This means using both “mitigation” to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide added to the air and “carbon dioxide removal” to take carbon dioxide out of the air. The IPCC warns that the world needs to be carbon neutral by 2050 to avoid a serious climate crisis. It means that if you do add carbon dioxide into the air you take out the same amount. This does not have to mean that you can’t add any carbon dioxide. Translation: Adding no net carbon dioxide into the air. Carbon neutrality is also referred to as net-zero carbon dioxide emission. ![]() IPCC definition: Carbon neutrality is achieved when anthropogenic CO2 emissions are balanced globally by anthropogenic carbon dioxide removals over a specified period. Jay Inslee discusses equipment that can remove carbon dioxide from the air. There are also carbon dioxide removal technologies that store it underground or in concrete, but these are new and not widely used. Planting trees and restoring grasslands can remove carbon dioxide from the air. In 2019, there was 50% more more of it than in the late 1700s. The amount of carbon dioxide in the air has been increasing for many years. Translation: Taking carbon dioxide out of the air. CDR is classified as a special type of mitigation. IPCC definition: Carbon dioxide removal methods refer to processes that remove CO2 from the atmosphere by either increasing biological sinks of CO2 or using chemical processes to directly bind CO2. More “adaptation” actions will be needed as climate change gets worse. Coastal cities like Miami may need sea walls to protect against floods. Los Angeles, for example, is planting trees to help people stay cooler. People will have to find ways to live with these threats. Heat waves, wildfires and floods are getting worse. Translation: Making changes to live with the impacts of climate change.Ĭlimate change is already happening. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects. IPCC definition: In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. Use of solar power as an alternative to fossil fuels is growing. Protecting forests and planting trees also help because trees absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and lock them away. ![]() Some ways to mitigate climate change include using solar and wind power instead of coal-fired power plants making buildings, appliances and vehicles more energy efficient so they use less electricity and fuel and designing cities so people have to drive less. When these gases are released, they linger in the atmosphere. Fossil fuels produce greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide. When people talk about “mitigation” they often focus on fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas – used to make electricity and run cars, buses and planes. Translation: Stopping climate change from getting worse. IPCC definition: Mitigation (of climate change): a human intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases. The text that follows puts it into plain language. The explanation of each term starts with the technical definition from the IPCC. Here’s a guide that may help you to follow the news about climate change. ![]() With the help of the United Nations Foundation, we chose eight terms from reports written by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. ![]() We then used their feedback to explain those terms in everyday language. We interviewed 20 people about common terms used by climate scientists and climate journalists. With the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change releasing new reports on mitigation and adaptation, we thought it would be helpful to clarify some of the most common terms used to describe climate change. “It sounds like you’re talking over people,” one person said of the terminology during a recent study colleagues and I conducted through the USC Dornsife Public Exchange.Īuthoritative reports about climate change can be difficult for nonscientists to understand. When scientists and policy writers talk about climate change, a lot of technical terms get tossed around: adaptation, carbon neutral, sustainable development.
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