Climate change mitigation entails taking steps to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by replacing fossil fuel use with renewable energy or altering infrastructure to increase energy efficiency.
Earth’s natural systems are self-balanced; however, human activities, including fossil fuel burning and deforestation, are contributing to an increase in heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere. Climate change mitigation involves efforts to limit these emissions as well as enhance sinks such as reforestation.
Renewable Energy
Renewable energy is an integral component of any strategy to combat global temperature rise and cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as two thirds of GHGs come from energy-related sources. Switching over to sustainable sources is essential if one hopes to address climate change effectively.
Renewable energies like wind, solar, hydroelectricity and deep geothermal can provide energy without contributing to global warming. Over the last decade, renewable technologies have seen explosive growth thanks to policies supporting them; including tax incentives, research funding support and mandates requiring certain percentage of electricity come from renewable sources.
These policies have also created more jobs in the renewable energy sector. UCS analysis indicates that setting a national renewable energy standard of 25 percent by 2025 would significantly decrease power plant carbon dioxide emissions and bring us closer to meeting IEA’s goal of reaching net zero emissions in electricity by 2030. Further reducing carbon emissions through using renewables to power electric vehicles (EVs) or home battery storage devices such as Tesla Powerwall 2.
Carbon Reuse
Carbon reuse is often neglected when discussing climate change. Reusing carbon already released into the atmosphere from sources like fossil fuels or daily products like soda is key. Scientists at Climeworks are conducting studies into using carbon-based materials instead of products which rely on nonrenewable fossil fuels as replacement options.
Carbon capture technologies used by factories and large industrial facilities can capture carbon emissions directly at their source and use or store it underground so that it does not enter the atmosphere – though these technologies remain at an experimental stage.
Recycling and thrift shopping can also help lower your carbon footprint. Both activities reduce operational carbon dioxide (CO2) production as well as embodied carbon emissions from products manufactured, transported, and used throughout their life cycles.
Carbon Storage
Carbon storage refers to the long-term capture and permanent removal of carbon from the atmosphere through natural methods (forests and grasslands) or through geoengineering techniques such as geomembrane removal techniques.
Earth’s oceans are massive carbon stores, capable of holding onto carbon for millennia. But their health can be compromised by fishing gear, trawling and pollution; hence the need for protection measures.
Plants store carbon in their roots and soil through photosynthesis, while permafrost and swamps in Arctic regions can hold onto it due to freezing temperatures that slow decomposition.
Geologic carbon storage involves compressing and transporting CO2 underground to deep rock formations, where it’s physically trapped within pores while chemically stored as stable minerals. Preventing leakage from such sites is of utmost importance, with studies currently ongoing to examine different methods for safely storing carbon. Thirty projects worldwide are operating or in development to do just this – BECCS (biomass combustion with carbon capture and storage) is an increasingly popular solution which has the ability to cut industrial emissions by 14 percent.
Adaptation
Adaptation refers to any change made to natural and human systems due to actual or expected climate change that either reduces harm or exploits potential opportunities (IPCC 2001). Unfortunately, adaptation can often be more challenging and more expensive than mitigation.
Countries are taking steps to incorporate climate adaptation into their development plans, from building flood defenses and planning for heat waves, to developing crop varieties that are resistant. They’re also improving water storage and use in urban areas – yet many countries remain struggling to adapt.
Poverty and lack of access to basic services, like education, financial support and healthcare are strong predictors of climate change vulnerability, so it is crucial that individuals in high-vulnerability communities have the means to take action on climate change.
Noteworthy is the fact that with increasing temperatures comes reduced effectiveness of most adaptation options. Therefore, any adaptation must go hand in hand with aggressive reductions of greenhouse gas emissions if not we risk “maladaptation,” which are unintended negative outcomes of an adaptation process.