Carbon Dioxide

Atmosphere

78% Nitrogen, 20% O2, .93% Argon, .93% Greenhouse gases, .04% CO2, Hydrogen/Helium/Ozone

Uneven Development

Capitalism, geographic tendency. Producing different economies. Disparity in wealth/poverty, not just induced by money but also by an unequal concentration of power

Carbon Emissions

Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities, mainly through the combustion of fossil fuels for energy and transportation Both human activities & natural emissions like decomposition, ocean release, volcanic eruptions and respiration

Cap and Trade Limit on Emissions

Commodifying pollution; countries that don't use all of their pollution limit can sell it to other countries; putting a price on externalities

Collective Action

Cooperation and coordination between individuals/states/ etc. to achieve common goals and outcomes

Command and Control Approach

Forms of Regulation, involves government and law, limits on pollution, fuel efficiency standards, a ban (with plastic bags)

Market Based Approach

Market Response Model, Scarcity (of trees), higher costs (production of paper bags), Alternatives (1950s plastic bags), Replacement (1980s)

Incentive Based Approach

Problem (Depletion of natural resources), Alternatives, Innovation (point of weakness), Cost (gradual change), Competition (new methods among industries)

Montreal Protocol

Responding to CFC problem (damaging ozone in stratosphere) Drastic reductions/eliminations in industrialized countries Developing nations phase it out later DUPONT involved in conference HFCs become substitutes for CFCs (wicked problem) --an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion.

Capital Accumulation

The basis of capitalism, acquiring more asset, not just money, than can be used to create more wealth or that will appreciate in value; causes uneven development & disparity in wealth/poverty

Carbon Sink

aka carbon sequestration; natural (photosynthesis) or artificial (landfills) capture and storage of carbon from the atmosphere, goes into the geosphere, captured by biological or physical means More carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and stored in plants than is emitted (human activity upset the balance)

Carbon Sequestration

captures and stores carbon from the atmosphere entering the geosphere. Captured by either engineered or biological means long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to either mitigate or defer global warming and avoid dangerous climate change.

Carbon Cycle

circulation of the element through the geosphere to the hydrosphere and then back again through combustion, respiration, photosynthesis etc.

Photosynthesis

used by plants to produce energy, makes plants volatile carbon sinks

Natural Greenhouse Gases

water vapor, nitrous oxide, methane, Ozone

Coase Theorem

initiated something, brought people together to try and solve a problem (Montreal Protocol, 1987) Externalities are best mitigated by an agreement between the involved parties if the cost of the agreement is low