MUHAMMAD RAMADHAN BIN ZAKARIA (A133409) (Task 6)

Supposed you are living in a coastal city. The city administrator has noticed that the mean sea

level has been rising for the past 50 years. The raising is small but over a long period of time it

may cause problems in the city centre as the level of that part of the city is quite low. If you are

hired as a consultant, write a plan of action on what can be done to reduce or mitigate the

problems. Your report must include Mitigation and Adaptation measures.

ANSWER:

Introduction

Global climate change presents one of the foremost threats that is economically, socially and

environmentally of the new century. Increases in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the

atmosphere are expected to result in substantially higher temperatures, more frequent intense

storms, rising sea levels, and changes in water flows and quality. There is broad agreement in the

scientific community that human activities are contributing to these changes, largely by releasing

carbon dioxide into the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels to generate electricity,

manufacture goods, heat our homes, and power our vehicles. The Science of the Greenhouse

Effect that is the greenhouse effect is essential to life as we know it. Without it, the Earth would

be permanently icy and inhospitable. Instead, water vapor and other gases in the Earth’s

atmosphere absorb some of the infrared energy radiating from the sunlight-warmed surface of

the Earth. These gases, called greenhouse gases, allow the Earth’s atmosphere to function as a

sort of thermostat, keeping temperatures on Earth within a broad, mostly habitable range.

Increasing the atmospheric concentration of these energy-absorbing gases threatens to disrupt the

global climate, substantially altering temperature and precipitation patterns. The gases of greatest

concern are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons. Carbon dioxide, which is

produced primarily through burning gasoline, natural gas, coal, and oil, is the largest contributor

to the greenhouse effect, with emissions estimated to be 82 percent of all U.S. greenhouse gas

emissions. Expected Impacts of Climate Change Globally, climate change is expected to increase

temperatures, alter soil moisture levels, raise sea level, and increase the likelihood of severe heat

waves, floods, droughts, and other extreme weather events.

Mitigation

Climate mitigation is any action taken to permanently eliminate or reduce the long-term risk

and hazards of climate change to human life, property. In general the more mitigation there is,

the less will be the impacts to which we will have to adjust, and the less the risks for which we

will have to try and prepare. Conversely, the greater the degree of preparatory adaptation, the

less may be the impacts associated with any given degree of climate change. For people today,

already feeling the impacts of past inaction in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation is

not altogether passive, rather it is an active adjustment in response to new stimuli. However, our

present age has proactive options (mitigation), and must also plan to live with the consequences

(adaptation) of global warming. The idea that less mitigation means greater climatic change, and

consequently requiring more adaptation is the basis for the urgency surrounding reductions in

greenhouse gases. Climate change involves complex interactions between climatic,

environmental, economic, political, institutional, social, and technological processes. It cannot be

addressed or comprehended in isolation of broader societal goals (such as equity or sustainable

development), or other existing or probable future sources of stress.

Climate change poses a global challenge and must play a dual role in responding to the challenge

as a responsible member of the international community and in its own interest. There are two

dimensions in the response to global warming- mitigation and adaptation.

Mitigation: making changes to slow climate change by lowering the amount of greenhouse

gases

Climate mitigation is any action taken to permanently eliminate or reduce the long-term risk

and hazards of climate change to human life, property. In general the more mitigation there is,

the less will be the impacts to which we will have to adjust, and the less the risks for which we

will have to try and prepare. Conversely, the greater the degree of preparatory adaptation, the

less may be the impacts associated with any given degree of climate change. For people today,

already feeling the impacts of past inaction in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adaptation is

not altogether passive, rather it is an active adjustment in response to new stimuli. However, our

present age has proactive options (mitigation), and must also plan to live with the consequences

(adaptation) of global warming. The idea that less mitigation means greater climatic change, and

consequently requiring more adaptation is the basis for the urgency surrounding reductions in

greenhouse gases. Climate change involves complex interactions between climatic,

environmental, economic, political, institutional, social, and technological processes. It cannot be

addressed or comprehended in isolation of broader societal goals (such as equity or sustainable

development), or other existing or probable future sources of stress. By identifying and

implementing such ―win-win‖ measures, we can pursue mitigation objectives without diverting

resources from economic and social development priorities, including environmental priorities

related to clean air, water and sanitation.

Sector Key mitigation technologies and

practices currently

commercially available.

Future key mitigation

technologies and practices

projected.

Energy Supply Improved supply and distribution

efficiency; fuel switching from coal to

gas; nuclear power; renewable heat and

power (hydropower, solar, wind,

geothermal and bioenergy); combined

heat and power; early applications of

CCS (e.g. storage of removed CO 2 from

natural gas).

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

for gas, biomass and coal-fired

electricity generating facilities;

advanced nuclear power; advanced

renewable energy, including tidal

and waves energy, concentrating

solar, and solar PV.

Transport More fuel efficient vehicles; hybrid

vehicles; cleaner diesel vehicles; biofuels;

modal shifts from road transport to rail

and public transport systems; non-

motorised transport (cycling, walking);

land-use andtransport planning.

Second generation biofuels; higher

efficiency aircraft; advanced

electric and hybrid vehicles with

more powerful and reliable

batteries.

Buildings Efficient lighting and daylighting; more

efficient electrical appliances and heating

and cooling devices; improved cook

stoves, improved insulation ; passive and

active solar design for heating and

cooling; alternative refrigeration fluids,

recovery and recycle of fluorinated gases.

Integrated design of commercial

buildings including technologies,

such as intelligent meters that

provide feedback and control; solar

PV integrated in buildings.

Industry More efficient end-use electrical

equipment; heat and power recovery;

material recycling and substitution;

control of non-CO 2 gas emissions; and a

wide array of process-specific

technologies

Advanced energy efficiency; CCS

for cement, ammonia, and iron

manufacture; inert electrodes for

aluminium manufacture.

Agriculture Improved crop and grazing land

management to increase soil carbon

storage; restoration of cultivated peaty

soils and degraded lands;improved rice

cultivation techniques and livestock and

manure management to reduce CH4

emissions; improved nitrogen

fertilizer application techniques to reduce

N2 O emissions; dedicated energy crops

to replace fossil fuel use; improved

energy efficiency.

Improvements of crops yields

Forestry Afforestation; reforestation; forest

management; reduced

deforestation; harvested wood product

management; use of forestry products

forbioenergy to replace fossil fuel use

Tree species improvement to

increase biomass productivity

and carbon sequestration. Improved

remote sensing technologies for

analysis of vegetation/ soil carbon

sequestration potential and mapping

land use change

Waste Landfill methane recovery; waste

incineration with energy

recovery; composting of organic waste;

controlled waste water

treatment;recycling and waste

minimization

Biocovers and biofilters to optimize

CH4 oxidation

Adaptation: making changes that enhance resilience or reduce vulnerability to changes in

climate

Since climate change is now an inevitable prospect, we must also consider how best to adapt it,

so as to minimize its harmful consequences. Improved physical infrastructure can afford some

protection against phenomenon associated with climate change such as floods, extreme weather

events or coastal erosion. A switch to new crops, seeds or agricultural practices can moderate the

impacts on agriculture of changes in temperature and water availability. Education, training and

rural extension services can facilitate adaptation efforts. Improved weather and flood forecasting

and better communications can assist evacuation, relief and rehabilitation. As a developing

country, India’s primary effort must be in the area of adaptation. Adaptation will be necessary to

address impacts resulting from the warming which is already unavoidable due to past emissions.

The agricultural sector- which is the major source of employment in India and most other

developing countries- is directly vulnerable to changes in temperature, rainfall patterns and water

availability to a much greater degree than the industrial or services sectors. Moreover,

developing countries lack sufficient financial and technological resources for adapting

successfully to climate change. This imposes major constraints on their ability to build the

physical infrastructure required to cope with floods or extreme weather events, or to adopt new

capital intensive agricultural practices such as drip irrigation, or to switch over to new non-

agricultural occupations. For a developing country, rapid economic and social development is an

essential requirement for successful long-term adaptation to climate change. Development is the

best form of adaptation. For example, in the agriculture sector, a wide variety of adaptive actions

are being taken to lessen or overcome adverse effects of climate change on agriculture. At the

level of farms, adjustments may include the introduction of later- maturing crop varieties or

species, switching cropping sequences, sowing earlier, adjusting timing of field operations,

conserving soil moisture through right tillage methods, and improving irrigation efficiency.

Some options such as switching crop varieties may be inexpensive while others, such as

introducing irrigation (especially high-efficiency, water-conserving technologies), involve heavy

expenditure.

Local landuse and municipal planning represent important avenues for adaptation to

global warming. These forms of planning are recognised as central to avoiding the impacts of

climate related hazards such as floods and heat stress, planning for demographic and

consumption transition, and plans for ecosystem conservation. This type of planning is different

from the National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPAs) which are intended to be

frameworks for prioritizing adaptation needs. At the local scale, municipalities are at the coal

face of adaptation where impacts are experienced in the forms of inundation, bushfires,

heatwaves and rising sea levels.

Adaptation through local planning occurs in two distinct modes. The first is strategic planning,

which is important but not unique to local governments. At the local scale it fosters community

vision, aspirational goals and place-making, along with defining pathways to achieve these goals.

The second form is land-use planning, and is focused on the allocation of space to balance

economic prosperity with acceptable living standards and the conservation of natural resources.

Although these two types of planning are quite different in practice, and in many cases are

managed by different departments, we propose that both are highly important to climate change

adaptation, and can contribute to achieving adaptation at the local scale. Significant constraints

are recognised to hinder adaptation through planning, including limited resources, lack of

information, competing planning agendas and complying with requirements from other levels of

government. Examples of adaptation include defending against rising sea levels through better

flood defenses, and changing patterns of land use like avoiding more vulnerable areas for

housing.

Enhancing adaptive capacity

In a literature assessment, Smit et al. (2001) concluded that enhanced adaptive capacity would

reduce vulnerability to climate change.] In their view, activities that enhance adaptive capacity

are essentially equivalent to activities that promote sustainable development. These activities

include:

improving access to resources

reducing poverty

lowering inequities of resources and wealth among groups

improving education and information

improving infrastructure

improving institutional capacity and efficiency

Promoting local indigenous practices, knowledge, and experiences

Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute found that development interventions to

increase adaptive capacity have tended not to result in increased agency for local people. They

argue that this should play a more prominent part in future intervention planning because agency

is a central factor in all other aspects of adaptive capacity.

Agricultural production

A significant effect of global climate change is the altering of global rainfall patterns, with

certain effects on agriculture. Rainfed agriculture constitutes 80% of global agriculture. Many of

the 852 million poor people in the world live in parts of Asia and Africa that depend on rainfall

to cultivate food crops. As the global population swells, more food will be needed, but climate

variability is likely to make successful farming more difficult. Extended drought can cause the

failure of small and marginal farms with resultant economic, political and social disruption.

However, such events have previously occurred in human history independent of global climate

change. In recent decades, global trade has created distribution networks capable of delivering

surplus food to where it is needed, thus reducing local impact.

Drought tolerant crop varieties

Agriculture of any kind is strongly influenced by the availability of water. Climate change will

modify rainfall, evaporation, runoff, and soil moisture storage. Changes in total seasonal or in its

pattern of variability are both important. The occurrence of moisture

stress during flowering, pollination, and grain-filling is harmful to most crops and particularly so

to corn, soybeans, and wheat. Increased evaporation from the soil and accelerated transpiration in

the plants themselves will cause moisture stress. As a result, there will be a need to develop crop

varieties with greater drought tolerance.

More spending on irrigation[edit]

The demand for water for irrigation is projected to rise in a warmer climate, bringing increased

competition between agriculture—already the largest consumer of water resources in semi-arid

regions—and urban as well as industrial users. Falling water tables and the resulting increase in

the energy needed to pump water will make the practice of irrigation more expensive,

particularly when with drier conditions more water will be required per acre. Other strategies

will be needed to make the most efficient use of water resources. For example, the International

Water Management Institute has suggested five strategies that could help Asia feed its growing

population in light of climate change. These are:

modernising existing irrigation schemes to suit modern methods of farming

Supporting farmer's efforts to find their own water supplies, by tapping into groundwater in a

sustainable way

Looking beyond conventional 'Participatory Irrigation Management' schemes, by engaging

the private sector

Expanding capacity and knowledge

Investing outside the irrigation sector

Forest resources

The forestry resources are most crucial means of adaptation to forest dependent people whose

lives have been depending on it. If long duration of drought persist, definitely affect to rain-fed

agricultural system. In this situation, people can collect the edible fruits, roots and leaves for

their life survival. Similarly, forest resources provides not only goods but also services such as

regulation of ecosystem, maintain linkage of upstream-downstream through watershed

conservation, carbon sequestration and aesthetic value. These services become crucial part of life

sustained through increased adaptive capacity of poor, vulnerable, women and socially excluded

communities.

Rainwater storage

Providing farmers with access to a range of water stores could help them overcome dry spells

that would otherwise cause their crops to fail. Field studies have shown the effectiveness of

small-scale water storage. For example, according to the International Water Management

Institute, using small planting basins to 'harvest' water in Zimbabwe has been shown to boost

maize yields, whether rainfall is abundant or scarce. And in Niger, they have led to three or

fourfold increases in millet yields.

Weather control

Russian and American scientists have in the past tried to control the weather, for example

by seeding clouds with chemicals to try to produce rain when and where it is needed. A new

method being developed involves replicating the urban heat island effect, where cities are

slightly hotter than the countryside because they are darker and absorb more heat. This creates

28% more rain 20–40 miles downwind from cities compared to upwind. On the timescale of

several decades, new weather control techniques may become feasible which would allow

control of extreme weather such as hurricanes.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) through its Commission for Atmospheric

Sciences (CAS) has issued a "STATEMENT ON WEATHER MODIFICATION" as well as

"GUIDELINES FOR THE PLANNING OF WEATHER MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES" in

2007, stating among others that "Purposeful augmentation of precipitation, reduction of hail

damage, dispersion of fog and other types of cloud and storm modifications by cloud seeding are

developing technologies which are still striving to achieve a sound scientific foundation and

which have to be adapted to enormously varied natural conditions." [70]

Damming glacial lakes

Glacial lake outburst floods may become a bigger concern due to the retreat of glaciers, leaving

behind numerous lakes that are impounded by often weak terminal moraine dams. In the past, the

sudden failure of these dams has resulted in localized property damage, injury and

deaths. Glacial lakes in danger of bursting can have their moraines replaced with concrete dams

(which may also provide hydroelectric power).

Geoengineering

Main articles: Geoengineering and Solar radiation management

In a literature assessment, Barker et al. (2007) described geoengineering as a type of mitigation

policy. IPCC (2007) concluded that geoengineering options, such as ocean fertilization to

remove CO2 from the atmosphere, remained largely unproven. It was judged that reliable cost

estimates for geoengineering had not been published.

The Royal Society (2009) published the findings of a study into geoengineering. The authors of

the study defined geoengineering as a "deliberate large-scale intervention in the Earth's climate

system, in order to moderate global warming". According to the study, the safest and most

predictable method of moderating climate change is early action to reduce GHG emissions.

Scientists such as Ken Caldeira and Paul Crutzen, suggest geoengineering techniques, which can

be employed to change the climate deliberately and thus control some of the effects of global

warming. These include:

Solar radiation management may be seen as an adaptation to global warming. Techniques

such as space sunshade, creating stratospheric sulfur aerosolsand painting roofing and paving

materials white all fall into this category.

Hydrological geoengineering - typically seeking to preserve sea ice or adjust thermohaline

circulation by using methods such as diverting rivers to keep warm water away fromsea ice,

or tethering icebergs to prevent them drifting into warmer waters and melting. This may be

seen as an adaptation technique, although by preventingArctic methane release it may also

have mitigation aspects as well.

Assisting disadvantaged nations

In 2000, there was a proposal made at the Sixth Conference of Parties to the UN Framework

Convention on Climate Change that called for the creation of an Adaptation Fund of $1 billion

per year for developing countries, especially the least developed and small island states, to

enable them to combat the consequences of climate change.

Many scientists, policy makers and the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report have agreed that

disadvantaged nations, especially in the global south need more attention to the negative impacts

of climate change. These regions are highly populated and people have generally lower adaptive

capacity. A balance, however, between development and climate change mitigation and

adaptation needs to be found.

In the global south, national governments are largely responsible for formulation and

implementation of the adaptation plan, from local to the national level. In this context, a

contradictory situation exists. National governments attach high priority to development polices

and plans—not climate change. Development agendas are driven by pre-existing problems such

as poverty, malnutrition, food insecurity, availability of drinking water, indebtness, illiteracy,

unemployment, local resource conflicts, lower technological development etc. Here, it is

important to recognize that if climate change phenomenon is not properly understood and coping

strategies such as mitigation and adaptation are not adopted on timely manner, climate change

impacts will exacerbate these pre-existing problems.

Hence, there is a need of exploring strategies of integration between the climate change plans

and development plans in the global south. This integration should include principles such as

social justice and equity, inclusion of marginal population in decision making, women’s

participation and promotion of social cohesion. Inclusion of these principles will not only

promote mitigation and adaptation to climate change but will also make development more

distributive.

Collaborative research from the Institute of Development Studies draws links between adaptation

and poverty to help develop an agenda for pro-poor adaptation that can inform climate-resilient

poverty reduction. Adaptation to climate change will be "ineffective and inequitable if it fails to

learn and build upon an understanding of the multidimensional and differentiated nature of

poverty and vulnerability". Poorer countries tend to be more seriously affected by climate

change, yet have reduced assets and capacities with which to adapt. This has led to more

activities to integrate adaptation within development and poverty reduction programmes. The

rise of adaptation as a development issue has been influenced by concerns around minimising

threats to progress on poverty reduction, notably the MDGs, and by the injustice of impacts that

are felt hardest by those who have done least to contribute to the problem, framing adaptation as

an equity and right issue.

Migration

Recent literature has also put forward the concept of migration as a climate change coping

mechanism. Climate change push factors are weighed against economic or social pullfactors: the

role of climate change in migration is thus not a linear one of cause and effect. Migration

frequently requires would-be migrants to have access to social and financial capital, such as

support networks in the chosen destination, and the funds to be able to move. It is frequently the

last adaptive response households will take when confronted with environmental factors that

threaten their livelihoods, and mostly resorted to when other mechanisms to cope have proven

unsuccessful. Migration and Climate Change, aUNESCO publication, explores the dynamics

of environmental migration and the role of migration as an adaptive response to climate change.

Adaptation vs mitigation

Adaptation is specific to each type of natural ecosystem. Mitigation of climate change refers to

measures that reduce emissions through improved efficiency of energy use, reduced

deforestation, a switch to non-fossil fuels, or capture of emissions underground and in oceans,

vegetation and soils.

The two responses are not necessarily independent of each other. Increased use of air

conditioning in order to adapt to higher temperatures, for example, may increase GHG emissions

to the extent that electricity is generated using fossil fuels. Planting trees to absorb atmospheric

carbon is another mitigation option, but the measure will not be as effective if trees are planted in

an area where global warming is likely to raise temperatures and reduce precipitation.

Which countries should undertake these options and to what extent? Much of the carbon dioxide

emissions during the industrial era have arisen from the use of fossil fuels in the industrialized

countries. These countries have benefited from the use of relatively inexpensive fossil fuels in

enlarging their economies and achieving a high standard of living.

On this basis, the industrialized countries need to assume leadership to reduce their own

emissions and also assist developing countries such as India in reducing their emissions.

Countries of the European Union, Japan and Canada have committed to reduce their emissions of

six GHGs by about 7.5% under the Kyoto Protocol compared to their 1990 levels. The U.S and

Australia have assumed no mandatory commitments.

The future is, however, different. As a group, the economies of developing countries and their

fossil fuels consumption is growing faster than that of the more mature industrialized economies.

China’s and India’s emissions will surpass those of the U.S today by 2010 and 2035 respectively.

Faster growth means that capital stock is turning over faster, which offers a golden opportunity

to plant seeds of low-emissions technologies whose impact will be felt for decades to come.

Some adaptation and mitigation measures are being undertaken by countries already for reasons

that have little to do with climate change. These are known as no-regrets measures because their

benefits exceed their cost to society, excluding the benefits of avoided climate change. Most

energy-efficiency measures fall in this category of mitigation options. Reducing local air

pollution through the use of technology that improves combustion and reduces fuel use would

also constitute a no-regrets option since it would reduce GHG emissions at no additional cost.

Developing software to predict and implement measures to reduce coastal storm surges is an

adaptation option that could be used to predict surges that may be exacerbated by global

warming.

Carbon emissions of an economy depend both on how efficiently energy is used by the economy,

and on the mix of fuels that constitute energy supply. Standard coal is almost twice as carbon

intensive per unit of energy as natural gas, and oil falls somewhere in between. A common

mitigation measure to reduce carbon emissions is thus to use natural gas in place of coal and oil,

and oil products in place of coal.

4.0 CONCLUSION

Climate change is widely considered to be one of the greatest challenges to modern human

civilization that has profound socioeconomic and environmental impacts. It is essential to

develop a portfolio of strategies that includes adaptation, mitigation, technological development

and research (climate science, impacts, adaptation and mitigation) to combat climate change.

It is imperative on countries to take a proactive role in planning national and regional

programmes on adaptation to climate variability and climate change. Integration of mitigation

and adaptation frameworks into sustainable development planning is an urgent need, especially

in the developing countries.