Post-Exam - Climate Change #2

Question 1

Cause - Agriculture

Answer 1

• Raising cows is a problem because their digestion builds up methane that needs to be released (methane is 25x more impactful than CO2
• Fertilisers are a problem as they release nitrous oxide (300x more impactful than CO2)
• The required deforestation presents a danger to carbon sinks

Question 2

Cause - Transportation

Answer 2

• Transportation is responsible for 25% of all energy related GHG emissions
• Transportation is 29% of all GHG emissions released by the US
• As developing states progress, transportation is one of the fastest areas that grow quickest because more people can afford flights and cars
• 74.5% of all transport emissions come from road vehicles, with 45.1% of this being passenger vehicles
• Aviation makes up for 11.6% of all transport emissions, with 81% of this being passenger airlines

Question 3

Cause - Capitalism

Answer 3

• Capitalism is based on a perpetual economic growth model, meaning to grow the economy, you need to exploit resources
• Up until this point, this growth has been fueled by cheap energy sources such as coal, oil and gas
• This presents the problem that greenhouse gas emissions must peak in the next four years, but capitalism continues to encourage growth and therefore more exploitation and more emissions
• Household consumption accounts for sixty per cent of all GHG emissions