Climate restoration
Climate restoration consists of actions intended to reverse the current trends of climate change [1] and, on some timescale and trajectory, to restore the Earth system [2] to a safe, sustainable and productive state, for the well-being of future generations and all humanity. Such actions include the carbon dioxide removal from the Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere, which, in combination with emissions reductions, can reduce the level of CO2 in the atmosphere and thereby reduce the global warming [3] produced by the greenhouse effect of an excess of CO2 over its pre-industrial level. A central goal of the Healthy Climate Alliance is the reduction of CO2 to 300 ppm (i.e. near its pre-industrial level) by 2050 [4] .
Restoration and mitigation
Climate restoration contrasts with climate change mitigation[5], whose actions are intended to “limit the magnitude or rate of long-term climate change”. Advocates of climate restoration accept that climate change has already had major negative impacts and these will get progressively worse with the risk that they will be beyond adaptation and abrupt climate change [6] will be upon us. There is a moral imperative to do better. By promoting the vision of a “better future for our children and grandchildren”, with the Earth System restored to a safe, sustainable and productive state, advocates claim that there is a huge incentive for innovation and investment to ensure that this restoration takes place and takes place in a timely fashion. As stated in "The Economist" in november 2017, "in any realistic scenario, emissions cannot be cut fast enough to keep the total stock of greenhouse gases sufficiently small to limit the rise in temperature successfully. But there is barely any public discussion of how to bring about the extra “negative emissions” needed to reduce the stock of CO2 (and even less about the more radical idea of lowering the temperature by blocking out sunlight). Unless that changes, the promise of limiting the harm of climate change is almost certain to be broken."[7]
Critical parameters
It is not possible to be precise about the exact state to which the Earth System should be restored, because this will depend on obtaining a balance of factors. But some general indication is usually given, such as “the climate which our grandparents left us” or “the Holocene norm in which our civilisation developed”. There is usually a timescale, e.g. by 2050 or 2100.
Critical parameters of the Earth System include:
• levels of climate forcing agents in the atmosphere, especially CO2 and methane for positive forcing and SO2 aerosol for negative forcing;
• global mean surface temperature (compared to some baseline) and its rate of increase;
• sea level and the rate that sea level is rising; [8]
• pH and rate of ocean acidification.
One of the principal goals for climate restoration is to bring the CO2 level down from current level of ~405 ppm (2016) towards its pre-industrial level of ~280 ppm. Not only will this reduce CO2’s global warming effect but also its effect on ocean acidification.
Limitations
However, not every aspect of the Earth System can be returned to a previous state: notably the warming of the deep sea or deep ocean and the associated sea level rise which has already taken place may be essentially irreversible this century. Conversely there are certain aspects of the Earth System that need to be improved with respect to the recent past: notably food productivity, considering an increased global population by 2050 or 2100.
References
- ^
America's Climate Choices: Panel on Advancing the Science of Climate Change; National Research Council (2010). Advancing the Science of Climate Change. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. ISBN 0-309-14588-0. Archived from the original on 29 May 2014.
(p1) ... there is a strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that climate is changing and that these changes are in large part caused by human activities. While much remains to be learned, the core phenomenon, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious scientific debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations. * * * (pp. 21–22) Some scientific conclusions or theories have been so thoroughly examined and tested, and supported by so many independent observations and results, that their likelihood of subsequently being found to be wrong is vanishingly small. Such conclusions and theories are then regarded as settled facts. This is the case for the conclusions that the Earth system is warming and that much of this warming is very likely due to human activities.
{{cite book}}
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suggested) (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Cockell, Charles. An Introduction to the Earth-Life System. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Gillis, Justin (2015-11-28). "Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-08-07.
- ^ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/healthy-climate-alliance-announces-bold-goal---300-ppm-by-2050-300443338.html
- ^ "Global Status of BECCS Projects 2010". Biorecro and The Global Carbon Capture and Storage institute. 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ Abrupt climate change : inevitable surprises. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. 2002. p. 108. ISBN 0-309-07434-7.
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ignored (help) - ^ https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21731397-stopping-flow-carbon-dioxide-atmosphere-not-enough-it-has-be-sucked-out
- ^ "Climate Change Indicators in the United States: Sea level". United States Environmental Protection Agency. May 2014.