Perhaps you’re a fan of things that are simple and clear, as I am.
Unfortunately, climate change is pretty complicated. However, if there were one single image that encapsulated both the problem and the solution, it would be this one – the one I’ve come to call the most important slide in every presentation I do.
It’s the carbon cycle, something most of us would have seen in science class. Here’s why it’s the cause of and solution to climate change.
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a small but critical component of our atmosphere. It is to our atmosphere what glass is to a greenhouse, so it’s the main reason why our atmosphere retains heat and keeps our planet warm and comfortable.
- There are other chemicals in our atmosphere with a similar effect; together they’re referred to as ‘greenhouse gases’; but carbon dioxide is the most important one.
- The more CO2 there is in our atmosphere, the stronger its ‘greenhouse effect’ – IE the warmer our planet gets.
- CO2 is a very mobile molecule, with huge amounts of it constantly moving up into the air and huge amounts of it coming down – IE the carbon cycle depicted above.
- CO2 moves up into the atmosphere when humans and animals exhale; when dead plants and animals rot; and when anything is burned.
- CO2 comes down from the atmosphere when green land plants and ocean algae absorb it as they grow, through a process called photosynthesis.
- Until the Industrial Revolution, Earth’s carbon cycle was in balance, with roughly the same amount of carbon going up as coming down, so the level of CO2 in our atmosphere was stable.
- Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been burning carbon-based fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) that were locked up deep underground, outside of the carbon cycle, for literally millions of years. The result has been an enormous increase in the amount of CO2 going up into our atmosphere from tailpipes, chimneys and smokestacks everywhere.
- At the same time, deforestation and desertification in some parts of the world have reduced plant cover, so that less CO2 is being pulled out of the atmosphere.
- Wildfires, which have been particularly severe for the last three years, impact both sides of the carbon cycle because they emit CO2 into the atmosphere and destroy forests that would otherwise absorb CO2 back.
- More CO2 going up and less coming down makes for simple math: the level of CO2 in our atmosphere is rising, which is causing Earth’s climate to warm.
- So the solution to climate change is pretty simple and clear: we need to rebalance the carbon cycle.
Simple and clear – but not easy in a world where we have come to depend on fossil fuels for just about everything. But if you’d like to make a positive difference in the fight against climate change, here are two simple and clear takeaways:
- Do everything you can to reduce the amount of CO2 going up, something that happens every time you start an engine, flip a switch, hop onto a plane or do anything that uses fossil fuels. Instead, use less energy, go solar, drive electric. Try to see your world through a lens of reducing emissions.
- Do everything you can to increase the amount of CO2 coming down: plant anything green; support the protection of forests and preserves; and turn carbon-negative, hyper-manicured lawns into wildflower or veggie gardens.
Try to see your world through a lens of creating green capacity.
There – a complicated problem boiled down to a few clear and simple principles to guide us!
For the data-curious: the atmospheric level of CO2 at the start of the Industrial Revolution was 277 parts per million (PPM). Today it’s 427 PPM, or 54% higher. It increased by about 3.5 PPM in 2024, the largest increase on record, most likely because of wildfires.