Testing emissions equivalency metrics against climate policy goals

The climate impacts of energy technologies are frequently assessed using equivalency metrics, which convert emissions of multiple greenhouse gases to a common scale. Numerous metrics have been proposed that incorporate, in different ways, information about the time-dependent impacts of gases. However, more focus has been placed on proposing metrics than on testing their performance in real-world use cases. Here we present a testing approach that simulates how metrics would affect the selection of energy technology portfolios that comply with a CO₂-equivalent emissions cap. Unintended radiative forcing outcomes can occur, emphasizing the need to test metrics in a practical context. We demonstrate the approach for policies designed to limit radiative forcing and discuss extensions to limits on temperature or economic impacts. Metric performance is evaluated by (i) how much actual radiative forcing overshoots the intended stabilization level and (ii) the level of energy consumption permitted. We use this testing approach to study a variety of metrics based on an estimated radiative forcing stabilization time under two climate policy goals. We find that these goal-inspired metrics, if chosen carefully, can exhibit performance improvements over the standard global warming potential (GWP) while maintaining its transparency and ease-of-use. These alternative metrics can significantly reduce the overshoot in radiative forcing observed with the GWP, at a small cost in energy consumption. Moreover, simple metrics can exhibit similar performance improvements to more complex ones.     

黑碳对气候的影响和中国黑碳减排措施

黑碳已经成为仅次于二氧化碳的气候影响因子,黑碳的排放问题越来越受到人们的关注。主要探讨了黑碳对气候的影响机理,并论述了黑碳主要是通过辐射强迫对全球气候产生影响,其中辐射强迫包括对可见光和部分红外光强吸附而造成的直接辐射强迫和通过云凝结核和冰雪反射影响等造成的间接辐射强迫。另外,还讨论了中国黑碳的排放问题,并且针对不同类别的排放源,提出了一些可行的减排建议。     

念青唐古拉山扎当冰川雪冰中不溶性有机碳含量及其辐射强迫研究

为了研究雪冰中不溶性有机碳(Water-insoluble Organic Carbon,WISOC)的含量及其辐射强迫作用,于2012年7月和8月对青藏高原南部纳木错流域扎当冰川90个表层雪冰样品中WISOC的含量进行了分析,采样期间利用地物光谱仪实地测量了反照率.结果表明,在消融季节(7—8月),扎当冰川表面被裸冰、老雪和新雪覆盖,以上3种消融情形下WISOC的平均含量分别为(1618.4±1236.0)、(432.3±329.7)和(183.7±158.0)ng·g-1,雪冰的融化导致WISOC等吸光性物质在冰川表面的富集,降低了冰川表面反照率.通过SNICAR模型(Snow,Ice,and Aerosol Radiative Modle)敏感性分析表明,3种情形下WISOC降低雪冰表面反照率(贡献率)分别为0.0020(6.8%)、0.0018(7.4%)和0.0010(2.1%),对应的WISOC的辐射强迫分别为1.14、1.34和0.81 W·m-2.平均地,WISOC对辐射强迫的影响超过了黑碳(BC)影响的20%,而在新雪覆盖条件下,WISOC对辐射强迫的影响甚至达到了粉尘影响的72.3%.因此,虽然雪冰中的WISOC的吸光能力相对于BC较弱,但所引起的雪冰表面反照率降低及冰川消融等效应不容忽视.     

温室效应对气候和农业的影响

本文综述温室效应及因氟氯碳化合物的增加使平流层臭氧减少紫外辐射增加对气候和农业的影响.介绍低层空气二次污染物臭氧增加的影响.     

IPCC第一工作组评估报告分析及建议

2021年8月6日,政府间气候变化专门委员会(IPCC)第一工作组第六次评估报告(AR6)发布,针对气候系统变化科学领域最新研究进展和成果进行了全面、系统的评估. AR6以更强有力的证据进一步确定了近百年全球气候变暖的客观事实,人类活动对气候变暖影响的信号更为清晰. 本文总结了历次IPCC评估报告,并从气候现状、未来可能的气候状态、风险评估和区域适应气候变化信息以及减缓未来气候变化4个方面对AR6进行系统梳理. 结果表明:人类活动产生的温室气体对大气、海洋、冰冻圈和生物圈的影响前所未有,引发了全球许多地区的极端天气和气候极端事件. 未来若温室气体排放没有显著减少,到2100年全球地表温度将至少升高2.1 ℃;如若人类影响得到有效改善,在最低排放情景(SSP1-1.9)中,2055年将变为负碳,到21世纪末气温开始再次下降. 减少CH₄等其他污染物可以为全球气候治理争取时间,并改善空气质量. 建议中国应对气候变化应加强基础科学研究,聚焦模式开发和应用及与各工作组之间的衔接,加快短寿命气候强迫(SLCFs)与温室气体协同控制研究,强化应对气候变化政策措施的科技支撑等.      

我国发展低碳农业的主要措施研究

在全球气候变暖和能源危机的背景下,农业是温室气体主要排放源之一,低碳农业作为应对气候变化的农业行动,越来越受到人们的重视。低碳农业的目标是减缓温室气体,实现高效率、低能耗、低排放、高碳汇的高效农业。在推动我国低碳农业发展的措施方面,总结起来主要包括减少碳排放、增加碳汇和采用其他相应的技术措施相结合。也就是通过一系列相应的技术措施和基础设施建设,减少温室气体总量排放的同时,增加耕地、草地和林地吸收二氧化碳的量,从而实现低碳农业的可持续发展。     

土地利用/覆盖变化与气候变化定量关系研究进展

当前,以全球变暖为主要特征的气候变化对人类社会的可持续发展构成了严重威胁,如何有效适应气候变化成为人类面临的共同挑战。研究表明,全球变暖的主要驱动力是人类活动造成的温室气体排放和土地利用方式改变。过去,科学界致力于削减全球温室气体排放,而土地利用与气候变化的关系,以及如何适应气候变化,没有引起足够重视。论文重点阐述土地利用/覆盖变化对区域气候的生物地球物理影响机制,总结土地利用/覆盖与气候变化定量关系的研究进展,得出现阶段研究存在四点不足:①缺乏景观格局与气候过程关系的认识;②较少考虑人类活动对下垫面的影响;③区域气候模式存在局限;④适应气候变化的研究不足。针对上述问题,论文指出基于可持续性的土地系统设计是适应气候变化的有效途径,也是未来气候变化领域的研究重点。     

放牧对内蒙古草原温室气体排放的影响

静态箱-气相色谱法用于测定内蒙古典型草原温室气体排放.禁牧草原及放牧草原吸收CH₄、排放N₂O和CO₂各自有其相对固定的季节变化形式,草原和大气交换温室气体通量的季节变化形式主要受年度气候变化所控制,而土壤、植被类型、降雨量等禁牧因素和放牧强度等人为因素仅影响排放强度.与禁牧草原相比,自由放牧降低了羊草草原对CH4的吸收和对N₂O的排放,但大大增加了CO₂的排放量.随着放牧强度的增加,草原温室气体排放强度呈线性迅速增长.     

生物炭输入对城郊农业区农田地表反照率及土壤呼吸的影响

为了探究生物炭输入对地表反照率及土壤呼吸的影响,通过田间小区试验的方法,在不同生物炭用量[0（CK）、0.5 kg·（m²·a）^-1（BC0.5）、4.5 kg·（m²·a）^-1（BC4.5）]不同地表条件下[种植作物（以+表示）、裸地（以-表示）],对农田地表反照率、土壤温湿度、土壤CO₂排放通量、土壤有机碳组分等指标进行了测定分析.结果表明,在作物生长前期（玉米的苗期至拔节期、小麦苗期至越冬期）,BC4.5+、BC0.5+的地表反照率相较CK+处理均有显著下降（P<0.05）,小麦季最大降幅分别为23.7%、17.9%,玉米季最大降幅分别为44.5%、44.9%.随叶面积指数增加,地表反照率在3个处理间的差异随之逐渐消失,作物覆盖可有效缓解生物炭输入导致的地表反照率的降低效应;裸地条件下,生物炭处理的地表反照率较对照处理在全部的观测中均有显著下降（P<0.05）;生物炭在输入初期可显著增加土壤CO₂释放量（P<0.05）,但其增幅随时间逐渐减小,其中BC4.5+较CK+的增幅从276.7%逐步降低至36.1%,BC4.5-较CK-的增幅从163.5%明显减弱至39.8%.生物炭处理较对照处理增加的CO₂释放量主要来自生物炭-土壤共存体系中的易分解碳组分,其土壤CO₂释放通量与土壤水溶性有机碳含量呈显著相关（P<0.05）;生物炭输入导致的地表反照率变化未对土壤呼吸产生直接的影响,而且生物炭输入可降低土壤呼吸温度敏感性Q10值,表明生物炭具有一定的化学和生物学稳定性.     

Analysing countries’ contribution to climate change: scientific and policy-related choices

This paper evaluates the influence of different policy-related and scientific choices on the calculated regional contributions to global climate change (the “Brazilian Proposal”). Policy-related choices include the time period of emissions, the mix of greenhouse gases and different indicators of climate change impacts. The scientific choices include historical emissions and model representations of the climate system. We generated and compared results of several simple climate models. We find that the relative contributions of different nations to global climate change—from emissions of greenhouse gases alone—are quite robust, despite the varying model complexity and differences in calculated absolute changes. For the default calculations, the average calculated contributions to the global mean surface temperature increase in 2000 are about 40% from OECD, 14% from Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union, 24% from Asia and 22% from Africa and Latin America. Policy-related choices, such as time period of emissions, climate change indicator and gas mix generally have larger influence on the results than scientific choices. More specifically, choosing a later attribution start date (1990 instead of 1890) for historical emissions, decreases the contributions of regions that started emitting early, such as the OECD countries by 6 percentage points, whereas it increases the contribution of late emitters such as Asia by 8 percentage points. However, only including the fossil CO₂ emissions instead of the emissions of all Kyoto gases (fossil and land use change), increases the OECD contributions by 21 percentage points and decreases the contribution of Asia by 14 percentage points.     

The impact of the Clean Development Mechanism on developing countries’ commitment to mitigate climate change and its implications for the future

The objective of this paper is to examine the mitigation of climate change using the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) from the perspective of developing countries. The effects of the CDM on developing countries’ efforts to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) pledged under the Paris Agreement (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC], 21st Conference of the Parties, Paris, France) are investigated. Data analysis reveals that the intensive hosting of CDM projects and the resultant higher marginal abatement costs led to fewer efforts by developing countries to mitigate climate change. A theoretical model from the literature of “low-hanging fruits” is applied to determine if rising prices of the CDM can be expected in the future. The results indicate that the benefits for developing countries must increase so as to keep the CDM attractive for them in an environment where they also have reduction commitments. To further ensure the effectiveness of the CDM under the Paris Agreement, policy should ensure that developing countries actually charge higher prices and, at the same time, contribute adequately to the global goal of GHG reductions. To this end, developing countries should be permitted to demand benefits that lie outside the current scope of the CDM, and non-compliance with their climate targets should also be sanctioned. In addition, fostering sustainable development should become more attractive for developed countries without the CDM, e.g., through sustainability labels, so as to reduce the trade-off for developing countries between the benefits of the CDM and compliance with their commitments to mitigate climate change.

     

Afforestation opportunities when stand productivity is driven by a high risk of natural disturbance: a review of the open lichen woodland in the eastern boreal forest of Canada

Afforestation has the potential to offset the increased emission of atmospheric carbon dioxide and has therefore been proposed as a strategy to mitigate climate change. Here we review the opportunities for carbon (C) offsets through open lichen woodland afforestation in the boreal forest of eastern Canada as a case study, while considering the reversal risks (low productivity, fires, insect outbreaks, changes in land use and the effects of future climate on growth potential as well as on the disturbances regime). Our results suggest that : (1) relatively low growth rate may act as a limiting factor in afforestation projects in which the time available to increase C is driven by natural disturbances; (2) with ongoing climate change, a global increase in natural disturbance rates, mainly fire and spruce budworm outbreaks, may offset any increases in net primary production at the landscape level; (3) the reduction of the albedo versus increase in biomass may negatively affect the net climate forcing; (4) the impermanence of C stock linked to the reversal risks makes this scenario not necessarily cost attractive. More research, notably on the link between fire risk and site productivity, is needed before afforestation can be incorporated into forest management planning to assist climate change mitigation efforts. Therefore, we suggest that conceivable mitigation strategies in the boreal forest will likely have to be directed activities that can reduce emissions and can increase C sinks while minimizing the reversal impacts. Implementation of policies to reduce Greenhouse Gases (GHG) in the boreal forest should consider the biophysical interactions, the different spatial and temporal scales of their benefits, the costs (investment and benefits) and how all these factors are influenced by the site history.     

空气污染对气候变化影响与反馈的研究评述

气候变化和空气污染都是人类面临的重要环境问题,其影响与反馈已成为空气污染和气候变化领域的研究热点. 总结了空气污染与气候变化相互作用机理,系统梳理了国内外有关空气污染对气候变化影响及反馈的研究成果,并且重点评述了黑碳和硫酸盐气溶胶辐射强迫及其气候效应、气候变化对近地面臭氧和颗粒物影响等领域的研究进展. 分析指出,现阶段尚没有一个能够综合考虑气象条件、排放源、下垫面等诸多因子对空气污染的影响机理过程模型,无法定量描述大气组分在不同气象条件作用下的演变过程等. 提出未来研究中应深化对机理机制的认识,减少模式的不确定性,加强在排放清单的编制、立体观测网的构建、互馈机理的试验、模式的集成耦合等方面的研究.      

华北地区沙尘天气垂直气溶胶直接辐射强迫

利用CALIOP数据和SBDART（Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer）辐射传输模式研究了2013~2016年华北地区8d沙尘天气气溶胶及其直接辐射强迫垂直分布特征,分析了气溶胶垂直分布和光学特性对直接辐射强迫的影响.结果表明,气溶胶集中分布在地表及以上3km范围,其中纯净沙尘型和污染沙尘型气溶胶位于上层,污染大陆型气溶胶和烟雾位于下层.大气层顶、地表和大气层的日均气溶胶直接辐射强迫分别是-38.41~-88.44,-74.03~-225.86,9.06~137.42W/m².0~8km高度范围气溶胶直接辐射强迫是负值,且随着高度的增加绝对值逐渐减小.气溶胶垂直分布对大气层顶、地表和大气层的直接辐射强迫影响较小,但对直接辐射强迫垂直分布影响较大,由气溶胶廓线差异造成的同一高度层气溶胶直接辐射强迫最大差值能达到31.18W/m².气溶胶光学厚度和单次散射反照率对直接辐射强迫影响明显.消光能力相同时,吸收性气溶胶对短波太阳光的衰减作用大于散射性气溶胶,后向散射比例大的气溶胶大于后向散射比例小的气溶胶.     

华北地区沙尘天气垂直气溶胶直接辐射强迫

利用CALIOP数据和SBDART（Santa Barbara DISORT Atmospheric Radiative Transfer）辐射传输模式研究了2013~2016年华北地区8d沙尘天气气溶胶及其直接辐射强迫垂直分布特征,分析了气溶胶垂直分布和光学特性对直接辐射强迫的影响.结果表明,气溶胶集中分布在地表及以上3km范围,其中纯净沙尘型和污染沙尘型气溶胶位于上层,污染大陆型气溶胶和烟雾位于下层.大气层顶、地表和大气层的日均气溶胶直接辐射强迫分别是-38.41~-88.44,-74.03~-225.86,9.06~137.42W/m².0~8km高度范围气溶胶直接辐射强迫是负值,且随着高度的增加绝对值逐渐减小.气溶胶垂直分布对大气层顶、地表和大气层的直接辐射强迫影响较小,但对直接辐射强迫垂直分布影响较大,由气溶胶廓线差异造成的同一高度层气溶胶直接辐射强迫最大差值能达到31.18W/m².气溶胶光学厚度和单次散射反照率对直接辐射强迫影响明显.消光能力相同时,吸收性气溶胶对短波太阳光的衰减作用大于散射性气溶胶,后向散射比例大的气溶胶大于后向散射比例小的气溶胶.     

Co-benefits of post-2012 global climate mitigation policies

This paper provides an analysis of co-benefits for traditional air pollutants made possible through global climate policies using the Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model in the time horizon up to 2050. The impact analysis is based on projections of energy consumption provided by the Prospective Outlook for the Long term Energy System (POLES) model for a scenario without any global greenhouse gas mitigation efforts, and for a 2°C climate policy scenario which assumes internationally coordinated action to mitigate climate change. Outcomes of the analysis are reported globally and for key world regions: the European Union (EU), China, India and the United States. The assessment takes into account current air pollution control legislation in each country. Expenditures on air pollution control under the global climate mitigation regime are reduced in 2050 by 250 billion € when compared to the case without climate measures. Around one third of financial co-benefits estimated world-wide in this study by 2050 occur in China, while an annual cost saving of 35 billion (Euros) € is estimated for the EU if the current air pollution legislation and climate policies are adopted in parallel. Health impacts of air pollution are quantified in terms of loss of life expectancy related to the exposure from anthropogenic emissions of fine particles, as well as in terms of premature mortality due to ground-level ozone. For example in China, current ambient concentrations of particulate matter are responsible for about 40 months-losses in the average life expectancy. In 2050, the climate strategies reduce this indicator by 50 %. Decrease of ozone concentrations estimated for the climate scenario might save nearly 20,000 cases of premature death per year. Similarly significant are reductions of impacts on ecosystems due to acidification and eutrophication.     

Future Trends of Land-Use Emissions of Major Greenhouse Gases

Land-use emissions of greenhouse gases make up over one-third of current total anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and about three-quarters of the total anthropogenic emissions of CH4 and N2O. Considering their contribution to global emissions, it is important to understand their future trends in order to anticipate and mitigate climate change. This paper reviews published scenarios of major categories of these emissions with the aim to provide background information for the development of new scenarios. These categories include CO2 from deforestation, CH4 from rice cultivation, CH4 from enteric fermentation of cattle, and N2O from fertilizer application. Base year estimates of all these categories varied greatly from reference to reference, and hence emissions of all scenarios were normalized relative to their 1990 value before being compared to one another. The range of published scenarios of CO2 emissions from deforestation is widest around the middle of the 21st century and then all scenarios converge to low values towards 2100. By contrast, the different scenarios of CH4 and N2O diverge with time, showing their widest range in 2100. Global emissions of CH4 from rice cultivation vary by a factor of three in 2100 and N2O from fertilized soils by a factor of 2.3. Emissions of CH4 from enteric fermentation of animals have the smallest range (factor of 2.0). The typical long-range trends of land-use emission scenarios vary greatly from region to region - they stabilize in industrialized regions after a few decades, but tend to stabilize later in developing regions or continue to grow throughout the 21st century. To improve the realism of the estimates of future trends of land-use emissions, it is especially important to improve the estimation of the future extent of agricultural land and the rate of deforestation, while taking into account significant driving forces such as the demand for agricultural commodities and crop yields.     

草地生态系统碳通量研究进展

草地碳循环在全球气候变化中起着重要作用,草地碳通量研究是草地碳循环研究的关键问题。由于草地特殊的地理位置及环境特征,使得草地碳通量有别于其他类型的生态系统。草地温室气体特别是CO2和CH4的释放水平具有明显的时空变化特征,其通量变化与许多外部因素相关,包括土壤微生物、土壤温度、土壤湿度、土地利用方式等。本文对近年来草地生态系统碳汇功能变化以及影响碳通量相关因子的研究成果进行了系统的分析和综述。还讨论了草地碳通量研究存在的问题,并对其发展方向进行了展望。     

中国沙尘气溶胶的间接辐射强迫与气候效应

利用在线耦合的区域气候化学模式系统(RegCCMS),对2003~2007年的3,4,5月中国沙尘气溶胶的空间分布,间接辐射强迫和间接气候效应进行模拟.结果表明:沙尘分布主要集中在中国西北的新疆、内蒙、甘肃等地区.5月份最高的中心值浓度达到3500μg/m3,3个月地面浓度依次增大.3,4,5月由沙尘气溶胶造成的第一间接辐射强迫平均值分别为-1.26,-2.0,-2.69W/m2.局部地区达到-7W/m2.考虑到沙尘气溶胶的第一间接气候效应后,使近地面气温下降,降水减少,3,4,5月地面气温变化的平均值为-0.05,-0.07,-0.08K. 3,4,5月降水变化平均值分别为-0.0037,-0.037,-0.1mm/d. 不同的月份和地区,温度和降水的变化存在明显的差异.     

Adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture: an analysis of potential synergies

As climate changes due to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, agriculture will be one of the key human activities affected. Projections show that while overall global food production in the coming decades may keep pace with the food requirements of a growing world population, climate change might worsen existing regional disparities because it will reduce crop yields mostly in lands located at lower latitudes where many developing countries are situated. Strategies to enhance local adaptation capacity are therefore needed to minimize climatic impacts and to maintain regional stability of food production. At the same time, agriculture as a sector offers several opportunities to mitigate the portion of global greenhouse gas emissions that are directly dependent upon land use, land-use change, and land-management techniques. This paper reviews issues of agriculture and climate change, with special attention to adaptation and mitigation. Specifically, as adaptation and mitigation strategies in agriculture are implemented to alleviate the potential negative effects of climate change, key synergies need to be identified, as mitigation practices may compete with modifications to local agricultural practices aimed at maintaining production and income. Under future climate and socio-economic pressures, land managers and farmers will be faced with challenges in regard to selecting those mitigation and adaptation strategies that together meet food, fiber and climate policy requirements.