Carbon Dioxide Part I Lecture Slides PDF

Carbon Dioxide Part I Professor Søren Warland  Outline Monday Defining and measuring CO2 Understanding climate change impacts Near Asheville, NC Evaluating mitigation & adaptation strategies Wed...

Carbon Dioxide Part I Professor Søren Warland  Outline Monday Defining and measuring CO2 Understanding climate change impacts Near Asheville, NC Evaluating mitigation & adaptation strategies Wednesday Climate change beliefs and patterns Applying markets and economies to solve climate problems Environmental justice concerns  Announcements Congratulations on getting through the midterm exam! Average: ~82% High score: 97.5% Low score: 37.5%  Extra Credit Opportunity RSVP Form: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/19 26085900 Free pizza is served  For the second half of the semester, we’ll be using what we learned previously to analyze causes, effects, and solutions to environmental problems through the eight “objects” below Carbon dioxide Trees Wolves Lawns Uranium Bottled water Tuna Transport  Brief Overview of CO2 Carbon An abundant element that comprises all living things Most of the earth’s carbon is in the crust Carbon dioxide is the most common, gaseous form of carbon; it is naturally occurring and increasing Photosynthesis Conversion of carbon dioxide into organic compounds by plants; process that pulls CO2 out of the atmosphere Great Oxidation Event of 2.4 billion years ago: rise of cyanobacteria that started using CO2 to put oxygen in atmosphere The Carbon Cycle Human Sources: US Context  Early Knowledge of Climate Change 1896: Svante Arrhenius describes CO2’s role in greenhouse effect and its natural presence on earth 1930s: Milutin Milankovitch describes Milankovitch cycles 1957: Roger Revelle and Hans Suess describe the climatological experiments humans are embarking on in a paper on oceanic CO2 uptake  Measuring CO2 in the atmosphere Mauna Loa Observatory is a premier atmospheric research facility collecting direct measures of CO2 concentration since 1950’s What does the Keeling curve show? Overall increase in CO2 emissions Annual fluctuations related to northern hemisphere seasons Spring: CO2 absorbed Fall: CO2 released Measuring CO2 in the atmosphere  Measuring Historic CO2 Proxy records estimate earth’s temperatures for thousands of years prior to direct measurement Tree rings, ice cores, sediment cores, corals Allow us to understand past fluctuations Comparing past changes allows us to understand the extent to which current changes are due to human influence  Denial (Ain’t Just a River in Egypt) What happened after the Keeling Curve? Every US president since Johnson has studied climate change risks NASA scientist James Hanson testified before Congress in 1988 In the late 70s, ExxonMobil commissioned studies to understand climate change Highly accurate predictions Shifted from data exploration to active efforts to spread Temperature Changes  Impacts Such As… Agricultural losses Islands and coastal areas lost to sea level rise Species extinction and ecosystem collapse Increase in disease incidence Public health (health complications from heat waves) These impacts will be felt most strongly by those who are too poor to mitigate or adapt to climate change impacts Climate Change Solutions 1. Mitigation Reducing the amount of greenhouse gases, by reducing emissions and/or increasing absorption capacity 2. Adaptation Learn to live with future global climatic change Recognize that climate change is inevitable because we have waited too long to act  Mitigation: Reduce emissions of greenhouse gases Reduce energy consumption at both the industry and household levels Use alternative energy sources Minimize extraction of fossil fuels Minimize conversion of forest to Increase incentives for hybrid & agriculture; accounts for ~20% of electric cars anthropogenic emissions of CO2  Mitigation Carbon capture and storage (CCS) to prevent carbon from entering the atmosphere (contested technology) Planting trees, e.g., World record Creating artificial trees to (2011) in the Philippines: 64,096 extract CO2 from the trees planted in 15 minutes. atmosphere This figure will NOT be on the test; it is just a reminder of photosynthesis basics  Example: Artificial Photosynthesis Existed for many decades, but difficult to scale Related “low-tech” solution: bioengineering algae to create fuel In 2023, U Chicago researchers increased efficiency of existing systems by 10X In 2024, researchers at Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology created more stable hydrogel “The biggest challenge many people don’t realize is that even nature has no solution for the amount of energy we use.” - Wenbin Lin  Adaptation: Adjust to the impacts of climate change Build flood barriers to protect critical infrastructure (e.g., water treatment plants) Develop genetically modified foods to withstand higher temperatures and new rainfall patterns Provide cooling centers for people to cool off during hot days Updating and improving disaster management plans Adaptation: Adjust to the impacts of climate change Create infrastructure to protect cities from rising sea level  Example: Designing Heat-Resistant Corals Corals are increasingly susceptible to bleaching in a warmer world Overheated coral polyps ejects the algae that live in them, leading to bleaching Techniques to create new and improved coral include: Cross-breeding Genetic modification Breeding in overheated environments Manipulation of microbiomes Madeleine van Oppen describes her work in designing corals as “assisted evolution” Challenges to Mitigation and Adaptation 1. Adaptation: Projected effects of climate change are uncertain ▪ Difficult to plan for avoiding or managing risk 2. Mitigation: Difficult to gain support and enact policies ▪ May be seen as a threat to economic growth or personal choice 3. Both: ▪ Global problem = Requires unprecedented and prolonged international cooperation ▪ Harmful impacts of climate change not spread evenly worldwide  Looking Ahead Content for this week Robbins et al. (2022), , Ch 9 Recommended: Leiserowitz et al. (2021) Quiz #7 is due on Wednesday Only TRUE Thomas & Friends fans will understand