{"id":7697,"date":"2022-02-11T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T08:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.breeze-technologies.de\/?p=7697"},"modified":"2022-02-11T11:54:05","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T10:54:05","slug":"carbon-dioxide-co2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.breeze-technologies.de\/de\/blog\/carbon-dioxide-co2\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything to know about carbon dioxide (CO2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carbon dioxide is one greenhouse gas that is a primary driver of global warming emissions. Emissions of CO2<\/sub> from human activities are also the main driver of this, as it changes the average global temperature. At Breeze Technologies, CO2<\/sub> can be monitored using our air quality sensors. Read on more to find out why it is important to reduce CO2<\/sub> emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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What is carbon dioxide?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Carbon dioxide (CO2<\/sub>) is a <\/span>colorless and non-flammable gas<\/span><\/a> at normal temperature and pressure. A molecule of CO2<\/sub> consists of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. CO2<\/sub> also plays a role in the Earth\u2019s <\/span>carbon cycle<\/span><\/a>, the set of processes that cycle carbon in many forms throughout the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

CO2<\/sub> is an important <\/span>heat-trapping (greenhouse) gas<\/span><\/a> which is released through human activities such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels. Without CO2<\/sub>, our planet would be an unlivable environment because it would be very cold. CO2<\/sub> emissions can also be released from natural processes like respiration and volcanic eruptions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is carbon dioxide an air pollutant?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Carbon dioxide is not considered an air pollutant, as it occurs naturally in the air. However, the CO2<\/sub> concentration in the atmosphere has significantly increased due to human activity. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas; alongside nitrous oxide (N2<\/sub>O), and methane (CH4<\/sub>). Small amounts of greenhouse gases are safe to breathe, however the increase in burning of fossil fuels creates a <\/span>greenhouse effect<\/span><\/a>. Land use changes due to farming and forestry also lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The increase in greenhouse gas emissions causes the average temperatures to continue to rise, warming the climate of our planet. The so-called greenhouse effect increases the global temperature and results in a complex chain of events known as <\/span>global climate change<\/span><\/a>. Global climate change not only leads to an overall increase in temperatures, but also changes weather patterns and the general climate on Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outdoors, CO2<\/sub> is very dispersive with levels not varying by a lot even through a cityscape. Indoors, the story is different: CO2<\/sub> is one of the main indicators of indoor air quality. As indoor environments are enclosed ecosystems, carbon emissions from people and other sources can quickly accumulate to multiples of the natural atmospheric CO2<\/sub> concentration.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are sources of carbon dioxide?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are both <\/span>natural and anthropogenic (man-made) sources<\/span><\/a> of CO2<\/sub> emissions. Natural sources include decomposition, ocean release, respiration, and photosynthesis. <\/span>Respiration<\/span><\/a>, the process by which organisms liberate energy from food, also <\/span>emits CO2<\/sub><\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Photosynthesis<\/span><\/a>, the biochemical process by which plants and some microbes create food, acts as respiration\u2019s natural counterpart by drawing CO2<\/sub> from the atmosphere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Man-made sources of CO2<\/sub> mainly consist of the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, by directly releasing the stored carbon into the air while releasing the stored energy as heat. <\/span>Cement production<\/span><\/a> emits CO2<\/sub> when using energy from fossil fuels to fire the cement’s base materials in a kiln, and the chemical reaction produced from the mixture when it is exposed to heat. In addition, <\/span>deforestation<\/span><\/a> also releases stored carbon from forest landscapes into the atmosphere. The reverse process of growing forests and thereby storing surplus carbon in the trees‘ trunks and roots is called \u201csequestration.\u201d Other land use changes such as agriculture and forestry <\/span>contribute to about 23%<\/span><\/a> of anthropogenic emissions of CO2<\/sub> as well as other air pollutants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the health impact of carbon dioxide?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Exposure to CO2<\/sub> can <\/span>produce a variety of health effects<\/span><\/a>. These may include:<\/span><\/p>\n