Carbon neutrality is cute, everyone should know it sooner

Hello everyone, I am the cute little carbon dioxide in your nostrils~

You may have been angry with me. Sometimes I float in Coke, and often slip out of your exhaling nose.

Are you surprised? You can call me Tantan from now on!

Recently, there is a buzzword created for me and my greenhouse gas friends: "carbon neutrality". Have you heard of it?

From now on we will live together in this space and time, and our lives will be inseparable from it.

Carbon neutrality means that the removal of carbon dioxide by humans is offset by the emission of carbon dioxide by humans within a specified period. In simple terms, the greenhouse gases emitted by human production and life are offset by afforestation and carbon capture, and the addition and subtraction become zero, thus achieving neutralization.

Let me give you the key point!

Carbon neutrality is a concept created by humans, and the year-end performance can only be attributed to "human intervention."

More than half of the carbon released by human activities will also be neutralized by nature. For example, the ocean likes to absorb us because we are delicious and nutritious, but this carbon-absorbing skill can only be regarded as hard work and is not included in the credit of "carbon neutrality".

Why do we need to be neutralized? Is there any harm if there are more carbon-carbon families?

It’s true.

As my friends grow in number, you can intuitively feel that the air has a certain smell. If you feel it is abstract, you can go and smell the car exhaust - well, it has a rich and complex feeling.

Good thermal insulation ability is the specialty of our carbon-carbon. Floating in the air is like covering the earth with a quilt.

If the blanket is too thick, the earth's surface will become sick. Rising temperatures, rising sea levels, abnormal climate, etc. are all manifestations of the earth's illness.

So what is the purpose of reaching “carbon peak”?

It was carbon's high point, when carbon dioxide emissions reached an all-time high before gradually falling back.

Take my country for example, we set a flag at two points in time:

Before 2030, China's carbon dioxide emissions will no longer grow, but will gradually decrease after reaching a peak; by 2060, all greenhouse gas emissions will officially achieve carbon neutrality.

In addition to carbon carbon, what are the other greenhouse gases?

There are also non-CO2 greenhouse gases such as methane and hydrofluorocarbons!

You may be curious: If you don’t like carbon and greenhouse gases, why not just “neutralize” them directly? Why do we have to “reach the peak” first and experience the “highlight moment”?

Smart humans have considered this, because achieving "carbon neutrality" takes time and cannot be achieved overnight.

Take China for example. As the world's largest developing country, our coal-based energy and electricity demand still has a lot of room for growth. Reducing carbon emissions needs to be done step by step.

So what impact does it have on you personally?

Energy conservation and emission reduction should start from our daily food, clothing, housing and transportation.

On the other hand, in the days to come, human society’s consumption patterns, industrial development directions, and personal employment opportunities may also undergo major changes!

From this perspective, knowing "carbon neutrality" early is like being one step ahead of others and stepping into the future.

Review Expert

Zhou Bing is a researcher at the National Climate Center and chief expert on meteorological services at the China Meteorological Administration.

References

[1] Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development, Tsinghua University. Understanding Carbon Neutrality: China’s Low-Carbon Development Action Roadmap 2020-2050. CITIC Publishing Group.

[2] Yuan Zhigang. Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality: A National Strategic Action Roadmap. China Economic Publishing House.

[3] Hu Angang. (2021). China's carbon peak target before 2030 and its main ways to achieve it. Journal of Beijing University of Technology (Social Sciences Edition) (03), 1-15.

[4] Wang Can & Zhang Yaxin. (2020). Path to achieving carbon neutrality and policy system. China Environmental Management (06), 58-64.

[5] Song Yang (2020-10-14). Achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 requires legalization and marketization. China Environmental News, 003.

[6] Carbon peak and neutralization. (2021-12-02). Xie Zhenhua: Carbon peak refers to carbon dioxide, while carbon neutrality includes all greenhouse gases. Tencent News. https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20211202A09MFN00, 2021-12-02.

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