Responding to Climate Change

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Responding to Climate Change

AP Environmental Science

Mr. GrantLesson 51

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Objectives:• Define the term Kyoto Protocol.• Suggest ways we may respond to global climate change.• TED - With the same humor and humanity he exuded in An

Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore spells out 15 ways that individuals can address climate change immediately, from buying a hybrid to inventing a new, hotter "brand name" for global warming.

• TED - In this brand-new slideshow (premiering on TED.com), Al Gore presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists recently predicted. He challenges us to act.

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Kyoto Protocol:

Define the term Kyoto Protocol.

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Suggest ways we may respond to global climate change.

• Both adaptation and mitigation are necessary for responding to climate change.

• Conservation, energy efficiency, and new clean and renewable energy sources will help reduce greenhouse emissions.

• New automotive technologies and investment in public transportation will help reduce emissions.

• Addressing climate change will require multiple strategies.

• The Kyoto Protocol provided a first step for nations to begin addressing climate change.

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Suggest ways we may respond to global climate change.

• Despite failure of the Copenhagen conference, nations are continuing efforts to design a treaty to follow the Kyoto Protocol.

• U.S. states and cities are acting to address emissions because the federal government has not.

• Emissions trading programs provide a way to harness the free market and engage industry in reducing emissions.

• Many people feel a carbon tax, specifically a fee-and-dividend approach, is a better option.

• Individuals are increasingly exploring carbon offsets and other means of reducing personal carbon footprints.

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Shall we pursue mitigation or adaptation?

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We need both adaptation and mitigation

The faster we reduce our emissions, the

less we will alter the climate

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Electricity generation

A coal-fired, electricity-generating power plant

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Conservation and efficiency

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Sources of electricity

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Transportation

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Conventional cars are inefficient

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We can reduce emissions in other ways

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We need to follow multiple strategies

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Strategies to stabilize CO2 emissions

15 strategies could each take care of one wedge

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The FCCC

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The Kyoto Protocol tried to limit emissions

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The Copenhagen conference

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Will emissions cuts hurt the economy?

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States and cities are advancing policies

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Market mechanisms address climate change

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Cap-and-trade emissions trading programs

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Cap-and-trade programs already exist

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Carbon taxes are another option

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Carbon offsets are popular

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You can reduce your carbon footprint

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The International Day of Climate Action

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TED Video

Al Gore on averting climate crisis (16:15)

Once the US Vice President, then star of An Inconvenient Truth, now Nobel Peace Prize winner, Al Gore found a way to focus the world's attention on climate change. In doing so, he has invented a new medium -- the Keynote movie -- and reinvented himself.

With the same humor and humanity he exuded in An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore spells out 15 ways that individuals can address climate change immediately, from buying a hybrid to inventing a new, hotter "brand name" for global warming.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc.

TED Video

Al Gore's new thinking on the climate crisis (27:52)

Once the US Vice President, then star of An Inconvenient Truth, now Nobel Peace Prize winner, Al Gore found a way to focus the world's attention on climate change. In doing so, he has invented a new medium -- the Keynote movie -- and reinvented himself.

In this brand-new slideshow (premiering on TED.com), Al Gore presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists recently predicted. He challenges us to act.