Since the industrial revolution, the ammount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing as we use coal, oil and other fossil fuels from to produce energy to sustain and improve our lives, releasing the carbon stored in these fuels into the air.
The rise in atmospheric carbon has potentially drastic effects on the global climate system. Increases in temperature in some places, decreases in other places, redistribution of rainfall and changes in sea level. In the last few years there's been a steady stream of products, strategies and policies aimed at reducing our reliance on carbon based fuels...a slow shift to the de-carbonation of our economy. Sadly it's not a simple question of recycling waste and investing in wind or solar - there are many complicating factors. Hopefully I'll get to them.
Increasing public interest has focused massive media attention on the issue of climate change and while on balance, this focus has provided some political drive to help combat the causes on climate change it has also led to confusion.
This blog deals with the global carbon cycle, how it works, how we are changing it and the key scientific and social issues surrounding the reliance of society on carbon based fuels and products. My goal is to interpret science and media in the hope that readers will be better equipped to make informed decisions about their own lives and about policies aimed at reducing our carbon footprint and curbing the climate change crisis.
I'm a political junkie of sorts, a rampant consumer of shiny news media and a scientist who has been studying different aspects of the carbon cycle since 2000. Hopefully someone out there will read a post or two. Hopefully some people will comment and contribute.
