scholarly journals The Time Value of Carbon Storage

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zack Parisa ◽  
Eric Marland ◽  
Brent Sohngen ◽  
Gregg Marland ◽  
Jennifer Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Mitigation ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Early Action ◽  
Natural Climate

Abstract Widespread concern about the risks of global climate change is increasingly focused on the urgent need for action (IPCC, 2018; IPCC, 2021), and natural climate solutions are a critical component of global strategies to achieve low temperature targets (e.g. Griscom et al. 2017, Roe et al. 2019). Yet to date, the full potential of natural systems to store carbon has not been leveraged because policy-makers have required long-term contracts to compensate for permanence concerns, and these long-term contracts substantially raise costs and limit deployment. In this paper, we lay out the rationale that our time preference for early action embedded in the Global Warming Potentials (GWP) leads to the conclusion that multiple tons of short-term storage of carbon in ecosystem stocks can be considered to have equal value – as measured by the social cost of carbon -- as 1 ton of carbon sequestered permanently. This equivalence can be used to quantify the value of short-term carbon storage, thereby removing one of the most significant barriers to participation in the carbon market and enabling the full climate mitigation potential of the land sector to be realized.

scholarly journals Does the long-term success of REDD+ also depend on biodiversity?

Oryx ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Hinsley ◽  
Abigail Entwistle ◽  
Dorothea V. Pio
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Forest Tree ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Forest Composition ◽  
Tree Survival

AbstractOriginally proposed in 2005 as a way to use financial incentives to tackle global climate change, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) has evolved to include conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, in what is now known as REDD+. Biodiversity protection is still viewed principally as a co-benefit of the REDD+ process, with conservation of forest tree cover and carbon stocks providing the main measure of success. However, focusing solely on tree cover and carbon stocks does not always protect other species, which may be threatened by other factors, most notably hunting. We present evidence from the literature that loss of biodiversity can affect forest composition, tree survival and forest resilience and may in some cases ultimately lead to a reduction in carbon storage. We argue that REDD+ projects should specifically mitigate for threats to biodiversity if they are to maximize carbon storage potential in the long term.

Introduction

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Berner
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Quaternary Period ◽  
Geological Time Scale ◽  
The Earth

The cycle of carbon is essential to the maintenance of life, to climate, and to the composition of the atmosphere and oceans. What is normally thought of as the “carbon cycle” is the transfer of carbon between the atmosphere, the oceans, and life. This is not the subject of interest of this book. To understand this apparently confusing statement, it is necessary to separate the carbon cycle into two cycles: the short-term cycle and the long-term cycle. The “carbon cycle,” as most people understand it, is represented in figure 1.1. Carbon dioxide is taken up via photosynthesis by green plants on the continents or phytoplankton in the ocean. On land carbon is transferred to soils by the dropping of leaves, root growth, and respiration, the death of plants, and the development of soil biota. Land herbivores eat the plants, and carnivores eat the herbivores. In the oceans the phytoplankton are eaten by zooplankton that are in turn eaten by larger and larger organisms. The plants, plankton, and animals respire CO2. Upon death the plants and animals are decomposed by microorganisms with the ultimate production of CO2. Carbon dioxide is exchanged between the oceans and atmosphere, and dissolved organic matter is carried in solution by rivers from soils to the sea. This all constitutes the shortterm carbon cycle. The word “short-term” is used because the characteristic times for transferring carbon between reservoirs range from days to tens of thousands of years. Because the earth is more than four billion years old, this is short on a geological time scale. As the short-term cycle proceeds, concentrations of the two principal atmospheric gases, CO2 and CH4, can change as a result of perturbations of the cycle. Because these two are both greenhouse gases—in other words, they adsorb outgoing infrared radiation from the earth surface—changes in their concentrations can involve global warming and cooling over centuries and many millennia. Such changes have accompanied global climate change over the Quaternary period (past 2 million years), although other factors, such as variations in the receipt of solar radiation due to changes in characteristics of the earth’s orbit, have also contributed to climate change.

scholarly journals Dynamic modelling of cold-hardiness in tea buds by imitating past temperature memory

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kensuke Kimura ◽  
Daisuke Yasutake ◽  
Takahiro Oki ◽  
Koichiro Yoshida ◽  
Masaharu Kitano
Keyword(s):  
Cold Stress ◽  
Cold Acclimation ◽  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Cold Hardiness ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Dynamic Modelling ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Mean Square Errors

Abstract Background and Aims Most perennial plants memorize cold stress for a certain period and retrieve the memories for cold acclimation and deacclimation, which leads to seasonal changes in cold-hardiness. Therefore, a model for evaluating cold stress memories is required for predicting cold-hardiness and for future frost risk assessments under warming climates. In this study we develop a new dynamic model of cold-hardiness by introducing a function imitating past temperature memory in the processes of cold acclimation and deacclimation. Methods We formulated the past temperature memory for plants using thermal time weighted by a forgetting function, and thereby proposed a dynamic model of cold-hardiness. We used the buds of tea plants (Camellia sinensis) from two cultivars, ‘Yabukita’ and ‘Yutakamidori’, to calibrate and validate this model based on 10 years of observed cold-hardiness data. Key Results The model captured more than 90 % of the observed variation in cold-hardiness and predicted accurate values for both cultivars, with root mean square errors of ~1.0 °C. The optimized forgetting function indicated that the tea buds memorized both short-term (recent days) and long-term (previous months) temperatures. The memories can drive short-term processes such as increasing/decreasing the content of carbohydrates, proteins and antioxidants in the buds, as well as long-term processes such as determining the bud phenological stage, both of which vary with cold-hardiness. Conclusions The use of a forgetting function is an effective means of understanding temperature memories in plants and will aid in developing reliable predictions of cold-hardiness for various plant species under global climate warming.

Comparison of Short-Term and Long-Term Radiative Feedbacks and Variability in Twentieth-Century Global Climate Model Simulations

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (24) ◽  
pp. 10051-10070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghan M. Dalton ◽  
Karen M. Shell
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Water Vapor ◽  
Climate Sensitivity ◽  
Surface Albedo ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Global Climate Model ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Short Term

Abstract The climate sensitivity uncertainty of global climate models (GCMs) is partly due to the spread of individual feedbacks. One approach to constrain long-term climate sensitivity is to use the relatively short observational record, assuming there exists some relationship in feedbacks between short and long records. The present work tests this assumption by regressing short-term feedback metrics, characterized by the 20-yr feedback as well as interannual and intra-annual metrics, against long-term longwave water vapor, longwave atmospheric temperature, and shortwave surface albedo feedbacks calculated from 13 twentieth-century GCM simulations. Estimates of long-term feedbacks derived from reanalysis observations and statistically significant regressions are consistent with but no more constrained than earlier estimates. For the interannual metric, natural variability contributes to the feedback uncertainty, reducing the ability to estimate the interannual behavior from one 20-yr time slice. For both the interannual and intra-annual metrics, uncertainty in the intermodel relationships between 20-yr metrics and 100-yr feedbacks also contributes to the feedback uncertainty. Because of differences in time scales of feedback processes, relationships between the 20-yr interannual metric and 100-yr water vapor and atmospheric temperature feedbacks are significant for only one feedback calculation method. The intra-annual and surface albedo relationships show more complex behavior, though positive correspondence between Northern Hemisphere surface albedo intra-annual metrics and 100-yr feedbacks is consistent with previous studies. Many relationships between 20-yr metrics and 100-yr feedbacks are sensitive to the specific GCMs included, highlighting that care should be taken when inferring long-term feedbacks from short-term observations.

scholarly journals Short-term versus Long-term Investments: A Study of Women Stock Investors of Punjab

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (01) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Vohra
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Capital Gains ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Cross Tabulation

Short term capital gains and long term capital appreciation are important factors influencing the investment decisions of every investor. The purchase of long-term and short term investments by an investor varies across gender. The present study is an attempt to identify the term for which investments are made by women investors of Punjab and to explore if there is a significant difference in the term for which investments are made by women investors based on their demographics. For the purpose of the study, data were collected from primary sources using a pre tested, well-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics as well as cross-tabulation analysis have been used in order to analyse the collected data. The results of the study brought out that the majority of women invest for a short term. The term for which the investments are made also varies with the personal monthly income of the respondents. In the light of results, the study suggests that government and the policy makers should undertake various initiatives for the economic empowerment of women as their economic empowerment is a pre requisite for their long term financial well-being.

scholarly journals Older eastern white pine trees and stands sequester carbon for many decades and maximize cumulative carbon

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert T. Leverett ◽  
Susan A. Masino ◽  
William R. Moomaw
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Safety Net ◽  
White Pine ◽  
Eastern White Pine ◽  
Old Growth ◽  
Old Growth Forest ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Natural Climate

AbstractPre-settlement New England was heavily forested, with some trees exceeding 2 m in diameter. New England’s forests have regrown since farm abandonment and represent what is arguably the most successful regional reforestation on record; the region has recently been identified as part of the “Global Safety Net.” Remnants and groves of primary “old-growth” forest demonstrate that native tree species can live for hundreds of years and continue to add to the biomass and structural and ecological complexity of forests. Forests are an essential natural climate solution for accumulating and storing atmospheric CO2, and some studies emphasize young, fast-growing trees and forests whereas others highlight high carbon storage and accumulation rates in old trees and intact forests. To address this question directly within New England we leveraged long-term, accurate field measurements along with volume modeling of individual trees and intact stands of eastern white pines (Pinus strobus) and compared our results to models developed by the U.S. Forest Service. Our major findings complement, extend, and clarify previous findings and are three-fold: 1) intact eastern white pine forests continue to sequester carbon and store high cumulative carbon above ground; 2) large trees dominate above-ground carbon storage and can sequester significant amounts of carbon for hundreds of years; 3) productive pine stands can continue to sequester high amounts of carbon for well over 150 years. Because the next decades are critical in addressing the climate crisis, and the vast majority of New England forests are less than 100 years old, and can at least double their cumulative carbon, a major implication of this work is that maintaining and accumulating maximal carbon in existing forests – proforestation - is a powerful near-term regional climate solution. Furthermore, old and old-growth forests are rare, complex and highly dynamic and biodiverse, and dedication of some forests to proforestation will also protect natural selection, ecosystem integrity and full native biodiversity long-term. In sum, strategic policies that grow and protect existing forests in New England will optimize a proven, low cost, natural climate solution for meeting climate and biodiversity goals now and in the critical coming decades.

Fifty years of Marine and Freshwater Research

1999 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reefs ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Natural Factors ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Concentrations ◽  
Minimal Damage

Factors causing global degradation of coral reefs are examined briefly as a basis for predicting the likely consequences of increases in these factors. The earlier consensus was that widespread but localized damage from natural factors such as storms, and direct anthropogenic effects such as increased sedimentation, pollution and exploitation, posed the largest immediate threat to coral reefs. Now truly global factors associated with accelerating Global Climate Change are either damaging coral reefs or have the potential to inflict greater damage in the immediate future: e.g. increases in coral bleaching and mortality, and reductions in coral calcification due to changes in sea-water chemistry with increasing carbon dioxide concentrations. Rises in sea level will probably disrupt human communities and their cultures by making coral cays uninhabitable, whereas coral reefs will sustain minimal damage from the rise in sea level. The short-term (decades) prognosis is indeed grim, with major reductions almost certain in the extent and biodiversity of coral reefs, and severe disruptions to cultures and economies dependent on reef resources. The long-term (centuries to millennia) prognosis is more encouraging because coral reefs have remarkable resilience to severe disruption and will probably show this resilience in the future when climate changes either stabilize or reverse.

scholarly journals Aem Analyses of SRL 131 Glass Altered as a Function of SA/V

1991 ◽  
Vol 257 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Mazer ◽  
John K. Bates ◽  
Bruce M. Biwer ◽  
C. R. Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Scaling Factor ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Geologic Repository ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Test Conditions ◽  
Solution Volume

Experimental studies of silicate glass/water reactions at low temperatures have previously identified the glass surface area-to-solution volume ratio (SA/V) as a significant rate determining parameter [1-4]. The value produced when SA/V is multiplied by reaction time, hereafter referred to as SVT, has been proposed as a scaling factor for comparing experimental results collected under different test conditions and for extrapolating short-term results to longer periods of time. Developing an understanding of the effect of SAN is needed for modeling experimental results where SA/V ranges in value or may vary during experiments. It is also useful to understand the effect of SA/V for modeling natural systems where this value almost certainly varies, such as during the hydrothermal diagenesis of natural glasses or projecting the long-term reaction of water and borosilicate nuclear waste glass in a geologic repository.

Short-term and long-term effects on carbon storage of pulse feeding on acclimated or unacclimated activated sludge

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 3119-3128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aslı Seyhan Çığgın ◽  
Derin Orhon ◽  
Simona Rossetti ◽  
Mauro Majone
Keyword(s):  
Activated Sludge ◽  
Carbon Storage ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term

“But the Pension Fund Was Just SITTING There …”: The Politics of Teacher Retirement Plans

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick M. Hess ◽  
Juliet P. Squire
Keyword(s):  
Pension Plans ◽  
The Political ◽  
Retirement Plans ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
Teacher Retirement ◽  
Retirement Systems

The tension at the heart of pension politics is the incentive to satisfy today's claimants in the here and now at the expense of long-term concerns. Teacher pensions, in particular, pose two challenges. The first is that political incentives invite irresponsible fiscal stewardship, as public officials make outsized short-term commitments to employees. The second is that incentives hinder modernization, as policy makers avoid the politically perilous task of altering plans ill suited to attracting talent in the contemporary labor market. The alignment of the political stars has helped some states and localities to address the first challenge, but far too few have demonstrated a willingness to tackle the second. We illustrate the political dynamics through discussions of pension plans in New Jersey, Oregon, and San Diego, California, and suggest several political strategies that could make pension challenges more tractable and encourage public officials to be responsible fiscal stewards or to revisit anachronistic retirement systems.

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