Clear Ways in Which Civil Engineers Have Decided to Face the Issue of Global Warming - Coursework Example

Global Warming The paper is focused on understanding global warming and its effect kin the worlds of today. Majorly the paper has directed all its attention to the field of civil engineering. The paper provides clear ways in which civil engineers have decided to face the issue of global warming. Some of the adaptation and mitigation provided in the paper entails the civil engineers becoming innovative in terms of technology. The paper also encourages the use of solar, biofuel, hydroelectric and wind power. The only way of saving the people in this world is by adapting to the changing climate. Introduction Global warming is affecting the world of today. Global warming is the gradual increase of the earths temperature as a result of the presence of the greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (Ramnarayan Chattopadhya, 2004). These gases are always emitted to the atmosphere as a result of human activities. The greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and many others more (Organisation, 2002). The world needs to understand global warming, and it effect to the world we are living in. In this way, a person will try to analyze if the activities he or she is involved in and whether it contributes to the emission of greenhouse gases. The only way to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases being released to the atmosphere is by making aware of the effect of globalization. Some of the human activities that contribute to global warming include bush burning, charcoal burning, methane produces from the production of biogas, and deforestation (Global warming. 2009), (Tom Shipley, 2011). As the world is heavily investing in industrialization, the number of the industries in the world is on the rise. This has majorly contributed to the large release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This paper is clearly going to identify some of the effects of global warming, the contribution of civil engineering on the issue of global warming and the advantages of the reducing global warming. When fighting global warning everybodys effort is needed (Natalie Goldstein, Global warming 2009). Furthermore, Civil Engineering can play a role in reducing global warming. Effects of the Global Warming Global warming has an effect on everybody, the farmers, the industries, and even the engineers. In Civil Engineering, the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere has greatly contributed to the high temperature that is experienced in the world of today (U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2009). This high temperature has contributed to drought areas, warming of the ocean surface, and bigger and abrupt floods. Furthermore, high temperature has also contributed to a more frequent freezing –thawing cycle, thawing of ice reserves, and changing of ground water level (Booker, 2010). It is also wise not to forget heavy hails, and wind intensity increases time dependent, high wind impulses and different wind profiles which is due to change in temperature. Global warming has also affected the driving rain which has caused heavy rain and large speed of the wind. Climatic changes have increased the deterioration of the surface of structures, and low cycle fatigue of structural elements (In Gopalakrishnan, In Steyn & In Harvey, 2014). In addition, the heavy rain has also contributed to damage to the water tightness of elements that are different, and low cycle fatigue of structural elements. These drawbacks make completely necessary for the response by the Civil Engineers. However, the adaptation and mitigation are not easy because the tread is unpredictable. The other difficulties the engineers are facing are the lack of the future database that is reliable due to the nature of these impacts that are uncertain (CISGW, 2003). Contribution of Civil Engineers in Global Warming In civil engineering, the production of concrete is the largest producer of CO2. The amount of CO2 emission varies per study, type of cement and country (Metz, IPC C, 2007). In Europe, it is about 0.75t CO2-e /ton (Cement & Beton centrum) materials for construction contributes about 75% of the total emission CO2 in the process (Flower & Sanjayan, 2007), Portland cement is the common type of cement and contributes about 5% of the total annual CO2 production in the world (Flower & Sanjayan, 2007). Carbon dioxide in the Civil engineering structure is largely produced by the production of the construction material. The carbon dioxide produced during the construction is about 13%. 4% of the total carbon dioxide is emitted when the when the structure is in use. In the civil engineering company, Concrete is the building material that is used mostly (Holcim, 2009). Comparing concrete to other material like wood and still, concrete comes at the second place with regards to carbon dioxide emission. Wood is the best construction material when looking at it from the environmental perspective. This is because wood is carbon dioxide neutral. Wood has a number of downsides like its availability and its structural application. The production of steel requires more energy than concrete. Although steel is very stronger as compared to concrete. When the concrete and steel are compared to each other, concrete is the most energy efficient solution (Kreijger, 1979). In civil engineering, high strength concrete is manufactured by reducing the water- cement factor. Furthermore, it is also produced by upgrading the mixture with aggregates that are more balanced. In addition, high strength concrete is manufactured by using admixtures like super plasticizer and fly-ash which makes the concrete to get a more compressive strength. The differences that are most important when it comes to the difference between different strengths of concrete are the cement type. Cements are of different types like C35/C45 which consists of CEM III (CCA & Thomas Telford ,1949), and C53/C65 which consists of CEM I and CEM III ( R.R. Bowker Company, 1984). CEM I is a Portland cement that lacks any additive, and this makes it very high in carbon dioxide emission. Concrete of high strength is more easily applied to prefab concrete and also used onsite. In the recent days, C53/C65 and C45/C55 concrete is standard applied in prefabrication concrete. Civil Engineers and Reduction of Global Warming Global warming is an issue that when not handle with care can bring an end to this world. The unpredictable seasons have created great confusion on the weather focus station. Famers find it hard to farm as they find it hard to determine the planting season (Sumi, Fukushi, & Hiramatsu, 2010). However, the only out to come from this nightmare of global warming is for the Civil Engineers to develop technology to mitigate the emission of the greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The agreement by the civil engineers to come up with a new the technology to mitigate the global warming is a very important idea (ASCE, Zhu, Issa, 2011). These are sending a message to the policy makers that the civil engineers are in the forefront on the issue of global warming. The determination of the civil engineers shows there is a need for the priorities for public policy for the issue of global warming to be addressed for the good of the planet and its inhabitants. The agreement by the civil engineers shows a strategic approach to fighting the impact of global warming. Infrastructures are the society backbone, and the civil engineers have a responsibility in their development, despite an increased environment risk. It is also important for the civil engineers to focus in developing low carbon engineering solution in the future. Adaptation to global warming by the civil engineers Civil engineering plays a very important in the development, and they are the core success of infrastructure network that supports the global economy and the society. For the civil engineers to address the experienced climate change impact on that network, construction, and design, there is need to for the Civil engineers to change their operation. To address this issue effectively, the civil engineers have agreed to focus on the mitigation and adaptation. On the issue of mitigation, the civil engineers have agreed to call for the professionals to develop materials land new technology. Furthermore, the civil engineers have a call to incorporate incentive for implementation and development of low and a zero- greenhouse gas emission technology (Dinçer, 2010). The technology should also have some cost effective carbon storage and capture. For effective mitigation, the civil engineers must implement and develop tools. In addition, the civil engineers should come up with the policies for assessing the risk and modification of the new and existing structure system (Dupont, 2009). To ensure the implementation of the strategy, the civil engineers should be committed to assisting the government through the development of a roadmap for low carbon infrastructure and providing some key steps up to 2050. The other thing that should be developed is a guidance document on engineering vulnerability assessment of the civil structure. The civil engineers should also develop best practices in for adaptation to tackle vulnerability. At firs, it may emerge that the problem of the new structure is easy. What a person should do is to take in to account the new code of design suitable to the climate change challenges. The building of the new structure will be expensive and in about ten to twenty years, they will also be old. The civil engineers should also determine what to do with the old buildings. The old buildings should be made less or more consequential and significant less or more expensive intervention. The intervention may be different in term of the change in the structural element, and change of the structural behavior of the entire structure (Sun, Miao, Ye, & Chen, 2010). The civil engineers may decide to change the whole structure by making the structure more robust or by increasing static indeterminacy. Furthermore, the civil engineers may decide to strengthen some parts of the building. It should be understood that the civil engineering, the infrastructure object and the buildings are one of the biggest part of the national wealth (Eastman, Teicholz, Sacks, & Liston, 2011). As a result, any essential intervention will need great expenses. There are some of the raw materials used by the civil engineering that contributes to the reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The mortars composed of lime absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The absorbed carbon dioxide reacts with the lime to produce carbonate crystals. The produced carbon crystal form in available space such as cracks and grow thereby sealing the cracks. The self-healing trait increases the durability of the structure and reduces water penetration (Eula. 2013). Conclusion The civil engineers should accept the existence of global warming and its impact on the structures. The task of reducing the amount of green gas emission to the atmosphere is not an easy task. To try and solve the challenges of global warming like; the mitigation and adaptation measure for new and old structure of building and object of civil engineering. The more complicated thing is finding the optical solution; however there is need to accept as this is our responsibility, and it must be faced. The exact amount of the emission of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere as a result of the production of cement and concrete seems to be impossible. The determination of the exact amount may be impossible due to the difference of concrete mixtures for each project. Furthermore, the concrete and cement factories work with production processes that are different. This makes the efficiency for both the factories different. Besides, each of the factories uses different fuel to power the process. The type of fuel used to power the production may provide a reflection of the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere by the factory. To reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emission, there is a need for an increment of the energy efficiency of the cars, power plants, and homes. The energy efficiency should be high while lowering the consumption by travelling fewer miles and adjusting the thermostats. The carbon emission by the power plants should also be captured and stored underground. The world should also focus on producing more energy from natural gases, nuclear, and renewable fuels. These renewable fuels include bio-fuel, wind, hydroelectric and solar. The world should also stop deforestation and the degradation of soil worldwide while planting more trees in the world. Everybody needs to contribute in stopping the rise in the global warming. This is only possible by the expansion of the existing policies by the nations. These policies should be those that can help lower emission such as carbon or fuel taxes. This should go hand in hand by expanding on the research for new options of energy. Furthermore, the policy should be one that explore the technology and could lead to the increase in nuclear, wind and solar power. 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