Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1 Introduction
Climate change mitigation is action to decrease the intensity of radiative forcing in
order to reduce the potential effects of global warming. In contrast, adaptation to
global warming involves acting to tolerate the actual or expected effects of global
warming (IPCC
2010
). Most often, climate change mitigation scenarios involve
reductions in the concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs), either by reducing
their sources or by increasing their sinks (Molina et al.
2009
).
Using data from 73 sites around the world, scientists have been able to
reconstruct Earth's temperature history back to the end of the last Ice Age,
revealing that the planet today is warmer than it has been during 70-80 % of the
time over the last 11,300 years (Marcott et al.
2013
).
Surface temperature reconstructions of the past 1,500 years suggest that recent
warming is unprecedented in that time. Here, we provide a broader perspective by
reconstructing regional and global temperature anomalies for the past 11,300 years
from 73 globally distributed records. Early Holocene (10,000-5,000 years ago)
warmth is followed by *0.7 C cooling through the middle to late Holocene
(\5,000 years ago), culminating in the coolest temperatures of the Holocene
during the Little Ice Age, about 200 years ago. This cooling is largely associated
with *2 C change in the North Atlantic. Current global temperatures of the past
decade have not yet exceeded peak interglacial values but are warmer than during
*75 % of the Holocene temperature history. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change model projections for 2100 exceed the full distribution of Holocene
temperature under all plausible greenhouse gas emission scenarios (Marcott
2013
).
The UN defines mitigation in the context of climate change, as a human
intervention to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of GHGs. Examples
include using fossil fuels more efficiently for industrial processes or electricity
generation, switching to renewable energy (solar energy or wind power),
improving the insulation of buildings, and expanding forests and other 'sinks' to
remove greater amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (GCCA
2012
).
The IAEA, an international organisation using the UN flag and reporting to the
UN, asserts that nuclear power belongs to the set of options available to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector (IAEA
2008
).
Scientific consensus on global warming, together with the precautionary prin-
ciple and the fear of abrupt climate change (Schneider
2004
) is leading to
increased effort to develop new technologies and sciences and carefully manage
others in an attempt to mitigate global warming. Most means of mitigation appear
effective only for preventing further warming, not at reversing existing warming.
The Stern Review identifies several ways of mitigating climate change. These
include reducing demand for emissions-intensive goods and services, increasing
efficiency gains, increasing use and development of low-carbon technologies and
reducing fossil-fuel emissions (Stern
2007
).
Residential sector carbon dioxide emissions originate primarily from: direct
fuel consumption (principally, natural gas) for heating and cooking, electricity for
