change. It implements greenhouse gas emission limits but has no enforcement capacity.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) consists
of countries that are part of the United Nations
Framework Convention. The COP is the supreme
decision-making body in the Convention.
Climate Hazards According to the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
report, climate hazards are “climate-related physical events or trends or their physical impacts”
[3]. Climate hazards are different from natural
hazards, which include earthquakes, pandemics,
and weather-related disasters. Weather-related
disasters include drought, wildfires, floods, tropical cyclones, and severe storms [10].
Ecological Restoration “Ecological restoration
is the process of assisting the recovery of an
ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged,
or destroyed” [64].
Ecological Justice Considerations of justice that
relate to human relationships with other species and ecosystems.
Environmental Ethics A branch of philosophy
that studies human interaction with the natural
world including the moral relationship
between humans and natural entities including
the moral status of such entities.
Exposure In the context of climate change,
exposure is additional risk and is defined as
“the presence of people, livelihoods, species
or ecosystems, environmental functions, services, and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and
settings that could be adversely affected” [10].
Global Justice Considerations of justice that
take collective human actions and relationships
into account on a global level.
Intergenerational Justice Considerations of
justice that reflect the moral relationship
between currently living people and future
generations.
Mitigation Climate change mitigation comprises
actions that limit anthropogenic climate change.
It includes reducing emissions of greenhouse
gases (GHGs). In the case of CO 2 , this includes
renewable energy, reforestation, land use changes,
carbon capture and storage (CCS), and direct air
capture (DAC).
Preservation A conservation strategy that attempts
to protect nonhuman species including their
habitats.
Resilience Resilience is the capacity of social,
economic, and environmental systems to
respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances from climate change [10].
Thermohaline Circulation Ocean circulation,
and especially the deepwater formation that
sequesters dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)
from the surface ocean, is driven by density.
The density of seawater is controlled by its temperature (“thermo-”) and its salinity (“haline,”
which refers to mineral sodium chloride called
halite). Salinity can be defined as a mass fraction,
grams of dissolved salts per kg seawater [5]. Seawater is typically around 35 g/kg, and values can
range from rainwater, ca. 20 mg/kg, to the Dead
Sea, >200 g/kg. The amount of salt in the oceans
is fixed; thus, salinity can only be changed by
removal or addition of freshwater, such as by
evaporation or addition of glacial meltwater [5].
Vulnerability In the context of climate change,
vulnerability is the inability of social, economic, and environmental systems to persist
and thrive in a changed environment, including
“sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack
of capacity to cope and adapt” [4]. The assessment of vulnerability is a key element of
describing current and future climate risks
[10]. The main goal of climate change adaptation is to reduce vulnerability [19].
Definition
Climate change is a profound global-scale challenge to the sustainability of human society and
the biosphere. This entry introduces the key
scientific research on climate change and its ethical implications. It begins by summarizing the key
types of anthropogenic climate forcing agents
including CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, and air pollution
including particulate matter (PM) and their
sources. A combination of mitigation, restoration,
and adaptation strategies currently being
considered is introduced and compared. Global
climate change intersects with many academic
280
Air Pollution and Climate Change: Sustainability, Restoration, and Ethical Implications
The Conference of the Parties (COP) consists
of countries that are part of the United Nations
Framework Convention. The COP is the supreme
decision-making body in the Convention.
Climate Hazards According to the 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
report, climate hazards are “climate-related physical events or trends or their physical impacts”
[3]. Climate hazards are different from natural
hazards, which include earthquakes, pandemics,
and weather-related disasters. Weather-related
disasters include drought, wildfires, floods, tropical cyclones, and severe storms [10].
Ecological Restoration “Ecological restoration
is the process of assisting the recovery of an
ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged,
or destroyed” [64].
Ecological Justice Considerations of justice that
relate to human relationships with other species and ecosystems.
Environmental Ethics A branch of philosophy
that studies human interaction with the natural
world including the moral relationship
between humans and natural entities including
the moral status of such entities.
Exposure In the context of climate change,
exposure is additional risk and is defined as
“the presence of people, livelihoods, species
or ecosystems, environmental functions, services, and resources, infrastructure, or economic, social, or cultural assets in places and
settings that could be adversely affected” [10].
Global Justice Considerations of justice that
take collective human actions and relationships
into account on a global level.
Intergenerational Justice Considerations of
justice that reflect the moral relationship
between currently living people and future
generations.
Mitigation Climate change mitigation comprises
actions that limit anthropogenic climate change.
It includes reducing emissions of greenhouse
gases (GHGs). In the case of CO 2 , this includes
renewable energy, reforestation, land use changes,
carbon capture and storage (CCS), and direct air
capture (DAC).
Preservation A conservation strategy that attempts
to protect nonhuman species including their
habitats.
Resilience Resilience is the capacity of social,
economic, and environmental systems to
respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances from climate change [10].
Thermohaline Circulation Ocean circulation,
and especially the deepwater formation that
sequesters dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC)
from the surface ocean, is driven by density.
The density of seawater is controlled by its temperature (“thermo-”) and its salinity (“haline,”
which refers to mineral sodium chloride called
halite). Salinity can be defined as a mass fraction,
grams of dissolved salts per kg seawater [5]. Seawater is typically around 35 g/kg, and values can
range from rainwater, ca. 20 mg/kg, to the Dead
Sea, >200 g/kg. The amount of salt in the oceans
is fixed; thus, salinity can only be changed by
removal or addition of freshwater, such as by
evaporation or addition of glacial meltwater [5].
Vulnerability In the context of climate change,
vulnerability is the inability of social, economic, and environmental systems to persist
and thrive in a changed environment, including
“sensitivity or susceptibility to harm and lack
of capacity to cope and adapt” [4]. The assessment of vulnerability is a key element of
describing current and future climate risks
[10]. The main goal of climate change adaptation is to reduce vulnerability [19].
Definition
Climate change is a profound global-scale challenge to the sustainability of human society and
the biosphere. This entry introduces the key
scientific research on climate change and its ethical implications. It begins by summarizing the key
types of anthropogenic climate forcing agents
including CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, and air pollution
including particulate matter (PM) and their
sources. A combination of mitigation, restoration,
and adaptation strategies currently being
considered is introduced and compared. Global
climate change intersects with many academic
280
Air Pollution and Climate Change: Sustainability, Restoration, and Ethical Implications