Environmental Issues

Currently, carbon emission issues seem to be the number one climate change issue in the world. Carbon emission is the release of carbon substances into the atmosphere. The most common carbon substances that are released into the atmosphere are carbon dioxide (co2) and carbon monoxide generated by motor vehicles and industrial manufacturing processes (Hoffert 2006).  All the green house gases, that is, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons have carbon in common. This is why the emission of green house gases to the atmosphere is referred to as carbon emission. Experts often convert these gases to their carbon equivalents in analyzing their amounts in terms of emissions. Carbon is not a harmful substance. This means that carbon is not all bad.

Diamonds for example are pure carbons and human bodies are mostly constituted of carbon (Pierce Jr. 2007). Most of the items we interact with are carbon and this is the reason why carbon in some substances and in certain amounts is not good. Carbon is oil, natural gas and coal, rendering its polluting connotation. When the carbon is emitted to the atmosphere, it matches with pairs of oxygen molecules that are generated during burning of trees, dung and fossil fuels, producing carbon dioxide. Currently, the carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere is as much as 40 per cent higher than the levels in the atmosphere prior to the industrial revolution (Hoffert 2006). 

Carbon emissions and prevention
The greatest human activity that causes carbon emission is the burning of fossil fuels. These fuels include coal, oil and natural gas in power plants, automobiles and industrial facilities. Other specialised industrial manufacturing processes and products, like production of minerals, production of metal and metallic products, and utilisation of petroleum based products lead to carbon emission. During the combustion of fossil fuel, the carbon that is stored in them is generated almost completely as carbon dioxide. The main fossil fuels used by man are petroleum or oil, natural gas and coal (Mensher 2007).

In industrial processes, carbon is emitted as a by-product of a variety of non-energy related activities and product utilisation. For instance, in the production of cement, raw materials used for example, naturally available calcium carbonate, when chemically changed they generate carbon dioxide as a by-product (Smith 2004). There are other ways through which petroleum based products are utilised for other purposes apart from production of energy that can lead to carbon dioxide generation. Petroleum products are utilised in plastic, lubricants and solvents that are capable of evaporating, dissolving or wearing out with time. There are four most important industrial processes that generate carbon. They are in production and consumption of products from minerals like cement, soda ash and lime in production of metals like steel and iron, zinc and lead and aluminum in production of chemicals like petrochemicals, ammonia and titanium dioxide and in the use of petroleum products in feedstock and other uses (Owen  Hanley 2004).

In transportation sector a lot of carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere. The highest percentage of the energy used in the transportation sector is petroleum based. This include gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Automobiles and light duty trucks account for the highest carbon emission to the atmosphere. Other kinds of transportation that contribute to the emissions are freight trucks, trains, boats and aircrafts. Changes to fuel efficient vehicles and the kind of fuel used will go a long way in reducing the emissions. There are a number of fuel efficient vehicles in the market currently. People should learn to be responsible, purchase these fuel efficient vehicles and use automobile and vehicle wherever it is absolutely necessary (Mensher 2007). 

Carbon sequestration is a process through which trees and plants absorb or emit carbon dioxide from the atmosphere converting it into biomass like wood, leaves, etc. Deforestation and clearing of vegetation leads to carbon emission. Plants store a lot of carbon in them. This happens because during photosynthesis, plants generate more sugar than required by the plant during respiration. As long as the plant is living, it continues to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. When the plant dies, and is burnt or allowed to decay, it returns all carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere. When trees are felled at rates higher than they are planted, the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere becomes great (Mensher 2007).  In order to reduce carbon emission and have more of the carbon dioxide consumed from the atmosphere, we will have to reduce felling of trees and planting some more. Younger trees and plants absorb more carbon dioxide making them more advantageous in cutting the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. According to FAO, deforestation releases approximately two billion tones of carbon per annum. Most of the losses according to FAO come from the tropical forests of Asia, South America and Africa. There can be a lot of advantage to the climate by preserving tropical forests. Carbon dioxide credits, which cost about 20 dollars pert ton can be used as a way of valuing forest lands and conserving them from destruction (Young 2009). 
Reduction of carbon emission will be achieved mainly through the change in human activities that contribute to the problem. One of the ways by which carbon emission will be reduced will be by the use of fuels that do not generate a lot of carbon. Use of biomass instead of the fossil fuel will reduce carbon emissions. Biomass is generated from organic matter either directly or indirectly (Owen  Hanley 2004). Directly, it can be generated from dedicated energy crops like coppice willow and some grasses like straw and miscanthus. Indirectly it can be obtained from industrial and agricultural by-products like wood-chips. The use of biomass as alternative source of energy releases through burning, carbon dioxide that is equivalent to that absorbed by the plants that produce it as they grow. This is why the use of biomass is generally referred to as carbon neutral. Other life cycle energy use affects this carbon neutral balance. This is to say that the carbon they generate during their burning to produce energy is much more than what the plants absorb during their growth. Some of the plants emit carbon dioxide through fertilizer production, harvesting, and while drying (Nadeau 2006).

    Emission from electricity generation can be reduced by using more of the electricity produced from low carbon fuels or generated by renewable sources. Energy production from wind has one of the lowest levels of carbon emissions. Therefore, more utilization of wind as a source of energy will reduce carbon emission. For example, establishment of just 10 of wind energy in just ten of the windiest states in the United States can give sufficient electricity to avoid pollutants from the other coal-related sources in the nation (Nadeau 2006). If the United States could produce 20 percent of the nations electricity-a course that is possible with the modern technology-it could be able to get rid of more than one third of the carbon from coal-related power generation plants. From research, it shows that wind energy can provide adequate energy while cutting the emission of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases to the atmosphere. Wind power for example, in the United States of America gives enough electricity for one million average American families, which efficiently stops the release of about 6.8 million tones of CO2. Wind energy in Europe gives enough electricity for ten million average families preventing the release of 24 million tones of CO2. The other way that can help reduce carbon emission is by encouraging people to make use of energy efficient electrical products (Diener 2006).

Carbon dioxide can be captured and then injected deep underground. The capturing is usually done before the carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere hence can greatly reduce the amount that goes out to the atmosphere (Smith 2004). 

Global effect of carbon emissions
The cause of global warming is due to the release of greenhouse gases all of which contain carbon. The greenhouse gases allow sunlight to penetrate the atmosphere freely. When the sunlight hits the earths surface, some of the sunlight is radiated back to the air as infrared radiation, that is, heat. The greenhouse gases traps the radiated heat in the atmosphere. The warmed air radiates back some of its heat back to the earths surface, keeping it warm. This is the effect that is known as the green house effect (Dimascio 2007). The greenhouse effect gets its name from the similar effect produced by the glass panes of the greenhouse. Some of the gases that exhibit greenhouse properties occur naturally in the atmosphere but most of them are as a result of human activities. The greenhouse gases insulate the earths surface keeping it 330 Celsius warmer than it is meant to be without the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere. Over the last century, the temperatures on the earth have increased by about 50 Celsius a fact that scientist believe to have been caused by the rising concentration of green house gases in the atmosphere. It is believed that if the situation is not altered and the carbon emissions reduced, the effects will be fatal. There will be negative effects to the nature like El Nio or floods, droughts, prevalence of insects, rise in sea level, and redistribution in earths precipitation. The negative effects to the environment are likely to have negative impact to the society. It might lead to poor health and low economic development. The effects of severe global warming will be devastating to human and animal lives. This is the reason why carbon emissions should be reduced (Dimascio 2007).  

Governments intervention  
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Technical Paper on Implications of Proposed CO2 Emissions Limitations is one of the papers produced by the  IPCC, in Technical Paper Series, requested by Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNDCCC). Such technical papers are evidence to the efforts of governments from various countries in solving the dangers posed by carbon emissions (Carr  Morales 2009).

Governments all over the world and especially in countries like China and the United States which account for the largest amount of carbon emission from their industries should be committed to the solutions offered in reducing the emissions. The world cannot obtain significant reductions in emissions, avoiding the destructive nature of green house emission, without commitment from governments, to decrease emissions from the current coal-operating industries in the United States and China. Joint approaches should be adapted and supported as a matter of government policy and joint projects between the developed countries especially the United States and China be supported and funded (Diener 2006).

Emissions trading also referred to as cap-and-trade are government approaches in controlling pollution by giving financial incentives for attaining reductions in pollutants emissions. This should be the way forward for all government all over the world to ensure that carbon emission is reduced. Governments from the developed countries should also fund projects in the developing countries because global warming as a result of these emissions is a global problem (Dimascio 2007).
Trading systems such as the Kyoto protocol which is a global system and other regional systems should be supported and funded. Apart from the Kyoto protocol, there are individual countries that have come up with their own trading systems. The Kyoto protocol is a global agreement established in 2005. The agreement binds majority of the developed nations to a cap-and-trade system touching on the six main green house gases (Diener 2006).

    In Australia, the New South Wales (NSW) state government independently created the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme in 2003. The scheme was put in place to cut emissions by necessitating generators of electricity and huge consumers to buy New South Wales Greenhouse Abatement Certificates. In the European Union, there is the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). It is the biggest multi-national trading scheme in greenhouse emissions globally. It was established in concurrence with the Kyoto protocol (Young 2009). In New Zealand, on December 4, 2007, the Labour-led government tabled the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill. The bill established a Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme for New Zealand. In the United States, the earliest emission trading system was the SO2 Trading Scheme under the Acid Rain Program of the Clean Air Act in the United States of 1990. The program is essentially a cap-and-trade emissions trading scheme. Under this scheme, SO2 emissions were decreased by 50 per cent from 1980 levels by 2007. There have been other efforts in the United States to reduce the emissions and the 2010 United States federal budget suggests offering support to the clean energy generation with an investment of 10 years of 15 billion dollars per annum, obtained from the trading of greenhouse gas emission credits. Under the proposed scheme, all the greenhouse gas emissions credits will be auctioned off, providing approximately 78.7 billion dollars in extra revenue in Financial Year 2019. The American clean energy and security act, which is a cap-and-trade bill, was passed in the House of Representatives on June 26, 2009 (Carr  Morales 2009).

    With the knowledge of how harmful carbon emissions are, it is the responsibility of every person and every government to device ways of reducing the emissions. It is clear that most of the activities of man that contribute to carbon emission cannot be handled collectively. This is why people should take individual responsibility in abating the disaster that the emissions pose. People should also be enlightened on all the issues underlying the problem.