Climate Change and Travel Plans Robert Mulvaney William Ray Rod Downie TfW Network Breakfast

1. Climate Change and Travel Plans Robert Mulvaney William Ray Rod Downie TfW Network Breakfast 12 June 2007

2. Contents • Climate Change – The evidence from Antarctica • BAS Carbon Reduction Strategy • BAS Cambridge Site Travel Plan

3. Variations of the Earth’s surface temperature for the past 140 years – meteorological records IPCC 2002

4. The increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

5. Extraction produces about 100mL air per kg ice

6. Seasonal cycles in d18O and dD in a shallow ice core Annual layer Summer Winter

10. European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA) • Dome C: aimed to collected oldest ice • Drilling finished in December 2004 • Depth of 3270m (i.e. 2 miles of ice core!) • 800,000 years of climate history (almost 2 times older than previous oldest ice)

11. 380 Today -360 320 Deuterium/Hydrogen ratio of Dome C ice CO2 concentration in Dome C ice 300 -380 CO2 concentration in Vostok ice 280 Interglacial 260 -400 dD (per mil) 240 CO2 (ppm) -420 220 200 -440 Glacial 180 160 -460 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 Present years ago Temperature and carbon dioxide have been closely linked over the past 750 000 years Deuterium/Hydrogen ratio of Dome C ice Petit et al., Nature (1999) Siegenthaler et al., Science (2005)

12. “Business as usual” CO2 level by 2100 Double pre-industrial CO2 level “Dangerous” climate change likely Lowest possible stabilisation by 2100 50% chance of limiting global warming to 2oC 30 ppm increase over last 17 years Fastest rate of change: 30 ppm increase over 1000 years 650 600 550 500 Modern day CO2 level and rate of change is unprecedented over the last 750 000 years 450 400 2006: 380 ppm Increasing at 2 ppm per year 350 Temperature from Vostok ice CO2 in Vostok ice 4 300 2 0 CO2 (ppm) -2 250 Temperature change (oC) -4 CO2 in Law Dome ice -6 CO2 at Mauna Loa, Hawaii 200 -8 -10 150 150,000 100,000 50,000 1000 1500 2000 years ago years AD Petit et al., Nature (1999) Etheridge et al., JGR (1996)

13. 11% 9% Energy 4% + 76% 4% CO2

14. What is in the Carbon Reduction Strategy: • Do better accounting, monitoring and reporting • Educate staff • Make operational changes (no work impact) • Install energy efficiency upgrades & retrofits • Install Renewable and alternative energy • Develop innovative science infrastructure • Reduce scale/intensity of operations X • Use alternative fuels X • Buy outside carbon offsets X

15. What is the impact of the Strategy? • >20% less CO2 from Cambridge & Antarctic Stations by 2012 • >5% less CO2 from ships by 2012 • 7-9% less CO2 overall • Transport • Carbon accounting & budgets by division • All new purchases to be ‘best of breed’ • Staff education – video conferencing • Retrofits to ships • More innovative science infrastructure

16. Cambridge Site Travel Plan • Aim: to encourage the use of sustainable travel options and to reduce our carbon footprint • Sits within BAS’s EMS (ISO 14001) • Agreed October 2006 • Action Plan with Short, Medium and Long Term goals

17. Cambridge Site Travel Plan • Video-conferencing e.g. NERC Green Team meetings, Antarctic Tourism Meeting-Hobart • Travel information on web and staff inductions • BAS Bicycle Users Group • Lift-share database

18. BAS Lift-Share Database • Web based lift-share scheme: BAS staff sharing lift from Welwyn 3 days week Reduces combined mileage by 210 miles/ week Combined carbon reduction (11 to 7.7 tonnes p/a) • Widen scope to High Cross site users

19. Summary • Greenhouse gases and climate have been closely correlated for at least the last 750 000 years, but today’s level of GH gases are unprecedented • BAS Carbon Reduction Strategy - 7-9% less CO2 by 2012 across our operations • Site travel plan an integral part of EMS at BAS Cambridge