By: Arinze Okigbo

One of humanity's biggest threats is climate change which is also known as global warming. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), each year, an average of 150,000 people die due to climate change. This number results from extreme weather conditions, temperature and humidity changes that create the perfect habitat for new diseases and viruses to grow and spread.

 

Since 1900 the average surface air temperature has increased by around 1.8°F (1°C). Most of this increase happened from the mid-1970s. Each year, sea levels rise at a rate of about one-eight of an inch per year. Each decade, the world loses sea ice in the arctic at a rate of almost 13 percent. If care isn't taken, Jakarta, Lagos, Houston, Dhaka, Venice, Bangkok, and many more cities would be underwater at the end of the century. There is a high risk that in about thirty years, The Bahamas which has already been devasted by Hurricane Dorian would be underwater.

 

To solve this problem, one has to look at the root causes of global warming before thinking of the solutions. Global warming's major catalysts are carbon dioxide emissions, deforestation, oil and natural gas drilling, and many more.

 

If you look at carbon dioxide emissions, 40 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions are from its power plants, 33 percent are from transportation, and the remaining 27 percent are from fires, human activities, etc.

 

Technology can play a significant part in solving carbon emissions; for example, smart home devices can measure the amount of electricity used in a home.  These devices can use machine learning to track daily schedule and control the central heating and cooling systems and the lighting requirements in buildings. By monitoring these points, the devices can turn them on and off when necessary to save energy and reduce the amount of electricity the power generation plants need to create, thus reducing the amount of carbon emitted.

 

Another type of technology that can prevent high carbon emissions rate is a machine called Carbon Capture.  It is a giant plant of fans usually located next to areas with high carbon emission rates.  The fans suck in most the carbon in the air and the carbon is later turned into clean-burning fuels.

 

Each year, 18 million acres of forest are cut down, destroying the habitat and hurting the carbon-oxygen cycle. This is equivalent to 27 soccer field every minute. Trees are a natural filter that turns carbon into oxygen that humans breathe. As the trees are cut down, there is no natural thing that reduces the carbon in the air, so as a result, the carbon stays in the air.

 

Deforestation is caused by the demand for wood for various uses, space for mining, urbanization, farming and grazing.  Forest fires can also increase the number of trees lost each year. To solve this problem, there is need to create more synthetic wood to reduce the demand for wood.  Similarly, there is a need to plant more trees at a higher rate than the trees are lost. Two YouTubers known as MrBeast, and Mark Rober organized a fundraiser to plant 20 million trees through their organization known as “Team Trees.” Other YouTubers supported them, and Elon Musk donated one million dollars to the fundraiser while Jack Dorsey donated $300,000.  Each tree cost a dollar, and as of today, 22,581,933 dollars have been donated, and 7.1 million trees have been planted.

 

Drones can track the areas that are being cut down and ensure that more trees are planted to replace the lost ones. Artificial Intelligence can be used provide an early warning for forest fires.  Technology can be used to track data on forest fire-prone areas and the conditions that trigger them.  Such early warning can ensure that firefighters spray the trees with fire retardant chemicals and water to moisturize the trees and minimize the incident or spread of the fires.

 

A clean form of energy would help solve the climate problem. Numerous companies and countries are working tirelessly to develop new technologies that can create cleaner and faster energy to reduce global warming and its effects. Example of such companies includes Siemens, Vestas, Suzlon, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, First Solar, Pacific Ethanol, and many more.

 

In all, serious action is required to ensure that the human race can live safely on earth.  The world needs to collaborate to reduce human beings’ carbon footprints.  World leaders, and indeed, all of human race, must do whatever is needed to ensure that the world is a cleaner, safer place for future generations.