scholarly journals U.S. Air Quality and Health Benefits from Avoided Climate Change under Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

2015 ◽  
Vol 49 (13) ◽  
pp. 7580-7588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Garcia-Menendez ◽  
Rebecca K. Saari ◽  
Erwan Monier ◽  
Noelle E. Selin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

scholarly journals Co-benefits of global and regional greenhouse gas mitigation for US air quality in 2050

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 9533-9548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuqiang Zhang ◽  
Jared H. Bowden ◽  
Zachariah Adelman ◽  
Vaishali Naik ◽  
Larry W. Horowitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Sparse Matrix ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The Us

Abstract. Policies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will not only slow climate change but can also have ancillary benefits of improved air quality. Here we examine the co-benefits of both global and regional GHG mitigation for US air quality in 2050 at fine resolution, using dynamical downscaling methods, building on a previous global co-benefits study (West et al., 2013). The co-benefits for US air quality are quantified via two mechanisms: through reductions in co-emitted air pollutants from the same sources and by slowing climate change and its influence on air quality, following West et al. (2013). Additionally, we separate the total co-benefits into contributions from domestic GHG mitigation vs. mitigation in foreign countries. We use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to dynamically downscale future global climate to the regional scale and the Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) program to directly process global anthropogenic emissions to the regional domain, and we provide dynamical boundary conditions from global simulations to the regional Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The total co-benefits of global GHG mitigation from the RCP4.5 scenario compared with its reference are estimated to be higher in the eastern US (ranging from 0.6 to 1.0 µg m−3) than the west (0–0.4 µg m−3) for fine particulate matter (PM2.5), with an average of 0.47 µg m−3 over the US; for O3, the total co-benefits are more uniform at 2–5 ppb, with a US average of 3.55 ppb. Comparing the two mechanisms of co-benefits, we find that reductions in co-emitted air pollutants have a much greater influence on both PM2.5 (96 % of the total co-benefits) and O3 (89 % of the total) than the second co-benefits mechanism via slowing climate change, consistent with West et al. (2013). GHG mitigation from foreign countries contributes more to the US O3 reduction (76 % of the total) than that from domestic GHG mitigation only (24 %), highlighting the importance of global methane reductions and the intercontinental transport of air pollutants. For PM2.5, the benefits of domestic GHG control are greater (74 % of total). Since foreign contributions to co-benefits can be substantial, with foreign O3 benefits much larger than those from domestic reductions, previous studies that focus on local or regional co-benefits may greatly underestimate the total co-benefits of global GHG reductions. We conclude that the US can gain significantly greater domestic air quality co-benefits by engaging with other nations to control GHGs.

scholarly journals Co-benefits of global and regional greenhouse gas mitigation on U.S. air quality in 2050

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuqiang Zhang ◽  
Jared H. Bowden ◽  
Zachariah Adelman ◽  
Vaishali Naik ◽  
Larry W. Horowitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Dynamical Downscaling ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Ghg Mitigation ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
The U.S

Abstract. Policies to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will not only slow climate change, but can also have ancillary benefits of improved air quality. Here we examine the co-benefits of both global and regional GHG mitigation on U.S. air quality in 2050 at fine resolution, using dynamical downscaling methods, building on a previous global co-benefits study (West et al., 2013). The co-benefits for U.S. air quality are quantified via two mechanisms: through reductions in co-emitted air pollutants from the same sources, and by slowing climate change and its influence on air quality, following West et al. (2013). Additionally, we separate the total co-benefits into contributions from domestic GHG mitigation versus mitigation in foreign countries. We use the WRF model to dynamically downscale future global climate to the regional scale, the SMOKE program to directly process global anthropogenic emissions into the regional domain, and we provide dynamical boundary conditions from global simulations to the regional CMAQ model. The total co-benefits of global GHG mitigation from the RCP4.5 scenario compared with its reference are estimated to be higher in the eastern U.S. (ranging from 0.6–1.0 μg m-3) than the west (0–0.4 μg m-3) for PM2.5, with an average of 0.47 μg m-3 over U.S.; for O3, the total co-benefits are more uniform at 2–5 ppb with U.S. average of 3.55 ppb. Comparing the two mechanisms of co-benefits, we find that reductions of co-emitted air pollutants have a much greater influence on both PM2.5 (96 % of the total co-benefits) and O3 (89 % of the total) than the second co-benefits mechanism via slowing climate change, consistent with West et al. (2013). GHG mitigation from foreign countries contributes more to the U.S. O3 reduction (76 % of the total) than that from domestic GHG mitigation only (24 %), highlighting the importance of global methane reductions and the intercontinental transport of air pollutants. For PM2.5, the benefits of domestic GHG control are greater (74 % of total). Since foreign contributions to the co-benefits are comparable to that from the domestic reductions, especially for O3, previous studies that focus on local or regional co-benefits may greatly underestimate the total co-benefits of global GHG reductions. We conclude that the U.S. can gain significantly greater domestic air quality co-benefits by engaging with other nations to control GHGs.

18. Climate Change Law

2019 ◽  
pp. 599-639
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Fisher ◽  
Bettina Lange ◽  
Eloise Scotford
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Mitigation And Adaptation ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Trading Scheme ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the fast-moving area of law relating to climate change. This includes a considerable body of public international law, from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to the legally innovative Paris Agreement 2015. The chapter also considers legal developments at the EU and UK levels, which both contain a rich body of climate law and policy. The EU and the UK are both seen as ‘world leaders’ in climate law and policy. In EU law, this is due to the EU greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme and the EU’s leadership in advocating ambitious greenhouse gas mitigation targets and in implementing these targets flexibly across the EU Member States through a range of regulatory mechanisms. The UK introduced path-breaking climate legislation in the Climate Change Act 2008, which provided an inspiring model of climate governance, legally entrenching long-term planning for both mitigation and adaptation. The chapter concludes with an exploration of climate litigation, a new and growing field of inquiry.

scholarly journals Climate change impacts and greenhouse gas mitigation effects on U.S. water quality

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1326-1338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Boehlert ◽  
Kenneth M. Strzepek ◽  
Steven C. Chapra ◽  
Charles Fant ◽  
Yohannes Gebretsadik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation

Liability and Climate Change

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Faure ◽  
Marjan Peeters
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Tort Law ◽  
Public Law ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Court System

In view of the need to curb greenhouse gases, the question arises as to the functions of liability in providing effective incentives for emitters in order to change their behavior. Liability for emitting greenhouse gases exists (or can exist) in the area of public law and private law and can be subdivided into international, administrative, and criminal liability (public law liabilities) and tort law liability (private law liability). Actions for holding individual and legal persons (such as states, authorities, and companies) liable can, depending on the specific jurisdiction, be triggered by citizens but also by legal persons, such as authorities, companies, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), particularly environmental NGOs. The central question in this article is how climate liability is arranged under public law and whether there would be any role for climate liability to play under private law, thereby applying a legal and economic methodology. That so-called law and economics doctrine is a useful approach as it has given a lot of attention, for example, to the different functions of specific legal instruments (more particularly regulation, including taxation and emissions trading and tort law liability) for mitigating greenhouse gases. Meanwhile, in practice, various examples can be identified whereby tort law liability is used as a complement to greenhouse gas regulation. This specific use of tort liability is analyzed in the light of the law and economics literature, thereby pointing at prospects but also at remaining core questions. The success of tort law actions will most likely greatly depend on the (lack of) ambition vested into the emissions regulations at international and national levels. One of the exciting questions for the near future is to what extent judges feel able to step into the regulation of the climate change problem, in an ex ante way. The most difficult cases are obviously those where a regulatory system concerning greenhouse gas mitigation has been put in place and where the court system is strong, but where particular groups consider the regulations to be insufficient.

scholarly journals Effect of Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices on Climate Change Adaptation, Greenhouse Gas Mitigation and Economic Efficiency of Rice-Wheat System in India

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1269
Author(s):  
Suresh K. Kakraliya ◽  
Hanuman S. Jat ◽  
Tek B. Sapkota ◽  
Ishwar Singh ◽  
Manish Kakraliya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Wheat Yield ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Conventional Tillage ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Management Scenarios ◽  
Ghg Mitigation

Conventional rice–wheat (RW) rotation in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of South Asia is tillage, water, energy, and capital intensive. Coupled with these, crop residue burning contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and environmental pollution. So, to evaluate the GHG mitigation potential of various climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs), an on-farm research trial was conducted during 2014–2017 in Karnal, India. Six management scenarios (portfolios of practices), namely, Sc1—business as usual (BAU)/conventional tillage (CT) without residue, Sc2—CT with residue, Sc3—reduced tillage (RT) with residue + recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF), Sc4—RT/zero tillage (ZT) with residue + RDF, Sc5—ZT with residue + RDF + GreenSeeker + Tensiometer, and Sc6—Sc5 + nutrient-expert tool, were included. The global warming potential (GWP) of the RW system under CSAPs (Sc4, Sc5, and Sc6) and the improved BAU (Sc2 and Sc3) were 33–40% and 4–26% lower than BAU (7653 kg CO2 eq./ha/year), respectively. This reflects that CSAPs have the potential to mitigate GWP by ~387 metric tons (Mt) CO2 eq./year from the 13.5 Mha RW system of South Asia. Lower GWP under CSAPs resulted in 36–44% lower emission intensity (383 kg CO2 eq./Mg/year) compared to BAU (642 kg CO2 eq./Mg/year). Meanwhile, the N-factor productivity and eco-efficiency of the RW system under CSAPs were 32–57% and 70–105% higher than BAU, respectively, which reflects that CSAPs are more economically and environmentally sustainable than BAU. The wheat yield obtained under various CSAPs was 0.62 Mg/ha and 0.84 Mg/ha higher than BAU during normal and bad years (extreme weather events), respectively. Thus, it is evident that CSAPs can cope better with climatic extremes than BAU. Therefore, a portfolio of CSAPs should be promoted in RW belts for more adaptation and climate change mitigation.

Does Institutional Proliferation Undermine Cooperation? Theory and Evidence from Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam S Rowan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
General Theory ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Institutional Environments ◽  
Slow Pace ◽  
State Participation ◽  
New Institutions

Abstract Global politics has undergone a tremendous institutional proliferation, yet many questions remain about why states join these new institutions and whether they support cooperation. I build on existing work to develop a general theory of state participation in dense institutional environments that also helps to explain cooperative outcomes. I argue that states may be dissatisfied when cooperation proceeds either too slowly or too quickly and that these two types of dissatisfaction motivate opposing participation behaviors. Deepeners are states that are dissatisfied with the slow pace of cooperation and join institutions to support cooperation, while fragmenters are states dissatisfied with the quick pace and join institutions to undermine cooperation. I evaluate my argument using new data on sixty-three climate institutions and states’ greenhouse gas mitigation targets in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. I find that membership in climate institutions designed to facilitate implementation is associated with more ambitious targets, while membership in general is unrelated to targets.

A proposed approach to estimate and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from whole farms

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
H H Janzen ◽  
D A Angers ◽  
M. Boehm ◽  
M. Bolinder ◽  
R L Desjardins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Mitigation ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
The Past ◽  
Parallel Streams ◽  
Farm Types

Greenhouse gas emissions from farms can be suppressed in two ways: by curtailing the release of these gases (especially N2O and CH4), and by storing more carbon in soils, thereby removing atmospheric CO2. But most practices have multiple interactive effects on emissions throughout a farm. We describe an approach for identifying practices that best reduce net, whole-farm emissions. We propose to develop a “Virtual Farm”, a series of interconnected algorithms that predict net emissions from flows of carbon, nitrogen, and energy. The Virtual Farm would consist of three elements: descriptors, which characterize the farm; algorithms, which calculate emissions from components of the farm; and an integrator, which links the algorithms to each other and the descriptors, generating whole-farm estimates. Ideally, the Virtual Farm will be: boundary-explicit, with single farms as the fundamental unit; adaptable to diverse farm types; modular in design; simple and transparent; dependent on minimal, attainable inputs; internally consistent; compatible with models developed elsewhere; and dynamic (“seeing”into the past and the future). The Virtual Farm would be constructed via two parallel streams - measurement and modeling - conducted iteratively. The understanding built into the Virtual Farm may eventually be applied to issues beyond greenhouse gas mitigation. Key words: CO2, N2O, CH4, agroecosystems, models, climate change

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