Climate Change Combat – A Conspectus - Juniper Publishers

 Juniper Publishers-Open Access Journal of Environmental Sciences & Natural Resources

Climate Change Combat – A Conspectus

Authored by Dar JA

Abstract

Climate change is one of the major issues, which is currently threatening several ecosystems and affecting the livelihoods. Climate change could happen due to natural and/or anthropogenic causes, although the latter has acted as a key trigger in the last few decades. Climate change and global warming are mainly due to the emission of greenhouse gases, of which carbon dioxide is one of the predominant greenhouse gases and several initiatives have been undertaken to reduce its emission and by sequestering it in different carbon pools. Oceans and forests are considered to be important carbon reservoirs in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems respectively. In forests, carbon is largely stored in vegetation biomass, especially that of trees and soil. Alongside the implementation of carbon mitigation programmes, various databases have also been compiled. However, to effectively combat climate change, it is essential to reach out and spread awareness to the general public and vulnerable sectors, urging them to minimize their individual carbon footprints.

Keywords: Climate Change; Carbon Mitigation; Blue Carbon; Forestry; Carbon Footprint

Abbrevations: UNFCCC: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, CO₂: Carbon Dioxide, °C: Degree Celsius, ppm:Parts Per Million, Pg C:Petagrams of Carbon, REDD: Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, REDD+: Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus, CER: Certified Emission Reduction, EDGAR: The Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research

Introduction

Climate change is an on-going phenomenon, which exerts a profound influence on several ecosystems worldwide, and as a result threatens the livelihoods of people, either, at present or in the near future, especially those from the developing nations that are particularly vulnerable. As defined by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), climate change is “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activities that alter the composition of the global atmosphere and which are in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.” In simple words, it could be defined as “any systematic change in the long-term statistics of climatic elements (such as precipitation, temperature, humidity, pressure, winds, etc.) that are sustained over several decades or longer.” Climate change could thus be the resultant of natural or anthropogenic triggers, albeit in the recent past, the latter has proven to be a major factor.Climate change and global warming is greatly driven by the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, hydroflourocarbons, chlorofluorocarbons, etc. It is supposed that the carbon fluxes during the pre-industrial times remained largely in balance, but with the onset of industrial revolution in 1800 [1], the greenhouse gases were emitted in an unprecedentedrates. Thus, the Earth has now entered the Anthropocene epoch [2-4]. Deforestation, fossil fuel combustion, land use change, land degradation [5,6], urbanization, overexploitation of natural resources, etc. are some of the primary anthropogenic causes that have quickened the pace of climate change. The global temperature was 0.71°C higher than the 20_th century average of 12°Cas on January 2018 [7]. As warned by UNFCCC, it is estimated that the Earth could warm up anywhere between 1.8°C and 4°C by 2100 and this increase in global temperature could lead to thermal expansion of the oceans and lead to sea level rise. It has been projected that the sea level rise would be 0.18-0.59 metres by 2100. Besides these, climate change and global warming could significantly alter the type, frequency and intensity of weather events such as cyclones, droughts, floods, etc. and some of these have already been witnessed [8]. Intense heat waves could drastically impact crop production and cause the outbreak of several diseases. These dire consequences of climate change could in turn, disrupt the natural balance further [9].

Carbon Sequestration

Among the different greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is an important greenhouse gas, the concentration of which in the atmosphere is on an alarming rise. The concentration of CO₂ as on May 2018 is 411.31 ppm [7]. Absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and containing the same in different pools on earth is the most effective way of combating climate change, also known as carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration could be defined as “the process of “transfer and secure storage of atmospheric _{[6,10]. Carbon sequestration takes place in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.}

Aquatic Ecosystem

Of the different aquatic habitats, the oceans play a major role in absorbing and stocking atmospheric

Carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems has gained widespread attention, especially among researchers, land managers and foresters, who actively look for ways to enhance their carbon mitigation potential. Carbon sequestration occurs in varying capacities in different terrestrial ecosystems, such as agricultural lands, plantations, urban greeneries, natural forests, abandoned lands, etc. However, natural forests are the most efficient carbon absorbers of the different land uses. The global forest carbon accumulation was estimated to be 1.1 ± 0.8 Pg C/year [17]. Different forest types have different patterns of carbon sequestration. For example, the tropical forests store 56% of carbon in their biomass and 32% in soil, while the boreal forests store only 20% of carbon in biomass, but 60% in soil. Overall, the tropical forests store 55% of world’s forest carbon, followed by boreal and temperate forests, which store 32% and 14% respectively [17].

It is apparent that the forests store carbon in different pools, each being unique. Principally, there are six different carbon pools - aboveground trees, aboveground non-tree vegetation, belowground roots, forest floor litter, dead wood and soil organic matter [18]. In forests, the atmospheric CO₂

Although climate change is a widely discussed topic in the present days, ways to combat the same have not gained enough outreach yet. Spreading awareness and capacity-building to mitigate and slow down the consequences of climate change is the need of the hour, especially among the vulnerable sections in the developing nations. Also, on an individual level, appropriate eco-friendly measures ought to be taken to minimize the carbon footprints. To conclude, awareness and appropriate steps to enhance carbon sinks and prevent sinks from becoming sources could be the important means to effectively combat climate change.

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