What increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

Answer 1

1. The burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) in industry, transport and the generation of electricity, which releases carbon dioxide.
2. Deforestation
3. The production of cement which contributes 5% of all man-made carbon dioxide emissions.

A:

Human activities are shown by atmospheric scientists to be responsible for increasing the amount of carbon dioxide CO2 in the atmosphere. The major sources of human emissions are the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas for industry, driving our transport, heating our homes and generating electricity.

Humans produce between 3 and 6% of all carbon dioxide emissions. Natural carbon sources produce much larger quantities than mankind, but this is offset by the vast natural carbon sinks that remove CO2 from the air. The current imbalance is due to human activity.

We know where the increase comes from because CO2 from fossil fuels has a specific chemical signature, and scientists have observed that the proportion of CO2 from fossil fuels in the atmosphere has increased globally, and even more in cities and populated areas.

Human emissions are not the only factor, but it is currently the most significant. For example, human emissions of CO2 are more than 130 times greater than the amount released by volcanic eruptions.

More comments:

Most of this increase in CO2 production (by man) is due to our ever increasing electricity consumption.

Burning wood or allowing trees to rot does not increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as long as old trees are replaced by new ones which absorb as much carbon as the old ones had done. This is essentially part of the natural cycle, in which carbon is continually added to and removed from the atmosphere But deforestation does increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, because new trees are not allowed to replace those removed.The most important way in which we add to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is by burning fossil fuels. Another important contributor is the manufacture of cement. Climate scientists say that overall we have increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by around 35 per cent since the beginning of the Industrial Age.

The Carbon/CO2 on earth is part of a natural cycle which balances the CO2 in the atmosphere with the carbon locked in the rocks as limestone, and hydrocarbons. In general over the totality of geologic time the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has fallen as a result of biological processes. In recent times human activity has been responsible for releasing a large quantity of fossil Carbon (oil, gas and coal) as CO2 into the atmosphere. While much of this has been buffered by the CO2 dissolving in the oceans, there has also been a marked increase in CO2 percentage in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution.

The burning of fossil fuels is a primary source of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide. Motor vehicle exhaust and the burning of fuel oil in ships and factories or power plants puts lots of CO2 into the air. We also burn a lot of coal worldwide, and this also ups CO2 output by people. Additionally, the burning of wild lands (either by accident or on purpose) is increasing the amount of combustion byproducts (including CO2) in the air.

Man uses energy. We create CO2 when we use energy. CO2 is the only gas in our environment that we make a substantial portion of. Man produces almost 7% of this gas. Much of this CO2 that we emit (over half) is to heat, cool and power our homes.

Industrial activities have definitely contributed the most to the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the air. Carbon dioxide is released when the factories are running and producing stuff. Burning of fossil fuels also cause it to rise.

Every carbon-based life form (that includes every plant, animal, and human on earth) adds CO2 to the atmosphere when it decomposes (or is burned). As agriculture developed, bigger and better plants cover more of the earth and an ever-increasing number of livestock are being raised. In addition, carbon from coal petroleum deposits that have been buried for millennia are being extracted and burned, releasing even more CO2 into the air.

Burning of fossil fuels and deforestation are the main causes of excess CO2... humans and other animals also increase carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since we breathe out CO2. Although, humans and other animals breathing is not the main cause of excess CO2 in the atmosphere.

Answer 2

Most possible ways to increase the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are the result of human activities. For example, it has been estimated that during the twentieth century, slightly less than 1000 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide were emitted from the burning of fossil fuels and from cement production.

Although forests continually cycle carbon and carbon dioxide as old trees die and new ones grow, there is no long-term nett change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Deforestation breaks this natural cycle and adds significantly to atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Natural sources that can increase the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are volcanoes. For example, the volcanic eruption in Iceland in 2010 added between 150,000 and 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere each day it was active. However, this is minuscule compared to the 30 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide we produce each year just by burning fossil fuels.