Solutions to Climate Change

1. Andrew Hoysick Brendan McDaniel Jed Diller Solutions to Climate Change

2. Overview • Background • What is it? • Where do we come in? • Predictions • Description of social problems • Weather • Food supply • General health • Conflict and migration • Social Solutions • Education • Improved research Practices • Confronting denial • Media • Technical Solutions • Renewable Energy • Carbon Capture • Recommendations

3. Background Just what is this “Global Warming”? • A problem of physics • Solar radiation • Visible -> Infrared • Heat trapped by components of the atmosphere • Greenhouse Gases: water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ozone Figure 1: Greenhouse effect diagram.

4. Background Where do we come in? • GG emissions since the industrial revolution • CO2 is our main contribution and the controllable unlike water vapor Figure 2: Carbon emmisions (Marland 2007) Figure 3: CO2 levels from ice cores and direct measurements (NASA 2010)

5. Background Resulting Temperature Figure 4: Correlation between GG’s and temperature over Antarctica (CHEM 4531) Figure 5: Measure and predicted average world surface temperatures (IPCC 2007)

6. Social Effects Weather (Confalonieri 2007 B)

7. Social Effects Food Supply • More frequent extreme weather events • Altered precipitation and water cycles (Confalonieri 2007 B) • Changing weed and pest pressures (Confalonieri2007 B) • Ocean Acidification • Adverse effect on calcifying organisms • Corals, crustaceans, and mollusks (Raven 2005) • > 3.5 Billion depend on the ocean as main source of food. (Shulman2010)

8. Social Effects General Health • Drought • Increased malnutrition, infectious and respiratory diseases • Ground level ozone (smog) • Risks of cardiovascular diseases and mortality rates in urban areas • Spread of infectious diseases • Changing habitats of mosquitoes, ticks, black flies and birds, the carries of the diseases (Confalonieri2007 A)

9. Social Effects Conflict and Migration • Competition over resources • Most affected • Antarctica • Sub-Saharan Africa • Already rife w/ conflict • Asian mega-deltas • Most densely populated parts o the world, Shanghai • Island Nations • 2°C rise in global temperature would place 100 million people directly at risk from coastal flooding (Confalonieri2007 B)

10. Social SolutionsNeed for Education • Humans have no hand in GW. • It simply isn’t happening. • Modern trend in Republicans • “There is no solid evidence that the earth is warming. ” • 31% in 2007 -> 53% in 2010 (Pew 2010) • In Britain • “climate change is happening and is now established as largely manmade” • 41% in Nov 2009 -> 26% in Feb. 2010 (Rosenthal 2010)

11. Social Fixes Need for Education • Surveys show Americans are unaware of the science of climate change. • Yale University Statistics • One third did not know burning fossil fuels results in CO2 emission. • Half did not know the role of the ocean in carrying heat across the earth. • Many believed in myths like earth was predicted to go into an ice age in the 1970’s.

12. Social Fixes Education • Small Group workshops • National Wildlife Federation • Problems: Implementation with non hunters and fishermen • Public school education • High School classes geared at teaching science behind climate change • Problems: Finding qualified teachers

13. Social Fixes Education Continued • “Climategate” coverage • Creating controversy where there is none. • Public ~50/50 • Climatologist 97% (Doran 2009) • Coverage on Investigations? • Super Science Team! • Stepping up • American Geophysical Union • 700 scientists speak out and go toe to toe

14. Social Fixes Improved Research Practices • Criticism of IPCC research practices has damaged credibility of research. • Bad Public relations • More Transparency • Selection of researchers and projects • Access to data for media and critics • More openness towards debating of issues (Economist 2010)

15. Social Fixes Legislation • United States Legislation • Cap and trade Bill • Set limit on CO2 emissions by companies • Incentives for Energy Efficiency • Tax breaks for energy efficient systems • Problems: • Funding in tough economy • Does not do enough to reduce CO2

16. Social Fixes Legislation • International Agreements • Kyoto Protocol • Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions • Copenhagen Summit • Problems • United States has not signed • Developing countries exempt • Not economical

17. Technological Solutions Sustainable & Renewable Energy • Invest in R&D for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Sources • Sustainable Energy: • Usage of such energy can potentially be kept up well into the future without causing harmful repercussions for future generations • Utilities are promoting Renewable Energy (Help finance R&D) Cunningham 2010 • “Distributional Surcharges” • “Renewables Portfolio” Standards • Green Pricing • Types: • Solar Power • Wind Power • Hydroelectric Power

18. Technological SolutionsSustainable & Renewable Energy • Solar Power • How it works? • Captures solar energy and converts it into electricity • Two forms: • 1) Thermal • 2) Photovoltaics • Pros • Sustainable, unlike fossil fuels • Can be replenished indefinitely • Produces no pollution • Cons • Start up costs • New power grid • Amount of sunlight Figure 5,6: Surface area needed for 2000 power needs with 10% efficiency (Encyclopedia Britannica 1998)

19. Wind Power How it works? Uses kinetic air movement to produce mechanical energy and electricity Useful form of energy for a long time Pros Infinite Pollution free and does not produce toxic waste or GHG Every MW of energy produced can reduce GHG emissions up to .9% per year (Cunningham 2010) Generate power in remote places Cons Variable start-up costs Destruction to bird and bat populations Technological SolutionsSustainable & Renewable Energy Alistairpott.com

20. Hydroelectric Power How it works? Electricity is generated by water moving through turbines Represents 19% of total electricity production in the world Most widely-used renewable in the United States Accounts for 7% total electricity generation 35% of renewables in 2009 (US Energy Information Association) Pros Abundant and free No true carbon emissions from operation Highly flexible in responding to changes in energy demand Cheap to operate Cons Affects fish and wildlife population Relocation of human populations Changes to river temperature and flow Technological SolutionsSustainable & Renewable Energy The growth within the hydropower sector remains significant

21. Carbon Capture & Sequestration What is it? Process of removing atmospheric CO2 concentrations Works by capturing CO2, compressing it into a liquid and pumping it deep underground UN estimates that ½ the CO2 emitted each year could be pumped into deep geologic formations (World Energy Council 2007) Could have enormous implications in dealing with climate change Deployment relies on finding cost-effective implementation as well as demonstrating the technology on a large scale Future projections of carbon penalty will most likely lead to global deployment by 2050 (World Energy Council 2007) Technological SolutionsCarbon Capture & Sequestration BadIdea.co.uk

22. Recommendations • Education • Public school system • Legislation for sustainable energy • Incentive Programs • Expand alternative energy • How to pay for all this: • Carbon tax

23. Resources • "Marland, G., T.A. Boden, and R. J. Andres. 2007. Global, Regional, and National CO2 Emissions. In Trends: A Compendium of Data on Global Change. Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, United States Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A.". • NASA. Global Climate Change: NASA’s Eyes on Earth. Climate Change: How do we know? [cited 2010Nov 16]. Available from: http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ • A) Confalonieri U, Menne B, Akhtar R, Ebi K.L., Hauengue M, Kovats R.S., Revich B, Woodward A. 2007. Executive Summary: Climate Change 2007: Working Group II: Impacts, Adaption and Vulnerability Executive Summary: In (book chapter): Human health. In: Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC [Internet]. [cited 2010 Nov 16]. Available from: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch8s8-es.html • B) Confalonieri U, Menne B, Akhtar R, Ebi K.L., Hauengue M, Kovats R.S., Revich B, Woodward A. 2007. 8.2.3 Drought, nutrition and food security In: Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. IPCC [Internet]. [cited 2010 Nov 16]. Available from: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg2/en/ch8s8-2-3.html • Doran P, Zimmerman M. Examining Scientific Consensus. 2009. http://tigger.uic.edu/~pdoran/012009_Doran_final.pdf • Shulman S. 2010. Coral doctor sounds the alarm about more acidic seas. Guardian Environment Network[Internet].[cited 2010 Nov 16]. Available from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/23/coral-acidic-seas#history-link-box • Raven J.A. 2005. Ocean Acidification due to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Royal Society [Internet]. [cited 2010 Nov 16]. Available from: http://royalsociety.org/Report_WF.aspx?pageid=9633 • Mckee B. 2007. Carbon Capture and Storage: a WEC “Interim Balance” London, England. World Energy Council [Internet]. [cited 2010 Nov 14]. Available from: www.worldenergy.org • Cunningham Ma, Cunningham W. Sustainable Energy. Environmental Science: A Global Concern. 11th ed. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill 2010. • Gadonneix P. 2010 Survey of Energy Resources. 2010 World Energy Council, London, UK. Used by permission of the World Energy Council, London, www.worldenergy.org • US Energy Information Administration. [Internet]. [cited 2010 Nov 18]. Available from: http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=renewable_home-basics