Download Carbon dioxide emissions

GeMUN 2017
Environment Commission (EnvCom)
Topic 3
Tackling the acidification of oceans by reducing carbon dioxide
emissions
Study Guide by Chiara Lanzavecchia
INDEX:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
Introduction
Definition of Key Terms
Background Information
Major Countries Involved
UN Involvement
Useful Links
I.
Introduction
Over the past 200 years, from the Industrial Revolution to present days,
the carbon dioxide exchange between the atmosphere and the oceans has
been increasing massively due to the intensification of human industrial
activities.
The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased from about 280
parts per million to about 380 parts per million today. Scientists have
predicted that the carbon dioxide levels will continue to increase for at
least the next century. These levels may even reach 1000 parts per million
by 2100, unless CO2 emissions are radically reduced.
For over two centuries, about half of the CO2 emissions produced from
human activities like LULUCF (Land use, land-use change and forestry) and
the releasing of fossil fuels, have been absorbed by the world’s seawater.
However, the increasing emissions of carbon dioxide are reducing the
ability of the oceans to exchange CO2 with the atmosphere, demonstrating
the fundamental role of the oceans in one of the Earth’s major process: the
carbon cycle. Oceans cover around 70% of the planet and they host
thousands of species of organisms, living in a large variety of habitats and
ecosystems that are all being endangered by the lowering of pH levels and
the increasing acidification of water. This is the process that we call
“acidification of the oceans”.
II.
Definition of Key Terms
Oceans acidification: the acidification of oceans, or OA for short, is a
gradual rise of the acidity of seawater, mainly caused by the increasing
emissions of CO2 and other chemicals in the atmosphere, causing a
reduction in the pH of water and pushing the concentration of the major
carbonate minerals to a saturation state of the water. This process is
radically changing the seawater chemistry, and can have disastrous effects
on maritime organisms, such as coral bleaching.
Carbon dioxide emissions: The production of this chemical, in substantial
quantities, is mainly caused by the combustion of fossil fuels, cement
production and deforestation. There is now a clear scientific consensus
that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has been increasing in the
last centuries because of human activities, being now one of the main
factors contributing to the implement of global warming and of the
greenhouse effect.
GHGs: GHG stands for Greenhouse Gas, and it refers to a gas that is
responsible for the greenhouse effects. Consequently, it reflects and
reradiates heating so that it remains in earth’s atmosphere.
UNFCCC: it is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, founded in 1994, which reunites 192 countries to discuss and find
solutions to the problem of climate change and all its related issues. In
particular, its main aim is to prevent human interference in climate
systems from becoming dangerous.
III.
Background Information
Ocean acidification is not the only environmental disease that CO2
emissions have been causing over the years.
The carbon cycle is a complex two-way process in which both oceans and
the atmosphere absorb and release an enormous quantity of CO2.
Therefore, the increasing quantities of carbon dioxide, that urge to be
eliminated from the atmosphere, are affecting the ability of the oceans to
absorb CO2, increasing its quantities in the atmosphere. Between the years
2000 and 2008 almost half of the CO2 produced and released in the
atmosphere has been absorbed in almost equal parts by the oceans and the
terrestrial biosphere, while almost all the other half remained in the
atmosphere. This is taking the planet to a more threatening situation of
danger in which global warming, the greenhouse effect and extreme
climate changes are leading to a more and more difficult circumstance that
the human kind will be forced to face in a forthcoming future. Especially for
the oceans, these damaging effects are already starting to show: in fact,
many areas of coral reef are dying because of the acidity of seawater,
caused by the increasing quantity of CO2 that cannot be absorbed
immediately, since the oceans take about 1000 years to complete the
process. Another disorder that is caused is the repression of the shell
growth in some marine organisms.
The Carbon cycle
IV.
Major Countries Involved
CHINA
China's economy has started growing exponentially from 2002 and its
carbon emissions with it. This precipitous growth in China’s emissions is
caused by the intense production and trade that this country has faced
over the last years. China is now the third largest exporter and the fourth
largest economy of the world, and it has grown by 26% in 15 years. This
large-scale boom in production and trade has led to a massive increase in
intensive carbon fuels usage. Thus, the country is emitting today 29.55% of
the global CO2 emissions and, with a rate of 7.6 tonnes of carbon emissions
per capita, has become one of the most threatening countries for our
planet.
UNITED STATES
This country, like most of the large-scale producers and exporters of the
world, has been reaching exponential levels of carbon dioxide emissions. In
the last few years the United States have reached a percentage of almost
15% of global emissions with a rate of 16.5 tonnes of carbon emissions per
capita, only with the burning of fossil fuels.
V.
UN Involvement
To stabilize the GHGs and preventing dangerous climate changes the
UNFCCC and all affiliated bodies agreed that the most efficient system of
achieving this goal is to promptly reduce these emissions of gases, notably
of CO2, which is one of the most influent gases on climate changes. This
solution may even be the most efficient strategy for mitigating oceans
acidification, which is closely linked with climate change. The ocean is one
of the major parts in the climate system in addition to its role in our
society.
The mitigation strategies that are currently employed by the UNFCCC are
unable to both mitigate the oceans acidification and to control the climate
changes. Therefore, these strategies are aimed to avoid or reduce
dangerous climate changes rather than the oceans acidification.
As it is stressed in the Kyoto Protocol (1998), where emissions are
attempted to be regulated by letting countries decide among four GHGs
and other two groups of gases to help countries to reduce dangerous gases
emissions since reducing CO2 may be expensive and difficult.
VI.
Useful links
http://www.us-ocb.org/publications/Royal_Soc_OA.pdf
http://arnmbr.org/content/images/uploads/Ocean_Acidification_Climate_
Change_UNFCCC.pdf
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/general_assembly/contributions_2013/IUC
N%20Contribution.pdf
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/general_assembly/contributions_2013/IM
O%20Contribution.pdf
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/general_assembly/contributions_2013/EU
%20Contribution.pdf
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F
http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/explore/pristineseas/critical-issues-ocean-acidification/
http://carboncycle.aos.wisc.edu/ocean-update/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissi
ons#/media/File:Co2-2013-top40.svg