Skip to main content

If the use of fossil fuels halted tomorrow, how long would it take for the environment to recover?

There isn't a definitive number of years that it would take for the environment to return to "normal" if all usage of fossil fuels stopped immediately.  There are too many variables at work to give a specific number of years.  What is definite is that it would take a long time for the environment to return to pre-Industrial Revolution levels.  


The reason is that even if we completely stopped fossil fuel usage, the carbon emissions that have already been released stay in the atmosphere, oceans, plants, and animals for thousands of years.  It would take many millennia for that carbon to make its way back into Earth's rocks, minerals, etc.  


But what about rising temperatures?  Would the temperature stabilize if all fossil fuel emissions ceased?  The short answer is no.  Scientists believe that there is a 40 year delay between current carbon emissions and the related temperature increase.  This delay is called "climate lag."  The lag is present because of Earth's oceans.  It takes a lot longer to warm Earth's oceans than it does to warm Earth's atmosphere.  The air warms up, which warms the oceans (but at a slower rate).  As the oceans heat, they add to the overall rise in global temperatures.  Think about a pot of water on the stove.  If you turn the flame on high, the flame is hot immediately.  The pot also gets hot very quickly because it has a high thermal conductivity; however, the water takes much longer to register those temperature changes.  Even if you turned off the heat, the water will still continue to heat because the pot is still radiating heat into it. Earth's oceans do the same thing with climate change.  If we stopped all fossil fuel usage tomorrow, the oceans are still warming due to the last 40 or so years of burning those fossil fuels.


To further complicate the matter is the fact that ecosystems and organisms within those areas adapt.  They have been adapting, and they will continue to adapt to a changing environment.  In all likelihood, stopping the usage of fossil fuels won't cause ecosystems to revert back to what they were like 200 years ago.  They will have adapted to the recent changes, and they will find ways to work best within that current model.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

etymology - Origin of the greeting "Sweet dreams".

Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are the similarities between the relationships of the characters in The Outsiders and Romeo and Juliet?

At first glance, it might appear as if the characters in  The Outsiders  by S. E. Hinton and  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare do not have much in common; however, when one isolates the core of the conflicts, it becomes clear that the relationships in both stories are rooted in rivalry and secrecy.  In both  The Outsiders  and  Romeo and Juliet , an overarching theme is rivalry. While   socioeconomic status separates the greasers from the Socs in The Outsiders , last names separates the Montagues from the Capulets, who appear to be relatively equal in terms of socioeconomic status. Due to these rivalries, there are instances of deadly interactions in both stories. In  The Outsiders , Johnny kills Bob (whether his actions were justified or not is debatable). In  Romeo and Juliet , Romeo kills Tybalt and Paris, and Tybalt kills Mercutio. These deaths have profound effects on the main characters. In Ponyboy's case, the Johnny's death and other events in the novel inspire h...
Post a Comment
Read more