Climate change Flashcards
What are the 5 causes of climate change?
The burning of fossil fuels, Deforestation, Livestock farms (releasing methane), Fertilisers and Fluorinated gas
Why is the burning of fossil fuels a cause of climate change?
Burning them causes the release of carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, which are greenhouse gasses. Energy production is the largest source of global co2 emissions
Why is deforestation a cause of climate change?
Forests and trees helps regulate the climate by absorbing and storing co2 in their bark and leaves. This becomes oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. However, destroying forests for arable land diminishes the ability of trees to do this, and releases the stored carbon.
Deforestation example
In Brazi, the Amazon rainforest is one of the world’s largest land-carbon sinks, removing 1-2 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Yet in Brazil, deforestation of the rainforest increased by 9.5% from 2019-2020, where over 11,000 square km were destroyed in 2020.
Why are livestock farms a cause of climate change?
Cows and sheep produce large amounts of methane when digesting their food. This is a major source of greenhouse gasses, and requires a lot of land and food for the animals. This leads to deforestation and to fertilising soil for grain, which runs off into the water.
Livestock example
Why is the use of fertiliser a cause of climate change?
Nitrogen-based fertilisers release nitrous oxide, which is much more effective at trapping heat than co2.
What are some impacts of not meeting the Paris Agreement?
International standing is harmed, and can lead to potential harm to the economic prosperity of states. For example, Australia had committed to reducing emissions by over 25% by 2030, but has struggled to meet such goals. In response, its policies have been criticised by the EU and the Pacific Islands, where they were described as insufficient.
How is the economic prosperity of states harmed by lack of climate action?
The EU is discussing implementing the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on certain goods, such as hydrogen or electricity, which aims to address carbon leakage. This occurs when states outsource or move production of goods to states with less strict environmental regulations to avoid costs associated with carbon emissions. The CBAM impacts the economic prosperity of states, as they will be required to purchase CBAM certificates based on the price of carbon emissions in the EU’s Emissions Trading System. If a state has a carbon tax or similar, such prices of certificates will be deducted.
What is one challenges to effective resolutions for climate change - Paris Agreement?
The lack of enforcement mechanisms for the 2015 Paris Agreement is a challenge to effective resolutions, as states may create their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC’s), but may not actually adhere to them, or overreport their progress or underreport their emissions. Whilst the Paris Agreement is a good idea, urging states to create goals to reduce carbon emissions, there are no existing mechanisms to enforce compliance. When the US withdrew from the agreement under the trump administration, there had only been damage to international standing from other states.
What is another challenge to effective resolutions - economic?
States, such as low economically developed states, have difficulty transitioning to renewables from fossil fuels due to fossil fuel dependency, or due to lack of finance. After the COVID-19 pandemic, many developing states spent a large amount of the national budget in containing the virus, and thus are at a lack of funds to get back on track with reducing emissions (need example). Furthermore, some states, such as India, have a large dependency on fossil duels, where coal makes up 55% of India’s energy mix, and where fossil fuels generate 70% of India’s power.
Additionally, states such as Nigeria rely on fossil fuels for their economic prosperity, where oil and gas exports make up 90% of Nigeria’s total export earnings. Such states cannot easily transition to renewables, as can more economically developed states, due to their reliance on fossil fuels for their economy.
What are the three key aspects of climate change?
Resource exploitation, national interests and adaptation and mitigation.
Why is resource exploitation a key aspect of climate change?
Many states rely on natural resources for their economic prosperity, meaning that they exploit natural resources for money. Although deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels causes damage to the planet in the long run, leading to an accelerating global warming and thus the accelerated impacts of climate change, such sates suffer from time inconsistent behaviour, exploiting resources in the short-term and not understanding the long-term effects.
Why are national interests a key aspect in climate change?
National interests shape the actions of all states and their responses to climate change. If implementing green policies and stricter environmental regulations and policies do not benefit the state specifically in one way, it may not be implemented. This realist perspective upon climate change is thus a key aspect, as states act to benefit themselves rather than to solve the issue collectively.
