V. Balaram
CSIR—National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, 500007, India
As humanity has been polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, the planet is getting warmed up which is triggering the frequency and the intensity of extreme events like heat waves, dry conditions, wildfires, cyclones, tornadoes, lightning, and massive flooding all over the planet Earth. There is considerable evidence that the concentration of greenhouse gases, especially that of CO2 has steadily increased in the atmosphere as a result of the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels around the world particularly during the last 70 years. The glaciers in the high mountain and polar regions are diminishing fast, sea levels are rising, and food production is being affected severely in certain parts of the world. In fact, the changing climate has currently become one of the major threats to the survival of civilization. The world scientific communities are warning of a climate emergency and requesting the decision makers to promptly respond and act to sustain life on planet Earth. To deliver net zero emissions by the year 2050, the whole world must phase out the technologies such as coal-powered thermal plants and diesel/petrol/gasoline-powered vehicles which release abundant amounts of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and invest in the development of clean energies such as hydel, wind, solar, space-solar, and nuclear energies. This transition to a low carbon economy with the help of these technologies together with other technologies such as hydrogen fuel, fuel cells, electric vehicles, and massive plantations is expected to take our planet Earth to a safe zone in the coming 20-30 years.
[1] Le Treut, H., Somerville, R., Cubasch, U., et al., 2007. Historical overview of climate change. Climate change 2007: The physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
[2] Kc, K.B., Tzadok, E., Pant, L., 2022. Himalayan ecosystem services and climate change driven agricultural frontiers: A scoping review. Discover Sustainability. 3(1), 35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-022-00103-9
[3] Isokangas, E., Rozanski, K., Rossi, P.M., et al., 2015. Quantifying groundwater dependence of a sub-polar lake cluster in Finland using an isotope mass balance approach. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 19(3), 1247-1262.
[4] Rodbell, D.T., Hatfield, R.G., Abbott, M.B., et al., 2022. 700,000 years of tropical Andean glaciation. Nature. 607(7918), 301-306. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04873-0
[5] Perera, F., 2018. Pollution from fossil-fuel combustion is the leading environmental threat to global pediatric health and equity: Solutions exist. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 15(1), 16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15010016
[6] Weston, N.B., Rodriguez, E., Donnelly, B., et al., 2023. Recent acceleration of wetland accretion and carbon accumulation along the US East Coast. Earth’s Future. 11(3), e2022EF003037. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003037
[7] Gadani, H., Vyas, A., 2011. Anesthetic gases and global warming: Potentials, prevention and future of anesthesia. Anesthesia, Essays and Researches. 5(1), 5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4103/0259-1162.84171
[8] Zhang, Z., Poulter, B., Feldman, A.F., et al., 2023. Recent intensification of wetland methane feedback. Nature Climate Change. 13(5), 430-433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01629-0
[9] Jackson, R.B., Saunois, M., Bousquet, P., et al., 2020. Increasing anthropogenic methane emissions arise equally from agricultural and fossil fuel sources. Environmental Research Letters. 15(7), 071002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab9ed2
[10] Cheng, C.H., Redfern, S.A., 2022. Impact of interannual and multidecadal trends on methane-climate feedbacks and sensitivity. Nature Communications. 13(1), 3592. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31345-w
[11] Rogelj, J., Geden, O., Cowie, A., et al., 2021. Net-zero emissions targets are vague: Three ways to fix. Nature. 591(7850), 365-368. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00662-3
[12] Zhou, X., Passow, F.H., Rudek, J., et al., 2019. Estimation of methane emissions from the US ammonia fertilizer industry using a mobile sensing approach. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. 7, 19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.358
[13] Lauvaux, T., Giron, C., Mazzolini, M., et al., 2022. Global assessment of oil and gas methane ultra-emitters. Science. 375(6580), 557-561. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abj4351
[14] Ruppel, C.D., Kessler, J.D., 2017. The interaction of climate change and methane hydrates. Reviews of Geophysics. 55(1), 126-168. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2016RG000534
[15] Clemens, S.C., Thirumalai, K., Oppo, D., 2023. Indian margin methane hydrate dissociation recorded in the carbon isotopes of benthic (Miliolida) foraminifera. Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 609, 118101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2023.118101
[16] Bragagni, A., Mastroianni, F., Münker, C., et al., 2022. A carbon-rich lithospheric mantle as a source for the large CO2 emissions of Etna volcano (Italy). Geology. 50(4), 486-490. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1130/G49510.1
[17] Wu, T., Niu, Z., Feng, L., et al., 2021. Performance analysis of VPSA process for separating N2O from adipic acid tail gas. Separation and Purification Technology. 256, 117750. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seppur.2020.117750
[18] Cai, W., Wang, G., Santoso, A., et al., 2015.Increased frequency of extreme La Niña events under greenhouse warming. Nature Climate Change. 5(2), 132-137. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2492
[19] Goswami, B.N., Venugopal, V., Sengupta, D., et al., 2006. Increasing trend of extreme rain events over India in a warming environment. Science. 314(5804), 1442-1445. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1132027
[20] Solomon, S., Dube, K., Stone, K., et al., 2022. On the stratospheric chemistry of midlatitude wildfire smoke. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 119(10), e2117325119. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2117325119
[21] Lucas, R.M., Norval, M., Neale, R.E., et al., 2015. The consequences for human health of stratospheric ozone depletion in association with other environmental factors. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences. 14(1), 53-87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/c4pp90033b
[22] Zhang, X., Tang, H., Zhang, J., et al. (editors), 2022. Continuing intensification of arctic cyclone activity. AGU Fall Meeting; 2022 Dec 12-16; Chicago, IL.
[23] Perkins-Kirkpatrick, S.E., Lewis, S.C., 2020. Increasing trends in regional heat waves. Nature Communications. 11, 3357. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16970-7
[24] Andrew, C., 2017. Global temperature and life. Principles of thermal ecology: Temperature, energy, and life. Oxford University Press: Oxford. pp. 308-328. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199551668.003.0014
[25] Balaram, V., Copia, L., Kumar, U.S., et al., 2023. Pollution of water resources, causes, application of ICP-MS techniques in hydrological studies, monitoring, and management. Geosys tems and Geoenvironment. 2(4), 100210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geogeo.2023.100210
[26] Warren, R., Andrews, O., Brown, S., et al., 2022. Quantifying risks avoided by limiting global warming to 1.5 or 2 °C above pre-indus trial levels. Climatic Change. 172, 39. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03277-9
[27] Winski, D., Osterberg, E., Kreutz, K., et al., 2018. A 400‐year ice core melt layer record of summertime warming in the Alaska Range. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 123(7), 3594-3611. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD027539
[28] Slater, T., Lawrence, I.R., Otosaka, I.N., et al., 2021. Earth’s ice imbalance. The Cryosphere. 15(1), 233-246. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-233-2021
[29] Li, X., Wang, L., Hu, B., et al., 2023. Contribution of vanishing mountain glaciers to global and regional terrestrial water storage changes. Frontiers in Earth Science. 11, 1134910. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1134910
[30] Taylor, C., Robinson, T.R., Dunning, S., et al., 2023. Glacial lake outburst floods threaten millions globally. Nature Communications. 14, 487. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36033-x
[31] Shukla, T., Sen, I.S., 2021. Preparing for floods on the Third Pole: Satellite-based real-time monitoring is needed for Himalayan glacial catchments. Science. 372(6539), 232-234. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh3558
[32] Frederikse, T., Jevreva, S., Riva, R.E.M., et al., 2018. Consistent sea-level reconstruction and its budget on basin and global scales over 1958- 2014. American Meteorological Society. 31(3), 1267-1280. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-17-0502.1
[33] Davison, B.J., Hogg, A.E., Rigby, R., et al., 2023. Sea level rise from West Antarctic mass loss significantly modified by large snowfall anomalies. Nature Communications. 14, 1479. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36990-3
[34] Wilson, D.J., Bertram, R.A., Needham, E.F., et al., 2018. Ice loss from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet during late Pleistocene inter-glacials. Nature. 561, 383-386. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0501-8
[35] Cheng, L., Abraham, J., Trenberth, K.E., et al., 2023. Another year of record heat for the oceans. Advances in Atmospheric Sciences. 40(6), 963-974. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-023-2385-2
[36] Ivanov, V., 2023. Arctic sea ice loss enhances the oceanic contribution to climate change. Atmosphere. 14(2), 409. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14020409
[37] Hu, A., Meehl, G.A., Han, W., et al., 2009. Transient response of the MOC and climate to potential melting of the greenland ice sheet in the 21st century. Geophysical Research Letters. 36(10). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL037998
[38] Antonioli, F., Falco, G.D., Presti, V.L., et al., 2020. Relative sea-level rise and potential submersion risk for 2100 on 16 coastal plains of the Mediterranean Sea. Water. 12(8), 2173. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w12082173
[39] Unnikrishnan, A.S., Nidheesh, A.G., Lengaigne, M., 2015. Sea-level-rise trends off the Indian coasts during the last two decades. Current Science. 108(10), 966-971.
[40] Krishnan, R., Sanjay, J., Gnanaseelan, C., et al., 2021. Assessment of climate change over the Indian Region. A report of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India. Springer Nature: Switzerland AG. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4327-2
[41] Balaram, V., Rahaman, W., Roy, P., 2022. Recent advances in MC-ICP-MS applications in Earth and environmental sciences: Challenges and solutions. Geosystems and Geoenvironment. 1(2), 100019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geogeo.2021.100019
[42] Munday, P.L., Dixson, D.L., McCormick, M.I., et al., 2010. Replenishment of fish populations is threatened by ocean acidification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107(29), 12930-12934. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1004519107
[43] Sulpis, O., Boudreau, B.P., Mucci, A., et al., 2018. Current CaCO3 dissolution at the seafloor caused by anthropogenic CO2. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 115(46), 11700-11705. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804250115
[44] Cornwall, C.E., Comeau, S., Putnam, H., et al., 2022. Impacts of ocean warming and acidification on calcifying coral reef taxa: Mechanisms responsible and adaptive capacity. Emerging Topics in Life Sciences. 6(1), 1-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20210226
[45] Balaram, V., 2023. Deep-sea mineral deposits as a future source of critical metals, and environmental issues—a brief review. Minerals and Mineral Materials. 2(2), 5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.20517/mmm.2022.12
[46] Balaram, V., Rani, A., Rathore, D.P.S., 2022. Uranium in groundwater in parts of India and world: A comprehensive review of sources, impact to the environment and human health, analytical techniques, and mitigation technologies. Geosystems and Geoenvironment. 1(2), 100043. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geogeo.2022.100043
[47] Mekonnen, M.M., Hoekstra, A.Y., 2016. Four billion people facing severe water scarcity. Science Advances. 2(2), e1500323. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500323
[48] Lim, D.K., Kim, J.W., Kim, J.K., 2022. Effects of climatic factors on the prevalence of influenza virus infection in Cheonan, Korea. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 29(39), 59052-59059. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20070-y
[49] Mirón, I.J., Linares, C., Díaz, J., 2023. The influence of climate change on food production and food safety. Environmental Research. 216, 114674. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114674
[50] Moore, C.E., Hensold, K.M., Lemonnier, P., et al., 2021. The effect of increasing temperature on crop photosynthesis: From enzymes to ecosystems. Journal of Experimental Botany. 72(8), 2822-2844. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erab090
[51] Penn, J.L., 2022. Avoiding ocean mass extinction from climate warming. Science. 376(6592), 524-526. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe9039
[52] Cowie, R.H., Bouchet, P., Fontaine, B., 2022. The sixth mass extinction: Fact, fiction or speculation? Biological Reviews. 97(2), 640-663. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12816
[53] King, N., Jones, A., 2021. An analysis of the potential for the formation of ‘nodes of persisting complexity’. Sustainability. 13(15), 8161. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158161
[54] Jenouvrier, S., Che‐Castaldo, J., Wolf, S., et al., 2021. The call of the emperor penguin: Legal responses to species threatened by climate change. Global Change Biology. 27(20), 5008-5029. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15806
[55] Jackson, M.H., Johnson, S.A., Morandin, L.A., et al., 2022. Climate change winners and losers among North American bumblebees. Biology Letters. 18(6), 071002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0551
[56] Crichton, K.A., Wilson, J.D., Ridgwell, A., et al., 2023. What the geological past can tell us about the future of the ocean’s twilight zone. Nature Communications. 14, 2376. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37781-6
[57] Song, H., Luo, S., Huang, H., et al., 2022. Solar-driven hydrogen production: Recent advances, challenges, and future perspectives. ACS Energy Letters. 7(3), 1043-1065. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.1c02591
[58] Kastell, D., 2022. Hydrogen storage technology for aerial vehicles. Fuel cell and hydrogen technologies in aviation. Springer Nature: Switzerland AG.
[59] Dakora, J.D., Davidson, I.E., Sharma, G. (editors), 2020. Review of modern solar power satellite and space rectenna systems. 2020 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Computing and Data Communication Systems (icABCD); 2020 Aug 6-7; Durban, South Africa. New York: IEEE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/icabcd49160.2020.9183884
[60] Jin, S., Greaves, D., 2021. Wave energy in the UK: Status review and future perspectives. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. 143, 110932. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.110932
[61] Plötz, P., 2022. Hydrogen technology is unlikely to play a major role in sustainable road transport. Nature Electronics. 5, 8-10.
[62] Chen, H., Dong, H., Shi, Z., et al., 2023. Direct air capture (DAC) and sequestration of CO2: Dramatic effect of coordinated Cu (II) onto a chelating weak base ion exchanger. Science Advances. 9(10), eadg1956. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adg1956
[63] Friedlingstein, P., O’Sullivan, M., Jones, M.W., et al., 2022. Global carbon budget 2022. Earth System Science Data. 14(11), 4811-4900. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4811-2022
[64] Morrow, D.R., 2021. Is there a role for carbon capture and storage in a just transition? One Earth. 4(11), 1546-1547. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2021.10.022
[65] Meckel, T.A., Bump, A.P., Hovorka, S.D., et al., 2021. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage hub development on the Gulf Coast. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology. 11(4), 619-632. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ghg.2082
[66] Shaw, R., Mukherjee, S., 2022. The development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in India: A critical review. Carbon Capture Science & Technology. 2, 100036. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccst.2022.100036
[67] Vink, J.P., Knops, P., 2023. Size-fractionated weathering of olivine, its CO2-sequestration rate, and ecotoxicological risk assessment of nickel release. Minerals. 13(2), 235. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/min13020235
[68] Schiermeier, Q., Tollefson, J., Scully, T., et al., 2008. Energy alternatives: Electricity without carbon. Nature. 454, 816-823. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/454816a
[69] Balaram, V., 2020. Environmental impact of Pt, Pd and Rh emissions from autocatalytic converters—A brief review of the latest developments. Handbook of environmental materials management. Springer Nature: Switzerland AG. pp.1-37.
[70] Yao, B., Xiao, T., Makgae, O.A., et al., 2020. Transforming carbon dioxide into jet fuel using an organic combustion-synthesized Fe-Mn-K catalyst. Nature Communications. 11(1), 6395. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-20214-z
[71] Yadav, K., Sircar, A., 2021. Geothermal energy provinces in India: A renewable heritage. International Journal of Geoheritage and Parks. 9(1), 93-107. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgeop.2020.12.002
[72] Betti, R., 2023. A milestone in fusion research is reached. Nature Reviews Physics. 5(1), 6-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-022-00547-y
[73] Hein, J.R., Mizell, K., Koschinsky, A., et al., 2013. Deep-ocean mineral deposits as a source of critical metals for high-and green-technology applications: Comparison with land-based resources. Ore Geology Reviews. 51, 1-14. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2012.12.001
[74] Balaram, V., 2019. Rare earth elements: A review of applications, occurrence, exploration, analysis, recycling, and environmental impact. Geoscience Frontiers. 10(4), 1285-1303. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2018.12.005
[75] Balaram, V., 2023. Potential future alternative resources for rare earth elements: Opportunities and challenges. Minerals. 13(3), 425. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/min13030425
[76] Toro, N., Galvez, E., Saldana, M., et al., 2022. Submarine mineral resources: A potential solution to political conflicts and global warming. Minerals Engineering. 179, 107441. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2022.107441
[77] Turner, P.J., 2019. Deep-sea mining and environmental management. Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, 3rd Edition. 6, 507-515. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11106-6
[78] Debnath, R., Bardhan, R., Bell, M.L., 2023. Lethal heatwaves are challenging India’s sustainable development. PLOS Climate. 2(4), e0000156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000156
Copyright © 2023 V. Balaram
This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License.
