Projecting impacts of global climate change on the US forest and agriculture sectors and carbon budgets

Abstract. The individual and combined effects of global climate change and emissions changes from 2000 to 2050 on atmospheric mercury levels in the US are investigated by using the global climate-chemistry model, CAM-chem, coupled with a mercury chemistry-physics mechanism (CAM-Chem/Hg). Three future pathways from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) are considered, with the A1FI, A1B and B1 scenarios representing the upper, middle and lower bounds of potential climate warming, respectively. The anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions of mercury are projected from the energy use assumptions in the IPCC SRES report. Natural emissions from both land and ocean sources are projected using dynamic schemes. The zonal mean surface total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations in the tropics and mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere are projected to increase by 0.5–1.2 ng m-3 in 2050. TGM concentration increases are greater in the low latitudes than they are in the high latitudes, indicative of a larger meridional gradient than in the present day. In the A1FI scenario, TGM concentrations in 2050 are projected to increase by 2.1–4.0 ng m-3 for the eastern US and 1.4–3.0 ng m-3 for the western US. This pattern corresponds to potential increases in wet deposition of 10–14 μg m-2 for the eastern US and 2–4 μg m-2 for the western US. The increase in Hg(II) emissions tends to enhance wet deposition and hence increase the risk of higher mercury entering the hydrological cycle and ecosystems. In the B1 scenario, mercury concentrations in 2050 are similar to present level concentrations; this indicates that the domestic reduction in mercury emissions is essentially counteracted by the effects of climate warming and emissions increases in other regions. The sensitivity analyses presented show that anthropogenic emissions changes contribute 32–53% of projected mercury air concentration changes, while the independent contribution by climate change accounts for 47–68%. In summary, global climate change could have a comparable effect on mercury pollution in the US to that caused by global emissions changes.

Download Full-text

The impact of global climate change on water quantity and quality: A system dynamics approach to the US–Mexican transborder region

European Journal of Operational Research ◽

10.1016/j.ejor.2016.06.016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 256 (2) ◽

pp. 567-581 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

J.A. Duran-Encalada ◽

A. Paucar-Caceres ◽

E.R. Bandala ◽

G.H. Wright

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

System Dynamics ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Water Quantity ◽

The Us ◽

The Impact ◽

Water Quantity And Quality

Download Full-text

Paris Accord and China’s Climate Change Strategy: Drivers and Outcomes

India Quarterly A Journal of International Affairs ◽

10.1177/0974928416684922 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 72 (4) ◽

pp. 361-374 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Avinash Godbole

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Leadership Position ◽

International Leadership ◽

Change Strategy ◽

The Us ◽

Emerging Issues

From the UNFCCC Copenhagen Climate Summit to the Paris Climate Summit, China has changed its position in global climate change talks in a substantive manner. There are three distinct drivers behind this change of strategy: domestic challenges of pollution, China’s search for an international leadership position on emerging issues and the US–China climate cooperation. This article looks at these three issues in detail.

Download Full-text

Economics of Vertical Farming: Quantitative Decision Model and a Case Study for Different Markets in the USA

10.21203/rs.3.rs-943119/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Faraz Moghimi ◽

Bahram Asiabanpour

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Traditional Farming ◽

Vertical Farming ◽

The Us ◽

The Usa ◽

Farming Industry ◽

Relative Profit

Abstract There are various problems associated with our conventional practice of farming. Agriculture is responsible for mass deforestation. The world is facing a water crisis, and farming is responsible for using 80% of its freshwater. Also, the prospect of global climate change is projecting a much riskier future for practices of conventional farming. One could argue that these alarming problems might someday be treated as more imminent as the population grows, less fertile land becomes available, and the effects of global climate change become more apparent. Vertical farming solves a lot of the mentioned issues associated with traditional farming by using considerably less water, requiring less land, and not relying on the environmental conditions whatsoever. However, vertical farming is also energy and labor intensive and can be quite expensive in some cases. This study works to quantitatively model and evaluate the economic prospect of vertical farming as a business venture in a competitive marketplace under different circumstances. A generalized quantitative framework to evaluate vertical farming with respect to traditional farming is developed. Then, the developed framework is employed for a case study to evaluate the merits of vertical farming in several locations around the US by measuring the relative profit and risk. The results quantify the value proposition of the practice in various conditions and help evaluate the current and future prospect the vertical farming industry.

Download Full-text