ENV Exam 3

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded that an international carbon tax of ____ per ton of Carbon by the year 2030 could limit warming to 2°C.

$75

Monckton says that 0.9°C of climate warming "isn't much". Why does this make Rosh laugh?

0.9°C represents a signficant protion (20%) of the entire difference in temperature between major glacial and interglacial periods the rate that global temperature has resently risen by 0.9°C is much faster than warming that took place during the transition from glacial to interglacial periods

A 2009 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) found that the top 20% of earners in the US were responsible for almost 35% of total carbon emissions, compared to the poorest 20% of people who were responsible for under ____ of emissions.

10%

In 2019, carbon pricing schemes still affected less than ____ % of total global greenhouse gas emissions.

15

When did scientists first realize that carbon dioxide was responsible for the warmth of the planet?

1850s

In the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, what temperature limit did countries agree to?

2°C above preindustrial

Renewable energy sources in the UK went from 5% in 2012 to a record high of almost ___ in 2018.

34%

According to the latest IPCC report, sea level is expected to rise on average about how much by the end of this century?

45-75 cm

In 2013, the UK enacted a carbon price for certain sectors including electricity. It had a profound effect on UK energy production. In 2012 coal made up 42% of electricity generation and that dropped to below ____ in 6 years.

5%

To say under 2°C warming, humans must limit the total amount of future emission to about:

500 GtC

The 8.5, in "RCP8.5" refers to:

8.5 W/m2 of radiative forcing by 2100

Detrimental effects of climate change include:

Any significant change in climate will likely be detrimental because societies and ecosystems are adapted to the present climate

When we talk about current and projected warming, what is of concern?

Both the amount and rate of warming

What are the units on the "carbon intensity" term in the IPAT relation?

CO2/J

How does Bill Gates suggest that we move to new forms of energy creation without impacting those who work in the current forms of energy creation (fossil fuels)?

Create new jobs

How are the COVID-19 Pandemic and climate change similar?

Governments are not bringing in the best experts to avoid the disaster

Some models only use instrumental data. That has limitations because:

Instrumental data only go back 150 years We don't know if the warming over this period is representative of how the climate will respond over longer time scales There is evidence that suggests that many of the feedbacks that amplify warming have not fully kicked in yet

Why is climate 'doomism' unhelpful in efforts to counteract climate change?

It may breed apathy; if it is inevitable then why bother doing anything It may instill grief, panic, or despair - none of which are productive states of mind from which to take effective action It may illicit eye rolling and derision toward scientists rather than the journalists who wrote the sensationalist article

Which is not a problem that Rosh points out about media misleading the public?

Media articles may have cherry-picked quotes. Media articles may have sensationalized headlines. Media articles may focus on a single contested hypothesis rather than a widely agreed upon scientific conclusion.

Why is Monckton's estimate of climate sensitivity as 1.5°C considered "cherry picking"?

Monckton ignored the consensus of studies that put the figure for climate sensitivity between 1.5°C and 4.5°C.

Which does Bill Gates NOT say is needed to cause a grand transformation and prevent a climate disaster?

Politicians urging their citizens to prevent climate change

A major difference between predicting the weather versus predicting the climate is:

Predicting weather and predicting climate are fundamentally different types of predictions. A climate prediction is based on predicting the statistics of the climate system, whereas a weather prediction aims to predict the exact state of the system.

In the 1990's the first countries to establish carbon taxes were in:

Scandinavia

Growth discounting reflects

The fact that people in the future will be richer , so each dollar is worth less to them

Australia cut CO2 emissions by 17 million tons in 2013 due to a carbon tax. But then the government leadership changed and they abolished the carbon tax.

True

A climate model is:

a mathematical representation of the climate system

Geoengineering climate change is:

actively manipulating the physical climate system to reduce warming or cause cooling

When someone gets an economic benefit from some activity, but does not pay the cost of that activity (e.g., emits CO2 to the atmosphere, but does not pay for the climate impacts of that CO2), economists call that:

an externality

Mitigating climate change is:

avoiding climate impacts by reducing emissions

an example of adaptation an example of mitigation an example of "solar radiation management" geoengineering an example of "carbon cycle engineering" geoengineering

building a sea wall implementing a tax on CO2 emitted to the atmosphere putting reflective particles in the stratosphere adding iron to the ocean

To stabilize the global temperature below the 2°C threshold, by how much do we need to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions if we start now?

by about 1.5% per year

With a ________, policy makers set the total amount of emissions; however the exact cost to society is not set or known.

cap-and-trade program

The only politically acceptable and most effective way to reduce emissions is to focus reductions on which of the following factors that determines emissions?

carbon intensity

With a ________, policy makers set the cost of emission reductions to society; however the extent or degree of emission reductions that will occur is not set or known.

carbon tax

Monckton's argument that "We only need instrumental data to calculate climate sensitivity" because "Instrumental data shows the calculations are correct" is an example of:

circular reasoning

Which of the following is FALSE regarding the impact of global warming on human welfare?

disease risk will likely decrease because of warming winter temperatures

If we know that the greenhouse gas intensity (part of the "T" term in the I=PAT relation) will decrease in the future, but we don't know whether population (P) and affluence (A) are likely to increase or decrease in the future, what can we say will likely happen to total emissions?

emissions could either increase or decrease

In the absence of a policy, sustained emissions reductions probably will not occur because:

emitters don't have any incentive to reduce emissions the price of fossil fuels are not priced correctly

Under a command and control regulation approach:

emitters must adopt specific technology to reduce emissions

Under a cap-and-trade system:

emitters must possess or purchase a permit for every unit (e.g., metric ton) of carbon dioxide emitted

Under a carbon offset program:

emitters must reduce emissions (or enhance carbon uptake) somewhere else.

Energy conservation efforts lead to reductions in which term?

energy intensity

Which of the following is true regarding abrupt climate change?

extreme cold events

Climate change will make ________ more likely:

extreme heat events extreme heavy precipitation events extreme drought occurrance

Climate Doomism can be described as:

extreme pessimism about climate detached from reality a fixation on worst case climate change scenarios the view that climate change will have an apocalyptic effect on the planet

China presently has the highest emissions of any country in the world, and they are not doing anything to develop a carbon pricing plan.

false

Global cooling was once a consensus belief among most climate scientists.

false

Which of the following is true about warming over the 21st century?

high latitudes will warm more than low latitudes

The Framework Convention on Climate Change:

includes the precautionary principle, which argues that the lack of full certainty is not a reason to postpone action in the face of credible threats.

Adapting to climate change means:

learning to live with the impacts of climate change

Discounting is based on the idea that $1 in the future is worth _________$1 today.

less than

The higher the discount rate, the ______ the social cost of carbon

lower

How have climate models improved over the years?

more climate processes have been added to the models the grids used in models have become increasingly more detailed

Which fossil fuel emits the least CO2 per joule of energy produced?

natural gas

The Framework Convention on Climate Change includes

no binding greenhouse gas targets

The Kyoto Protocol included "equity" considerations by

putting no limits on developing nations' emissions

The equations used in climate models are derived from:

real-world data the laws of physics

Carbon capture and storage:

refers to a process by which fossil fuels are burned in such a way that the carbon dioxide generated is captured and not vented to the atmosphere.

Which of the following is true about the oceans over the 21st century?

sea level will rise because of thermal expansion sea level will rise because of the melting of grounded ice the oceans will become more acidic

What international agreement was signed in 1997?

the Kyoto Protocol

Which international agreement targeted chemical responsible for ozone depletion?

the Montreal Protocol

As people get richer

the amount of greenhouse gases they generate increases their family size goes down they consume more goods and services

What is climate sensitivity?

the amount of warming we could expect from a doubling of CO2

Which of the following is NOT one of the factors in the IPAT relation?

the balance of political power

Time discounting reflects

the fact that people prefer to consume today rather than later

Who will be most affected by climate change?

the poor, because they have the fewest resources to respond to climate change

A recent report on climate sensitivity by Sherwood and others concluded that:

the range for likely climate sensitivity has narrowed and the lower temperature estimates aren't as likely as before

Which of the following are true about carbon offsets:

they are difficult to verify they must be in additional they are considered negative emissions

Which is NOT a way that Bill Gates offsets his carbon emissions?

tree planting

A significant driver of 'doomism' is sloppy, scientific reporting in the media.

true

Bill Gates believes that there should be a system where the biggest polluters have to pay for the damage they've done, especially to help poorer countries adapt to climate change.

true

Climate sensitivity studies that use paleoclimate and/or models can look at much longer periods of time than those using only instrumental data.

true

Dozens of studies have attempted to calculate climate sensitivity, each with their own methodologies and their own flaws.

true

Market-based approaches are typically less costly to society than command-and-control or conventional regulatory approaches to reducing emissions (or pollution)

true

Real scientific predictions are nuanced, expressed in terms of probability, and almost never "apocalyptic".

true

Sweden has the highest carbon tax in the world right now and they are cutting emissions while increasing their gross domestic product (GDP).

true

The IPCC emissions scenarios are named "representative concentration pathways" (RCP)

true

When we carefully compare observed warming and model projections, they match up pretty well.

true

While the US as a whole does not have a carbon pricing plan, ten of the states do have carbon pricing plans in place and are successfully reducing their emissions.

true

If humans drastically reduce emissions now, what impact can we have over the climate? Hint look at Figure 8.5 and read page 137 of text.

we have little control over the climate of the next few decades, but can influence warming after that