The climate change brought about by humankind can hardly be stopped anymore.

The percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere has always been subject to considerable fluctuations. For at least 650,000 years, however, the figure was always below 280 ppm. For the next 10,000 years carbon dioxide concentration was relatively stable at 280 ppm. In other words, the carbon dioxide circuit was balanced during that time. With the beginning of industrialization in the 19th century the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased to reach a level of 385 ppm in 2008. This is likely to be the highest figure for the past 15 to 20 million years. Between 1960 and 2005 the percentage of carbon dioxide increased by an average of 1.4 ppm per year.

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions – that is to say, the emissions caused by humankind – amount to approximately 36.3 gigatonnes per year and constitute only a small share of the about 550 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide annually from natural sources. Since the natural carbon sinks reabsorb the same amount of CO2, carbon dioxide concentration remained relatively constant prior to industrialization. About half of the excess carbon dioxide is absorbed by the biosphere and the oceans (resulting in their acidification), so they now take up more carbon dioxide than they release. The other half of the emitted carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere, where it leads to the measurable increase in carbon concentration.

It is generally acknowledged that the anthropogenic impact on the climate is statistically significant and bears the main responsibility for global warming. This warming is very likely a consequence of the increase in the greenhouse effect that is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases. The excess carbon dioxide is the cause of approx. 60% of the increase of the greenhouse effect. The consequences of global warming are to be alleviated through climate protection.

For this reason the reduction of CO2 emissions is the most important task of the future. However, since it is going to be a while until we have built an emission-free society and something has to be done to fight the climate change immediately, large areas of new forests should be created!