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CARBON FOOTPRINTS & GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IN RELATIONSHIP TO PUBLIC HEALTH & LOCAL ECONOMIC EFFECTS
Abstract
Carbon footprints of individuals and organizations around the globe are fueling the current climate change trend leading to enormous negative effects on human health and the economy. The carbon generated by humans and their activities are heating the earth unsustainable and the evidence is well established in the literature. The impacts of human carbon footprints induced climate change on health and the economy are been published widely in the literature. This review succinctly x-rayed the impact of human carbon footprints on public health and the economy within the African context. The relationship between carbon footprint and public health was conceptualized as continuous cyclic interaction, continuously bringing woes to mankind. Carbon footprint impact on public health was presented to be in two ways – directly or indirectly. The direct impact of carbon footprints on public health was explored under five (5) thematic areas, which are: impact on extreme weather events (hurricanes, storms, and floods), impacts on temperature, impacts to air pollution, impacts to water- and foodborne diseases, and impacts to vector and rodent-borne diseases. The impact of a carbon footprint on the economy was seen as an indirect impact on humans and a huge change in human lives. It is recommended that carbon footprints should be calculated at every level individual, organization, process, product, national and continental; to drive accountability to the environment by all and for all
... In agriculture, Adom et al. (2012) reported greenhouse gas emissions from common dairy feeds in the United States (US) [12]. In public health, Okeke (2022) examined the impact of human carbon footprints, with an emphasis on Africa [13]. Furthermore, Kanemoto et al. [14], Ivanova et al. [15], Yang et al. [16], and Lomas et al. [17] estimated the carbon footprint mapping for the US, EU, China, and UK, providing spatial representation of carbon emissions and carbon sinks, taking factors like land use, international trades, supply chain, urbanization, and consumption patterns, into account. ...
... In agriculture, Adom et al. (2012) reported greenhouse gas emissions from common dairy feeds in the United States (US) [12]. In public health, Okeke (2022) examined the impact of human carbon footprints, with an emphasis on Africa [13]. Furthermore, Kanemoto et al. [14], Ivanova et al. [15], Yang et al. [16], and Lomas et al. [17] estimated the carbon footprint mapping for the US, EU, China, and UK, providing spatial representation of carbon emissions and carbon sinks, taking factors like land use, international trades, supply chain, urbanization, and consumption patterns, into account. ...
Turbulent flow physics regulates the aerodynamic properties of lifting surfaces, the thermodynamic efficiency of vapor power systems, and exchanges of natural and anthropogenic quantities between the atmosphere and ocean, to name just a few applications. The dynamics of turbulent flows are described via numerical integration of the non-linear Navier-Stokes equation -- a procedure known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD). At the dawn of scientific computing in the late 1950s, it would be many decades before terms such as ``carbon footprint'' or ``sustainability'' entered the lexicon, and longer still before these themes attained national priority throughout advanced economies. This paper introduces a framework designed to calculate the carbon footprint of CFD and its contribution to carbon emission reduction strategies. We will distinguish between "hero" and "routine" calculations, noting that the carbon footprint of hero calculations is largely determined by the energy source mix utilized. We will also review CFD of flows where turbulence effects are modeled, thus reducing the degrees of freedom. Estimates of the carbon footprint are presented for such fully- and partially-resolved simulations as functions of turbulence activity and calculation year, demonstrating a reduction in carbon emissions by two to five orders of magnitude at practical conditions. Beyond analyzing CO2 emissions, we quantify the benefits of applying CFD towards overall carbon emission reduction. The community's effort to avoid redundant calculations via turbulence databases merits particular attention, with estimates indicating that a single database could potentially reduce CO2 emissions by approximately O(1) million metric tons. Additionally, implementing CFD in the fluids industry has markedly decreased dependence on wind tunnel testing, which is anticipated to lead to CO2 emission reduction.
... Carbon footprint impact on public health can have direct or indirect effects. The direct impact of carbon footprints on public health was explored under five thematic areas, which are: impact on extreme weather events (hurricanes, storms, and floods), impacts on temperature, impacts to air pollution, impacts to water-and foodborne diseases, and impacts to vector and rodent-borne diseases, while the impact of a carbon footprint on the economy was seen as an indirect impact on humans and a huge change in human lives [27]. ...
Background: Climate change has continued to pose a global concern, as the resulting effect of the increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continues to have significant consequences on the planet and its inhabitants. One of the major sectors contributing to the greenhouse effect is the healthcare sector, however, it is one of the sectors that has been overlooked and under reported. Objective: This article aims at reviewing the carbon footprint of healthcare facilities in Nigeria and its impact on climate change, while highlighting important and effective strategies towards addressing it. Methods: Data was obtained through a systematic review of available research articles obtained online via PubMed and Google scholar search engines, using the key words; climate change, healthcare facilities, global warming, and carbon footprint. Results: Effective policy and regulatory frame works are essential towards addressing the carbon footprint of healthcare facilities; however a lot of gap still exists in curbing the effect of GHG emissions by healthcare facilities in Nigeria, as majority of healthcare facilities in Nigeria still rely significantly on the combustion of fossil fuels for generation of power due to its epileptic electrical power supply. Conclusion: There is great need in addressing the effect of the carbon footprint of healthcare facilities on climate change. This can be achieved through the use of renewable energy technologies like solar and wind power, as well as the use of energy conservative measures such as the use of LED lighting and High-efficiency Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems.
Turbulent flow physics regulates the aerodynamic properties of lifting surfaces, the thermodynamic efficiency of vapor power systems, and exchanges of natural and anthropogenic quantities between the atmosphere and ocean, to name just a few applications of contemporary importance. The space-time dynamics of turbulent flows are described via numerical integration of the non-linear Navier–Stokes equation—a procedure known as computational fluid dynamics (CFD). At the dawn of scientific computing in the late 1950s, it would be many decades before terms such as “carbon footprint” or “sustainability” entered the lexicon, and longer still before these themes attained national priority throughout advanced economies. The environmental cost associated with CFD is seldom considered. Yet, large-scale scientific computing relies on intensive cooling realized via external power generation that is primarily accomplished through the combustion of fossil fuels, which leads to carbon emissions. This paper introduces a framework designed to calculate the carbon footprint of CFD and its contribution to carbon emission reduction strategies. We will distinguish between “hero” and “routine” calculations, noting that the carbon footprint of hero calculations—which demand significant computing resources at top-tier data centers—is largely determined by the energy source mix utilized. We will also review CFD of flows where turbulence effects are modeled, thus reducing the degrees of freedom. Estimates of the carbon footprint are presented for such fully and partially resolved simulations as functions of turbulence activity and calculation year, demonstrating a reduction in carbon emissions by two to five orders of magnitude at practical conditions. Besides generating a carbon footprint, the community's effort to avoid redundant calculations via turbulence databases merits particular attention, with estimates indicating that a single database could potentially reduce CO2 emissions by approximately O(1) × 10⁶ metric tons.
The study the ARDL model, Mean Group (MG), and the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) model to examine the Environemtnal Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in 43 African countries pooled into 3 income groups from 1980–2016. The EKC hypothesis is accepted in only 21% of the sample but rejected in 70% of the countries in the total sample. This result shows that carbon emissions increase as economic growth increases in 79% of the countries while economic growth will lead to lower carbon emissions in only a few countries (21%). The study concludes that an increase in economic growth will induce higher emissions in most countries in Africa. These countries should take all possible policy actions such as the massive deployment of renewable energy, carbon tax policy, and the carbon emissions trading scheme to curtain growth in carbon emission.
Purpose of Review
Climate warming may bear a penalty on future ozone air quality, even in the absence of changes in anthropogenic activities. This penalty has important implications for policy-making, but its quantification involves complex meteorological, chemical, and biological processes and feedbacks that are not well understood. We examined how climate-sensitive processes may affect surface ozone, identified key knowledge gaps uncovered by recent studies, and summarized latest assessments of the climate change penalty on ozone air quality.
Recent Findings
Recent analyses have challenged earlier paradigms on how climate change may affect surface ozone. The widely accepted associations of high ozone events with stagnation and heat waves require re-examination. Emission responses of natural precursors to climate warming may be significantly modulated by CO2 levels and ecosystem feedbacks, such that the direction of emission changes cannot be robustly determined at this time. Climate variability may drive fluctuations in surface ozone, which has implications for near-term air quality management. Recent studies have generally projected a climate change penalty on ozone air quality, although the magnitudes are smaller than those projected by earlier studies.
Summary
This review examined the latest understanding on the climate change penalty to surface ozone. Critical uncertainties are associated with the meteorological, chemical, and biological processes linking climate warming and ozone, and many of the known feedbacks are not yet included in models. Further research is needed to examine those processes in order to better quantify the climate change penalty on surface ozone to inform policy-making.
The Greenhouse effect is a leading factor in keeping the Earth warm because it keeps some of the planet's heat that would otherwise escape from the atmosphere out to space. The study report on the Greenhouse gases and their impact on Global warming. Without the greenhouse effect the Earth's average global temperature would be much colder and life on Earth as we know it would be impossible. Greenhouse gases include water vapor, CO2, methane, nitrous oxide (N2O) and other gases. Carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases turn like a blanket, gripping Infra-Red radiation and preventing it from escaping into outer space. The clear effect of the greenhouse gases is the stable heating of Earth's atmosphere and surface, thus, global warming. The ability of certain gases, greenhouse gases, to be transparent to inbound visible light from the sun, yet opaque to the energy radiated from the earth is one of the best still events in the
atmospheric sciences. The existence of greenhouse effect is what makes the earth a comfortable place for life. The study also reveals the importance of greenhouse gases to the warming of the planet earth.
Background
Carbon footprints stemming from health care have been found to be variable, from 3% of the total national CO2 equivalent (CO2e) emissions in England to 10% of the national CO2e emissions in the USA. We aimed to measure the carbon footprint of Australia's health-care system.
Methods
We did an observational economic input–output lifecycle assessment of Australia's health-care system. All expenditure data were obtained from the 15 sectors of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for the financial year 2014–15. The Australian Industrial Ecology Virtual Laboratory (IELab) data were used to obtain CO2e emissions per AUS161·6 billion on health care that led to CO2e emissions of about 35 772 (68% CI 25 398–46 146) kilotonnes. Australia's total CO2e emissions in 2014–15 were 494 930 kilotonnes, thus health care represented 35 772 (7%) of 494 930 kilotonnes total CO2e emissions in Australia. The five most important sectors within health care in decreasing order of total CO2e emissions were: public hospitals (12 295 [34%] of 35 772 kilotonnes CO2e), private hospitals (3635 kilotonnes [10%]), other medications (3347 kilotonnes [9%]), benefit-paid drugs (3257 kilotonnes [9%]), and capital expenditure for buildings (2776 kilotonnes [8%]).
Interpretation
The carbon footprint attributed to health care was 7% of Australia's total; with hospitals and pharmaceuticals the major contributors. We quantified Australian carbon footprint attributed to health care and identified health-care sectors that could be ameliorated. Our results suggest the need for carbon-efficient procedures, including greater public health measures, to lower the impact of health-care services on the environment.
Funding
None.
This study investigated the effect of economic growth on CO2 emission using the dynamic panel threshold framework. The analysis is based on data from a panel of 31 developing countries. The results indicate that economic growth has negative effect on CO2 emission in the low growth regime but positive effect in the high growth regime with the marginal effect being higher in the high growth regime. Thus our finding provides no support for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis; rather a U-shaped relationship is established. Energy consumption and population were also found to exert positive and significant effect on CO2 emission. Including financial development indicator in the model did not change the conclusion about EKC hypothesis. Employing panel causality methods, there is evidence of significant causal relationship between CO2 emission, economic growth, energy consumption and financial development. The findings emphasize the need for transformation of low carbon technologies aimed at reducing emissions and sustainable economic growth. This may include energy efficiency and switch away from non-renewable energy to renewable energy.
Major declines in insect biomass and diversity, reviewed here, have become obvious and well documented since the end of World War II. Here, we conclude that the spread and intensification of agriculture during the past half century is directly related to these losses. In addition, many areas, including tropical mountains, are suffering serious losses because of climate change as well. Crops currently occupy about 11% of the world’s land surface, with active grazing taking place over an additional 30%. The industrialization of agriculture during the second half of the 20th century involved farming on greatly expanded scales, monoculturing, the application of increasing amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, and the elimination of interspersed hedgerows and other wildlife habitat fragments, all practices that are destructive to insect and other biodiversity in and near the fields. Some of the insects that we are destroying, including pollinators and predators of crop pests, are directly beneficial to the crops. In the tropics generally, natural vegetation is being destroyed rapidly and often replaced with export crops such as oil palm and soybeans. To mitigate the effects of the Sixth Mass Extinction event that we have caused and are experiencing now, the following will be necessary: a stable (and almost certainly lower) human population, sustainable levels of consumption, and social justice that empowers the less wealthy people and nations of the world, where the vast majority of us live, will be necessary.
We perform an updated literature survey on pollution-growth nexus via the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, both from theoretical and empirical standpoints. First, we conduct a literature review on the most well-known rationale behind the EKC prevalence and discuss the key components of the research design when estimating the EKC. Second, we bring together the most influential empirical papers published in the last decade, which focus on EKC estimation in developing and transition economies. Overall, succeeding to curtail some of the deficiencies suggested by theoretical contributions, the recent empirical studies might indicate a certain consensus regarding pollution-growth nexus, and EKC validity. On one hand, reinforcing the EKC nature, several studies reveal a long-run relationship between indicators. On the other hand, according to income coefficients’ signs, the traditional bell-shaped pattern seems to be at work for some developing and transition economies. However, in some cases, the estimated turning point lies outside the income sample range, calling into question not only the true pattern between pollution and growth but also the identification of EKC. Taken collectively, both the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence, could contribute to a better understanding of the pollution-growth nexus in the EKC context, and suggest some useful insights into the future works on the subject as well as the crucial policy implications in this group of countries.