Air pollution from a power plant is being monitored for levels of nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone. The levels are measured daily at the same time. Which of the following best predicts the impact of a dark and cloudy day on the readings for the levels of air pollutants measured?
Atmospheric deposition is receiving increased attention in the scientific community, and has become the subject of a specific research area in the environmental sciences. Acid rain is detrimental to our ecosystems and can be measured in several ways.
Which of the following methods would best identify changes from acid deposition in an area over time?
Changes?
Status?
Greatest threat?
________→ _________→ _________→ ________
Chapter 19
Global Change
Module 62: GHG effect Module 63: Evidence Module 64: Consequences
2. Add Mod 62 table
3. Draw and label
the greenhouse effect
4. Discuss Impact 19
**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT_3xtI2kvM :)
polar bears are listed as ‘vulnerable’ by IUCN (equivalent to endangered under the US Endangered Species Act).
How many polar bears are left in the Arctic in 2022? Global estimates suggest that around 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears remain in their natural habitat.
https://www.arcticwwf.org/wildlife/polar-bear/polar-bear-population/
The IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group lists the polar bear as a vulnerable species
The IUCN estimates there are currently about 26,000 polar bears worldwide.
Trump, ANWR drilling, and bears oh my!!
The Energy 202: Trump administration moves forward with Arctic oil ...8/2018
Sep 13, 2019 - The Trump administration on Thursday said it would seek to open up the entire coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas
Hilcorp Alaska received the green light to build the Liberty Project, a nine-acre artificial drilling island and 5.6-mile underwater pipeline, which environmentalists warn could risk oil spills in the sensitive Beaufort Sea and threaten polar bears and Arctic communities.
Once built, it will be the first oil and gas production facility in federal waters off Alaska, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke boasted Wednesday in a press release.
"American energy dominance is good for the economy, the environment, and our national security," Zinke said. "Responsibly developing our resources, in Alaska especially, will allow us to use our energy diplomatically to aid our allies and check our adversaries. That makes America stronger and more influential around the globe."
Biden Suspends Drilling Leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge June 2021
The decision locks, for now, oil and gas drilling in one of the largest tracts of undeveloped wilderness in the United States. "lack of interest by the industry"
Biden Administration Approves Huge Alaska Oil Project. The administration also announced new limits on Arctic drilling in an apparent effort to temper criticism over the $8 billion Willow oil project, which has faced sharp opposition. Climate Forward There's an ongoing crisis — and tons of news.Mar 12, 2023
The Willow project is an oil drilling project by ConocoPhillips located on the plain of the North Slope of Alaska in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The project was originally to construct and operate up to five drill pads for a total of 250 oil wells.
yes, 12/2025
Module 62� Global Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect�
After reading this module you should be able to
Global change. Global change includes a wide variety of factors that are changing over
time. Global climate change refers to those factors that affect the average weather in an area of Earth. Global warming refers to changes in temperature in an area.
II. Solar radiation and greenhouse gases make our planet warm�
do the College Board 1-3 sheet
The map reflects the difference in annual surface temperature from 2011 to 2017 in relation to 2000 to 2010. The scatterplot reflects the average change in surface temperature by latitude from 2011 to 2017 in relation to 2000 to 2010.
Based on the data above, which of the following hypotheses about the future conditions in the Arctic is most plausible if the trend seen from 2011 to 2017 continues?
a
II. Solar radiation and greenhouse gases make our planet warm�
Greenhouse effect Absorption of infrared radiation by atmospheric gases and reradiation of the energy back toward Earth.
do the College Board 1-3 sheet
The greenhouse effect. When the high-energy radiation from the Sun strikes the atmosphere, about one-third is reflected from the atmosphere, clouds, and the surface of the planet. Much of the high-energy ultraviolet radiation is absorbed by the ozone layer where it is converted to low-energy infrared radiation. Some of the ultraviolet radiation and much of the visible light strikes the land and water of Earth where it is also converted into low-energy infrared radiation. The infrared radiation radiates back toward the atmosphere where it is absorbed by greenhouse gases that radiate much of it back toward the surface of Earth. Collectively, these processes cause warming of the planet.
Does result in the surface temperature necessary for life on Earth to exist
3. How many units of energy return to space from Earth and its atmosphere?
Which of the following is a greenhouse gas that comes only from human sources?
B. The Gases That Cause the Greenhouse Effect
| Natural sources | Anthropogenic sources |
Water vapor (H20) | | |
Carbon dioxide (CO2) | | |
Methane (CH4) | | |
Nitrous oxide (N2O) | | |
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) | | |
Want to see why Trump will struggle to save the coal industry?
Look at Michigan and the prices of new coal plants vs natural gas or wind.
In Michigan, a new coal plant costs $133 per megawatt hour. A natural gas plant costs half that. Even wind contracts now cost about $74.52 per megawatt hour, after federal tax credits.
3(g) In 2021, 8.99 1011 kWh of electricity was generated through the combustion of coal. One kilogram of carbon dioxide is produced per kWh of electricity generated by combusting coal, while 0.42 kilograms of carbon dioxide is produced by combusting natural gas. Calculate how much less carbon dioxide would have been produced in 2021 if all coal-burning power plants were replaced with natural gas-burning power plants. Show your work
Greenhouse Gases and their warming potential
Why is CO2 the #1 focus?
Which gases are anthropogenic?
Which would you focus on?
*
*****
*
*
C. Greenhouse Gases�
Depends on 2 things:
Carbon cycle
Impact 19
Observation time!!
Come up with an analysis for each of the following slides.
7/2020 By the end of 2019, the concentration of methane in the atmosphere reached around 1875 parts per billion (ppb), the researchers say – more than two-and-a-half times pre-industrial levels.
The Trump administration is set to announce on Thursday that it intends to sharply curtail the regulation of methane emissions, a major contributor to climate change, according to an industry official with knowledge of the plan.
The Environmental Protection Agency, in a proposed rule, will aim to eliminate federal government requirements that the oil and gas industry put in place technology to inspect for and repair methane leaks from wells, pipelines and storage facilities.
Under the proposal, methane, the main component of natural gas, would only be indirectly regulated. A separate but related category of gases covered under the Obama-era rules, known as volatile organic compounds, would still be subject to regulation under the new rules. Those curbs would also have the side benefit of averting some methane emissions.
The new rule must go through a period of public comment and review, and would most likely be finalized early next year, analysts said.
Over all, carbon dioxide is the most significant greenhouse gas, but methane is a close second. It lingers in the atmosphere for a shorter period of time but packs a bigger punch while it lasts. By some estimates, methane has 80 times the heating-trapping power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years in the atmosphere.
Methane currently makes up nearly 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. A significant portion of that comes from the oil and gas sector. 8/2019
Nitrogen
cycle
~nitrous oxide
III. Sources of greenhouse gases are both natural and anthropogenic
Methane example: natural and anthropogenic
Methane hydrates are white, icelike solids that consist of methane and water. They are an untapped potential future energy source. The methane molecules are enclosed in microscopic cages composed of water molecules.
Last year, Japan succeeded in extracting an untapped fuel from its ocean floor – methane hydrate, or flammable ice. Proponents argue that it will offset energy crises, but what are the environmental risks?
Buried below the seabed around Japan, there are beds of methane, trapped in molecular cages of ice. In some places, the sediment covering these deposits of frozen water and methane has been eroded away, leaving whitish mounts of what looks like dirty ice rearing up out of the seafloor.
III. Sources of greenhouse gases are both natural and anthropogenic
B. Anthropogenic sources and processes and effects:
flooded fields= methane and carbon dioxide
Anthropogenic Causes of Greenhouse Gases�
Anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases. Human activities are a major
contributor of greenhouse gases including CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide. These activities include the use of fossil fuels, agricultural practices, the creation of landfills, and the industrial production of new greenhouse gases.
The average amount of electricity consumed per month by a typical U.S. household is approximately 920 kilowatt-hour (kWh). Fossil fuel burning power plants emit approximately 0.56 kg of carbon dioxide per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed by U.S. households.
a. Calculate the average amount of electricity consumed per year by a typical U.S. household. Show your work.
b. How much CO2 is emitted in one year while generating the electricity for a typical U.S. household, if all of the energy is produced by fossil fuel burning power plants. Show your work
Anthropogenic Causes of Greenhouse Gases What are the 3 largest producers of methane?
Rate of methane from livestock?
Anthropogenic sources of greenhouse
gases in the United States. (a) The largest contributions of methane in the atmosphere arise from gut bacteria that help many
livestock species digest plant matter, landfills that experience decomposition in low-oxygen environments, and the production,
storage, and transport of natural gas and petroleum products from which methane escapes. (b) The largest contributions of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere arise from the agricultural soils that obtain nitrogen from applied fertilizers, combustion, and industrial production of fertilizers and other products. (c) Nearly all anthropogenic CO2 emissions come from the burning of fossil fuels.
Anaerobic manure digesters (also called methane digesters) collect manure and convert the energy stored in its organic matter into methane, which is used to produce energy (gas or electricity) for on-farm or off-farm use.
Biogas & Anaerobic Digesters IN WIAnaerobic digesters, or “biodigesters,” are a technology that use this process to intentionally convert waste like manure, crop residue, and food processing waste into biogas and reusable byproducts
https://www.epa.gov/agstar/livestock-anaerobic-digester-database
Impact 19
Scientists have been collecting atmospheric CO2 data for many years to monitor changes over time. Which of the following best describes why an island location, such as the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, is an ideal location to measure global CO2 concentrations?
a. The island is also a dormant volcano, so there will be only anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 measured at the site.
b. The location is below the inversion layer, making it less prone to local effects from industry and transportation.
c. The location is far from any continent, providing atmospheric air samples that are less likely to be affected by industry and transportation.
d. The impact of primary producers in the surrounding Pacific Ocean is negligible, reducing the effect of photosynthesis and respiration on CO2 levels.
Module 63 �The Evidence for Global Warming
After reading this module you should be able to
Changes in atmospheric CO2 over time. Carbon dioxide levels have risen steadily since measurement
began in 1958.
10/2016
The monthly average CO2 concentration for 2021 is 419 ppm.Jun 13, 2021
The current global average concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is 421 ppm as of May 2022
In May 2023, carbon dioxide hit 424 ppm—a new record. NOAA Climate.gov image, based on Mauna Loa monthly mean data from NOAA Global Monitoring Lab.
do the math p 675
do the math p 675
How do you test the effects of ocean acidification on marine life? Expected results?
How do you test the effects of ocean acidification on marine life? Expected results?
Over a 10-year period (retrospective study), NOAA scientists have collected 72,000 seawater samples, and their data show that the ocean is becoming more acidic because of climate change. That small change in acidity is enough to dissolve the shells of animals like this pteropod. In the lab, its shell dissolved in high-acidity seawater in 45 days. And in the wild, pteropod shells have already started dissolving in the Southern Ocean.
Results: pH will rise during soaking time due to release of CaCO3 from shells. The resistance to a pH change with the addition of an acid is known as buffering. CaCO3 binds with acid, neutralizing it.
B. *Ocean acidification The process by which an increase in ocean CO2 (FF, emissions, deforestation) causes more CO2 to be converted to carbonic acid, H2CO3 which lowers the pH of the water.
Why is this a problem?
inhibit shell growth due to loss of calcium carbonate in marine animals and is suspected as a cause of reproductive disorders in some fish
C. CO2 emissions differ among nations�
Energy production is the cause of
high CO2 emissions in every situation
How much does China produce?
Why is China the leader?
What are the 4 highest countries (per capita)? Why?
CO2 emissions by country in 2010. (a) When we consider the total amount of CO2 produced by a country, we see that the largest contributors are the developed and rapidly developing countries of the world. (b) On a per capita basis, some major CO2 emitters have relatively low per capita CO2 emissions.
Per Capita Emissions are Rising in Emerging Regions but Have Stabilized Globally
click link and hover over each location
II. Global temperatures have steadily increased since records began in 1880�
Changes in mean global temperatures over time. Although annual mean temperatures can vary from year to year, temperatures have exhibited a slow increase from 1880 to 2012. This pattern becomes much clearer when scientists compute the average temperature each year for the past 5 years.
not consistent warmth
around the planet
Global Temperatures
Since 1880
Who is colder?
No change?
Warming?�
Global Temperatures Since 1880
Who is colder?
No change?
Warming?�
http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/
Changes in mean annual temperature in different regions of the world. In 2010, some regions became cooler, some regions had no temperature change, and the northern latitudes became substantially warmer than the long term average temperature. The surface temperatures plotted on the map represent differences relative to the average temperature
from 1951 to 1980.
Temperature trend, 1960-2014
Change in degrees Fahrenheit
click
III. Scientists can estimate global temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations for over 500,000 years�
Historic CO2 concentrations. Using a variety of indirect indicators including air bubbles trapped in ancient ice cores, scientists have found that for more than 400,000 years CO2 concentrations never exceeded 300 ppm. After 1950, CO2 concentrations have sharply increased to their current level of nearly 400 ppm.
Foraminifera protists, with hard calcareous (calcium carbonate) shells, deposit shells in layers over time, in water of differing temperatures (deposit more in the presence of 0-18 (heavy oxygen, during warm water)
But 10/2017: Errors/Modifications:Results of a new test show the level of Oxygen-18 in these tests can change without leaving a visible trace, thereby challenging the reliability of foraminifera use as a thermometer; measurements now simply reflect the change in O-18 in the fossils deposits rather than change in temperature
B. Air Bubbles in Ancient Ice
Trapped during compression of ice, harvested and melted in lab, gases from past atmosphere can be collected=warmer temperatures = more ‘heavy oxygen’ or 0-18
The team used the fossilized remains of ancient plant tissues to produce a new record of atmospheric CO2 that spans 23 million years of uninterrupted Earth history. They have shown elsewhere that as plants grow, the relative amount of the two stable isotopes of carbon, carbon-12 and carbon-13 changes in response to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Microanalysis of the carbonate deposits that formed growth rings around rocks; oxygen and carbon isotopes revealed clues about the precipitation, temperature and soil respiration at the time the mineral was formed
Because these soil deposits are commonly found in drylands all over the world, they can provide a rich source of data for paleoclimatologists
A reverse of the usual pattern in which more precipitation falls in the winter.
C. Historic Greenhouse Gas Concentrations
Direct relationship or correlation? �
Historic temperature and CO2 concentrations. Ice cores used to estimate historic temperatures and CO2 concentrations indicate that the two factors vary together.
D. Climate Models and the Prediction of Future Global Temperatures�
What are the changes predicted for any one location?
http://news.yahoo.com/study-sees-possible-dip-world-160519910.html
Predicted increase in global temperatures by 2100.
The predictions depend on whether we expect (a) low, (b) moderate, or (c) high increases in how much CO2 the world emits during the current century. These changes in temperature are relative to the mean temperatures from 1961 to 1990.
Feedbacks can increase or decrease the impact of climate change practice p59 #12, p685 #5; click pic�
Global change feedback systems. (a) Temperature and CO2 represent a positive feedback system. When the concentration of CO2 increases in the atmosphere, it can cause global temperatures to increase. This in turn can cause more rapid decomposition, thereby releasing even more CO2 into the atmosphere. (b) Carbon dioxide and producers represent a negative feedback system. Increased CO2 in the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources can be partially removed by increased photosynthesis by producers.
Which of the following not only results from greenhouse warming but also contributes to additional warming of Earth (i.e., is a positive feedback process)?
A. Increased emissions of particulates and aerosols from industrial activity
B. Increased volcanic activity
C. Decreased air temperature and subsequent formation of clouds
D. Decreased size of snowpack
Pick one of the below topics and draw the scenario for a feedback loop related to carbon content:
+ or -
Soil
Clouds
Urbanization
Precipitation
Oceans
p733 1, 2, a-e
Economy
7. Photochemical smog, which frequently exists in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, consists primarily of
A. fog.
B. ozone.
C. sulfate compounds.
D. carbon particulate matter.
8. Which air pollutant is a metal, released primarily from the combustion of coal?
A. Lead
B. Mercury
C. Arsenic
D. Sulfur
“Hotspots” are areas where strong physical and ecological effects of climate change come together with large numbers of vulnerable and poor people and communities.
A 2015 study identified three types of climate change hotspots: 1) deltas in Africa and South Asia; 2) semi-arid regions in Africa and parts of South and Central Asia; 3) glacier- and snowpack-dependent river basins, especially in the Himalayas.
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015/transformingourworld
Module 64 �Consequences of Global Climate Change
�
After reading this module you should be able to
Pick one topic,
and relate
to past topics.
Pick one topic,
and explain why it is
"bad"
B. Present and Future
Pick one topic,
relate to past topics.
B. Present and Future
Pick one topic, and
explain why it is "bad"
So what?
Under global climate change, Earth's climatic zones will shift toward the poles. This is not just a future prediction; it is a trend that has already been observed in the past decades. The dry, semi-arid regions are expanding into higher latitudes, and temperate, rainy regions are migrating poleward. 11-2017
Climate change's impact on human health is already here — and is 'potentially irreversible,' 10/2017
affecting the spread of infectious diseases, exposing millions to air pollution and heat waves and dramatically reducing labor productivity,
Some of the findings of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report:
One minute video at bottom of article
Climate change is melting permafrost soils that have been solid for thousands of years, and as the soils melt they have the potential to release ancient viruses and bacteria that may be capable of springing back to life.The most recent discovery of an ancient virus came when French and Russian scientists investigated a 30,000 year-old piece of Siberian permafrost.
The scientists measured the birds’ overall body size, body mass, wingspan and the length of a lower leg bone known as the tarsus, which shrank by 2.4 percent across species. In addition to losing an average of 2.6 percent of their mass, the researchers observed that wing lengths across species increased by an average of 1.3 percent.
We can still rescue this planet from climate change
The Effects of Global Climate Change on the Northern ice cap
Pros and Cons, trend, future change�
The melting polar ice cap. Because northern latitudes have experienced the greatest amount of global warming, the extent of the ice cap near the North Pole has been declining over the past 3 decades. The polar ice cap reaches its minimum late in the summer of each year, so we can look for a trend by examining the extent of ice each September. From 1979 to 2013, the polar ice declined an average of 14 percent per decade.
The Effects of Global Climate Change on continental glaciers
Do the math: Rows 1-3 Antartica’s change, Rows 4-6 Greenland’s�
Declining ice in Antarctica and Greenland. Measurements of ice mass from 2002 to 2013 have detected decline in both (a) Antarctica and (b) Greenland.
Interesting times in the Arctic over the
last month as warm temps at sea and in
atmosphere making it tough for
normal sea ice formation
11/4/2016 (Bill Karins)
The North Pole is an insane 36 degrees warmer than normal as winter descends 11/2016
At the same time, one of the key indicators of the state
of the Arctic — the extent of sea ice covering the polar ocean
— is at a record low. The ice is freezing up again, as it
always does this time of year after reaching its September
low, but it isn’t doing so as rapidly as usual.
In fact, the ice’s area is even lower than it was during the
record-low 2012
Temperatures north of 80 latitude were around -5 degrees
Celsius — still below freezing, but not by that much —
instead of the normal of around -25 degrees C.
12/2016
The Arctic, ice free by 2040?
How vanishing Arctic ice may set stage for extreme Nor'easters
Arctic sea ice is disappearing, and some climate scientists believe the drop is fueling Nor-easters, drought and other extreme weather.
Sea ice is believed to have reached its maximum extent over the Arctic Ocean on March 17, at 5.59 million square miles. That is the second lowest in the 39 years that satellite images have helped make measurements
Temperatures in the Arctic have increased about twice as fast as they have in the rest of the globe over the past 25 years, an increase of seven degrees Fahrenheit, or more, in some areas. Less white ice on the Earth's surface means that less of the sun’s heat is reflected back into space. That exacerbates the warming pattern and, in a vicious cycle, melts even more ice.
Area of Arctic covered by sea ice is now at record low for time of year. Hard for new ice to form when Arctic temp is 10° above normal right now. 11/2017
The Arctic sea ice is at the third lowest extent for this time of year on record. Records of this specific type go back to 1978. The three lowest are all in the last 5 years. 11/ 2017
II. Global climate change is already affecting organisms�
So what?
Where global food production would be relocated to if the world rises four degrees Celsius above the 1990 baseline, which of course the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change uses. Where today the world’s largest food producers are the United States, Brazil, China, India, Australia and so forth, it could be that 30 years from now or less, the world’s largest food producers are Canada and Russia.
****Explore the impacts of climate change by region, by sector, and by state
Go to January 19th snapshot link for possible changes (held by previous Admin).
Climate change: how will temperature or precipitation changes impact the topic and location.
Find a 1. region’s, 2. sector’s, and 3. state’s biggest issues and/or concerns regarding a changing climate. Just one for each, not the same as your friends. Explain- like an FRQ.
4. Make a connection between 2 of your topics.
5. Find a similarity and difference between you and a peer.
New answers we did not yet discuss. Here is a different region site
Who (region) will invest the most? What (sector) seems to get the most?
III. Assessing Uncertainty
Yes we are warmer, yes we have more CO2�
Which organization was created by the United Nations to monitor, understand, and estimate the global impact of climate change?
A. Montreal Protocol
B. EPA
C. IUCN
D. IPCC
Which statement is NOT true regarding US carbon emission output and politics?
Quiz time: Pick biome/region and concern/benefit
IV. The Kyoto Protocol addresses climate change at the international level�
Kyoto Protocol An international agreement that sets a goal for global emissions of greenhouse gases from all industrialized countries to be reduced by 5.2 percent below their 1990 levels by 2012.
*(7% US, 8% EU, 0% Russia, No China and India)
How can these expectations be met?
Kyoto continued
Australia ratified in 2008 with new leadership
2011, Canada, Russia, and Japan all withdrew targets for reduced CO2 stating similar complaints to US in 2001 (and penalties were looming for not meeting targets)
2014, 192 countries ratified the Kyoto, still without US, and China and India are still exempt
Results: Greenhouse gas emissions from 1990-2012
“could not create the conditions for transformational change”
other steps
In 2009, EPA was given control to regulate CO2 under the Clean Air Act
~in 2012, fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks changed from 29mpg….37mpg by 2017…..55mpg by 2025
Read page 730-733 FRQ c-e
Read page 695
Review of coal and changes http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-create-cleaner-coal-emma-bryce#review
North America
U.S. Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
In 2005, mayors from 141 U.S. cities and both major political parties gathered in San Francisco to organize their own efforts to reduce the causes and consequences of global warming.
Under the Agreement, participating cities commit to take following three actions:
- Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns;
- Urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol -- 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012; and
- Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system
the map: http://www.usmayors.org/climateprotection/ClimateChange.asp
Obama’s Clean Power Plan for the US
The Clean Power Plan is a controversial Obama administration EPA rule designed to cut U.S. power plants’ carbon emissions one-third below 2005 levels by 2030. The rule is key to meeting the U.S.’s commitments under the UN’s Paris Agreement, the international climate pact that was negotiated in late 2015 and came into force on 11/4. 2016
October 2017-Pruitt of the EPA repealed the Clean Power Plan initiative
The EPA is still required to regulate greenhouse gases, but the CPP’s new replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, is drastically weaker. The ACE rule would lower power sector emissions by 11 million tons by 2030, or between 0.7 percent and 1.5 percent. The EPA noted that long-term industry trends are expected to still push emissions down 35 percent, but that’s largely independent of the ACE rule. 6/2019
Compare and contrast to Kyoto Protocol of 1997
GREAT NEWS! The #ParisAgreement enters into force today. As we all take action, our health will improve 11/4/2016
June 1, 2017, Trump announced his intention to abandon the Paris Agreement.
The Trump administration formally notified the United Nations on 11/4/2019 that it would withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement on climate change, leaving global climate diplomats to plot a way forward without the cooperation of the world’s largest economy.
The action, which came on the first day possible under the accord’s complex rules on withdrawal, begins a yearlong countdown to the United States exit and a concerted effort to preserve the Paris Agreement, under which nearly 200 nations have pledged to cut greenhouse emissions and to help poor countries cope with the worst effects of an already warming planet.
**Which countries have not ratified the Paris climate agreement? 8/2020**
p733
Why carbon pricing is the newest solution to climate change 2017
As co-chairs of the CPLC, we believe that one of the best ways to do that is by shifting the social and economic costs of heat-trapping gases from the public to the polluter.
Includes more than 100 of the world’s largest companies, with total annual revenues of some $7 trillion
Some 40 countries – including Canada – are also putting a price on carbon pollution, and more governments are planning to implement similar schemes soon. In 2015, China announced plans to create the world’s largest carbon-pricing system. And earlier this year, Ontario, Québec, and California signed an agreement to create the world’s second-largest carbon market.
France vs Canada example
Carbon pricing: How much will the world's big emitters sign up to?
Carbon Sequestration�
An approach to stabilizing greenhouse gases by removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Scientists Accidentally Discover Efficient Process to Turn CO2 Into Ethanol
The process is cheap, efficient, and scalable, meaning it could soon be used to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.
The Amazon plays a vital role in global carbon absorption (and we should continue to try and save it), between 1994 and 2007, our oceans absorbed 34 gigatons of the world’s carbon through algae, vegetation, and coral. In other words, the trees might not save us—but the oceans could.
Solutions in the natural world will help right the warming wrongs of the human-made world. According to a new analysis by ecologist Thomas Crowther and colleagues at ETH Zurich, a Swiss university, there is enough room in the world’s existing parks, forests, and abandoned land to plant 1.2 trillion additional trees. These forests would have the CO2 storage capacity to cancel out a decade of carbon-dioxide emissions.
Algae, when used in conjunction with AI-powered bioreactors, is up to 400 times more efficient than a tree at removing CO2 from the atmosphere. That means that while we are learning to reduce carbon emissions and augment our consumption patterns, we can start to make big reductions in atmospheric carbon. When wielded correctly, it could make a city carbon negative without changing current production or consumption patterns of the city.
The world’s problems can be solved by two things: collective action, and human-first technology that improves upon dated ways of doing things. Everyone can be a part of change and support those companies leading the way.
The simplest, most cost effective and environmentally beneficial way to do this is right under our feet. We can farm carbon by storing it in our agricultural soils.
Soils are traditionally rich in carbon. They can contain as much as five per cent carbon by weight, in the form of soil organic matter — plant and animal matter in various stages of decomposition.
But with the introduction of modern agricultural techniques, including the plow, soil organic matter content has dropped by half in many areas of the world, including parts of Canada. That carbon, once stored in the ground, is now found in the atmosphere and oceans as CO2 and is contributing to global warming.
The organic compounds found in soil are the glue that hold soil particles together and help give the soil structure. Like the walls of a building, this structure creates openings and passageways that allow the soil to conduct and store water, contain air, resist soil erosion and provide a habitat for soil organisms.
Plowing breaks apart soil aggregates and allows microorganisms to eat the soil organic compounds. In the short-term, the increased microbial activity releases nutrients, boosting crop productivity. In the long-term the loss of structure reduces the soil’s ability to hold water and resist erosion. Ultimately, crop productivity drops.
First and foremost, we need to disturb soil less. The advent of no-till and reduced tillage methods have allowed us to increase the carbon content of soils.
Farmers need economic incentives
An unexpected weapon in the fight against climate change? Seagrass
In principle, all living organisms – all animals, plants, algae and bacteria – consist of carbon and so function as a carbon sink. For example, as long as a tree lives it will absorb and store carbon. Given the sheer volume of all the trees contained in tropical forests, it’s no wonder most people imagine such forests when they think of a carbon sink.
So while a forest is a moderately efficient carbon sink, its capacity to retain carbon in the forest floor is limited.
In fact, new research by colleagues and I has found that such forests are actually only the fifth most efficient ecosystem in the carbon storage cycle behind salt marshes, mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and, best of all, tundra.
Latest projections of carbon emissions from countries put us on a path for 3.2 (or almost 6F) degrees C warming by the end of this century, which would bring about many of the dire consequences for human health, global economies and sea level rise that are projected from the "higher-emission" scenarios (also known as worst-case scenarios). According to UN report 11/2018
Or at least by 2.8F (2023)
Global emissions of CO2 in 2017 were 53.5 gigatons (a gigaton is 1 billion tons), the most ever released into the atmosphere, representing an increase of more than 1% over 2016 emissions.
Global emissions need to be 25% lower than this figure by 2030 in order to limit warming to 2 degrees Celsius and 55% lower in order to limit to 1.5 degrees, the report claims.
Some 37.5 gigatons, or 37.5 billion tonnes, of CO2 were emitted into Earth's atmosphere in 2023. (Importantly, scientists emphasize that we are not doomed: We still have the ability to slash emissions and avoid the worst impacts of a warming globe
Dangerous levels of warming locked in by planned jump in fossil fuels output
Plans by the world’s biggest oil, gas, and coal producers to vastly increase their output guarantees those countries will miss their stated Paris climate goals. 11/2019
Global governments plan to produce 120 percent more fossil fuels by 2030, drastically at oddswith the 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) warming limit they all agreed to under the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. All major fossil fuel-producing nations—including the United States, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, Canada, and Australia—have ambitious plans to increase production, according to a new report by leading research organizations and the United Nations.
Even countries claiming to be climate leaders like Canada and Norway say they want to maximize their fossil fuel exports
Here’s a list of countries committed to a net-zero emissions goal.
Does this match the last slide?
neutral by 2050 w/ new
technology: These range from energy-efficiency measures, including developing zero-emission buildings and smart infrastructures, to greater use of renewable energy sources
**List and describe 4 everyday things you can do to tackle climate change
If we all swapped beef burgers and bacon sandwiches for vegetarian alternatives most of the week, we could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than half.
So say the scientists behind a new study published in Nature, who predicted that in 2050, sticking to a plant-based diet, with just one portion of red meat a week, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 56%.
The report found that sticking to a “flexitarian diet” was one of three ways – alongside improvements in technologies and management, and reductions in food loss and waste – we could limit the food system’s impact on climate change, water scarcity and pollution in the coming decades.
This is how the oceans can be used to help fight climate change
Saving our forests is worth as much as taking 600m cars off the roads
Carbon budget
Harnessing the power of nature in the fight against climate change 9/2018
remediation, not mitigation
100 Practical Ways to Reverse Climate Change
National Geographic May 2017
Which of the following best illustrates a mitigation approach to climate change?
11/2019
Existing U.S. Coal Plants ~2015
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Existing_U.S._Coal_Plants
A major environmental problem with cows is their insistence on spewing out methane, a greenhouse gas that packs, ton for ton, thirty times the disastrous punch of CO2. This isn’t a deliberate plot on the part of Earth’s 1.5 billion cows. Cows and other cud-chewing animals digest their cellulose-laden food with the help of stomach bacteria in a process called enteric fermentation, which is why they can live happily on grass. The end result of such microbial metabolism is methane, of which the average cow produces some 200 to 500 liters per day.
While sheep, goats, and buffalo (and giraffes and camels) all generate methane, 65 percent comes from cows.
Experiments in sheep showed that if dried Asparagopsis taxiformis seaweed made up just 2 percent of total feed, methane emissions drop by 70 percent.Asparagopsis is so effective because it contains a chemical called bromoform (CHBr3) that interferes with the microbial digestive enzymes responsible for methane manufacture.
Increasing legislation is now aimed at cutting methane emissions from livestock. Under the Obama administration, a 2014 Climate Action Plan called for cutting methane emissions from American cows by 20 percent by 2020; and in September of this year, Governor Jerry Brown of California also went after flatulent cows, ruling that their methanogenic behavior should be regulated “if a practical technology exists to reduce it.”
France is now leading the way in the battle against climate change
YAY!
In 2014 and 2015, the CO₂ emissions from the energy sector stalled despite the global economy growing by 3%. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2014, emissions increased by less than 0.2% and by only 0.03% last year.
The major factor in this flattening trend was a fall in emissions of the two biggest emitters: China and the United States. In China, despite an increase in power consumption by 3%, power generation from fossil fuels decreased by 2%. This led emissions to fall by 1.5% last year. In the United States, emissions decreased by 2% despite healthy economic growth.