Climate change : strategies for mitigation and adaptation

The sustainability of life on Earth is under increasing threat due to humaninduced climate change. This perilous change in the Earth's climate is caused by increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily due to emissions associated with burning fossil fuels. Over the next two to three decades, the effects of climate change, such as heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, storms, and floods, are expected to worsen, posing greater risks to human health and global stability. These trends call for the implementation of mitigation and adaptation strategies. Pollution and environmental degradation exacerbate existing problems and make people and nature more susceptible to the effects of climate change. In this review, we examine the current state of global climate change from different perspectives. We summarize evidence of climate change in Earth’s spheres, discuss emission pathways and drivers of climate change, and analyze the impact of climate change on environmental and human health. We also explore strategies for climate change mitigation and adaptation and highlight key challenges for reversing and adapting to global climate change

Hydrothermal synthesis of zeolites using silica extracted from tropical volcanic ash

This study addresses the reliance on costly aluminosilicate sources for the synthesis of zeolites by exploring the use of silica extracted from tropical volcanic ash. The volcanic ash contained CaO, in the form of calcite polymorph of CaCO3, and silica at 47.09 wt% and 18.38 wt%, respectively. High purity silica was obtained by simply washing the volcanic ash with HCl to remove the calcite, and was then used, with additional commercial aluminate, in the synthesis of varieties of zeolites via the fusion method. The type of zeolite prepared, Na–X, Na–P or hydroxysodalite (Na-HS), was determined by the SiO2 : Al2O3 : Na2O : H2O molar ratios and in particular the amount of SiO2 and Na2O. The Na–X product had the highest surface area (766 m2 g−1), micropore surface area (644 m2 g−1) and pore volume (0.26 m3 g−1), and these textural values were comparable to those of commercial molecular sieve 13X. This work demonstrates that (i) high purity silica can be obtained from abundant and inexpensive volcanic ash by simple acid treatment, and (ii) the silica can be used in the production of high purity zeolites, whose quality is dependent on the hydrogel composition