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effect of carbon dioxide on environment
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Carbon dioxide is a colorless gas, it has a small but sharp odor and a slightly sour taste. Each molecule of carbon dioxide consists of one atom of carbon and two atoms of oxygen. Its chemical formula is CO2. Carbon Dioxide is about 1.5 times heavier than air. The specific volume at atmospheric pressure (101.3 kilopascals) and 70º F (21º C) is 8.74 ft3/lb. Under normal conditions it remains stable, inert and non-toxic. To liquefy CO2 it must be under 300 pound per inch gage(psig) at 0º F or 838 psig at 70º F. Above the critical temperature of 87.9º F, at which all three phases gas, liquid, or solid may exist in equilibrium with one another, CO2 can exist only as a gas, no matter what amount of pressure. When liquid CO2 is cooled to -69.9º F and the pressure drops to 60.4 psig it turns into dry ice snow. All CO2 existing in the atmosphere is estimated to be 720 x 109. Carbon dioxide makes up about 0.03 percent of the air. Although that is a small amount, plants and animals depend upon it for life. Green plants make their nutrients with it. They mix the carbon dioxide with water to make sugar by a process called photosynthesis. From the sugar, …show more content…
CO2 can be transported three ways: in high pressure uninsulated steel cylinders, as a low-pressure liquid in insulated truck trailers or rail tank cars, and as dry ice. The size of the high-pressure cylinders is limited because of the weight involved. Most commercial cylinders contain either twenty or fifty pounds of CO2. Laws that govern the vehicle weight restrict truck trailers capacity. Right now about twenty tons of liquid CO2 may be shipped on an insulated trailer. Carbon dioxide gas dissolves in water, forming carbonic acid. When this weak acid reacts with some substances, it forms products called carbonates. One carbonate of importance is sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking
Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a colorless gas, which was first discovered in 1577 by Van Helmont who detected it in the products of both fermentation and charcoal burning. CO2 is used in solid, liquid, and gas forms in a variety of industrial processes. These include: beverage carbonation, dry ice, welding and chemicals manufacturing. It is produced by the combustion of all carbonaceous fuels and can be recovered in an abundance of ways. It is widely used today as a by-product of synthetic ammonia production, fermentation, and from flue gases by absorption process. CO2 is also a product of animal metabolism and is important in the life cycles of plants and animals. It is present in the atmosphere only in small quantities (.03% by vol.)
Human activities have led to an exponential increase in the use of fossil fuel. The benefits of using fossil fuels are short lived in comparison to its long-term negative effects. In the last couple of decades, the major consumption of fossil fuel played a significant role in the rise of concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Roughly two trillion metric tons of CO2 have been emitted in the atmosphere and over a quarter of these got mixed with the ocean water resulting in ocean acidification (Buffie and Carr, 2010).
Carbon dioxide disturbs ecosystems candidly, both positively and negatively. On land it increases growth in various trees and plants, an influence occasionally called ‘CO2 fertilisation’. Absorption of CO2 into the oceans triggers ‘ocean acidification’, obstructing shell formation by organisms like corals and affecting coral deterioration or
"Climate and CO2 in the Atmosphere." Climate and CO2 in the Atmosphere. University of California, San Diego, 2002. Web. 26 June 2014. .
Thesis: As the environment encounters damage from increasing levels of carbon dioxide, actions on both governmental and individual levels need to be implemented in order to protect the welfare of future life.
Increasing CO2 levels affects the environment in several ways. One of the primary effects is ocean acidification. Ocean acidification a series of chemical reactions that results in the lowering pH of water. The dissociation of carbon dioxide prevents the formation of calcium carbonate which is particularly harmful to organisms with shells, such as the Elkhorn, pteropods, coral, mollusks, shellfish and scallops (Payette, J.). Furthermore, CO2 causes climate change, which alters variables such as ice and snow cover and precipitation, which can alters variables in ...
There are lots of natural processes constantly happening all around us, these processes are often linked by passing one type of atom to the next process which passes the same atom to the next one and so on. This ‘passing of the atom’ along a chain of processes is called a cycle, the series of processes in which the carbon atom goes through is called the carbon cycle. Each Carbon is the fourth most affluent element in the universe and is an important part of most molecules that make up most of the world’s natural resources and organic matter, which is why the carbon cycle is one of the most important cycles on earth. Through-out the cycle, carbon can become several different forms such as sugar, oil, diamond and marble. Processes such as photosynthesis, combustion and the compression of the earth play key roles in changing, containing and releasing carbon. All the chemical reactions and processes and forms carbon creates are part of the carbon cycle, which is one of the most important cycle on earth. The majority of carbon on earth is in the atmosphere the rest is stored in rocks, fossil fuels, oceans, plants and soil. Carbon is constantly being added to the atmosphere, the most common forms being carbon dioxide and methane gas. At the same time it’s being removed by plants on land and in the oceans. Carbon can be stored for hundreds of years in sediment, fossil fuels, rocks and the ocean. The carbon in the atmosphere is almost always a compound called carbon dioxide.
Carbon dioxide or CO2 is known to be one of a number of gases that are astonishingly transparent to the visible light that falls on the Earth from the Sun, but it absorb the infra-red radiation that emitted by the warm surface of our Earth, to prevents its loss into space. Moreover, CO2 has varied considerably and this affected the Earth’s temperature. Most common source of this CO2 is known as the fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are primarily coal, hydrocarbons, natural gas, or fuel oil that formed from the remains of the dead plants and also animals. The burning fossil fuel that has been created by humans is the largest source of emissions of the carbon dioxide.
The Earth’s current CO2 level is at 393.84ppm (CO2now, 2013). This is the highest of the high levels in the past 450,000 years. Extra carbon dioxide in the air is believed to keep temperatures steady and contributing to the greenhouse effect which causes the planet to warm. Scientists believe that humans add CO2 through the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and livestock farming to name a few. Natural processes also contribute to the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere including forest fires. Two sources on Earth remove CO2 from the atmosphere: Trees and the ocean. Deforestation can contribute to global warming because trees absorb carbon dioxide and when trees are removed the Earth loses its natural carbon storehouses. Phytoplankton consume CO2 through the photosynthesis process and transport it from the ocean’ surface to the deep. These sources eliminate 30-50% of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
When people burn fossil fuels to accumulate and produce energy a substance called carbon is produced. Carbon is released into the air in a form known as carbon dioxide. Carbon moves throughout the biosphere on the planet as it is recycled and reused. Carbon exists in the earth’s atmosphere in two common forms which are methane and carbon monoxide. These gases absorb and retain heat in a process known as the greenhouse effect. The Planets natural greenhouse effect makes life possible by regulating our temperature. It turns out that adding too much to the greenhouse effect can have horrible consequences on the environment. Each year, five and a half billion tons of carbon is released by burning fossil fuels and of that three billion tons enters the atmosphere. The remaining carbon usually gets absorbed by the oceans.
Human activities such as deforestation, industrialization and burning of fossil fuels are the major sources through which carbon dioxide is added...
Earth’s carbon levels have followed a natural cycle throughout the past 800,000 years where the carbon dioxide concentration varied from 180 ppm (parts per million) and 280 ppm which resulted in several changes in the environment.. In the grand scheme of Earth, these changes are miniscule and have stayed within the natural cycle. But when looking through the eyes of humans, these changes are drastic causing ice ages, draughts, and rain for years (Goldstein 6). During the last century carbon dioxides levels in the atmosphere have become significantly larger than they ever have in the past 800,000 years. Today these levels are at 390 ppm and show no signs of stopping which will cause temperatures to rise because carbon is a greenhouse gas. When a greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide or water vapor are present in the atmosphere, they absorb the heat that the Earth is giving off, creating a thermal blanket over Earth trapping in heat (Houghton 20).
This source provides relevant information to the topic at hand. It (the source) was used to examine the origin as well as the sources of Carbon Dioxide and obtain a clear understanding of what sort of an impact it can have on the environment. Although not all of the information in the source was used because of its indirect relevance, a great amount of background information was given in order to make the subject of Carbon Dioxide clearer and easier to understand. It does not state a for or against argument but rather serves as an excellent source of factual information.
The emission of carbon dioxide has contributed to 80% to the heating of the earth atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is produced due the burning of fossil fuels such as natural gas, coal and oil. The burning of fossil fuel is very important in our society today, because it is used for cooking, used to produce electricity, for heating, for cooling and also for transportation. The industrialization has led to the use of fossil fuel for running machines and driving cars. The building of fossil fuel contributes towards 80-90% of the carbon dioxide we find in our atmosphere today. When the ecosystems are altered and vegetation is either burned or took out, the carbon stored in them is relinquished to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (What causes global climate change, 2005). Methane is another gas being produced in the process which all have served to increase the greenhouse effect in our atmosphere. Methane is produced from the cultivation of rice, from the burning of coal and from cattle, it has increased by 145% due to human
Carbon Dioxide is a colorless, odorless gas that occurs in small quantities in the earth's atmosphere naturally. The earth's ocean, soil, plants and animals release CO2. The formula of Carbon Dioxide is CO2. The CO2 molecule contains 2 oxygen atoms that each share 2 electrons with a carbon atom to form 2 carbon - oxygen double bonds. The atoms are arranged as so (OHT). This is called a 'linear molecule'.