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What Chemical Reactions Are Affecting Climate Change?

There are many chemical reactions involved in climate change. The first is photosynthesis, which takes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and converts it into oxygen. The burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, however, pumps increasing amounts of carbon dioxide and other compounds back into the air. This, in turn, both depletes ozone and directs more energy back toward Earth's surface, warming the planet.

  1. The Greenhouse Effect

    • The sun's energy powers life-creating cycles such as photosynthesis, which emits oxygen into our water and air. When the planet takes in energy from the sun, it also remits some of that energy into space outside the planet. Greenhouses gases in the atmosphere, however, trap some of that energy before it leaves the planet's atmosphere. That trapped energy is then directed back at Earth's surface. Without this greenhouse effect, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the planet would be an average 60 degrees colder and life would not be sustainable.

    Fossil Fuels

    • Although the greenhouse effect in part makes life on Earth possible, the amount of fossil fuels that pump pollutants into our air drives an increase in that effect, which in turn drives climate change. Fossil fuels are released into the atmosphere when industrial companies burn substances such as coal, oil and gasoline. When these compounds are burned, nitrous oxides, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury compounds are released into the atmosphere. Those greenhouses gases then increase the amount of energy being redirected back at Earth instead of into space. As this continues to happen, the planet continues to warm, little by little. The chemical reaction involved in burning fossil fuels looks like this: 6 O2 + C6H12O6 ------> 6 H2O + 6 CO2.

    Affecting Photosynthesis

    • According to the Center for Educational Technology, increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may affect future rates of photosynthesis on Earth. When plants absorb energy from the sun, they also consume carbon dioxide and turn it into oxygen, which they release into the water and into the air. If there is an ever-greater amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it is possible that plants may find it difficult to take in enough of it to release sufficient oxygen into our water and air.

    Ozone and Climate Change

    • Jeannie Allen, of the NASA Earth Observatory, postulates that climate change also affects the amount of ozone in Earth's atmosphere. Ozone generates heat by absorbing infrared and ultraviolet radiation from the sun and from the planet's surface. Increasing levels of greenhouses gases, however, slowly deplete the ozone in the atmosphere and stratosphere. As the amounts of greenhouse gases being pumped into the atmosphere continue to grow, ozone may be slowly depleted. This could, theoretically, both cool the planet and allow unsurvivable amounts of radiation from the sun to reach the planet's surfaces.

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