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Solutions to Climate Change

Solutions to Climate Change. Global Canadian Local Individual. Global Cooperation. The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) was established in 1988

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Solutions to Climate Change

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  1. Solutions to Climate Change Global Canadian Local Individual

  2. Global Cooperation • The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) was established in 1988 • It does not publish its own research but reviews recent relevant scientific, social, and economic information about climate change (as found in thousands of other scientific studies.) • Every 5 or 6 years, the IPCC prepares a comprehensive report. • Most recent assessment: 2007

  3. These reports provide current information on a) human-induced climate change b) impacts of climate change c) options for adaptation and mitigation Adaptation: How can societies change in response to current and future climate change?Mitigation: What steps can be taken to reduce or prevent the causes of climate change?

  4. Countries generally regard these reports as authoritative and build national strategies around them.(Within each country, however, there is debate about what those strategies should be!) • However, like all science, the report deals in uncertainties and probabilities • Potential scenarios are given based on various “futures” (GHG emission, economic growth, cooperation between countries etc.)

  5. Example of temperature change predictions to 2100 based on different future scenarios.

  6. 2007 – the chair of the IPCC (R. K. Pachauri) and Al Gore (former VP of the U.S.A.) shared the Nobel Peace Prize

  7. The Kyoto Protocol • 1997 – leaders met in Kyoto, Japan to develop a binding environmental “treaty” (agreement) to reduce GHG from their nations • As of 2011, 191 countries have ratified (signed) the protocol and set goals to reduce emissions.

  8. Participation in the Kyoto Protocol, as of June 2009,Green = Countries that have signed and ratified the treatyGrey = Countries that have not yet decidedRed = No intention to ratify at this stage

  9. Canada • Canada - one of the first countries to sign the protocol (1998) • Promised to reduce our GHG emissions 6% by 2012 from 1990 levels • New government elected in 2006 noted that our emissions had gone UP by 24% since 1990 instead of down! • The current government has distanced itself from Kyoto and opted for a “made-in-Canada” local approach. There is now “no intention of meeting the Kyoto targets”.

  10. How does Canada affect climate? (per person and overall)

  11. Canadian Initiatives • Limit GHG emissions from automobiles • Regulate a minimum renewable fuel content in gasoline (5%) • Working with U.S. to regulate emissions from large trucks • Invest in “green” technology and energy efficiency projects • Regulate emissions from coal-fired electricity generating plants • British Columbia – Carbon Tax

  12. Local Adaptation Initiatives in Canada • Many cites/towns in Canada are taking the IPCC reports to heart and preparing for climate change. • Handouts – group activity

  13. Economic Strategies to Reduce Carbon Emissions 1. Carbon Tax- a tax on the carbon content of fuels - effectively a tax on the carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. Thus, carbon tax is shorthand for carbon dioxide tax or CO2 tax. - provides an incentive to individuals and businesses to decrease activities that produce GHG (e.g. choice of car, maybe a hybrid or electric car)

  14. Economic Strategies to Reduce Carbon Emissions 2. Cap and Trade -governments give (or sell) permits to companies allowing a set amount of emissions (a cap) - if companies produce less GHG, they can sell their permits- if companies produce more GHG, they can buy credits from other companies

  15. Really Big Ideas to Reduce Global Warming • Carbon Capture and Storage (also called Carbon Sequestration) • removing CO2 from the air or from smokestack emissions then injecting it and storing it underground or deep in the oceans • very new idea currently being tried in a few power plants (Germany)

  16. Problems With CCS • The capture process is expensive and requires energy! • CO2 in oceans  ocean acidification • A CO2 leak from an injection pipe or storage area could be deadly – especially as it is heavier than air and would build up at ground level(CO2 is not toxic….but a problem if it displaces the oxygen we need!)

  17. E.g. Lake Nyos (Africa) 1986 – natural carbon dioxide eruption from under the lake - 1.6 million tons released, 1700 people died (25 surrounding the lake)

  18. Geo-engineering • At one time considered fringe ideas, now gaining acceptance • Jets lace the atmosphere with sulfur dioxide (similar to volcanoes) – reflect light back into space • Send into orbit small lenses to bend light away from the Earth • Salting the clouds to make them brighter (more reflective) • Put iron dust into the oceans to increase plankton growth and therefore photosynthesis • Genetically engineer trees with faster photosynthesis (robo-trees)

  19. What could possibly go wrong with experimenting with the whole planet?

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