Are You Managing Your Carbon Footprint?

Last updated: 01 November, 2021

Introduction

Earth, probably the most beautiful planet in the entire Universe, is weeping. Each day its’ beautiful nature and the natural resources are getting destroyed by the man kind. Unfortunately many of us choose to ignore seeing this.

Australia’s carbon emission for 2019 was nearly 532.5Mt CO2-e (Minister for industry, Energy and Emission Reduction, 2020) before the impact of COVID 19. The impact of CO2 emissions on climate change is inevitable.

According to the Australian government(2021), reducing carbon emission by 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2030, is challenging. The world is on track to its’ most urgent mission, to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

So, are you doing your part to reduce your carbon footprint?

Climate Change Due to CO2 Emissions

The CO2 emissions get trapped in the upper atmosphere which leads to global warming. The major impact of global warming is climate change. Climate change leads to the following devastating conditions;

The weather is changing and humans are facing its sever consequences. Recall the catastrophic natural disasters that happened during the last few months.

Last year the Secretary- General of UN warned that we only have 11 years to prevent irreversible damage from climate change (UN, 2019).

Sectors Contributing for Emission in Australia

In Australia the major contributor for carbon emission is the energy sector. Its’ emission is higher than the accumulated emission of the other sectors (2019).

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources (2019)

The IPCC claims that human activities have caused 1.0 C of global warming above pre industrial levels and is likely to reach 1.5C between 2030 and 2050 if not controlled (IPCC, 2018). 2016 was the warmest year in NOAA’s 137 year series (noaa, 2021). 2020 was the second warmest year (Climate.gov, 2021).

Trends in carbon emission in Australia

The emissions were high during 2006 and 2007 due to the high emissions in the electricity and land use change in forestry. The emissions were equal to 2000 levels by the time we reached 2015.

Australian Government Data (2016)

Carbon brief(2019) says, Australia has one of the highest rooftops solar rates in the world.; a fifth of all households have it installed, rising to a third in some states. It provides around 4% of Australia’s electricity.

Carbon Emission and Population

Carbon emission is linked with population, and population in Australia is growing around 1.5% a year to 2030( Australian Government, 2015). Covid 19 lockdowns impacted on the population trends during the last two years.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021)

The United Nations says, if global population continues to grow as predicted, reaching 9.6 billion by 2050, it could require the equivalent of almost 3 planets to provide the natural resources needed to sustain current lifestyle (UN, 2020).

Achieving Net Zero in Carbon Emission

Australia is in the process of diverting into various new alternatives to reduce emission and become net zero by 2050. Australia is among the top 20 countries producing 619.26MtCO2e of carbon per year (Climatewatch, 2020).

While the government do their part, each individual has their own responsibility to manage their own carbon emission. So think,

The United Nations says, if global population continues to grow as predicted, reaching 9.6 billion by 2050, it could require the equivalent of almost 3 The Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG) suggest that rapid emission reductions alone won’t be enough now and the large amounts of CO2 should be removed from the atmosphere to preserve critical parts of the Earth system.
To Reduce Remove and Repair

Your Contribution for a Safer world

Lifestyle changes impact on carbon emission. If a society as a whole transform their lifestyles a significant impact could occur in nature. Some suggestions proposed by the European Union (2021) to limit an individual’s carbon footprint are as follows;

Scientist have discovered more than 4000 exoplanets so far around our solar system. Yet, none of those planets could be proved to have the things we have in here on Earth. Water, free oxygen, trees, colours and textures and many more things the Earth bear could probably be just on this planet.

Humans are planning their future on Mars; but what does it has to offer back to the man kind? Scientist keep searching for water on other planets while we all keep polluting the soaring water the Earth has. The simple question is, why do people keep searching for other planets when they are living in such an unbelievable planet that has everything the humankind could ever need?

Managing your carbon footprint would help save the Earth and the living being in it while preserving its beauty for the centuries to come. So are you managing your carbon footprint wisely?

References

World Health Organisation 2008, Reducing your carbon footprint can be good for your health, World Health Organisation, viewed 30 September 2021, https://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/factsheets/Kit2008_annex1_2.pdf/

Rebecca Lindsey 2020, Climate change; Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, Climate.gov, viewed 4 Oct 2021, < https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide

The Hon Angus Taylor MP 2019, Emissions fall in 2019, Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reductions, viewed on 4 Oct 2021 https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/taylor/media-releases/emissions-fall-2019/

Australian Government 2021, Australia’s 2030 Emissions Reduction Target, Australian Government, viewed 6 Oct 2021 https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/summary-australias-2030-emissions-reduction-target.pdf

Keywood MD, Emmerson KM, Hibberd MF (2016). Climate: Trends in emissions. In: Australia state of the environment 2016, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra, viewed 8 Oct 2021, https://soe.environment.gov.au/theme/climate/topic/2016/trends-emissions

Myles R. Allen et al 2018, Summery for Policymakers, IPCC, viewed 8 Oct 2021 https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information 2021, State of the Climate: Global Climate Report for Annual 2016, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, viewed on 8 Oct 2021, https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/201613

Iea 2021, Net zero by 2050 scenario, iea, viewed on 8 Oct 2021, https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-product/net-zero-by-2050-scenario

Unites Nations 2021, Facts and Figures, United Nations, viewed 9 Oct 2021 https://www.un.org/en/actnow/facts-and-figures

Jocelyn Timperley 2019, The Carbon Brief Profile; Australia, Carbon Brief, viewed 9 Oct 2021 https://www.carbonbrief.org/the-carbon-brief-profile-australia

Sir David King et al, 2021, Reducing carbon emissions not enough, expert warns, Australian National University, viewed 15 Oct 2021, https://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/reducing-carbon-emissions-not-enough-expert-warns

Australian Government 2016, 2016 SoE Atmosphere Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions by sector, Australian Government, viewed 16 Oct, https://data.gov.au/dataset/ds-dga-b41195f8-1e86-45d3-a92f-b49f1fbb456a/details

United Nations 2019, Environmental Issues and sustainable development, United Nations, viewed 17 Oct, https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12131.doc.html