CLIMATE CHANGE
The amendment includes:
- New commitments for Annex I parties to the Kyoto Protocol who agreed to take on commitments in a second commitment period from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2020 - A revised list of GHG to be reported on by Parties in the second commitment period - Amendments to several articles of the Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
- Rio treaty led to the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 - took effect in 2005 - required 37 industrialized nations (plus the European Community) to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels in the period 2008-2012. - adopted on 11 December 1997 - entered into force on 16 February 2005 - there are 192 parties to the Kyoto Protocol - operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets.
Flourinated gases
- created as replacements for ozone depleting refrigerants but have proved to be both extremely warming GHGs. - have no natural sources but are entirely man-made. - GWPs range from 1,800 to 8,000 and some variants top 10,000.
Zoning
- influence settlement patterns and the design of communities, the size and type of housing, and transportation choices that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions. - Zoning ordinances can help shape and locate redevelopment and new residential and commercial projects to promote more compact development that saves on energy.
CO2 or Carbon dioxide
- produced any time something is burned - most common GHG, constituting by some measures almost 55% of total long-term GHGs - Carbon dioxide is assigned a GWP or Global Warming Potential of 1.
Methane or CH4
- produced in many combustion processes and also by anaerobic decomposition. - for example: in flooded rice paddies, pig and cow stomachs, and pig manure ponds. - breaks down in approximately 10 years, but is a precursor of ozone, itself an important GHG. - CH4 has a GWP of 28-36.
Black Carbon (BC)
- tiny particles of carbon released as a result of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels and biomass. - particles are extremely small, ranging from 10 micrometers - Small enough to pass through the walls of the human lung and into the bloodstream. - BC is considered the second biggest contributor to global warming after CO2.
Sulphur hexafluoride or SF6
- used for specialized medical procedures, but primarily in what are called dielectric materials, especially dielectric liquids. - used as insulators in high voltage applications such as transformers and grid switching gears. - last thousands of years in the upper atmosphere. - GWP of 22,800.
Fluorinated gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) are _______________________ as potent a greenhouse gas as CO2.
1,000 times
10 Things You Can Do to Reduce Greenhouse Gases
1. Drive less 2. Recycle bottles, cans, and paper. 3. Use less hot water by taking short showers and washing clothes in cold water. 4. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescence bulbs. 5. Turn off appliances and unplug them. 6. Buy Energy Star appliances 7. Eat locally grown, organic food 8. Avoid heavily packaged foods 9. Buy recycled paper products 10. Fly less
THREE POSITIONS ON GLOBAL WARMING
1. global warming is not occurring and so neither is climate change 2. global warming and climate change are occurring, but these are natural, cyclic events unrelated to human activity 3. global warming is occurring as a result primarily of human activity and so climate change is also the result of human activity.
On the low side, the earth's average temperature would rise between _______and ______ degrees Celsius (about 4.5 to nearly 12 degrees Fahrenheit).
1.1; 2.9
In ___________, the U.S., along with _________ other countries, signed the ________________________________________________ (UNFCCC)
1992; 191; United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
Methane has a global warming potential of about _______________ that of CO2.
21 times
Nitrous oxide has a global warming potential of _______________ more than CO2 and persists in the atmosphere for about ____________________.
310 times; 120 years.
U.S. annual greenhouse gas emissions increased by ______________ from _____________ billion metric tons in ________ to ____________ billion metric tons of ___________ equivalent in 2009.
7.3 percent; 6.182; 1990; 6.633; CO2.
The leading so-called greenhouse gases include _______, ________________, ______________________, _______________________, _______________________, and ______________.
CO2; nitrous oxide; sulfur hexafluoride; hydrofluorocarbons; perfluorocarbons; methane.
In keeping with the UNFCCC, the U.S> __________________________ (EPA) publishes an annual report on human-generated greenhouse gas emissions and sinks.
Environmental Protection Agency;
_________ and ________ are the main carbon sinks in which carbon is absorbed and stored.
Forests; oceans
The ___________________________________ has made several projections of temperature trends in the 21st century.
International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
________________ and _________________ __________________ spell out what infrastructure a developer must provide along with standards for that infrastructure.
Subdivision; land-development regulations
GLOBAL CLIMATE
The connected system of sun, earth and oceans, wind, rain and snow, forests, deserts and savannas, and everything people do.
GLOBAL WARMING
The slow increase in the average temperature of the earth's atmosphere because an increased amount of the energy (heat) striking the earth from the sun is being trapped in the atmosphere and not radiated out into space.
The global climate is more than the "________________" of the climates of specific places.
average
Particulates, also known as ____________________ or soot, trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.
black carbon; soot
Climate Change
change in climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period.
Without our atmospheric greenhouse the earth would be very __________. ________________, however, is the equivalent of a _____________ with high efficiency reflective glass installed the wrong way around.
cold; Global warming; greenhouse; reflective glass
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
environmental treaty signed in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 that stated a concern that "human activities have been substantially increasing the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, that these increases enhance the natural greenhouse effect, and that this will result on average in an additional warming of the Earth's surface and atmosphere and may adversely affect natural ecosystems and humankind."
One important element of the Kyoto Protocol was the establishment of ____________ ____________ _____________, which are based on the trade of emissions permits.
flexible market mechanisms
The earth's atmosphere normally blocks some of the sun's _______________ from reflecting back into _______________ and thus helps keep the earth warm enough to sustain ___________ and other ___________________________________.
infrared rays; outer space; humans; living creatures
Climate Change refers to a change in climate that can be identified by changes in the _____________ and/or _____________ of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically _____________ or longer, whether due to ________________ or as a result of _______________.
mean; variability; decades; natural variability; human activity.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING PROCESS
share the same process of compiling an inventory, analyzing the inventory data, setting goals and objectives, implementing actions, monitoring results, and making adjustments.
Climate change, brought about by the ____________ of the __________________, poses the single greatest threat to the global environment.
warming; earth's atmosphere
Nitrous oxide
- (laughing gas) - NO/N2O or simply Nox - a byproduct of fertilizer production and use, other industrial processes and the combustion of certain materials. - Nitrous oxide lasts a very long time in the atmosphere, at the 100-year point of comparison to CO2. - its GWP is 265-298.
Climate change could threaten America's national security in several ways, resulting in potential hazards to human life and health:
- Energy supply and use - Transportation - Agriculture and forests - Water - Climate refugees
Kyoto Protocol: Doha Amendment
- In Doha, Qatar, on 8 December 2012 - Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted for a second commitment period, starting in 2013 and lasting until 2020. - total of 144 instruments of acceptance are required for entry into force of the amendment. - On 21 December 2012, the amendment was circulated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to all Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in accordance with Articles 20 and 21 of the Protocol. - During the second commitment period, Parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least 18 percent below 1990 levels in the eight-year period from 2013 to 2020.
three market-based mechanisms:
- International Emissions Trading - Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) - Joint implementation (JI)
