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

What is carbon dioxide?

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a colorless and non-flammable gas at normal temperature and pressure. A molecule of CO₂ consists of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. CO₂ also plays a role in the Earth’s carbon cycle, the set of processes that cycle carbon in many forms throughout the environment.

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

Is carbon dioxide an air pollutant?

Carbon dioxide is not considered an air pollutant, as it occurs naturally in the air. However, the CO₂ concentration in the atmosphere has significantly increased due to human activity. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas; alongside nitrous oxide (N₂O), and methane (CH₄). Small amounts of greenhouse gases are safe to breathe, however the increase in burning of fossil fuels creates a greenhouse effect. Land use changes due to farming and forestry also lead to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. 

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 global climate change. Global climate change not only leads to an overall increase in temperatures, but also changes weather patterns and the general climate on Earth.

Outdoors, CO₂ is very dispersive with levels not varying by a lot even through a cityscape. Indoors, the story is different: CO₂ 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 concentration. 

What are sources of carbon dioxide?

There are both natural and anthropogenic (man-made) sources of CO₂ emissions. Natural sources include decomposition, ocean release, respiration, and photosynthesis. Respiration, the process by which organisms liberate energy from food, also emits CO₂. Photosynthesis, the biochemical process by which plants and some microbes create food, acts as respiration’s natural counterpart by drawing CO₂ from the atmosphere. 

Man-made sources of CO₂ 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. Cement production emits CO₂ 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, deforestation 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 “sequestration.” Other land use changes such as agriculture and forestry contribute to about 23% of anthropogenic emissions of CO₂ as well as other air pollutants. 

What is the health impact of carbon dioxide?

Exposure to CO₂ can produce a variety of health effects. These may include:

• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Restlessness
• A tingling “pins and needles” feelings
• Difficulty breathing
• Sweating
• Tiredness
• Increased heart rate
• Elevated blood pressure
• Coma
• Asphyxia
• Convulsions

The levels of CO₂ in the air can also have various potential health problems, depending on the ranges as follows:

What is the environmental impact of carbon dioxide?

CO₂ emissions have strong evidence as a greenhouse gas to cause global warming. Climate change will have a range of impacts that causes an increase of the global sea level, extreme weather shifts, shifting wildlife populations and habitats, and a range of other impacts. 

One of the human sources originates from the urbanization process. Urbanization is a dynamic process that changes rural areas into urban areas. The built environment provides infrastructure and facilities for human activities but also plays a considerable role in rising CO₂ emissions in the building sector. The environmental impact of this sector can be categorized into ecosystem, natural resource, and public impacts.