Climate Change and Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse Gases

• Gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane trap heat in the atmosphere.
• This warming effect is essential for life on Earth, preventing it from freezing.

Climate Feedbacks

• Processes that either amplify (positive feedback) or dampen (negative feedback) the effects of climate change.
• Positive feedback: water vapor feedback (higher temperatures mean more water vapor).
• Negative feedback: ice-albedo feedback (melting ice reduces the Earth's reflectivity).

IPCC

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
• Assesses scientific research on climate change to provide comprehensive reports to policymakers.

Observed Changes in Climate System

• Warming: Increase in global temperatures.
• Sea Level Rise: Driven by melting glaciers and ice sheets.
• Precipitation Patterns: Increased variability, leading to more droughts and storms.
• Melting Arctic Ice and Glaciers: Reduction in Arctic sea ice.
• Ocean Acidification: Absorption of excess CO2 by oceans, lowering their pH.

Economic Terms

• Economic Optimum: Marginal revenue equals marginal cost.
• Open Access Equilibrium: Total cost equals total revenue.
• Social Optimum: Market equilibrium when accounting for externalities.
• Market Equilibrium: Demand equals supply.

External Costs/Benefits

• External costs (negative externalities) are costs to third parties during production or consumption.
• External benefits (positive externalities) are benefits received by third parties from a transaction.
• Internalization of externalities means incorporating external costs or benefits into market prices.
• Market failure occurs when externalities are not internalized in market prices.

Dealing With Externalities

• Pigovian tax: Directly targets the cost of externality.
• Cap-and-Trade: Limited number of permits allocated to producers, each valid for a certain amount of pollution, companies can trade.
• Direct Regulation: Government sets legal limits to the amount of pollution, done through environmental standards or quotas.
• Subsidies for clean tech: Gives incentives to companies to switch to clean energy.
• Coase theorem: Private negotiation between parties.

Coase Theorem

• Parties can negotiate without government intervention if property rights are well-defined.

Optimal Pollution

• The level of pollution where the marginal social benefit of production equals the marginal social cost, including the external costs of pollution.
• Achieving zero pollution would require ceasing all production.
• If demand increases, so does optimal pollution.

Tragedy of the Commons

• A dilemma where several people, independently and rationally acting in their own self-interest, will inevitably deplete shared limited resources.
• Common good is a common resource, open to everyone.
• Subtractable: Each person can subtract from the welfare of others by using the resource.
• Explains unsustainable development.
• Solutions: Privatization, government regulation, community management.

Feeny

• Argues that different management options for the Tragedy of the Commons are often not successful.
• No private, state, or communal management consistently avoids resource degradation.
• Management depends on the characteristics of the resource, socio-economic context, and ability to enforce restrictions.

Ostrom

• Believes that communities can often manage common resources effectively on their own.
• Discusses successful management principles (clear boundaries, fair rules, monitoring, conflict resolution), no one-size-fits-all approach, and challenges with larger resources.

Hardin vs. Ostrom

• Inevitability vs. Possibility of Collective Action: Hardin thinks collective action is impossible; Ostrom believes communities can self-organize.
• Solutions for Managing Resources: Hardin proposes top-down solutions; Ostrom proposes bottom-up solutions with community focus and flexible governance.
• Human Behavior Assumptions: Hardin assumes self-interest; Ostrom believes people can cooperate.
• Flexibility of Solutions: Hardin proposes only privatization or government regulation; Ostrom believes multiple governance structures can work depending on the resource and community.

Limits to Growth

• Malthus: Population grows exponentially, food supply grows linearly, leading to scarcity.
• Boulding: Need a shift from linear, exploitative economic models to circular systems that sustain the environment and society.
• Ehrlich: Overpopulation impacts resource consumption and environmental degradation (I = P × A × T).
• 'Limits to growth' report: Used computer models to predict consequences of continued growth.

Daly’s Empty-World and Full-World Economics

• Empty-World Economics: Resources appeared abundant, minimal environmental impact.
• Full-World Economics: The economy heavily impacts the environment.
• Ecological overshoot: Environmental degradation due to exceeding planetary boundaries.

GPI vs GDP

• GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced.
• GPI is an alternative that considers well-being, accounts for environmental damage, and adjusts for inequality.

This quiz covers essential topics related to climate change, focusing on greenhouse gases, climate feedback mechanisms, and the IPCC's role in assessing climate science. It also explores observed changes in the climate system, including global warming, sea level rise, and ocean acidification. Test your understanding of these critical environmental issues.