PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change

**change in climate that can be identified by changes in the mean and/or variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period**, typically decades or longer, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity (DAO 2010-11)

Climate Change

refers to si**gnificant, long-term changes in the global climate**

GLOBAL CLIMATE

**connected system of sun, earth and oceans, wind, rain and snow, forests, deserts and savannas, and everything people do**

GLOBAL CLIMATE

is **more than the “average”** of the climates of specific places

GLOBAL WARMING

**slow increase in the average temperature of the earth’s atmosphere** because an increased amount of the energy (heat) striking the earth from the sun is being trapped in the atmosphere and not radiated out into space

1\. That global warming is **not occurring and so neither is climate change**;

2\. That global warming and climate change are **occurring, but these are natural, cyclic events unrelated to human activity;**

3\. That global warming is **occurring as a result primarily of human activity and so climate change is also the result of human activity.**

THREE POSITIONS ON GLOBAL WARMING

* CO2 or Carbon dioxide
* Methane or CH4
* Nitrous oxide
* Fluorinated gases
* Sulphur hexafluoride or SF6
* Black Carbon (BC)

MOST COMMON GHGs

Carbon dioxide

**produced any time something is burned** and the most common GHG, constituting by some measures almost **55% of total long-term GHGs**

GWP of 1

GWP of Carbon dioxide

Methane

**produced in many combustion processes** and also by anaerobic decomposition; a **precursor of ozone**

10 years

Methane breaks down in approximately _________

GWP of 28-36

GWP of Methane

Nitrous oxide

***(laughing gas);*** byproduct of fertilizer production and use, other industrial processes and the combustion of certain materials.

GWP of 265-298

GWP of Nitrous oxide

Fluorinated gases

created as **replacements for ozone depleting refrigerants** but have proved to be both extremely warming GHGs

Fluorinated gases

no natural sources but are **entirely man-made**

1,800 to 8,000; 10,000

Fluorinated gases’ GWP at the 100-year point of comparison range from ________ and some variants top ________

Sulphur hexafluoride

**used for specialized medical procedures,** but primarily in what are called dielectric materials, especially dielectric liquids

Sulfur hexafluoride

**used as insulators in high voltage applications** such as transformers and grid switching gears

Gwp of 22,800

GWP OF Sulphur hexafluoride

Black Carbon

**tiny particles of carbon** released as a result of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, biofuels and biomass.

Black Carbon

it absorbs the sun’s heat millions of times more effectively than CO2

Black Carbon

considered the second biggest contributor to global warming after CO2

atmosphere

**normally blocks some of the sun’s infrared rays** from reflecting back into outer space and thus helps keep the earth warm enough to sustain humans and other living creatures.

1992

In ___, the U.S., along with 191 other countries, **signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).**

U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

In keeping with the UNFCCC, the ____________ **publishes an annual report on human-generated greenhouse gas emissions and sinks.**

International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

made several projections of temperature trends in the 21st century

temperature of 6 degrees Celsius

would likely spell disaster in the form of warming oceans, rising sea levels, widespread droughts, crop failures, wildfires, violent storms, rapidly melting glaciers, and tens of millions of climate change refugees

* Energy supply and use
* Transportation
* Agriculture and forests
* Water
* Climate refugees

**Climate change could threaten America’s national security in several ways**, resulting in potential hazards to human life and health:

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

the **international community first officially recognized climate change** in the ____________________________

Rio de Janeiro; 1992

UNFCCC is an environmental treaty signed in ___________________ in _____ that stated a concern that ***“human activities have been substantially increasing the atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, that these increases enhance the natural greenhouse effect, and that this will result on average in an additional warming of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere and may adversely affect natural ecosystems and humankind.”***

Kyoto Protocol of 1997; 2005

The Rio treaty led to the ____________, which took effect in ____

5\.2 percent; 2008-2012

Kyoto Protocol **required 37 industrialized nations** to **reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by** ______ below 1990 levels in the period ________

December 11,1997

Kyoto Protocol **was adopted on** ___________

February 16, 2005

Owing to a complex ratification process, Kyoto Protocol **entered into force on** ____________

192

Currently, there are ___ parties to the Kyoto Protocol

Kyoto Protocol

operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by **committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets**

December 8, 2012

the **Doha Amendment** to the Kyoto Protocol was **adopted for a second commitment period on** ________, starting in ***2013 and lasting until 2020***.

144

the Doha Amendment has **not yet enerred into force**; a **total of ____ instruments of acceptance are required for entry into force of the amendment.**

December 21, 2012

On _____________, the **amendment was circulated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations**, acting in his capacity as Depository, to all Parties to the Kyoto Protocol in accordance with Articles 20 and 21 of the Protocol.

18 percent

During the **second commitment period,** Parties committed to reduce GHG emissions by at least _________ below 1990 levels in the eight-year **period from 2013 to 2020;** however, the composition of Parties in the second commitment period is different from the first

\- International Emissions Trading

\- Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

\- Joint implementation (JI)

three market-based mechanisms

comprehensive plan

**sets the legal foundation for zoning and subdivision regulations** that greatly influence the location, density, and type of new development and redevelopment.

comprehensive plan

also **provides guidance for public spending** in the capital improvements program.

air quality

The inventory of greenhouse gases fits well with the assessment of ___________ in the natural resources inventory

transportation-related goals

The _____________ of the climate action plan can **enhance the transportation section of the comprehensive plan**.

Waste management; retrofitting of public buildings

____________ and the ___________________ to r**educe greenhouse gases are important to include in the community facilities section.**

land-use goals

The _____________ of the climate action plan are **helpful in creating the land use section of the comprehensive plan** and for drafting the future land-use map, which is the basis of the community’s zoning map of the location of different land uses and densities

Zoning

**can influence settlement patterns** and the design of communities, the size and type of housing, and transportation choices that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Zoning ordinances

can help **shape and locate redevelopment and new residential and commercial projects** to promote more compact development that saves on energy

Zoning

can also **help maintain urban downtowns and village main street**s where a variety of land uses and transportation choices already exist

Subdivision and land-development regulations

spell out what infrastructure a developer must provide along with standards for that infrastructure