scholarly journals Impact of a College Course on the Sustainability of Student Diets in Terms of the Planetary Boundaries for Climate Change and Land, Water, Nitrogen and Phosphorus Use

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria A. Whitener ◽  
Brian Cook ◽  
Ingrid Spielbauer ◽  
Paula Karyn Nguyen ◽  
Jennifer A. Jay
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Planetary Boundaries ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
College Course ◽  
Per Capita

While it is widely acknowledged that shifts in diet could play a large role in mitigating climate change with important health co-benefits, knowledge on how to accomplish these shifts is lacking. Our previous study showed a statistically significant reduction in the dietary carbon footprint of students who had completed a college course on the connections between food and the environment compared to a control group enrolled in an unrelated course. An extension of the previous study, this research evaluates the sustainability of female and male diets in both the intervention and control groups from baseline to follow up with respect to the following planetary boundaries: greenhouse gases, land use, water use, nitrogen loss, and phosphorus use. In addition, a 50-point modified Alternative Healthy Eating Index was calculated at baseline and follow up for all students. Female students enrolled in the intervention course reported diets with statistically significant reductions in their footprints from baseline to follow up for greenhouse gases (p = 0.011), land use (p = 0.012), and phosphorus (p = 0.045), and the female diets were statistically different from the control groups for those three boundaries. For water use, female diets increased in footprint from baseline to follow up due to an increase in vegetable intake. Males enrolled in the intervention showed similar trends (reductions in footprints for greenhouse gases, land use, and phosphorus use and an increase in blue water use), but differences were not statistically significant, partially due to the smaller number of male respondents. Student dietary footprints are compared to a per capita limit allowable for food according to the planetary boundaries concept. For all of the planetary boundaries except blue water use, the student dietary footprints were well above the per capita boundary for food-related sources.

scholarly journals A spatially detailed blue water footprint of the United States economy

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 3007-3032 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Rushforth ◽  
Benjamin L. Ruddell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Virtual Water ◽  
The United States ◽  
Energy Information Administration ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Consumptive Use ◽  
The Us ◽  
Per Capita

Abstract. This paper quantifies and maps a spatially detailed and economically complete blue water footprint for the United States, utilizing the National Water Economy Database version 1.1 (NWED). NWED utilizes multiple mesoscale (county-level) federal data resources from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), the US Department of Transportation (USDOT), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to quantify water use, economic trade, and commodity flows to construct this water footprint. Results corroborate previous studies in both the magnitude of the US water footprint (F) and in the observed pattern of virtual water flows. Four virtual water accounting scenarios were developed with minimum (Min), median (Med), and maximum (Max) consumptive use scenarios and a withdrawal-based scenario. The median water footprint (FCUMed) of the US is 181 966 Mm3 (FWithdrawal: 400 844 Mm3; FCUMax: 222 144 Mm3; FCUMin: 61 117 Mm3) and the median per capita water footprint (FCUMed′) of the US is 589 m3 per capita (FWithdrawal′: 1298 m3 per capita; FCUMax′: 720 m3 per capita; FCUMin′: 198 m3 per capita). The US hydroeconomic network is centered on cities. Approximately 58 % of US water consumption is for direct and indirect use by cities. Further, the water footprint of agriculture and livestock is 93 % of the total US blue water footprint, and is dominated by irrigated agriculture in the western US. The water footprint of the industrial, domestic, and power economic sectors is centered on population centers, while the water footprint of the mining sector is highly dependent on the location of mineral resources. Owing to uncertainty in consumptive use coefficients alone, the mesoscale blue water footprint uncertainty ranges from 63 to over 99 % depending on location. Harmonized region-specific, economic-sector-specific consumption coefficients are necessary to reduce water footprint uncertainties and to better understand the human economy's water use impact on the hydrosphere.

scholarly journals Analysing the safe and just operating space of agriculture in the world: past, present and future

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ajishnu Roy ◽  
Kousik Pramanick
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Planetary Boundaries ◽  
Nitrogen Use ◽  
Freshwater Use ◽  
Safe Operating ◽  
Arable Land Use

AbstractAgriculture, along with industry and household sector are three major sectors of human consumption. Agriculture has proved to be a major contributor to exceeding planetary boundaries. Here, we have explored the impact of agriculture in the Earth system processes, through eight dimensions of planetary boundaries or safe operating spaces: climate change (10.73%), freshwater use (91.56%), arable land use (37.27%), nitrogen use (95.77%), phosphorus use (87.28%), ecological footprint (19.42%), atmospheric pollution (2.52% - 38.08%) and novel entities. In this work, we have also shown role of agriculture to the socio-economic development dimensions: gender equality, employment and economic growth. We have shown that the safe operating limits for agriculture are going to decline by almost 55% (climate change), 300% (freshwater use), 50-55% (arable land use), 180% (nitrogen use), 265% (phosphorus use) and 20% (ecological footprint) in 2050, if the most inefficient way of consumption is chosen and continued. To alleviate the role of agriculture in transgressing planetary boundaries, it is indispensable to comprehend how many roles of agriculture is playing and where which target should be set to framework the national agricultural policies in coherence with attaining sustainable development goals of UN by 2030.

Individual Expectations and Climate Justice

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas H. Meyer ◽  
Pranay Sanklecha
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Climate Justice ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
High Level ◽  
Industrialised Countries ◽  
The Way

AbstractMany people living in highly industrialised countries and elsewhere emit greenhouse gases at a certain high level as a by-product of their activities, and they expect to be able to continue to emit at that level. This level is far above the just per capita level. We investigate whether that expectation is legitimate and permissible. We argue that the expectation is epistemically legitimate. Given certain assumptions, we can also think of it as politically legitimate. Also, the expectation is shown to be morally permissible but with major qualifications. The interpretation of the significance of the expectation is compatible with the understanding that historical emissions should count in terms of fairly distributing the benefits of emission-generating activities over people’s lifetimes but constrains the way in which we may collectively respond to climate change.

scholarly journals Development of water use scenarios as a tool for adaptation to climate change

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Jacinto ◽  
M. J. Cruz ◽  
F. D. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Land Use Scenarios ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Emissions Scenarios

Abstract. The project ADAPTACLIMA, promoted by EPAL, the largest Portuguese Water Supply Utility, aims to provide the company with an adaptation strategy in the medium and long term to reduce the vulnerability of its activities to climate change. We used the four scenarios (A1, A2, B1, B2) adopted in the Special Report Emissions Scenarios (SRES) of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) to produce local scenarios of water use. Available population SRES for Portugal were downscaled to the study area using a linear approach. Local land use scenarios were produced using the following steps: (1) characterization of the present land use for each municipality of the study area using Corine Land Cover and adaptation of the CLC classes to those used in the SRES; (2) identification of recent tendencies in land use change for the study area; (3) identification of SRES tendencies for land use change in Europe; and (4) production of local scenarios of land use. Water use scenarios were derived considering both population and land use scenarios as well as scenarios of change in other parameters (technological developments, increases in efficiency, climate changes, or political and behavioural changes). The A2 scenario forecasts an increase in population (+16%) in the study area while the other scenarios show a reduction in the resident population (−6 to 8%). All scenarios, but especially A1, show a reduction in agricultural area and an increase in urban area. Regardless of the scenario, water use will progressively be reduced until 2100. These reductions are mainly due to increased water use efficiency and the reduction of irrigated land. The results accord with several projects modelling water use at regional and global level.

scholarly journals Land Use and Ecological Change: A 12,000-Year History

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Erle C. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Industrial Agriculture ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Global Patterns ◽  
Human Use

Human use of land has been transforming Earth's ecology for millennia. From hunting and foraging to burning the land to farming to industrial agriculture, increasingly intensive human use of land has reshaped global patterns of biodiversity, ecosystems, landscapes, and climate. This review examines recent evidence from archaeology, paleoecology, environmental history, and model-based reconstructions that reveal a planet largely transformed by land use over more than 10,000 years. Although land use has always sustained human societies, its ecological consequences are diverse and sometimes opposing, both degrading and enriching soils, shrinking wild habitats and shaping novel ones, causing extinctions of some species while propagating and domesticating others, and both emitting and absorbing the greenhouse gases that cause global climate change. By transforming Earth's ecology, land use has literally paved the way for the Anthropocene. Now, a better future depends on land use strategies that can effectively sustain people together with the rest of terrestrial nature on Earth's limited land.

scholarly journals Comparative Evaluation of Top-Down GOSAT XCO2 vs. Bottom-Up National Reports in the European Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6700
Author(s):  
Youngseok Hwang ◽  
Stephan Schlüter ◽  
Tanupriya Choudhury ◽  
Jung-Sup Um
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Growth Rate ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Annual Growth ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
European Continent ◽  
Anthropogenic Carbon

Submitting national inventory reports (NIRs) on emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is obligatory for parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The NIR forms the basis for monitoring individual countries’ progress on mitigating climate change. Countries prepare NIRs using the default bottom–up methodology of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as approved by the Kyoto protocol. We provide tangible evidence of the discrepancy between official bottom–up NIR reporting (unit: tons) versus top–down XCO2 reporting (unit: ppm) within the European continent, as measured by the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT). Bottom–up NIR (annual growth rate of CO2 emission from 2010 to 2016: −1.55%) does not show meaningful correlation (geographically weighted regression coefficient = −0.001, R2 = 0.024) to top–down GOSAT XCO2 (annual growth rate: 0.59%) in the European countries. The top five countries within the European continent on carbon emissions in NIR do not match the top five countries on GOSAT XCO2 concentrations. NIR exhibits anthropogenic carbon-generating activity within country boundaries, whereas satellite signals reveal the trans-boundary movement of natural and anthropogenic carbon. Although bottom–up NIR reporting has already gained worldwide recognition as a method to track national follow-up for treaty obligations, the single approach based on bottom–up did not present background atmospheric CO2 density derived from the air mass movement between the countries. In conclusion, we suggest an integrated measuring, reporting, and verification (MRV) approach using top–down observation in combination with bottom–up NIR that can provide sufficient countrywide objective evidence for national follow-up activities.

scholarly journals Interactive influence of climate variability and land-use change on blue and green water resources: a case study from the Ganjiang River Basin, China

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenting Li ◽  
Xiaoli Yang ◽  
Liliang Ren ◽  
Qianguo Lin ◽  
Xiong Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
River Basin ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Green Water ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Ganjiang River Basin

Abstract The response of blue and green water to climate and land-use change in the Ganjiang River Basin (GRB) is evaluated, via the SWAT model that combines three scenarios (the land-use/land-cover (LULC), climate change, and integrated climate and LULC change scenarios) in the 2040s (2031–2050) and 2060s (2051–2070). The results indicate that, for the GRB, cropland, woodland, and grassland show a decreasing trend, while build-up and water areas show an increasing trend in terms of future land-use change. The climatic conditions projected using NORESM1-M model data under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios suggest, respectively, increases in precipitation (31.17 and 27.24 mm), maximum temperature (2.25 and 2.69 °C), and minimum temperature (1.96 and 2.58 °C). Under climate change conditions, blue water is estimated to decrease by up to 16.89 and 21.4 mm under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, while green water is estimated to increase up to 19.14 and 20.22 mm, respectively. Under the LULC changes, blue water is projected to increase by up to 5.50 and 7.57 mm, while green water shows decreases of 4.05 and 7.80 mm for the LULC2035 and LULC2055 scenarios, respectively. Under the four combined LULC and climate change conditions (RCP4.5_2040s, RCP4.5_2060s, RCP8.5_2040s, and RCP8.5_2060s), blue water tends to decrease by 0.67, 7.47, 7.28, and 9.99 mm, while green water increases by 19.24, 20.8, 13.87, and 22.30 mm. The influence of climate variation on blue and green water resources is comparatively higher than that of the integrated impacts of climate and land-use changes. The results of this study offer a scientific reference for the water resources management and planning department responsible for scheduling water resource management plan in the GRB.

The Climate Change Policy: The Position of the European Union

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-461
Author(s):  
Peter Palinkas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Emission Trading ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
The Eu

The EU has always tried to play a major role in coordinating the activities of its now 15 Member States in the broad area of climate change policy. This active role of the EU was demonstrated in the first climate protection negotiations (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the follow-up conferences (Berlin 1995 and Geneva 1996) and finally at the Kyoto-Conference in December 1997. At the Kyoto-Conference the EU negotiators had to abandon their original negotiating position of 15% reduction based on three greenhouse gases. The final Protocol requires a collective EU reduction by 8% based on 6 gases. This modification is, however, closer to the initial EU position than it indicates, since the final commitment based on six gases is roughly equivalent to a 13% reduction based on 3 gases only. Further compromise made by the EU was on the issue of differentiation. Keeping the “EU-bubble” approach, the EU had to accept country-specific reduction targets as initially proposed by the Japanese delegation. The EU also had to agree on including emissions-trading and joint implementation in the Protocol. During the negotiations EU representatives expressed their concern that trading must not become a substitute for any domestic actions. Consequently, in the Protocol any emission trading is declared as supplementary to domestic actions. Despite the number of unavoidable concessions made by the EU negotiators, the European Commission recognized that the Kyoto protocol is an important first step toward reversing the upward trend in the emissions of greenhouse gases. However, the EU Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard expressed a certain disappointment in not reaching agreement on even more ambitious commitments.

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