Returning the Earth’s Call: Overview of Centuries
Published at : 28 Jun 2023
Volume : IJtech
Vol 14, No 4 (2023)
DOI : https://doi.org/10.14716/ijtech.v14i4.6542
Cite this article as:
Whulanza, Y., Kusrini, E., 2023. Returning the Earth’s Call: Overview of Centuries. International Journal of Technology. Volume 14(4), pp. 690-694
Whulanza, Y., Kusrini, E., 2023. Returning the Earth’s Call: Overview of Centuries. International Journal of Technology. Volume 14(4), pp. 690-694
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| Yudan Whulanza | Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424, Indonesia |
| Eny Kusrini | Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI, Depok 16424, Indonesia |
Abstract
The first earth day was established in April 1970 as the UNESCO initiative to honor the Earth. Our history recorded a transformative way people lived and worked triggered by the industrial revolution started around 1850. This period reshaped the global economy, which has brought social and environmental changes ever since. Modern industry came in one package with a higher emission of greenhouse gases.
The research from Our World in Data suggests that the annual emission of CO2 significantly indicated in early 1900 at around 5 billion tons. At the end of 19 century, the emission was 4-fold times and spiking these days to around 35 billion tons. Amstrong McKay et al. (Science vol. 377, 8811, 2022) warned that this CO2 emission contributes to the temperature rise, arctic surface decline, and sea level rise. Since 1970, the temperature has risen about 0.9?C, according to the NASA global surface temperature report by 2021. The Arctic Sea ice has melted at about a rate of 13% decline per decade. Currently, the sea level has risen 12 centimeters higher per decade, according to CSIRO.
A positive change is also evident in several actions taken after Earth Day 1970. The US Clean Air Act encourages the automotive industries to redefine their combustion technology. Although an increase of more than 37% of energy is utilized, the pollutants have decreased by about 78%, according to the EPA. New cars, trucks, and buses are 99% cleaner by utilizing today's tailpipe technology. The use of cleaner fuel, such as unleaded gasoline, has resulted in a 95% decrease in the level of lead in children's blood.
In 1987, every country in words joined the Montreal Protocol to ban CFCs. Technology today allows us to reduce ozone-depleting emissions by up to 99%. According to the UN projections, by 2050, the ozone layer is expected to return to its 1980 level. The ozone layer has stabilized and started to recover, thereby preventing an estimated 2 million cases of skin cancer per year.
In 2015, 197 countries have signed the Paris agreement which is the world's most ambitious effort to tackle climate change. All countries agreed to reduce carbon emission dramatically and to zero by 2050. Many efforts have been made to switch rapidly to renewables, conserve and restore forest and grassland, and protect coastal and ocean environments. The preservation of forests and wetlands will not only conserve biodiversity but also secure the carbon in trees and soil.
Here, everyone has a role to play, including us as scientists, engineers, or civil society.
The administration of IJTech has implemented a policy to minimize the use of paper, plastic bottles, and packaging materials, while also promoting the use of mass transport for individual mobility. The campaign of effort and work resulting in fighting CO2 emissions always has a place in the IJTech publications. Our editions endorsed research in technology that seemed futuristic but now exists among us, such as super batteries; biofuels from waste; hydrogen fuel cells; heat pumps; plant-based plastics; carbon capture and storage. We believe that the scaling up of this analysis will allow us to decarbonize more industries. This is the moment that we respond to our Mother Earth, to save our humanity.
This edition focuses on innovation in multiple aspects, including super batteries, biofuels from waste, hydrogen fuel cells, heat pumps, plant-based plastics, carbon capture, and also storage to save our Earth and get a more better life.