleaching, and accelerating erosion.

These are not abstract threats; they are dismantling the livelihoods of millions of Kenyans who depend on agriculture and marine resources. Yet Kenya’s plight is not self-inflicted. Industrialised nations, with their outsized historical emissions, bear primary responsibility for this crisis. Under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, those who fuelled climate change must lead in funding solutions.

A proposed carbon levy on the shipping industry offers a transformative opportunity, one Kenya urgently supports, to deliver climate finance where it’s most needed while decarbonizing a critical global sector.

Global tax on shipping emissions faces choppy waters despite growing support

The shipping industry, a linchpin of global trade, stands poised to pioneer a new era of climate finance. At the UN International Maritime Organisation (IMO), governments are nearing agreement on a carbon levy on shipping emissions, with a decision slated for April 2025 at the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) 83 summit in London.

If enacted, this would be the first universal tax on an international polluting sector, a precedent-setting move. The World Bank estimates this levy could raise $60 billion annually, channeling vital funds into climate adaptation and mitigation for vulnerable nations like Kenya.

Kenya endorses this initiative unequivocally. It aligns with our national commitment to cut emissions and advance sustainable development, and it amplifies our role as co-chair of the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, which champions levies on under-taxed, high-emission sectors.

Africa is not merely a bystander in this effort. From scaling renewable energy to modernising port infrastructure, we are active architects of a decarbonized maritime future. The levy promises not just revenue, but a framework for equitable progress, if designed with precision.

3% of global emissions

But why target shipping, some might ask? Well, for starters, shipping accounts for 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to Japan or Germany, the sixth-largest emitter worldwide. Unchecked, this figure will climb, intensifying climate pressures on coastal nations.

Decarbonising shipping isn’t optional; it’s a strategic imperative for a sustainable global trade system. Yet, the transition must not deepen existing inequities. African economies, heavily reliant on maritime trade, cannot afford levies that inflate export costs and widen global market disparities. Safeguards – such as reinvesting levy proceeds into affordable green technologies – are essential to level the playing field.

Investments in zero-emission vessels, renewable fuels, and resilient port infrastructure can ensure developing nations thrive in a low-carbon economy. A well-crafted levy would hasten this shift while funneling revenue to communities hardest hit by climate change. Kenya’s coastal populations, reeling from eroded shorelines and depleted fisheries, exemplify the stakes.

Direct funding for the Global South

Support for the levy is surging. Over 60 countries, commanding two-thirds of the global fleet, back the proposal, an encouraging signal ahead of MEPC 83. The IMO’s 176 member states already agree a carbon price is critical to hit net-zero emissions by 2050. But ambition matters.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) estimates that a levy of between $150 and $300 per tonne of emissions would both accelerate shipping’s energy transition and generate substantial climate finance. Anything less risks stalling progress.

A strong carbon tax on shipping can give hope to climate-vulnerable communities

Equity is equally critical. Funds must flow directly and predictably to developing nations, bypassing the bureaucratic quagmires that have long throttled Global South access to climate finance. Revenues should prioritise adaptation and resilience – especially for Africa, where sea-level rise and extreme weather already wreak havoc. Landlocked states, too, deserve support for broader climate projects, ensuring the levy’s benefits transcend the maritime sector. Without these guardrails, the mechanism risks perpetuating rather than dismantling historical injustices.

With just a short time until the IMO summit, member states must commit to bold, constructive dialogue. The world has a rare shot at a levy that’s fair, potent, and capable of delivering tangible climate finance. For Kenya, it’s a lifeline to shield our people and ecosystems from a crisis we did little to create. For the globe, it’s a chance to pivot toward sustainability while holding polluters accountable.

The post It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector appeared first on Climate Home News.

It’s time for shipping to launch first global tax on a polluting sector

Climate Change

DeBriefed 21 March 2025: Germany’s climate win; Conservatives’ net-zero row-back; Key messages from major UK climate conference

Published

3 days ago

March 22, 2025

Alice Rush

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.

This week

Germany’s €100bn climate funding

BILLIONS IN FUNDING: Germany’s parliament on Tuesday voted to create a €500bn defence and infrastructure fund and relax “constitutionally-protected debt rules”, the Guardian reported, with “the last-minute backing of the Greens” in return for “guarantees that €100bn of the funds destined for infrastructure would be allocated for climate and economic transformation investments”. The deal came following “clumsy” initial negotiations from Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz, Bloomberg said. It reported that the Greens “finally came around” after Merz’s negotiators “conceded to their key demands”, which also included adding Germany’s 2045 climate-neutrality target into the constitution.

TAKING CLIMATE ‘SERIOUSLY’: The Greens said in a statement on social media that the agreement “finally takes the challenges of the future seriously”, according to the New York Times. Paula Piechotta, a member of the Greens in the German Bundestag, told the German newspaper Tagesspiegel that the deal was a “great success for democracy in our country, for sustainability and intergenerational justice”. The newspaper added that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Left party, “unsurprisingly”, criticised the agreement.

UK opposition breaks cross-party climate consensus

BREAKING AWAY: In a speech, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK opposition Conservative party, said it was “impossible” for the UK to meet its net-zero target by 2050, marking a “sharp break from years of political consensus”, BBC News reported. She did not offer an alternative target for the goal, the broadcaster said, quoting her telling reporters that if the Conservatives “do find a target is necessary, then yes we will have one”. Badenoch “failed to cite any evidence in support” of her arguments, according to a factcheck published by Carbon Brief, which concluded that much of the existing evidence “contradicts” her claims.

TORY BACKLASH: In response, Conservative former prime minister Theresa May, who was responsible for passing the 2050 target into law, warned the move “will hurt future generations and cost Britons”, the Times reported. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) also criticised the speech, warning that “now is not the time to step back from the opportunities of the green economy”, according to the i newspaper. In the Daily Telegraph, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard said Badenoch’s “rant comes close to political tragedy”.

Around the world

CARNEY CUTS: New Canadian prime minister Mark Carney removed the country’s “consumer carbon tax”, CBC News reported, adding that the policy had been a “potent point of attack” for his political opponents.
GREENPEACE BILL: Greenpeace has been ordered to pay $660m in damages over its protests against the Dakota Access pipeline in 2016, which could “bankrupt its US operations” if upheld, the Financial Times said.
UK-CHINA FORUM: The UK and China agreed to establish an “annual climate dialogue”, with the first meeting to be held in London later this year, the Times reported.
CHEQUES AND BALANCES: A US judge has “temporarily barred” attempts by the Trump administration to recoup at least $14bn in “grants issued by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects”, the Washington Post said.
EXTREME HEAT: “Severe heatwave conditions” have begun affecting several areas across India “unusually early in the season”, the Hindustan Times reported.
SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPORT: The EU will fill a “$1bn hole” in South African’s “just energy transition partnership” left by the US, the Financial Times reported. The US is also “stalling” $2.6bn of climate finance for South Africa, Bloomberg said.

152

The number of “unprecedented” extreme weather events that occurred in 2024, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate 2024 report. Heatwaves were the most common type of unprecedented events – defined as events “worse than any ever recorded in the region” – followed by “rain or wet spells” and floods.

Latest climate research

New research in Climate and Development explored how environmental justice featured in the climate action plans of rust-belt cities in the US, finding that few “provided enough details” to determine if it was a priority.
A new Science Advances study identified “increasing storminess” in the south-western Caribbean, which was attributed to “industrial-age warming”.
Marine heatwaves are now 5.1 times more frequent and 4.7 times more intense since records began, new research in Communications Earth & Environment found.

(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)

Captured

The UK’s high electricity prices are primarily driven by gas prices, according to an analysis published by Carbon Brief, with the UK typically seeing gas set electricity prices 98% of the time – compared to an average in the EU of 40%.

Spotlight

Chatham House talks climate and resilience

Carbon Brief outlines key takeaways from Chatham House’s climate and energy summit.

Chatham House, the UK’s leading international affairs thinktank, held its annual summit on climate and energy on 18-19 March. This year’s theme was: “Securing a resilient future.”

Carbon Brief attended the conference, where speakers including COP30 CEO Ana Toni, UK climate envoy Rachel Kyte and Moroccan minister for energy transition and sustainable development Leila Benali shared their thoughts on encouraging and enacting climate action.

Climate backlash

A sense of urgency permeated discussions at the summit, underpinned by concerns over growing anti-climate narratives.

Toni argued climate scepticism proves climate action is on the right track.

She said: “First people ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you – and this is where we are – then we win.”

COP30 CEO Ana Toni and UK climate envoy Rachel Kyte at Chatham House. Credit: Anika Patel, Carbon Brief

Other speakers said that increasing support for climate action by building new norms and creating overlapping interests could also be effective strategies.

Former US climate envoy Todd Stern pointed to increasing adoption of electric vehicles, while ClientEarth CEO Laura Clarke raised the example of community-owned renewable power.

Fretting over finance

Clean Earth Gambia founder Fatou Jeng warned that climate finance, as ever likely to be an important issue at COP30, has “not progressed much”.

“Blended finance” – using public money to leverage private funds – was heavily criticised in several panels. Ben Parsons, a partner at consultancy firm Oaklin, noted that only 72 such deals were agreed in 2024.

Speakers agreed that innovative mechanisms to derisk climate finance were needed, with Morocco’s Benali critiquing “exclusive” and inflexible private financing options.

Ndongo Samba Sylla, head of research and policy at International Development Economics Associates, argued that using local currencies would significantly boost climate finance.

Resilience through renewables

A key benefit of the UK’s “climate leadership”, Kyte argued, is that the energy transition will “make British people more secure”.

Parsons said the argument – recently deployed by Conservative leader Badenoch – that the energy transition replaced reliance on Russian fossil fuels with reliance on Chinese technology was incorrect.

“Fossil fuels are fuel – they require constant replenishment. Renewables are infrastructure,” he said, adding that arguably the UK should be accelerating its deployment of clean-energy technology.

On cybersecurity challenges in renewable power systems, Alex Schoch, vice president and group director of flexibility and electrification at Octopus Energy, argued that the key issue is how renewable energy “hardware” is managed, rather than where it is sourced from.

Parsons agreed, noting that the UK’s current power system has “plenty of cybersecurity vulnerabilities in it today”.

He said: “We have to make sure we’re putting [cybersecurity strategies] in place…But I don’t think that goes hand in hand with thinking we should avoid buying renewables from certain parts of the world.”

In a session on energy security in war-time Ukraine, held under the Chatham House rule, participants noted that the country was a case study for the importance of energy security.

Speakers said that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attacks on thermal power plants have seen growing use of low-carbon energy – particularly distributed solar.

Watch, read, listen

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM: The Columbia Energy Exchange podcast explored how the new Trump government underpinned discussions at the energy industry event CERAWeek.

‘CONFLICT BLINDSPOT’: A new report by ODI found that “less than 10% of international climate finance” in 2022 went to fragile and conflict-affected countries.

METHANE INACTION: Leading supermarkets in the global north are “failing to address the methane pollution in their supply chains”, according to a study covered by Desmog.

Coming up

24-26 March: 16th Petersberg Climate Dialogue, Berlin, Germany
24-26 March: IPCC lead author meeting for methodology report on inventories for short-lived climate forcers, Bilbao, Spain
24-28 March: 20th session of the UN FAO commission on genetic resources for food and agriculture, Rome, Italy
25 – 28 March:First G20 climate and environment sustainability working group meeting, online

Pick of the jobs

ClientEarth, lawyer or legal consultant, energy systems, Asia | Salary: 455m-585m Indonesian rupiah. Location: Jakarta
European External Action Service, policy officer for green diplomacy | Salary: Unknown. Location: Brussels
Bloomberg, climate reporter | Salary: Unknown. Location: Hong Kong
The Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, project manager | Salary: £42,679-£51,000. Location: London