Mitigation vs Adaptation Flashcards
(8 cards)
Mitigation strategies - summarised
Clever
Rabbits
Eat
All
Carrots
Carbon taxation = was unpopular and the policy was frozen in 2015
Renewable switching = provides intermittent electricity
The Climate Change Levy, designed in 2001 to encourage investment in renewable energy was cut in 2015
Energy efficiency
Afforestation = The Big Tree Plant campaign encourages communities to plant 1 million new trees (mostly in urban areas), Great Green Wall (11 countries singed agreement in 2010)
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) = - Canada’s Boundary Dam is the only large-scale working scheme
- In 2015, the UK cancelled its investment into full-scale CCS projects
Adaptation strategies
Wolves
Run
Fast
Like
Shadows
Water conservation and management = use of more grey water, magic stones
cannot match any increases in demand for water
Re-use water - Singapore has cutting edge technology to re-use its grey-water called NEWater = requires stringent purification and treatment using advanced dual-membrane (micro filtration and reverse osmosis) and ultraviolet technologies.
Resilient agricultural systems = hydroponics, selective irrigation, GM resistant crops = only effective if global warming is gradual
Flood-risk management = dredging, permeable tarmac, flood defences
Land-use planning = building restrictions in areas vulnerable to flooding
Solar radiation management = use orbiting satellites to reflect some radiation back into space like a giant sunshade which would cool the Earth within months and be relatively cheap compared to mitigation strategies
Mitigation strategies - detailed
Carbon taxation:
- Carbon price floor tax sets a minimum prices companies will have to pay to emit carbon dioxide
- was unpopular and the policy was frozen in 2015
- lower road taxes for low-carbon cars were scrapped in 2015
- In 2015, oil and gas exploration tax relief was expanded to support fossil fuels which led to the fracking debate
Renewable switching:
- Renewable energy provides intermittent electricity, while fossil fuels provide continuous power which is vital for our current demands
- The Climate Change Levy, designed in 2001 to encourage investment in renewable energy was cut in 2015
Energy efficiency:
- The Green Deal scheme encouraged energy-saving improvements in homes e.g., energy efficient boilers and lights, improved insulation which was scrapped in 2015
- Energy suppliers must comply with the Energy Company Obligation scheme to deliver energy efficient methods to households
Afforestation:
- Tree planting in the UK is increasing which helps carbon sequestration
- Tree planting involves the Forestry Commission, charities, landowners and local authorities,
- The Big Tree Plant campaign encourages communities to plant 1 million new trees (mostly in urban areas)
Carbon capture and storage (CCS):
- Few actual geologic carbon capture and storage projects exist in the world, despite its potential
- Canada’s Boundary Dam is the only large-scale working scheme
- In 2015, the UK cancelled its investment into full-scale projects at gas and coal powered plants in Scotland and Yorkshire
Adaptation strategies - detailed
Water conservation and management:
+ Less resources used
+ Less groundwater abstraction
+ Changing attitudes e.g., use of more grey water
- Efficiency and management cannot match any increases in demand for water
- Promotion and enforcement of strategies by the government needed to change habits e.g., smart meters
Resilient agricultural systems:
+ High-tech, drought-tolerant species help resistance to climate change and increased diseases
+ Low-tech methods and better practices lead to healthier soils which may help carbon sequestration and water storage e.g., selective irrigation, crop rotation, agroforestry
+ More ‘indoor’ intensive farming
- Expensive technology, seeds and breeds unavailable to subsistence farmers in developing countries
- Indoor and intensive farming has high energy costs
- Genetic modification is still controversial but still used to create resistant strains of rich and soya
- Increasing food insecurity leads to countries looking for quick fixes
Land-use planning:
+ Land-use zoning, building restrictions in areas vulnerable to flooding
+ Enforcing strict run-off controls and soakaways
- Public dislike
- Abandoning high-risk areas is often impossible as they are often megacities
- Would need strong governance, enforcement and compensation
Flood-risk management:
+ Hard management often used e.g., river dredging, flood defences
+ Simple changes can reduce flood risk e.g., permeable tarmac
+ Reducing deforestation and increasing afforestation upstream to absorb water and reduce flood risk downstream
- Funding sources are often debated
- Land owners will often demand compensation
- Constant maintenance is required for hard management e.g., dredging
Solar radiation management:
+ Geoengineering involves ideas and plans to intervene to counteract global warming
+ Idea to use orbiting satellites to reflect some radiation back into space like a giant sunshade which would cool the Earth within months and be relatively cheap compared to mitigation strategies
- These are untried and untested
- Would not eliminate the worst effects of greenhouse gases such as acidification
- Involves messing with a very complex system which could have unintended consequences
- Would need to continue geoengineering for decades or centuries as there would be a rapid adjustment in the climate system if it just stopped suddenly
Who has led the way
The UK has led the way with many of these strategies but politics and austerity measures since 2011 has had an impact
Importance
Unless carbon emission can be stabilised through mitigation strategies, global temperatures are set
to rise by more than the 2C threshold that most scientists agree initiates uncontrollable positive feedback loops that will magnify all of the risks posed by the degradation of the carbon cycle.
Difficulties with implementation of mitigation strategies
Few European countries even met their Kyoto agreements whilst the latest Paris 2015 agreement is based on each country setting its own targets which are not binding or enforceable in international law. The agreement provides no consequences if countries do not meet their commitments and so the withdrawal of key signatories such as the US might lead to the collapse of the agreement reducing the efficacy of the strategy in reducing the risks posed by the degradation of the carbon cycle.
Renewable switching
COP21 agreed in Paris 2015 which aims to rebalance the carbon cycle by cutting global emissions to below 20 Gt per year by 2040
