339 FINAL
According to the Who's to Blame? video, the average U.S. citizen's greenhouse gas emissions over 2.3 days is comparable to an average Nigerian citizen's emissions over what period?
1 year
What are the three general strategies for 'decarbonizing' the U.S. energy system?
1. Low-carbon electricity: replacing coal, natural gas, power plants with wind, solar, and other renewables. Innovation in energy storage to deal with intermittency problems, possibly more nuclear power? 2. Electrified transportation, buildings, and industry: public adoption of electric cars, tech innovation in trucks and freight, replacing fossil fuels heat and appliances with alternatives, "smart" grid solutions, Without doing this almost 30% of US emissions will remain unaffected 3. Energy Efficiency: replace aging and inefficient infrasutrers (ex: science hall), stricter standards for buildings and vehicles, holistic solutions that account for housing and health conditions,
Describe major differences in perspective between different groups of countries in climate change negotiations from Kyoto onwards
1. Move to a Kyoto Protocol 2 in order to keep temperature increase BELOW 2 degrees C. Push for a legally binding Kyoto Protocol 2 that will lower emissions by all countries. Kyoto Protocol 2 should have a common goal but differentiated responsibilities among countries 2. The Kyoto Protocol is a deeply flawed policy and should be replaced. Let's resume official international negotiations in the year 2015. Until then, emission reductions should be voluntary 3. Annex 1 countries must first meet their pledged goals under Kyoto Protocol 1 before moving forward. The only legally binding emissions cap we will consider for our country is a per capita emissions cap
fter watching the two Guardian video clips on Bangladesh climate migrants in the 'Considering Vulnerability" Bangladesh' section of the Climate Impacts Case Studies Chapter, answer the following question: According to Dr. Atiq Rahman, approximately what portion of Dhaka's slum dwellers are climate migrants?
1/3
Which of the following is true about carbon taxes? Pick TWO. 1. Existing carbon tax systems have resulted in the price of fossil fuels being sufficiently high to reach the goals of the Paris Accord. 2. They have an advantage over cap-and-trade systems in that they do not require the monitoring of emissions by government to ensure compliance. 3. They are taxes on all materials that contain carbon. 4. There are no examples around the world of successful implementation. 5. Compared to cap-and-trade systems, carbon taxes provide financial incentives to reduce greehouse gases more broadly within a nation's economy
2, 5
According to the Who's to Blame? video, what number of the past 22 years have been the hottest on record?
20
Greater than ____% of global GHG emissions are produced by countries who are not required by Kyoto to reduce their emissions.
50%
Fossil fuels make up what percent of US Energy Consumption?
80% of the US energy comes from fossil fuels
Why is the issue of ensuring permanence a challenge for REDD+ projects?
A REDD+ project may have successfully avoided deforestation at the project site during the project period, but REDD+ results-based payments cannot ensure that the forest at the project site will remain protected after the payment has been received.
After reading the 'Important Definitions' section of the Climate Science Essentials Chapter, answer the following question: Which of the following is a good definition for anthropogenic climate change? Pick one answer. Any change in the long-term patterns of temperature, precipitation and wind patterns. Human effects on daily temperature, precipitation and air movements that result in major storms. A human-caused rise in global average temperatures that raises temperatures in every location on earth in all seasons. A human-caused change in the earth's average temperatures that affects weather differently in different places.
A human-caused change in the earth's average temperatures that affects weather differently in different places.
How do African countries' pledges compare to others for the Bonn Challenge
Afrucan countries pledges would restore 100 million hectares of land, they exceeded their 100million hectares to 126 mil hectares, African countries in particular have no specified restoration strategy,
Which of the following is true about the U.S. energy system? About 60% of our energy we gather goes directly to buildings, industry, and transportation Energy efficiency is improving, but sig. waste still exists Energy transitions tend to be slow About 80% of U.S. energy comes from fossil fuels
All of them
After watching Bill Nye's Climate Science 101 short video clip in the Climate Science Essentials Chapter, answer the following question: What percentages do emissions from transportation and power plant/factories contribute to greenhouse gas emissions? Pick one answer. a. Approximately 50% by power plants and factories while transportation produced around 33%. b. Approximately 40% by power plants and factories while transportation produced around 50%. c. More than 50% produced by transportation. d. Less than 25% produced by power plants and factories. More than 75% by power plants and factories.
Approximately 50% by power plants and factories while transportation produced around 33%.
Why is climate change an environmental justice issue? (consider distribution of costs and benefits of greenhouse gas emissions)?
Benefits fo GHG emissions-> wealthy countries have been abke to build up their economies and affluence and they do much better with the historic emssions being so high, we are propsperous because we have had use to cheap and dirty energy to become rich, and countries that have not been able to do it based on who is the most vuknerable it is countries thag have not emitted and suffer the most from the effects of climate change and have not caued the problem or benefitted from fossil fuels Climate change unevenly effects lower income communities, and people of color. GHG emissions that come from places like power plants are generally built-in areas of poverty and large densities of people of color
What explains the geographical distribution of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects around the world?
CDM projects are likely to occur where it is cheaper to reduce GHG emissions through improvement of efficiency of existing fossil-fuel burning industrial infrastructure which leads to these projects being more common in the richer of developing countries (China, Mexico, India, Brazil...etc.).
What lessons does California have to offer in terms of the positive aspects of cap-and-trade emissions reduction agreements? What about Environmental Justice/Equity concerns in California's Cap-and-Trade emissions agreements?
California had trouble shifting to renewables, one of the problems is because of hwo the source of energy is intermitten, the sun is not always shining and its not always windy Main takeaways from Cali Cap and trade: expanding renewables is more challenging than it seems, emissions trading systems can create serious equity concerns, with political will, policy makes a difference, it shwos that economy wide cape and trade can be implemented in the US, why has it so infuriated EJ activists-> they only cap the carbon emissions and not the pollution in the air/other pollutants, the negotiators from the regulatory agency were despereate to get the polluters to allow the cap and trade, and they said they will do it as long as you guarantee no enforcement on local pollutants that don't cause climate change but can endanger local communitys health, they thought it was too costly of a deal with the devil, didn't ask them to make any improvements on their local ghg issues, the local pollution loophole is giving Cap and trade a bad name
1. What are strengths and weaknesses of emissions trading (cap-and-trade) and a carbon tax in reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
Cap and trade: set cap on emissions by major polluters, you can trade emissions like coins for money, you tell the regulatory agency to go to its biggest emitters-> power plants, oil refinersies cement producers, and say this is all you can emit, here the cap heres the emission allowances and if you want to do anymore than that you have to negotiate it among yourself, you can sell allowances to other countries, price o fcarbon is less predictable,m it has to do with how those industries negotiate, who is going to sell and how much, it only works well if the govt is monitoring the whole thing Carbon taxes are kind of the opposite: they set a price on all fossil fuel energy, whether it comes from filling your car, UW's energy bill, it isn't just going to the big polluters it goes to who is it going to everyone, set the price kind of high so it will lower emissions because people will not want to pay for the carbon tax, businesses tend to like carbon taxes bc its more predictable, republicans tend tosh fit to carbon taxes because it hold more of a sense of responsibility, a little bit less intrusive government action as well, they set the price and hope the market corrects how much emissions happen its more hands off
According to the task force report what explains the 9% price drop in GHG emissions in WI between 2005-2017?
Decreasing carbon intensity of the electricity sector
Why does location make such a difference in terms of power plant source?
Differenet geographica; regions have different energy potentials for solar energy, for example calidornia is a leader is solar energy because they have higher potential for solar energy then somewhere like Alaska or Washington. Texas had a lot of wind energy because they have a higher potential for wind Patterns to point out: Hydropower (blue) dominant in the Northwest, Wind(green) in the Great Plains, solar in CA,coal in appalahia and rocky mts, and Natural Gas (orange) almost everywhere.
What actions does the Governor's Task Force recommend in terms of Environmental Justice?
EJ: Create sn office on EJ, improve the state consultation process with native nations, mandate a racial disparity study, implement anti-racism education
What actions does the Governor's Task Force recommend in terms of Energy?
Energy: Improve data collection 06 Develop electricity storage and microgrids for critical infrastructure 07 Increase energy use reduction goals 08 Expand Wisconsin's Focus on Energy® funding 09 Support load management 10 Support low-cost debt financing of customer clean energy projects 11 State lead by example 12 Update state commercial and residential building energy codes 13 Set utility carbon-reduction goals 14 Support community solar
Place yourself in the position of a Chinese negotiator, which of the following would most likely match the argument you would make to limit your responsibilities for GHG emission reductions? Select the two choices that are correct. Your country has been successful in reducing its population growth rate. Your country is a newly industrializing country and therefore should not be excluded from the relatively cheap energy sources that fossil fuels represent and which industrial countries have benefitted from. Your country currently contributes a much smaller amount of greenhouse gases each year than does the U.S.A. Even though your country's emissions have grown significantly in recent years, your country's average per-capita emission rates are still significantly lower than those for the U.S. or Europe, Your country does not depend on coal for electricity production like the United States.
Even though your country's emissions have grown significantly in recent years, your country's average per-capita emission rates are still significantly lower than those for the U.S. or Europe, and Your country is a newly industrializing country and therefore should not be excluded from the relatively cheap energy sources that fossil fuels represent and which industrial countries have benefitted from.
Between 2005-2017, Wisconsin's forests have exppanded their carbon sink capability due to warmer wetter weather
FALSE, it was reduced by 25% due to urban and ag expansion
Is the following statement true or false? The Party countries' pledges to reduce emissions are sufficient to avoid a 1.5 degrees Celsius rise in global temperature by 2100.
False
T/F: The idea of 'pricing harm' started in the Environmental Decade (1970s)
False, it started in like the 1800s
Describe the difference between the U.S. and Germany in terms of national energy policy.
Germany VS US: US has gone very back and forth based on who is the president when, and has gone in and out of the Paris Accord, tjere has mainly been an expansion through state and local levels which has led to an increase in renewable production, and there has been an expansion of renewable energy supplied at declining prices-> mainly wind Germany on the other hand has taken an ambitious commitment to transition its energy system completely away from nuclear and fossil fuels and into renewables, mainly wind and solar
What are technical limitations hampering Germany's transition to a renewable energy economy
Germany technical limitations-> the need to develop electricity transmission infrastructure as the sited of electricity production diversify The need for greater government investments in electricity transmission and storage systems.. Continued dependence on coal-fired power plants due to the politics that work to defend coal mining jobs in economically-depressed areas of eastern Germany.
Why are indigenous mosre vulnerable to the effects of climate change
Indigenous communities rely more heavilky on natrual resources for food, medicine, spiritual and cultural values.
Which of the following is true about Germany's Energiewende incentive program to support small-scale producers of electricity?
It is a subsidy program through its support of price premiums for renewable electricity generation by small producers.
How was wisconsinis climate changed since the 1950s?
Its warmer and wetter
What were some of Dr. Lark's recommendations for protecting U.S. grasslands and prairies? Why did he recommend reducing crop insurance subsidies on land converted to crops from native prairie? At the state/local level, how could controlling urban sprawl help protect grasslands from being converted to crops?
Keep up on Inventory of native prairies, research that promoted grassland values like cellulosic biofuels, improved agroeconomic production, policy action-> crop insurance "sodsaver" provision, this reduces crop insurance subsidies on land converted from native prairies, leverage Renewables Fuel Standard as a tool for conservation, and supply chain sustainability commitments Encouraging higher population densities and urban infill, it could save the croplands surrounding the area
What 6 factors affect a community's ability to prepare for, respond to, and cope with climate change
Living in areas particularly vulnerable to climate change (e.g., coastal communities), • Coping with higher levels of existing health risks when compared to other groups, • Living in low-income communities with limited access to healthcare services, • Having high rates of uninsured individuals who have difficulty accessing quality healthcare, • Having limited availability of information and resources in a person's native language, and • Less ability to relocate or rebuild after a disaster
Why are environmentalists so concerned about losing grasslands to crops? What is driving this cropland conversion (see slide 37)? What is the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) all about? What was the impact of RFS on crop prices? On cropland area? Crop rotation (i.e. how frequently corn is being planted)? How did the greenhouse gas emissions from converting grasslands to croplands for biofuel undermine hoped-for goal of promoting biofuels to reduce climate change
Lost grasslands had 3x higher milkweed in them,223 million milkweeds were lost in Midwest from this screwing the monarchs, 138,000 lost nesting opportunity for waterfowl and migratory bird habitats, and extremely high carbon emissions, 32.4 Tg Carbon, 90% form soil and US grasslands are not recoverable easily Th US Renewable Fuel Standard is driving this croplands expansion. The Renewable Fuel standard mandates ethanol and other biofuels be blended int o US Fuels. This increased the crop prices especially for corn (30% increase, other crops 20% increase, and has increased cropland expansion and decreased cropland abandonment, corn growing has been on the rise and other crops have not be planted as much. The study shows that LUC Emissions substantially increase ethanol's lifecycle carbon intensity, and is higher than gasoline, and the previous estimates had been completely too low
Which of the following is true about the carbon credits generated by CDM projects? Select ONE. Many are produced by reducing the GHG emissions associated with an activity through greater efficiency of fossil fuel combustion, adding renewable sources of energy, or eliminating the release of GHG emissions from landfills or industrial processes. Their value has proven to be negligible and not worthy of private sector investment. Their financial value is fixed (constant). The CDM only funds programs to reduce the loss of natural forests.
Many are produced by reducing the GHG emissions associated with an activity through greater efficiency of fossil fuel combustion, adding renewable sources of energy, or eliminating the release of GHG emissions from landfills or industrial processes.
After watching the two Guardian video clips on Bangladesh climate migrants in the 'Considering Vulnerability" Bangladesh' section of the Climate Impacts Case Studies Chapter, answer the following question: What are three major factors making people in Bangladesh vulnerable to climate change? Select all that apply. Their rice paddies are major sources of ozone, a potent greenhouse gas. Increased wind erosion of dikes caused by drought has led to salt water intrusion Many people in Bangladesh are very poor. Sea level is rising as global average temperature rises. Much of Bangladesh is just a few meters above sea level. The decline in monsoon rains causes crop failure.
Many people in Bangladesh are very poor. Sea level is rising as global average temperature rises. Much of Bangladesh is just a few meters above sea level.
What does Geographer S. Lewis say about the merits of monoculture plantations for climate change (vs. natural regrowth forests)?
Monoculture merits: includes the local communities in the efforts, they make money for forest dependent poor communities that produce fast growing trees in land and then cutting them and selling them, its their way of llilving, but it does pretty much nothing for climate mitigation, it takes up less land, it takes longterm natural growth forests
Which part of the state is projected to warm the most?
NW
IF, policy makers' only concern was to manage tropical land in a way that mitigates climate change, which reforestation strategy would be best?
Naturally growing forests are much better for mitigating climate change then are plantations for fast growing monoculture, if all the land that was pledged was set aside to grow into a forest would have 42 pentagrams of carbon storage, if the land set aside became plantations, it would have only 1. The best strategy is to let natural forests grow to create a forest coverage not monoculture, let the native species come back and stay for at least 70 years.
About how much of the energy harvested in the U.S. goes to generate electricity
Of harvested energy in the US, 37 quads of energy get used and 67.5 quads get rejects, meaning we only really use 1/3 of the energy produced, and 2/3 of it get rejected
What are examples of the political costs of the fact that our country has long relied on fossil fuels produced by a few giant companies?
Political costs mainly include the historical dependence of the United States on foreign oil, and since there are only a couple large oil producers they have a huge impact on the political process in the US, they have used their political power to ensure that taxpayers pay less for energy and thrown their power against renewables and made US energy dirtier, they have blocked research on renewables as well
What take home messages about REDD+ do I (Prof N) point out in the beginning of the lecture in Mod 12?
Pros of it: slowing tropical deforestation reduces GHG emissions and produces significant side benefits like protecting biodiversity Cons: its hard to account, it is difficult to prove that deforestation was not displaces somewhere else-> leakage, or that the REDD+ project $ is what truly saved the forest-> Additionality Significant concerns about whether these projects truly benefitted the forest dependent poor, not enough tropical forests on planet to offset fossil fuel usage.
Consider yourself as an American climate change negotiator and your sole negotiating goal is to limit the GHG reduction commitments for the U.S. Which of the following agreement frameworks would you favor to reduce global aggregate GHG emissions? Pick one. Reduction responsibility distributed in proportion to each country's historic GHG emissions. Reduction responsibility only assigned to the top three emitting countries. Reduction responsibility distributed in proportion to each country's current national GHG emissions. Reduction responsibility distributed in proportion to each country's current per-capita GHG emissions.
Reduction responsibility distributed in proportion to each country's current national GHG emissions.
After reading the 'Vulnerability to climate change: exposure, sensitivity, and capacity' section of the Climate Impacts Case Studies Chapter, answer the following question: Which of the following best characterizes the type of vulnerability to climate change experienced by poor people in rural areas who, per the chapter, "generally have few stores of wealth to survive when their harvests fail"? Sensitivity Exposure Capacity
Sensitivity
1. What does Geographer Kimambo (lecture) say about why smallholders in rural Tanzanians are planting monoculture woodlots?
Smallholder Tanzania are planting monoculture woodlots because there is rapid urbanization and an increasing demand for tree products like timber firewood, and all that kind of stuff for up and coming communities,
What are major energy alternatives to fossil fuels that produce energy without directly releasing greenhouse gases?What are the characteristics of these energy sources in relation to the timing and form of existing energy supply?
Solar and Wind
What are solutions to the 'duck curve'?
Solutions to Duck Curve: Improved energy storage, then when the solar generation dips, what is produced during the day is stored and ready to be provided to the consumers. Transmission of renewable power from areas of high supply to areas of high demand
What are problems with the way in which responsibilities were assigned by Kyoto.
Some problems were that they divided responsibilities based on current emissions, historic emissions, and capacities to reduce based on socioeconomics. This completely oversimplified the diversity of situations of countries. It also did not take into account per capita emissions which can skew the responsibility in the eyes of some of the countries. Some also argue that the historic imbalance is more important that current emissions because that has contributed the most to atmospheric harm.
The experience of Obama's rule changes to reduce GHG emissions illustrates the following major limitation of relying on executive actions to achieve environmental goals?
Such executive actions are open to legal challenge and can be overturned when a new administration takes office.
How is the Bonn Challenge different from REDD+?
The Bonn challenge is a global goal to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030, biggest commitments have been in Africa, focuses on RE-forestation and restoration, the Bonn challenge is more flexible than REDD+ about what activities are allowed, they are also used on land that is already degraded. Bonn is not in the paris agreement, but appears in the NDCs/ plans under Paris, a lot of amnesty groups agree with Bonn agreement, but some still believe that restoration efforts like this are still excuses to get out of corporate emissions and a distractions away from reducing GHG, this also has issues with accountability, concern for the poor, Criticism of Bonn Challenge-> it is so inclusive, that almost anything can qualify for the Bonn challenge
How did the Kyoto Protocol divide responsibilities among the world's countries?
The Kyoto protocol only requires annex 1 countries to reduce their emissions. Annex 1 countries are developed countries that are higher GDP and higher emitting countries. This was to ensure that developing countries did not have to spend money on reducing emissions when they had barely had an economy built up and were not really producing emissions anyways.
What is true about the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Program? Select all that apply. The REDD+ program includes 'readiness' phases, in which developing countries receive assistance from the UN's REDD Programme to develop their national REDD+ strategies and to build their capacities to implement a REDD+ mechanism (e..g building monitoring, reporting, and verification systems). The majority of developing countries participating in the REDD+ program have successfully completed the REDD+ implementation phase and received results-based payments for avoided deforestation. It provides funding to industrialized developed countries for the protection and better management of forests. It is a program that financially incentivizes developing countries to better manage and protect their tropical forests from deforestation.
The REDD+ program includes 'readiness' phases, in which developing countries receive assistance from the UN's REDD Programme to develop their national REDD+ strategies and to build their capacities to implement a REDD+ mechanism (e..g building monitoring, reporting, and verification systems). It is a program that financially incentivizes developing countries to better manage and protect their tropical forests from deforestation.
Which sector accounts for the greatest source of global greenhouse gas emissions?
The burning of fossil fuels for energy production (e.g. power stations, transportation, fossil fuel processing, industrial processes, and energy-use in buildings)
Which of the following is true about the European Union's emissions trading system? Select ONE. It regulates carbon dioxide emissions by automobiles. It developed independently from the Kyoto Protocol. Credits obtained from GHG-reducing investments outside of the EU cannot be used in a company's emission ledger in Europe. The effective incentive for industry to reduce GHG emissions is affected by the price of emission allowances.
The effective incentive for industry to reduce GHG emissions is affected by the price of emission allowances.
Which of the follow has been attributed to the changing Wisconsin Climate? Migrating birds arrive later in the spring The growing season is 12 days longer increased winter snow means less rain northern rivers and lakes are drying up
The growing day is 12 days longer
What two crops are the most frequently being planted on recently expanded cropland (i.e. what two crops cover the greatest area in the new croplands)? How are the new croplands different than the existing croplands in terms of physical characteristics? How do the newly converted croplands compare to existing croplands in terms of productivity?
The most frequent crops are corn and soybeans. The newly converted lands are different because they are 1.6x steeper than existing croplands, and they are also dryer and less saturated, they are 3.3% higher climate water deficit, and ~50% less likely to be on hydric soils. Yields of newly developed croplands are ~10% lower than national average, and 1% lower than nearby existing cropland yields :higher cultivated areas exhibit greater local, but not national, marginality
Which are the following are major challenges for Germany to reduce GHG emissions resulting from electricity production?
The need for greater government investments in electricity transmission and storage system and Continued dependence on coal-fired power plants due to the politics that work to defend coal mining jobs in economically-depressed areas of eastern Germany.
How does the (Paris Accord approved at COP21) differ from Kyoto?
The paris agreement was very different because of having the same percentages for every country, countries set their own intended nationally determined contributions which represent each countries individual commitment. This was different because they were self-determined, country-cpecific contributions , once INDC's got ratified by the agreement they became legally required as NDCs to set, monitor, verify, and pubclicly report on their NDCs every five years, UNLIKE KYOTO, there are no legal requirements regarding how or how much countries must reduce their emissions.
What are some of the challenges faced by CDM and REDD+ projects to truly lead to net declines in GHG emissions? Select all that apply. The risk that these projects may simply lead to movement or migration of GHG emitting activities from within the project area to outside of project area (called leakage in REDD+). Funded activities may often occur within Annex 1 countries. Despite their potential for transferring financial resources from rich to poor countries, major financial beneficiaries of these projects can be in Annex 1 countries. The risk that these projects may fail to produce actual additional on-the-ground change, and instead may simply pay for activities that would have occurred anyway, even without the incentive
The risk that these projects may simply lead to movement or migration of GHG emitting activities from within the project area to outside of project area (called leakage in REDD+). The risk that these projects may fail to produce actual additional on-the-ground change, and instead may simply pay for activities that would have occurred anyway, even without the incentive
After completing the Climate Impacts Case Studies Chapter, answer the following question: Which of the following is the most important reason for why women and poor households are more vulnerable to climate change in both Bangladesh and the Sahel? They are more likely to take too many loans from local moneylenders. Their generally worse health makes them more vulnerable to heat and new diseases. They are more likely to spend their money on unnecessary purchases, not necessities Their relative lack of resources limits their options when weather crises occur
Their relative lack of resources limits their options when weather crises occur
What are the major sources of emissions of greenhouse gases (rough proportion from power plants and factories, and from transportation?
There are approximately 50% produced by power plants and factories, and transportations are around 33%
What is the general trend in cropland conversion in the U.S., 2008-2016? What is the ecosystem type that lost the most area to crops during this period?
There has been over 10 million acres? Of cropland conversion expansion, and 2.5 million were abandoned, so there was a net change in 6.5 million acres of cropland expansion from 2008-2016. Of converted ecosystems, 88% of the acres were from grassland, 6% were shrublands.
What are different criteria for distributing responsibilities for reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
There have been 3 main ways to determine responsibility, 1. Aggregate national emissions, 2. Average per capita emissions for specified year, 3. Countries historic contributions to GHG emissions
What are the characteristics (how they work), strengths and implementation challenges facing the flexibility mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol
There were three flexibility mechanisms in the Kyoto protocol 1. An international emissions trading system allowing annex 1 parties to trade their emission allowances 2. A joint implementation mechanism that allows annex 1 countries to jointly implement emission reduction projects 3. Clean development mechanism which provides a way for annex 1 countries to fund emission reduction projects in non-annex 1countries US did not like these because it felt like it was unrealistic, too costly and not flexible enough, concerned with restrictions on developing countries Stringency vs participation: how strong is that going to be vs how much people are actually going to participate. Kyoto focused on stringency vs Paris focused on participation. Canada is a discouraging case where it signed on to Kyoto, failed to meet the stringent requirements, and then exited the whole thing, countries saw it as too hard, dichotomy of only wealthy countries having to make sacrifices is not fair, especially since China's emissions went through the roof during Kyoto as a developing country, or non-annex
What factors shaped Republicans' decision to set the carbon tax at $24/ton in the 2018 Market Choice Act (proposed by Carlos Curbelo and other).
They wanted to set the price high enough that it could help the US meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, and they wanted to keep it low enough that other Republicans would support it
What are the potential effects of these changes on biodiversity, human health, flood hazards, and agricultural productivity in the state?
This has effected the ice coverings on lakes, bird species come earlier and plants bloom earlier, the last spring freeze is earlier, and winter comes later, so thjis results in a longer growing season by 12 days,
After reading the 'NASA - Causes of Climate Change' section of the Climate Science Essentials Chapter and looking over the content from the linked NASA Facts page, answer the following question: Is the following statement true or false? Over the past 150 years (since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution) carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have increased by more than 33% (280 ppm to greater than 415 ppm).
True
After reading the 'Why is methane also important?' section of the Climate Science Essentials Chapter, answer the following question: Is the following statement true or false? The growing concern about methane has come from the recognition that as arctic and sub-arctic areas warm, their ponds and lakes will melt. These water bodies hold a lot of methane. If all of that methane is released, it will greatly increase the rate of global warming.
True
Is the following statement true or false? The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer gave developing countries longer periods of time than industrialized countries to comply with the protocol's stipulations on the phasing out of the manufacturing and use of ozone-depleting chemicals
True
Is the following statement true or false? Article 6 of the Paris Agreement supports "cooperative approaches" to global climate change mitigation that allow countries to sell their surplus nationally determined contribution (NDC) achievements (i.e. a country's climate change mitigation outcomes that have surpassed the country's stated NDC targets) to other countries that have fallen short of their NDC pledges. This suggests that market-based incentive mechanisms will continue to be a prominent feature of the international climate change mitigation strategy under the Paris Agreement.
True
T/F: Compared to the US level data, a greater portion of Wisconsins GHG come from agriculture
True
T/F: The U.S.A. has the highest historical, cumulative greenhouse gas emissions of any country.
True
T/F: The US was the only country among the UNFCCC that refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and therefore was not obligated to meet the GHG reductions
True
T/F: tourism and outdoor recreation will be among the activities most affected by climate change in WI
True
Top 3 Emitters Historically
US, China, Russia
According to the Who's to Blame? video, these three countries (or blocks of countries) are the top emitters today and together are responsible for over half of all greenhouse gas emissions today
USA< EU< China
What countries (or blocks of countries) have the highest aggregate greenhouse emissions today? How do aggregate national emissions, per capita emissions and historic missions affect the assignment of emission responsibility among nations?
United States, China, and India have the highest aggregate national emissions in 2000, the three categories can completely change responsibilities. For example, totally historic emissions is gthe United States by far, but current aggregate emissions is China. However, China is the largest country in the world by far so it would make sense that they have higher emissions than the US, and especially because if you measure emissions per capita China is relatively average in emissions and the US and Australia are the highest emitters.
Top 3 current emitters
Us, China, India
After reading the 'NASA - Causes of Climate Change' section of the Climate Science Essentials Chapter and looking over the content from the linked NASA Facts page, answer the following question: Which of the following are considered greenhouse gases? Select all that apply. Water vapor Nitrous oxide Carbon dioxide Nitrogen Oxygen Methane
Water vapor Nitrous oxide Carbon dioxide Methane
Which season is expected to warm the most in Wisconsin
Winter
What are changes in temperature and precipitation that have occurred or predicted for Wisconsin?
Wisconsin has warmed 2.1 degrees f, northwest has gone up by 4.5 degrees f, the annual precipitation has increased by 15%, or 4.5 inches, winters have warmed faster than summers, but the number of extremely hot days are expected to triple and quadruple by 2050 is GHG rise. This has effected the ice
After reading the 'Considering Vulnerability: The Sahel' section and watching the short Sahel climate video in the Climate Impacts Case Studies Chapter, answer the following question: Which of the following groups of people are considered to be the most vulnerable to climate change in the Sahel?
Women and families with limited wealth or access to labor
Which of the following is a defensible argument for why developing countries should not be required to reduce their current GHG emissions as much (in percentage terms) as industrial countries? Select all that apply. a. A higher fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions of poor countries are generated from the agriculture of the rural poor. b. Developing countries have lower technical capacity to develop alternatives to fossil fuel energy. c. Developing world countries bear a higher burden with respect to the costs of climate change and therefore they should have a higher incentive to reduce their emissions. d. Developing countries contributions to global emissions are negligible. e. Developing countries can more directly transition to energy economies that do not rely on fossil fuels. f. Industrialized, wealthy countries' economic development was driven by their ability to use cheap fossil fuels, which is why their share of historic, cumulative GHG emissions is higher than those of developing countries.
a, b, f
In the late 1980s, Republicans (under the leadership of republican Pres. GH Bush) based their approach to stopping acid rain on the idea for 'pricing harm'. In other words, they used a cap-and-trade system that made it more expensive for power companies to emit SO2. Here's are the benefits of a 'pricing harm' approach: [PICK ALL THE ANSWERS THAT ARE CORRECT} It makes it more expensive for companies to pollute, but allows them to choose their own strategies for reducing pollution It favors efficiency (spending less to achieve a public good) It limits the size and scope of government intervention (governments do not tell companies what technology to use) Companies can choose to keep polluting or even pollute more but they have to buy permits to do so (i.e. it will be costly if they choose to do this)
all of the above
What is true about the Kyoto Protocol's Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 countries? Select FOUR. a. Annex 1 countries all have higher GDPs than non-Annex I countries. b. Annex 1 countries generally have higher per capita GDP and per capita greenhouse gas emissions compared to non-Annex 1 countries. c. It is difficult to clearly distinguish between these countries simply based on current economic measures. d. Greenhouse gas emissions are positively associated with GDP. e. The United States of America is historically the all-time largest emitter of cumulative GHGs emitted since 1750.
b, c, d, e
In contrast to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement ___________________________. Select all that apply. a. sets penalties for countries who do not meet the targets in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). b. requires industrialized developed countries to lower their country-specific greenhouse gas emissions by 5-8% of their 1990 emissions by 2020. c. allows each country to determine its own country-specific commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or to reduce their vulnerability to climate d. legally requires ratifying countries to set, monitor, verify, and publicly report on their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
c, d
In the Kyoto Protocol, the categories 'Annex 1' and 'non-Annex 1' were used to divide the signatory countries to the UNFCCC with respect to their relative responsibilities to reduce GHG emissions. This categorization takes into account: ______________. Select all that apply , more than one answer is correct. countries' capacities to reduce emissions. countries' historic emissions. countries' current emissions. countries' political will to reduce emissions. countries' population size.
countries' capacities to reduce emissions. countries' historic emissions. countries' current emissions.
The Kyoto Protocol _________________. Select all that apply - more than one option is correct. is an international climate treaty with legally binding reduction targets. is an international climate treaty based on voluntary, non-binding pledges to reduce emissions exempted non-Annex 1 countries (China, India, Brazil and other developing countries) from the Protocol's reduction requirements. exempted Annex 1 countries (United States, Canada, Australia, Spain and other industrial developed countries) from the Protocol's reduction requirements.
exempted non-Annex 1 countries (China, India, Brazil and other developing countries) from the Protocol's reduction requirements. is an international climate treaty with legally binding reduction targets.
T/F: THe montreal prtotocol accomplished little because too few countries ratified the protocol
false
Decarbonizing' the U.S. Energy system (i.e. lowering our greenhouse gas emissions) will entail reform in three major areas
i) Moving toward low-carbon electricity production, ii) Electrifying transportation, buildings and industry; and iii) improving energy efficiency
Between 1990-2011-a period that included the first legally binding commitment period (2008-2012) of the Kyoto Protocol- the GHG emissions of China, India, the United States, and Canada _________________.
increased
After watching Bill Nye's Climate Science 101 short video clip in the Climate Science Essentials Chapter, answer the following question: What happens to weather patterns when there is more water vapor in the atmosphere? Select all that apply. more severe storms more precipitation more evaporation decline in sea level
more severe storms, precipitation, and evaporation
1. What parts of the world are feeling the costs of climate change most directly? What are three criteria for ranking vulnerability to Climate Change?
physical effects of climate change, sensitivity of human welfare, and resources to assist in bouncing back. The poor global south is the most sensitive to climate change because they tend to rank very high in all three categories for sensitivity
What factors must one take into account when estimating the relative global warming potential of a given greenhouse gas emission? Select all that apply. the heat absorbing capacity of the greenhouse gas the average time the greenhouse gas molecules remain in the atmosphere after being released. the volatility of the greenhouse gas the expandability of the greenhouse gas
the heat absorbing capacity of the greenhouse gas the average time the greenhouse gas molecules remain in the atmosphere after being released.
What challenges does California reveal about intermittency problems with solar energy [the 'duck curve']?
the way we use energy-> we use more energy in the morning to get ready, after the morning spike it stays pretty level, then in the evening it goes up again at night when people get home and its dark out, then it goes back down in the evening, the main thing the duck curve shows is intermittency issues with renewable and energy usage, energy needed from traditional sources is the top bar, in places where there are lots og solar like California, the morning is the same kind of demands wehre theres much more energy needed, but then during the day solar goes WAY down, and then skyrockets back up in the night. However, this is the problem with solar-> solar plants cannot power down and power up that fast, they have to keep running, so more energy gets produced than what is needed. Too much solar energy can overpower the grid, so energy gets wasted. Duck problem is a GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE . 2problems with duck curve: during the day theres just too much energy generated, more than the grid can handle, with overgeneration energy can become very inexpensive which can cause problems for utilitiy companies that cant afford to be in business with cheap energy prices 2nd problem-> in the evening you have to ramp up the energy a lot as the demand goes up
What are the Tier 2 recommendations?
tier 2 were the more ambitious and controversial kinds of actions that are just in the status of being considered, for example one of tier 2's goals were to have no more fossil fuels in Wisconsin, proposals that were raised and discussed during the task force process
After reading the 'Evidence of Climate Change' section of the Climate Science Essentials Chapter and looking over the content from the linked NASA Evidence page, answer the following question: Per the NASA Evidence page, what are the different types of evidence that strongly suggest that our climate is changing? Select all that apply. Warming oceans Shrinking ice sheets Declining sea levels Increasing Arctic Sea ice Glacial retreat Global temperature rise Increased spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere
warming oceans, shrinking ice sheets, glacial retreat, global temp rise
