Download or read book Quantifying and Monetizing Potential Climate Change Policy Impacts on Terrestrial Ecosystem Carbon Storage and Wildfires in the United States written by and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper develops and applies methods to quantify and monetize projected impacts on terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage and areas burned by wildfires in the contiguous United States under scenarios with and without global greenhouse gas mitigation. The MC1 dynamic global vegetation model is used to develop physical impact projections using three climate models that project a range of future conditions. We also investigate the sensitivity of future climates to different initial conditions of the climate model. Our analysis reveals that mitigation, where global radiative forcing is stabilized at 3.7 W/m2 in 2100, would consistently reduce areas burned from 2001 to 2100 by tens of millions of hectares. Monetized, these impacts are equivalent to potentially avoiding billions of dollars (discounted) in wildfire response costs. Impacts to terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage are less uniform, but changes are on the order of billions of tons over this time period. The equivalent social value of these changes in carbon storage ranges from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars (discounted). The magnitude of these results highlights their importance when evaluating climate policy options. However, our results also show national outcomes are driven by a few regions and results are not uniform across regions, time periods, or models. Differences in the results based on the modeling approach and across initializing conditions also raise important questions about how variability in projected climates is accounted for, especially when considering impacts where extreme or threshold conditions are important.
Download or read book The Impacts of EPA s Proposed Carbon Regulations on Energy Costs for American Businesses Rural Communities and Families and a Legislative Hearing on S 1324 written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works. Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Taming Wildfires in the Context of Climate Change written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2023-05-17 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report provides a global assessment and outlook on wildfire risk in the context of climate change. It discusses the drivers behind the growing incidence of extreme wildfires and the attribution effect of climate change.
Download or read book Climate Change 2022 Impacts Adaptation and Vulnerability written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-06-22 with total page 3070 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive assessment of the scientific literature relevant to climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. The report recognizes the interactions of climate, ecosystems and biodiversity, and human societies, and integrates across the natural, ecological, social and economic sciences. It emphasizes how efforts in adaptation and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions can come together in a process called climate resilient development, which enables a liveable future for biodiversity and humankind. The IPCC is the leading body for assessing climate change science. IPCC reports are produced in comprehensive, objective and transparent ways, ensuring they reflect the full range of views in the scientific literature. Novel elements include focused topical assessments, and an atlas presenting observed climate change impacts and future risks from global to regional scales. Available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.
Download or read book Ecosystem Carbon Dynamics Following Fire Risk Mitigation Treatments in a Mixed conifer Forest Sierra Nevada California written by Morgan Wiechmann and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forests can sequester carbon from the atmosphere, helping mitigate climate change. Fire suppression, increasing temperature, and prolonged drought have resulted in increased wildfire frequency and severity in recent decades in the western United States. Large and severe wildfires impact the carbon cycle both through direct emissions and reduced sequestration resulting from tree mortality. Mechanical thinning and prescribed burning can reduce fire severity and carbon loss when wildfire occurs. Ecosystem carbon dynamics altered during treatment implementation include carbon removal (thinning) and carbon emissions (prescribed fire), and following treatment include carbon sequestration (biomass growth) and charcoal production formed from burning vegetation. To accurately assess long-term carbon costs and benefits of thinning and burning these dynamics need to be evaluated.We quantified the 10-year post-treatment carbon stocks from a full-factorial experiment for three levels of thinning and two levels of burning in a mixed-conifer forest in California's Sierra Nevada. Our results indicate that (1) treatments that retain large trees quickly recovered the initial carbon loss, (2) the carbon emitted from prescribed fire was recovered within the historical fire return interval, and (3) in treatments that included prescribed fire, fire-tolerant species experienced similar percent change in carbon as fire-intolerant species. Selective thinning to reduce forest density, followed by prescribed burning to reduce surface fuels, can help stabilize forest carbon and restore ecosystem resilience. By retaining large diameter trees and selectively thinning midsize (25-75 cm DBH) fire-intolerant tree species, the remaining tree carbon is aggregated in fewer, larger trees that are resistant to subsequent wildfire-induced mortality.Additionally we compared charcoal carbon produced from coarse woody debris and fine woody debris charred during prescribed burning. We quantified post-treatment charcoal carbon formation in organic matter and the top 5 cm of mineral soil from downed logs (> 30 cm diameter) that were present prior to treatment. Our results indicate that there was no difference in the amount of charcoal carbon produced from combusted coarse woody debris and combusted fine woody debris. We also compared treatment effects of charcoal production and found that treatments that included burning had significantly more charcoal carbon than the control. Charcoal carbon represented 0.19% of total ecosystem carbon, a relatively small fraction of total ecosystem carbon. However, charcoal carbon is long-lived and will likely continue to accumulate with repeated burning, leading to additional increases in long-term soil carbon storage. Given increasing efforts to reduce high-severity wildfire risk with thinning and burning, our findings help improve our understanding of the effects these treatments have on ecosystem carbon flux.
Download or read book Fiscal Costs of Climate Change in the United States written by Lint Barrage and published by . This book was released on 2023 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper explores the fiscal impacts of climate change and their policy implications for the United States. I develop and empirically quantify a climate-macroeconomic model where climate change can affect (i) government consumption requirements (e.g., healthcare), (ii) transfer payments (e.g., income support), (iii) tax revenues, and where (iv) adaptation to sea level rise (e.g., sea walls) must be publicly financed. First, the paper presents a novel bottom-up quantification of fiscal costs based on literature synthesis and an empirical analysis of public healthcare costs associated with extreme temperatures and wildfires. Climate change is projected to increase total government consumption (transfer) requirements by around 2.2% (0.4%) by 2100 in a business-as-usual climate policy scenario, with healthcare accounting for the majority of cost increases. Second, I show theoretically that the social cost of carbon must account for climate impacts on both government consumption and household transfer payments if the marginal cost of public funds exceeds unity. Finally, the numerical results indicate that fiscal considerations are of first order importance for climate policy design. The elasticity of the social cost of carbon with respect to government consumption (transfer) impacts per degree warming is estimated to be around 20 (10). Accounting for fiscal considerations moreover increases the projected domestic U.S. welfare benefits of climate policy by up to a factor of three.
Download or read book Socio Economic Impacts of Carbon Sequestration on Livelihoods and Future Climate written by Marina Cabral Pinto and published by Mdpi AG. This book was released on 2022-01-24 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the modern era of industrial revolution, urbanization, and deforestation of forest land, carbon (C) sequestration through well-known activities called "land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF)" could establish a win-win situation from a climate change and sustainable development perspective. Equally important are the socio-economic co-benefits of C sequestration, given their implications on properly designed policies, especially on restoration and/or conservation of forests located in the tropical eco-regions. Further, the huge contribution of C sequestered in the vegetation and its underlain soil helps to protect socio-economic damages from climate change. This book explores the C sequestration of vegetation and its underlying soil, deforestation, as well as its impact on climate change, a vulnerability risk assessment for the climate, socio-economic impacts, and the mitigation of future climate impact strategies. The theme of the book extends across environmental policy (e.g., the Paris Agreement and REDD+), C sequestration in the terrestrial ecosystems, the applicability of land use, and the C credit generated at regional and global scales. This book is highly useful for environmentalists, hydrologists, soil scientists, and policymakers to understand the C sequestration potential of the vegetation and underlying soil in the terrestrial ecosystems at the regional, national and global scale to further study the long-term impacts on socio-economic development resulting from its implementation via climate change modeling.
Download or read book Valuing Climate Damages written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-05-23 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The social cost of carbon (SC-CO2) is an economic metric intended to provide a comprehensive estimate of the net damages - that is, the monetized value of the net impacts, both negative and positive - from the global climate change that results from a small (1-metric ton) increase in carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions. Under Executive Orders regarding regulatory impact analysis and as required by a court ruling, the U.S. government has since 2008 used estimates of the SC-CO2 in federal rulemakings to value the costs and benefits associated with changes in CO2 emissions. In 2010, the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (IWG) developed a methodology for estimating the SC-CO2 across a range of assumptions about future socioeconomic and physical earth systems. Valuing Climate Changes examines potential approaches, along with their relative merits and challenges, for a comprehensive update to the current methodology. This publication also recommends near- and longer-term research priorities to ensure that the SC- CO2 estimates reflect the best available science.
Download or read book Climate Change 2014 written by Groupe d'experts intergouvernemental sur l'évolution du climat and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Regional Impacts of Climate Change written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Working Group II. and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Download or read book Economic analysis of greenhouse gas mitigation potential in the US forest sector written by Justin Baker and published by RTI Press. This book was released on 2017-08-30 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study conducted an economic analysis of future US forest mitigation potential using a detailed economic model of the global forestry sector. The scenario design included a wide range of possible future carbon price incentives and climate policy structures (unilateral and global mitigation). Results across all scenarios show US forest sector mitigation potential ranging from 54 to 292 MtCO2e between 2015 and 2030 (5 to 47 percent of the additional mitigation needed to achieve the 26 to 28 percent emissions reduction target). The results from this study suggest that the US forest sector can play an important role in global greenhouse gas mitigation efforts, including efforts to meet any potential future US mitigation targets.
Download or read book Integrating Remote Sensing Field Observations and Models to Understand Disturbance and Climate Effects on the Carbon Balance of the West Coast U S written by and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GOAL: To develop and apply an approach to quantify and understand the regional carbon balance of the west coast states for the North American Carbon Program. OBJECTIVE: As an element of NACP research, the proposed investigation is a two pronged approach that derives and evaluates a regional carbon (C) budget for Oregon, Washington, and California. Objectives are (1) Use multiple data sources, including AmeriFlux data, inventories, and multispectral remote sensing data to investigate trends in carbon storage and exchanges of CO2 and water with variation in climate and disturbance history; (2) Develop and apply regional modeling that relies on these multiple data sources to reduce uncertainty in spatial estimates of carbon storage and NEP, and relative contributions of terrestrial ecosystems and anthropogenic emissions to atmospheric CO2 in the region; (3) Model terrestrial carbon processes across the region, using the Biome-BGC terrestrial ecosystem model, and an atmospheric inverse modeling approach to estimate variation in rate and timing of terrestrial uptake and feedbacks to the atmosphere in response to climate and disturbance. APPROACH: In performing the regional analysis, the research plan for the bottom-up approach uses a nested hierarchy of observations that include AmeriFlux data (i.e., net ecosystem exchange (NEE) from eddy covariance and associated biometric data), intermediate intensity inventories from an extended plot array partially developed from the PI's previous research, Forest Service FIA and CVS inventory data, time since disturbance, disturbance type, and cover type from Landsat developed in this study, and productivity estimates from MODIS algorithms. The BIOME-BGC model is used to integrate information from these sources and quantify C balance across the region. The inverse modeling approach assimilates flux data from AmeriFlux sites, high precision CO2 concentration data from AmeriFlux towers and four new calibrated CO2 sites, reanalysis meteorology and various remote sensing products to generate statewide estimates of biosphere carbon exchange from the atmospheric point of view.
Download or read book Climate Change Policy Preliminary Observations on Options for Distributing Emissions Allowances and Revenue Under a Cap and Trade Program written by John Stephenson and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Congress is considering proposals to establish a price on greenhouse gas emissions through a cap-and-trade program that would limit overall emissions and require covered entities to hold tradable emissions permits, or allowances, for their emissions. This program would raise the cost of activities that produce emissions and provide an economic incentive to decrease emissions. A cap-and-trade program would increase the cost of burning fossil fuels and other activities that generate emissions and potentially raise costs for consumers. A key decision is the extent to which the gov¿t. offsets these costs. This testimony assesses the potential effects of: (1) allowance allocation methods; and (2) options for distributing program revenues. Illus.
Download or read book Who Gains and who Pays Under Carbon allowance Trading written by United States. Congressional Budget Office and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study, written by Terry Dinan, examines how the potential costs of a carbon-allowance program would be distributed among U.S. households of different incomes. This analysis was done at the request of the Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Commerce.
Download or read book Effects of Climate Change on Natural Resources and Communities written by and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report is a compilation of four briefing papers based on literature reviews and syntheses, prepared for USDA Forest Service policy analysts and decisionmakers about specific questions pertaining to climate change. The main topics addressed here are effects of climate change on wildlife habitat, other ecosystem services, and land values; socioeconomic impacts of climate change on rural communities; and competitiveness of carbon offset projects on nonindustrial private forests in the United States. The U.S. private forest offset projects tend to be less costly than European projects but more expensive to implement than those in tropical forests in developing countries. Important policy considerations involving any mitigation actions include effects on other ecosystem services, such as wildlife habitat, and determining baselines and additionality. Stacking of ecosystem services payments or credits with carbon offset payments may be crucial in improving the participation of private forest owners. Potential social impacts of climate change are discussed in terms of health effects on rural communities and climate change sensitivity of Indigenous communities. Potential economic impacts on rural communities are discussed for agriculture, forestry, recreation and tourism, fisheries, water resources, and energy. Salient findings from the literature are summarized in the synthesis of the literature, along with identified research needs.
Download or read book Carbon Dynamics of Forests in Washington U S and the Effects of Climate driven Changes in Fire Regimes on Carbon Storage Potential written by Crystal Lynn Raymond and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Green Carbon written by Brendan Mackey and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 47 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The colour of carbon matters. Green carbon is the carbon stored in the plants and soil of natural ecosystems and is a vital part of the global carbon cycle. This report is the first in a series that examines the role of natural forests in the storage of carbon, the impacts of human land use activities, and the implications for climate change policy nationally and internationally. REDD (“reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation”) is now part of the agenda for the “Bali Action Plan” being debated in the lead-up to the Copenhagen climate change conference in 2009. Currently, international rules are blind to the colour of carbon so that the green carbon in natural forests is not recognised, resulting in perverse outcomes including ongoing deforestation and forest degradation, and the conversion of extensive areas of land to industrial plantations. This report examines REDD policy from a green carbon scientific perspective. Subsequent reports will focus on issues concerning the carbon sequestration potential of commercially logged natural forests, methods for monitoring REDD, and the long term implications of forest policy and management for the global carbon cycle and climate change.
