Reaching Net Zero: What It Takes to Solve the Global Climate Crisis

Cover
Reaching Net Zero: What It Takes to Solve the Global
Climate Crisis
Copyright
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Photographs
Preface: Why read this book?
Acknowledgments
Acronyms
1 Introduction
	Should we be concerned about global warming?
	What about solar radiation?
	The greenhouse effect
	What are the greenhouse gases?
	What are the signs of global warming?
	What are the dangers of global warming?
	Can anything be done about global warming?
2 Addressing global warming
	Latency is a huge problem
	Global warming is not obvious to the vast majority of people
	The global economy is powered by fossil fuels
	There is a need for unprecedented and perhaps unachievable international cooperation
	All of us will have to be willing to accept changes
	U.S. participation is essential
	What can be done?
Part I
3 The earth as a system
	Incident solar radiation
	Milankovitch cycles
	More about the greenhouse effect
	Carbon cycle
	Temperature increase
4 Fundamental drivers of global warming
	Global population rising
	Inequities: the early role of the United States and the United Kingdom
	The pivotal position of the United States
	Need to consider both absolute and per capita emissions
	Gross domestic product growth and energy use are related
	More energy will be required by developing countries
5 How do we know global warming is real?
	Global warming is not a new idea
	CO2 emissions are rising
	Earth’s temperature is rising
	Correlation of increasing global temperature with increasing atmospheric CO2
	Ocean temperatures are rising
	Sea levels are rising
	Ocean acidification is occurring
	A message from the Arctic?
	Glaciers, ice caps, and sea ice are melting
	The permafrost is melting
	Extreme weather events are increasing
	Deserts and tropics are expanding
	Rising temperatures are causing plant, animal, and human migration
	Early warning signs of global warming: a California case history
6 How do we know man-made CO2 is the issue?
	Where do man-made greenhouse gases come from?
	What happens to CO2 emissions?
	The significance of carbon-14
	Historic emissions since the Industrial Revolution
	Increases in atmospheric CO2 correlates with fossil fuel use
	What is your carbon footprint?
7 What are the effects of global warming?
	Latency—how long before effects show up?
	Climate change versus weather
	Earth’s temperature will continue to rise
	Air pollution will increase
	Sea levels rise causing flooding
	Oceans become more acidic
	Glaciers, ice caps, and sea ice melt
	Subsidence occurs and permafrost melts
	Deserts and tropics expand
	Species migration and extinction
	Frequency and severity of storms
	Impact on agriculture, droughts, loss of cropland, and wildfires
	Health problems will be more severe
	Could global warming cause a financial crisis or some other financial problem?
	National security implications
	Migrations caused by climate change
	Tipping points: unanticipated changes can occur
8 International efforts to address global warming
	Early efforts1
	The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
	The Paris Agreement2
	Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special reports
	History of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change global warming objectives7
Part II
9 What would it take to reach net zero?
	Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change alternative scenarios
	What would it take?
	Are the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios realistic?
	Carbon removal
	What is a more likely scenario?
	Are we too late already?
	Doing nothing is not an option
	What will happen if we do nothing?
	The high cost of doing nothing
10 Energy alternatives
	Fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas
	Nuclear power
	Renewable energy
11 Unique problems of major contributors to global warming
	What can we learn from Germany?
	The United States fails to take a leadership position
	China—Will it be the leader?
	India—large population, little energy
	Japan—strong technological capabilities
	Russia—may not be a player
	Observations
12 Why is global warming such a difficult problem to solve?
	The need for unprecedented, perhaps unachievable, global cooperation
	Fossil fuels are heavily subsidized
	Educating the public
	The media have not dealt fairly with global warming
	Public uncertainty
	A positive message is needed
	Public support for government action
	Why it is hard to replace fossil fuels?
	Solving technical challenges
	The need for strong economies
	Understanding climate change skepticism
	Recognizing political leaders can make mistakes
	Acknowledging that failure is a possibility
13 Some successes and failures
	The Permian Basin, a renewable energy powerhouse
	1970s oil price hikes
	Automobile emissions
	Hole in the ozone layer
	Cigarette smoking and cancer
	Europe’s push for diesel vehicles
	Nuclear power in the United States
	Is there a future for nuclear power?
	Ethanol
	High-speed rail
		Lessons learned
Part III
14 Action Plan: efficiency, power, transportation, and land use
	Do we need another moon shot?
	The challenges of a global approach
	An Action Plan, assuming we cannot get to net zero by 2050
	Can the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s goal of keeping global warming under 2°C be met?
	Why can't we do better?
	Silver bullets
	Mitigation
	Carbon fee
15 Can it be done?
	The trend is our friend
	Can renewable energy power the world?
	Can wind power the world?
	What would it cost?
	Can we afford it?
16 The way forward
	The future can be bright
	Top priorities
	Government actions
	Actions for concerned citizens
	Actions for industry
	What next?
Afterword
Further reading
Useful reports
Useful websites
Part IV: Appendices
Appendix 1 Abbreviations, units, and conversion factors
	Abbreviations
	Units and conversion factors
	Energy and GHG equivalencies
	Greenhouse gas equivalencies
Appendix 2 The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere: sources and sinks
Appendix 3 Will the IPCC goal of 450ppm be met?
Appendix 4 Key parameters used to formulate Action Plan
Appendix 5 Flood and sea rise mitigation
Appendix 6 Financial measures
	Cap and Trade
	Fee and dividend
Appendix 7 Activist and lobbying groups, litigation examples
	Activist groups
	Litigation
Appendix 8 Excerpts from corporate annual reports
	Bank of America
	Olin Corporation
	Eli Lilly Corporation
	Verizon
	The Southern Company
	DuPont Corporation
	Caterpillar
	Home Depot
	Chevron Corporation
	Alliant Energy
	DTE Energy Inc
	UPS Corporation
	Wisconsin Electric (WEC Energy Group)
	Eaton Corporation
	Duke Power
	Corning Inc
Index
Back Cover