Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Improving Air Quality
20
20
The goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to balance sources and
sinks and limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C are different, but they are
related (Betts and McNeall, 2018; Tanaka and O’Neill, 2018). For simple
approximation purposes, we can estimate the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere that corresponds to the 1.5°C rise in temperature: 439– 445 ppm. This projection holds up well across several models (Betts
and McNeall, 2018).
It is possible to achieve a balance of emissions and sinks so that carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gas levels remain stable, and the global temperature rise does not exceed 2°C. This would avert the vastly greater, more
expensive, and more deadly impacts of climate change, compared to present conditions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is very important, and
the number of people in the world who understand this and are working to
accomplish the goals of the Paris Agreement is increasing. There are scientific
and technological advances that can be implemented now to help the transition to renewable energy for generating electricity and transportation. More
research, development, and advances are on the horizon if we continue to
place appropriate attention on this issue.
2.5.2 The Goal of 1.5°C
The goal of keeping the rise in global average temperature below 1.5°C relative to pre- industrial temperatures is very important to the quality of life for
billions of residents on this planet. The global average temperature has been
increasing every decade since 1970 (Lindsey and Dahlman, 2018; NASA,
2019). Furthermore, there has not been a uniform increase with time for the
annual average global temperature; it has been accelerating. Relative to 1880,
the annual average global temperature has increased, as shown in Table 2.1.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global
average temperature has already increased by about 1°C, and it is expected
to hit the 1.5°C mark between 2030 and 2052, given the current rate of change
(Masson- Delmotte et al., 2018). In recent years, the increase in global average
temperature has been about 0.2°C per decade. What all this means is that
significant action must be taken now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so
that the rise in global average temperature slows down immediately and has
a chance to stay below 1.5°C.
References
Abedin, M.A., Collins, A.E., Habiba, U., and Shaw, R. (2019). Climate change, water
scarcity, and health adaptation in southwestern Bangladesh. International Journal
of Disaster Risk Science 10: 28– 42.
20
20
The goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to balance sources and
sinks and limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C are different, but they are
related (Betts and McNeall, 2018; Tanaka and O’Neill, 2018). For simple
approximation purposes, we can estimate the concentration of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere that corresponds to the 1.5°C rise in temperature: 439– 445 ppm. This projection holds up well across several models (Betts
and McNeall, 2018).
It is possible to achieve a balance of emissions and sinks so that carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gas levels remain stable, and the global temperature rise does not exceed 2°C. This would avert the vastly greater, more
expensive, and more deadly impacts of climate change, compared to present conditions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is very important, and
the number of people in the world who understand this and are working to
accomplish the goals of the Paris Agreement is increasing. There are scientific
and technological advances that can be implemented now to help the transition to renewable energy for generating electricity and transportation. More
research, development, and advances are on the horizon if we continue to
place appropriate attention on this issue.
2.5.2 The Goal of 1.5°C
The goal of keeping the rise in global average temperature below 1.5°C relative to pre- industrial temperatures is very important to the quality of life for
billions of residents on this planet. The global average temperature has been
increasing every decade since 1970 (Lindsey and Dahlman, 2018; NASA,
2019). Furthermore, there has not been a uniform increase with time for the
annual average global temperature; it has been accelerating. Relative to 1880,
the annual average global temperature has increased, as shown in Table 2.1.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the global
average temperature has already increased by about 1°C, and it is expected
to hit the 1.5°C mark between 2030 and 2052, given the current rate of change
(Masson- Delmotte et al., 2018). In recent years, the increase in global average
temperature has been about 0.2°C per decade. What all this means is that
significant action must be taken now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so
that the rise in global average temperature slows down immediately and has
a chance to stay below 1.5°C.
References
Abedin, M.A., Collins, A.E., Habiba, U., and Shaw, R. (2019). Climate change, water
scarcity, and health adaptation in southwestern Bangladesh. International Journal
of Disaster Risk Science 10: 28– 42.