October 27, 2019
Student name: Meunier Brian Eddson
Cohort:Beph17B
Module:Climate change
Lecturer:Dr Luximon Ramma Amitabye
Programme: Environmental & Public Health
Mitigation & adaptation measure to
climate change.
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Student name: Meunier Brian EddsonOctober 27, 2019
Cohort:Beph17B
Module:Climate change
Lecturer:Dr Luximon Ramma Amitabye
Programme: Environmental & Public Health
Mitigation & adaptation measure to
climate change.
Table of content
- …………………………………………………...Introduction
1.1. ………………………..…..…… Difference between mitigation and adaptation?
1.2. (^) ……………. What are the other differences between adaptation and mitigation?
- ………………………………............…Forests and mitigation
2.1………………...…How do international mechanisms consider forests for mitigation?
2.2………………………………………………….. How do forests relate to adaptation?
2.3…………………………………………….…………………… What is vulnerability?
2.4 ………………………………………………… What is ecosystem-based adaptation?
2.5……………………………………………..……... Discussion on mitigation measures.
2.6 ………………………………………………………..…. What is ocean acidification?
2.7 …………………………………………………..…. Available solutions for mitigation
2.8 …………………………………………………………………... Adaptation measures
3.0……………………. How can an adaptation project contribute to mitigation?
3.1…………………………………………..…………………………….…………Conclusio
4.0………………………………………………………References
- Introduction
The climate crisis is increasingly distressing. Fortunately, there are many things we can do to ensure our future is as prosperous as possible. These actions fall into one of two broad categories: climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation. Many adaptation and mitigation options can help address climate change, but no single option is sufficient by itself. Effective implementation depends on policies and cooperation at all scales and can be enhanced through integrated responses that link mitigation and adaptation with other societal objectives.
1.1 Difference between mitigation and adaptation?
Climate change mitigation means avoiding and reducing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to prevent the planet from warming to more extreme temperatures. Climate change adaptation means altering our behaviour, systems, and our way of living to protect our families, our economies, and the environment in which we live from the impacts of climate change.
Figure 1.0 represents the objective of both mitigation & adaptation.
Both approaches are needed. On the one hand, even with strong mitigation efforts, the climate would continue changing in the next decades and adaptation to these changes is necessary. On the other hand, adaptation will not be able to eliminate all negative impacts and mitigation is crucial to limit changes in the climate system.
1.2 What are the other differences between adaptation and mitigation?
Adaptation and mitigation differ in terms of spatial scales: even though climate change is an international issue, adaptation benefits are local and mitigation benefits are global. Adaptation and mitigation also differ in terms of temporal scales and concerned economic sectors
Mitigation Adaptation
Spatial Primarily an Primarily a local issue, scale international issue, as
as adaptation mostly mitigation provides
provides benefits at global benefits the local scale Time scale
Mitigation has a Adaptation can have long-term effect a short-term effect because of the on the reduction of inertia of the climatic
vulnerability
system Sectors Mitigation is a Adaptation is a
priority in the energy,
priority in the water transportation, and health sectors industry and waste
and in coastal or low- management sectors
lying areas
The IPCC describes vulnerability to climate change as being determined by three factors:
- exposure to hazards -such as reduced rainfall
- sensitivity to those hazards -such as an economy dominated by rain-fed agriculture,
- The capacity to adapt to those hazards -for example, whether farmers have the money or skills to grow more drought-resistant crops.
Adaptation measures can help reduce vulnerability – for example by lowering sensitivity or
building adaptive capacity – as well as allowing populations to benefit from opportunities of
climatic changes, such as growing new crops in areas that were previously unsuitable.
Adaptation measures may be planned in advance or put in place spontaneously in response to a local pressure. They include:
2.1 How do international mechanisms consider forests for mitigation?
Only afforestation and reforestation projects are eligible under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD), an initiative now at the top of the international negotiation agenda, is based on financial incentives to preserve forests and thus maintain or increase carbon stocks.
2.2 How do forests relate to adaptation?
The linkages between forests and adaptation are two-fold;
- First, as climate change will affect forests, adaptation measures are needed for forests to reduce negative impacts and maintain ecosystem functions (adaptation for forests).
- Second, forest ecosystems contribute to adaptation by providing local ecosystem services that reduce the vulnerability of local communities and the broader society to climate change (forests for people‘s adaptation).
2.3 What is vulnerability?
Vulnerability is a central concept to adaptation. Vulnerability to climate change is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change,
including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. High exposure or sensitivity and low adaptive capacity causes high vulnerability.
2.4 What is ecosystem-based adaptation?
Ecosystem-based adaptation is a human-centred approach to adaptation. It aims at reducing human vulnerabilities through the provision of ecosystem services. It is increasingly recognised that well-managed ecosystems can help societies to adapt to both current climate hazards and future climate change by providing a wide range of ecosystem services, for examples mangroves protecting coastal areas against storms and waves, forests providing products used as safety nets by local communities when agriculture is affected by climate, or forests regulating water quality and river flows.
2.5 Discussion on mitigation measures.
♦ Carbon emission, Temperature & ice melt down.
CO2 emissions are the most important cause of global warming, followed by methane gas. Increase in worldwide temperature.
Arctic warming due to rise in atmospheric temperature, is already affecting people in the region and around the world in life-altering ways, from accelerating global sea-level rise and flooding coastal communities to more extreme storms, drought, and heat waves that exacerbate poverty and elevate the risk of conflict in vulnerable regions of the world. Due to artic meltdown isles for Maldives in the Indian Ocean, for instance will disappear in some years’ time. Island like Reunion, Mauritius and Rodrigues will be impacted in the future, destroying the coastal relief of these respective islands.
Permafrost thaw Permafrost, the perennially frozen ground that covers 24 percent of the Northern Hemisphere, contains two times more carbon, in frozen form, than the atmosphere currently holds. Experts predict that roughly 10 percent of the carbon stored in permafrost, or 130 to 160 billion tons, could be released by the end of this century as frozen soils melt.
2.6 What is ocean acidification?
When carbon dioxide enters the ocean from the atmosphere, it dissolves in saltwater. First, it forms carbonic acid. Then, this carbonic acid breaks apart or dissociates producing bicarbonate ions and hydrogen ions. When seawater absorbs carbon dioxide, its acidity is increased, which decreases the building blocks used by shellfish to grow their shells and threaten life of many marine flora and fauna.
2.7 Available solutions for mitigation:
- (^) Mitigation may also be achieved by increasing the capacity of carbon sinks, e.g., like I have stated earlier through reforestation.
- reducing energy demand by increasing energy efficiency, phasing out fossil fuels by switching to low-carbon energy sources, and removing carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere.
- Site energy audits and implementation of energy management technologies have reduced refinery emissions by 5% through careful attention to energy consumption and measurement of energy performance parameters.
- Increase carbon emission tax and emission markets
- A petrochemical complex implemented improved divided wall column technology. Energy efficiency increased by 30%, CO 2 emissions were reduced by 30%, and capital equipment costs were reduced by 10%.
- Fit cars with catalytic converters so as to reduce carbon dioxide emission from exhaust pipes of those vehicles.
- Use public transport, bicycles or use electric vehicles
- Reductions in methane emissions (In order to greatly slow the rate of near- term warming, it is necessary to mitigate methane emissions. Because of the brief atmospheric lifetime of methane, the effect of emissions reductions will be felt within years. In contrast, CO2 reductions will not affect global mean surface temperature until approximately 2040).
- Make greater use of renewable energy like:
a. Solar energy
b. Wind energy
c. Hydroelectric power
d. Geothermal energy
e. ocean energy
f. Bioenergy- can be produced from a variety of biomass feedstock, including
forest, agricultural and livestock residues short-rotation forest plantations; energy crops the organic component of municipal solid waste; and other organic waste streams. Through a variety of processes, these feedstock can be directly used to produce electricity or heat, or can be used to create gaseous, liquid, or solid fuels. The range of bioenergy technologies is broad and the technical maturity varies substantially.
- Reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse! This helps conserve energy and reduces pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from resource extraction, manufacturing, and disposal.
- Drive hybrid cars or use public transport
- Educate everyone on reducing their carbon footprint via media and help of educators.
- Make smart consumer choices on products, reducing the use of aerosols and Biogeochemical containing CFC’s.
- Use of light coloured roofs and walls
3.0 How can an adaptation project contribute to mitigation?
Adaptation programmes can directly affect ecosystems and carbon stocks, thus having an impact on mitigation. Ecosystem-based adaptation projects can directly benefit climate change mitigation, through either increasing or maintaining carbon stocks.
The interactions between ecosystem services explain the mitigation impacts of an adaptation project; for example, mangroves simultaneously contribute to protecting coastal areas and to storing carbon. However, there may be trade-offs between carbon and the local ecosystem services prioritised by an adaptation project. For example, spatial priorities for the conservation of hydrological ecosystem services and carbon may be different.
In addition to these direct impacts of adaptation projects, other indirect impacts can result if an adaptation project prevents activity displacement and induced deforestation, for example if an agricultural adaptation project sustain crop productivity and reduce clearing forest through agricultural expansion.
3.1 Conclusion
Continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. Limiting climate change would require substantial and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions which, together with adaptation, can limit climate change risks.
Many aspects of climate change and associated impacts will continue for centuries, even if anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are stopped. The risks of abrupt or irreversible changes increase as the magnitude of the warming increases. Individuals should adapt those measures listed above to reduce carbon footprints, thus saving our planet.
4.0 References
Buurman, Joost, and Vladan Babovic. 2017. “Adaptation Pathways and Real Options Analysis: An Approach to Deep Uncertainty in Climate Change Adaptation Policies.” Policy and Society 35 (2): 137–50. DOI: 10.1016/j.polsoc.2016.05.002.
Herring, Stephanie C., Nikolaos Christidis, Andrew Hoell, James P. Kossin, Carl J. Schreck III, and Peter A. Stott, eds. 2018. “Explaining Extreme Events of 2016 from a Climate Perspective,” special supplement to Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 99 (1). ttp://www.ametsoc.net/eee/2016/2016_bams_eee_low_res.pdf.
Peterson, Garry. 2011. “Participatory Scenario Development Approaches.” Resilience Science , March 2. https://rs.resalliance.org/2011/03/02/participatory-scenario-development- approaches/.
RAND Corporation. 2018. “Robust Decision Making.” Accessed March 18. https:// www.rand.org/topics/robust-decision-making.html.