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14: Pandemic Diseases and Drug Discovery - Under Construction

14: Pandemic Diseases and Drug Discovery - Under Construction

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Biochemistry and Climate Change: Why They Belong Together

At first glance, biochemistry and climate change might seem unrelated. Biochemistry, after all, does not cause climate change. But this initial impression dissolves quickly on closer inspection — because climate change is, at its core, a biological and biochemical crisis, and biochemistry is one of our most powerful tools for understanding and addressing it.

The primary driver of current climate change is the combustion of fossil fuels and the resulting release of CO₂ into the atmosphere. Additional contributors include CO₂ from cement production and methane from fossil fuel extraction and agricultural practices. These greenhouse gases trap infrared radiation, warming the planet and triggering cascading effects across every ecosystem on Earth. Fossil fuel combustion also produces particulate pollution and toxic byproducts that sicken and kill millions of people annually — harms that are independent of, yet compounded by, climate change itself. Broader human activities (industrial agriculture, deforestation, habitat destruction, plastic production, and the widespread use of herbicides and pesticides) all interact to threaten what is now called "One Health": the deeply interconnected health of humans, animals, plants, and the shared environment that sustains them. Harm to any part of this web ultimately harms us all.

So why study climate change in biochemistry?

Climate change and its effects intersect with major questions in biochemistry. How do rising temperatures alter enzyme kinetics, protein stability, and membrane function? How does ocean acidification affect the carbonate chemistry that marine organisms depend on? What molecular mechanisms underlie the emergence of new infectious diseases as pathogens expand into warming regions? How can we engineer organisms to fix more carbon, produce cleaner fuels, require less nitrogen fertilizer, and manufacture materials without fossil fuel feedstocks? These are biochemical questions, and answering them is among the most urgent scientific tasks of our time.

Understanding the biochemistry of climate change can also do something that data alone often cannot: it can motivate people to act. When students grasp that a warming planet directly alters the enzymes in soil that release stored carbon, or that air pollution disrupts specific molecular signaling pathways in neurons, or that a single amino acid change in a viral protein can determine whether a pandemic begins, climate change stops being an abstraction. It becomes a biochemical reality with human consequences and one that biochemists are uniquely positioned to help address.

This chapter is organized into four parts:

Part 1 (Sections 01A, 01B, 2, and 3) provides a deep dive into the causes of climate change and the methods scientists use to reconstruct past and predict future CO₂ and temperature values. These sections contain relatively little biochemistry but are essential for understanding the evidence base for climate science and for rebutting the misconceptions and deliberate disinformation that continue to delay action. Readers less interested in this foundation may treat Part 1 as background and proceed directly to the biochemically focused sections that follow.

Part 2 (Sections 4–10) examines the production and use of biofuels as alternatives to fossil fuels. The appeal of biofuels rests on a simple carbon accounting argument: if CO₂ removed from the atmosphere by living organisms is returned to the atmosphere when the resulting fuel is burned, the net emission is zero. In practice, this accounting must encompass the full life cycle of production — and when it does, some biofuels (corn ethanol most prominently) perform far less impressively than their advocates claim. These sections are rich in biochemistry and connect directly to organic chemistry students will have encountered previously.

Part 3 (Sections 11–14) examines the biological consequences of rising temperatures, fossil fuel pollution, and related climate effects on biomolecules, organisms, and human health — from enzyme thermal adaptation and soil carbon release to the molecular mechanisms of heat stroke and the epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases.

Part 4 (Sections 16–18) explores how biochemistry, molecular biology, genetic engineering, and synthetic biology can be deployed to address climate change directly: capturing more atmospheric carbon, reducing fertilizer dependence, engineering climate-resilient crops, and transforming manufacturing toward greener, fossil-fuel-free processes.

Taken together, this chapter makes the case that biochemistry is not merely a passive observer of climate change. It is an active participant in understanding, documenting, and ultimately solving it. We need motivated students to tackle climate change, its effects, and its mitigation.

Icon featuring a globe with thermometers and DNA strands, labeled "Climate Change" and "Biochemistry."

To facilitate access for both instructors and students to climate change-relevant examples in Chapter 32, this clickable Climate Change and Biochemistry icon will be placed throughout Fundamentals of Biochemistry by climate change-relevant topics.

Other important climate change books

Bending the Curve: Climate Change Solutions by et al. Ramanathan, Veerabhadran et al. present 10 climate change mitigation strategies across science, societal transformation, governance, economics, technology, and ecosystem management. "Bending the curve" was first used during the early years of the COVID pandemic. In climate change, it means bending the CO₂ atmospheric curve and the resulting global temperature curve after a peak is reached toward values less detrimental to human and biosphere life. Key themes emerge from the book:

"There is still time to bend the curve.
Bending the curve will require interdisciplinary solutions.
Bending the curve requires a radical shift in attitude.
Technology, market mechanisms, and policy need to be a part of the solution."

Books by Hannah Ritchie from Our World in Data:

Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers: Clear, simple answers to the most common and vexing questions about climate change that we can take action on right now.
Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet: A pragmatic guide on focusing action, such as transitioning energy and reducing food waste, to build a livable future for all.

Key Climate Change Graphs from Chapter 32

( Last update: 2/22/26)

1. Science of Climate Change

CO₂ in the atmosphere: 800,000 BCE to Now - Interactive graph from Our World in Data
Methane (CH₄) concentration in the atmosphere: 800,000 BCE to Now - Interactive graph from Our World in Data
CO₂ and Temperature over the last 800,000 Years - LibreText. Data from Antarctic Ice Cores Revised 800K YrCO2 Data. Bereiter, B. et al, J. http://ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/study/17975
Combo CO₂ and Temperature - 1000 to present (Data and data sources from the 2 Degrees Institute)
Temperature of the planet over the last 500 million years - Wikimedia
Simulated northern hemisphere temperature changes, smoothed with an 11-year running mean, relative to AD 950–1250 - J. Space Weather Space Climate, 7, 2017
Total GHG emissions from fuel combustion by product, World: IEA
Greenhouse gases by economic sector in the US - Pie Chart: EPA
Greenhouse gas emissions by sector, World, 2023: Our World in Data
ExxonMobil's Global Warming Projection Hidden from the World: Science Magazine
CO₂concentration (black circles) and the δ¹³C (brown circles) from 1000 to 2010 - Proof that post-industrial rise in CO₂ from burning fossil fuels: Rubino et al., JGR: Atmospheres, 2013.
Climate Shift For Today - Land: Probabilities that anomalies in land temperature can be attributed to climate change. Climate Central (Attribution Science
Mapped: How climate change affects extreme weather around the world. (Attribution Science). CarbonBrief
Maps and Data: NOAA

2. Future Projections for Earth's Climate: What a difference a degree makes!

Climate Interactive Lab Interactive Map - See worldwide temperature and precipitation projections for different levels of temperature increase. IPCC Working Group I (WGI): Sixth Assessment Report
University of Chicago Climate Impact Map for future warming. Temperature increases with different emissions scenarios
University of Chicago Climate Impact Map - Future Deaths with increasing temperature
CalAdapt Climate Tools: projections for two possible climate futures for California, one in which emissions peak around 2040 and then decline (RCP 4.5) and another in which emissions continue to rise throughout the 21^st century (RCP 8.50
CalAdapt - Extreme Precipitation Events - Specific for California
Climate Map for Probable Futures: non-profit climate literacy initiative - effects of heat, cold, humidity, precipitation, dryness
Tipping Points: Carbon Brief
Earth System Tipping Points: Global Tipping Points
Positive Tipping Points: Global Tipping Points
How long would it take for the Earth to cool if we stopped emitting CO₂ now: IPCC 6th Assessment Report. CO₂ would fall from the present value of around 430 ppm to 330 ppm, a value last seen around 1900, yet the temperature change (since the Industrial Revolution) drops from the present increase of about 1.5 ⁰C (2.7 ⁰F) to a value of about 1.3 ⁰C (2.34 ⁰F) above the preindustrial level. Hence elevated temperatures are "baked" into the system for at least 100 years even if we stop emitting now!
Copernicus Climate Data with Projections with rotating globe
- Climate Pulse: Present, Monthly and Yearly Data
- Copernicus Interactive Climate Atlas: Climate Data from 1850 to now and projections for future changes by ⁰C, and by climate model
- ERA Explorer: access to over 85 years of global climate data

3. Climate Change and the Oceans

Climate Shift For Today - Oceans: Probabilities that anomalies in ocean temperature can be attributed to climate change. Climate Central
Heat Content in the top 700 meters of the ocean - Our World in Data
Global sea level rise from 1900 to now -
Ocean acidification: mean seawater pH, Hawaii - Our World in Data
Arctic Yearly Mean Sea Ice Extent (million km²) - Copernicus Marine Service
Antarctic Yearly Mean Sea Ice Extent (million km²) - Copernicus Marine Service
Global Yearly Ocean CO 2 Uptake (PgC ) - Copernicus Marine Service
Climate impacts of a collapsed Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) under different global warming scenarios (link not working 2/25/26)
Land below 3 feet of water: Climate Central

4. CO₂ Emissions - US vs China

Annual CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels and industry: US, China, et al. - Our World in Data
CO₂ emissions per capita: US, China, et al. - Our World in Data
Cumulative CO₂ emissions since the Industrial Revolution: US, China, et al. - Our World in Data

5. Agricultural Effects

Food: greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain: Our World in Data
Greenhouse Gases per 100 grams of protein: Our World in Data

6. Biofuels

Bioenergy Fuel Production - World: Our World in Data
Biofuels vs Solar Panels: Our World in Data
Shares of cereals allocated for food, animal feed, or fuel: Our World in Data
GHG emission intensities for corn ethanol compared to before the RFS. PNAS
Changes in corn agriculture and pollution after the adoption of the Renewable Fuel Standards in the US. PNAS

7. Climate Change, Fossil Fuels, and Biosphere/Human Health

Loss of 3 billion or 29% birds in North America since 1970: Science. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaw1313
Living Planet Index, World
What are the safest and cleanest forms of energy? Our World in Data
Death Rate Per Unit of Electricity Production. Our World in Data
Death rate from particulate matter air pollution vs. PM2.5 concentration: Our World in Data
Air pollution deaths from fossil fuels: Our World in Data
Sources of air pollutants: Our World in Data. Scroll to see pollutant sources

8. Power from Electricity vs Fossil Fuels: The Energy Transition

Electricity Generated from Different Power Supply: Total and Capacity from Claude. (Download and open file)
Total electricity generated in each country or region, measured in terawatt-hours: Our World in Data
Electricity production by source (terawatt-hours): US, China, India, EU
Share of electricity production by source: US | China | India | Europe
Share of electricity from low-carbon sources - US, China, India, EU
Share of electricity from coal: Our World in data
The Energy Transition in 5 Charts: RMI

9. Internal Combustion Engines vs Battery Electric Vehicles

Efficiency of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vs Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) - IEA
Comparative life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of a mid-size BEV and ICE vehicle
Efficiency of ICE vs BEV - Graphic from Yale Climate Communication
Global electric car stock, 2013-2023: IEA 2024
Electric car registrations and sales share in China, United States and Europe, 2018-2023. IEA

10. Economics

Explicit Fossil Fuel Subsidies for World, 2010-2023: Our World in Data
Worldwide subsidies in US$ billion and in % of global GDP. The bar graphs are in US$ billion, and the circles and triangles are in % of global GDP. IMF.
7 trillion fossil fuel subsidies total 2022: Our World in Data
Energy Subsidies and Climate Change: En-Roads
U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters
Crude Oil Prices (1946-2026) | Crude Oil Prices (annotated) 1968-2022
Solar Photovoltaics Prices US 1975-2024: Our World in Data
Levelised Cost of Solar, World: Our World in Data
Price of lithium-ion battery cells, 1991 to 2024: Our World in Data
Combined learning curves for electric motors, computing all needed for transitions to a country driven by electricity and not fossil fuels
Recycling as mining: Recycling Batteries as a source of critical minerals | Cyclic Materials
Recycling Solar panels as a source of materials
Solar cells photovoltaics panels: Background, Manufacture - IEA

11. Climate Solutions

En-Roads: Climate Solutions Simulator
Energy Policy Simulator

12. Solar Energy - Rooftop

Australia leads the way
Simplify Solar from Third Act: Bring the solar revolution home, with smarter local rules to make rooftop & plug-in power easy, fast, and affordable
SolarApp+: Developed in collaboration with local governments and the solar industry to advance clean energy technologies to speeds solar permitting

13. Plug-in (balcony) Solar

SB-868 Electricity: portable solar generation devices (aka Plug and Play Solar Act) for California
Bright Saver - Mission is to build a movement where plug-in solar is affordable and accessible to all
Solar Rights Alliance - Informs about threats or opportunities to solar investment, and provides people with simple ways you can make their voice heard
Solar United Neighbors - a national organization dedicated to representing the needs and interests of solar owners and clean energy supporters
California Solar and Storage Association - works to implement and defend solar and storage policies and programs that have made California one of the largest and most successful solar markets in the world.
Examples: Utah Clean Energy | Utah H.B. 340 Solar Power Amendments | Germany's balcony (plugin) solar boom | Plug-In Solar Info

14. Additional National and California Legislative Climate and Clean Energy Initiatives

SB-222 Residential heat pump systems: water heaters and HVAC: installations (CA)

15. Citizens' Climate Lobby

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