Carbon and water - Human intervention and mitigation against cc Flashcards
How are humans trying to influence the carbon cycle?
Have influenced carbon cycle for centuries, particularly by extracting and burning fossil fuels. Now 40% more CO2 in atmos. than there was in 1750.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - international organisation set up by UN to share info on climate change.
What does the IPCC state?
Countries need to reduce amounts of CO2 emitted by human activities to prevent further temp. rises.
What are the 9 mitigation strategies for reducing cc?
- Carbon capture and sequestration
- Changing use of grasslands
- Changing use of croplands
- Re and afforestation
- Improved aviation practices
- Paris Agreement
- Brazil gov. policy
- Protecting mangroves
- Modifying deforestation
What is carbon capture sequestration and how is it used to mitigate against cc?
Technology that aims to captures 90% of CO2 emissions produced by fossil fuels.
The carbon is captured and separated from other gases. Then compressed and transported by pipeline, ship or road tanker. Then put into storage.
Where is carbon stored as part of CCS?
It is converted into a liquid like form (supercritical CO2) and injected into sedimentary rocks.
Stored deep in geological formations - known as geo-sequestration.
How does changing the use of grasslands mitigate against cc?
Offers global greenhouse gas mitigation into grass and soil. A potential of 810 million tonnes of CO2 sequestered.
How could soil carbon storage of grasslands be improved?
- Avoiding overstocking
- Adding manures and fertilisers which could have direct impact on soil organic carbon
- Revegetation, improved pasture species and legumes can increase productivity
- Irrigation and water management can increase plant productivity
How can changing the use of croplands mitigate against cc?
- Mulching can add organic matter and can prevent carbon losses from system
- Reduced or no tillage avoids accelerated decomposition of organic matter and depletion of soil
- Animal manure - increase plant productivity and seq of carbon
- Rotations of cash crops w/ pasture or cover crops and green manures increase biomass returned to soil
- Increased crop varieties = increased productivity above and below ground
What is re and afforestation?
- Forests reduce emission by storing CO2 above and below ground
- Protection of existing forests, preserve current carbon stock
- Afforestation = establishing forest/trees where there wasn’t before
- Reforestation = replanting trees
How does re and afforestation mitigate against cc?
Reforesting degraded land and increasing tree density in degraded forests - increases carbon density above and below ground.
Trees in croplands and orchards store carbon above and below ground.
Emissions reduced if these grown as sustainable energy sources.
How will improving aviation practices mitigate against cc?
Release lots of CO2 emission into atmos. Reduction sig.
2013 global aviation industry carried 3 billion passengers and produced 750 mil tonnes of CO2.
How have aviation practices been improved?
Major changes - some planes use less than 3 litres of fuel per 100 passengers.
What does the EU Directorate General for Climate Action predict?
By 2020 global emission of CO2 will be 70% higher than in 2005 and 300 to 700% higher by 2050.
Shows why mitigation is so necessary.
What was the Paris Agreement?
Paris climate conference in Dec 2015, 195 countries adopted first universal legally binding global climate deal to be enforced in 2020.
Unites countries in a common cause.
What are the aims of the Paris Agreement?
- Limit av. global temp.s to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels
- Provide adaptation support to developing countries - financial, technical and capacity building
- By 2030 zero-carbon solutions should be competitive in sectors representing 70% of global emissions
