To rectify the misconception that Pakistan is a victim of global warming, not the cause of global warming. Due to global warming our (Pak-India) Himalayan, Karakoram and Hindu Kush glaciers are melting rapidly, the threat of drought is increasing and other environmental issues are increasing. We must improve our environmental management as much as possible, but the solution lies with the world’s leaders.
China is the country that pollutes our atmosphere by emitting the most carbon dioxide on the planet, emitting 28% of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere alone. The United States is second with 15%, followed by the European Union, India, Russia and Japan.
Sadly, in practice, the nations of the world are not really serious about doing their own warming blue planet eco-engineering, and the main reason is their own political and economic national interests.
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that absorbs the heat of the sun. A satellite was launched into orbit around the earth in 2014 to better measure the amount of carbon dioxide in the world (carbon signature). Let’s see how this satellite works. When sunlight / heat falls on the earth, it reflects and returns. The gases in our atmosphere absorb some of the wavelengths found in reversing light and are indispensable. They look at the remaining wavelengths of spectrometers attached to the satellite and compile data on which wavelengths are not in the returning light. On the basis of this data, it is then estimated how many deposits of different gases, including carbon dioxide, are present in which regions of our earth.
The other is our Earth’s natural carbon cycle. Let’s take a look at that too. Before the Industrial Revolution, our fuel was mainly wood. Burning wood produced carbon dioxide and entered our atmosphere. Some carbon dioxide remained in the atmosphere, and the rest was absorbed by the forests on land and the plants found in the oceans. A damn sight greater, plants and trees need carbon dioxide to survive and thrive. So the Earth’s natural carbon cycle was toiling in balance.
Now that we’ve extracted oil and gas from the earth to meet our growing industrial and domestic energy needs to make our lives easier and more convenient, this new fuel has begun to send more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. On the other hand, deforestation for various purposes has also intensified, so what is happening now is that on the one hand we have started sending more carbon into the atmosphere and on the other hand we have started reducing the factors that absorb this carbon. And so began the process of unbalancing and destroying our Earth’s natural carbon cycle.
The satellite will now also monitor this carbon cycle. This is what happens when trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide and make their food through photosynthesis, a process that produces very dim light florescence from their leaves. Each plant has its own specific light and we can now see this light of plants through special devices. In scientific terms we call it SIF, meaning solar induced fluorescence.
The satellite’s special sensors can detect the light of plants and estimate on the basis of which region of the earth the absorption of carbon dioxide is higher. On the basis of these botanical lights, it is also possible to know in which region of the world which type of crop is grown more. In short, this satellite can orbit the earth and map where there is green and where there is no green.
Interestingly, this satellite also told us that due to the code lockdown in 2020, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the world decreased by 3 to 13% and it was a huge dip.
Now the problem is that Pakistan itself is producing picayunely CO² because we are far behind in the industry but unfortunately we are in a region where the concentration of carbon dioxide is very high. This increase is unequally distributed in the world and our region is currently seeing its extreme form. We have a heat dome built over us at the moment. This means that the lid has been placed on the hot pot (summer arrival) in the month of March, which has caused the temperature of the pan to rise faster than usual and the heat is trapped in this pan.
Last year, the Heat Dome was built on behalf of Western Canada and the United States. There are several possible causes for this dome. But the hot air in it gets intense pressure from above so that even though it is hot air, it cannot rise above the surface of the earth and at the same time till 21st June we will be more in front of the sun (long days). Together we will make this summer much longer and warmer. The biggest issue is the issue of our water, with which we have the issue of food security. God knows better than how prone we people are to blisteringly.