Climate What To Do
Miami Group
Background information on climate change
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Florida Next Generation Standards
SC.8.N.1.6 , SC.8.N.4.1, SC.7.E.6.6, SC.8.L.18.3
Climate change - minimizing the impacts
What can we do to minimize the impacts of climate change?
What is geoengineering?
What is solar radiation management?
What is carbon dioxide removal?
Visual representation of geoengineering techniques
Has geoengineering been successfully tested?
What are possible risks of geoengineering?
A graph of geoengineering solutions comparing effectiveness to safety
Climate change - minimizing the impacts -
- check your understanding
Climate Change - Resources
We will experience the impacts of climate change. What can we do to lessen the impacts?
There are three approaches - mitigation, adaptation and geoengineering
Mitigation - reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or enhance the capacity of carbon sinks to absorb GHGs from the atmosphere
Energy conservation - reduce the need for additinal power plants, the major source of carbon dioxide
Increased energy efficiency - make the things we use everyday use less energy
Renewable energy and/or nuclear energy - obtain energy without burning fossil fuels
Reforestation - more trees = more carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere
Power plants accounted for 2.2 billion metric tons CO2e, which represents about 67% of the 3.3 billion metric tons CO2e reported for 2011. Source: U.S. EPA - Climate Change
Adaptation - making changes to overcome the effects of climate change without reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Adaptation through local planning
Drought tolerant crop varieties - crops that will grow with less water
More spending on irrigation - make more water available to crops
Forest resources -
Rainwater storage - store rainwater instead of letting it run off into the ground.
Weather control (in future) - make it rains/snow where it is most needed.
Geoengineering
Solar radiation management - controlling the amount of light that reaches the Earth
Carbon dioxide removal - removing carbon dixoide from the atmosphere and storing it
"the deliberate and large-scale intervention in the Earth´s climatic system with the aim of reducing global warming."
Also known as climate engineering
Surface-based albedo modification e.g. pale-colored roofing, paving materials
Increase albedo
Troposphere-based, e.g. using fine sea water spray to whiten clouds, ncrease cloud reflectivity.
Increase albedo
Upper atmosphere-based e.g. reflective stratospheric aerosols
Increase albedo
Space-based: e.g. with space-based mirrors
Reflect light back into space before it reaches the Earth
Creating biochar (charcoal) from biomass and mixing it with soil to create terra preta (fertile soil) to sequester the carbon
Bio-energy with carbon capture and storage to sequester carbon and simultaneously provide energy
Carbon air capture to remove carbon dioxide from ambient air (geological storage) cool carbon dioxide to a liquid and store it undergrownd
Planting trees to offset carbon emissions
Ocean nourishment including iron fertilization of the oceans
To increase growth of phytoplankton, which use carbon dioxide
Add carbonates to oceans to offset acidification
Enhance weathering of rock to form carbonates
Some projects have been tested (example: ocean nourishment with iron), but the results are not conclusive.
Houses in the Greek islands are painted white to lower inside temperatures
Tree-planting has been practised for many years (but not with the goal of reducing carbon dioxide)
For some other projects, the technology has not yet been developed.
Ineffectivenessmay not be as effective as predicted
Incomplete solution to CO2 emissionsfor techniques that do not remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere
Control and predictability problemsthe full effects of various geoengineering schemes are not well understood
Side effectstechniques themselves may cause significant foreseen or unforeseen harm, such as ozone depletion (sulfur into stratosphere), changes in hydrological cycle (droughts or floods)
Termination shockabruptly stopping solar radiation management would cause the climate to warm rapidly
Effect on sunlight, sky and cloudsmanaging solar radiation using aerosols or cloud cover would change the ratio between direct and indirect solar radiation.
Source: http://2020science.org/2009/09/01/geoengineering-options-balancing-effectiveness-and-safety/
Compare mitigation, adaptation and geoengineering
What forms of mitigation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
What forms of adaptation will allow use to adjust to climate change impacts?
What forms of geoengineering will allow us to reverse climate change impacts?
Which forms of geoengineering are the most effective?
Which forms of geoengineering are the safest?
The Royal Society-Geoengineering the climate: science, governance and uncertainty