Carbon Offsets

Companies, and individuals concerned with their impact on climate try a number of measures to reduce their emissions of air pollutants which impact the greenhouse effect of our atmosphere. The greenhouse effect is the reality that our atmosphere traps a portion of the heat we get from the sun, and from fires (both natural and man made) and other anthropgenic heat sources. Some of the gasses released by our industrialization, home heating and cooling, and transportation activities contribute to the atmosphere trapping more heat than would occur in the absence of these activities.Environment Clean Generations

There are emissions which CANNOT be eliminated or reduced as much as we would like. For these, companies turn to Carbon Offsets. What are Carbon Offsets? When companies or individuals purchase Carbon Offsets they are paying someone else to reduce THEIR carbon emissions (a major contributor to global warming).Environment Clean Generations

There are companies which assist other companies and individuals in purchasing Carbon Offsets. As in any new market, there is a learning curve for participants. Are the offsets real, are the being sold more than once? These and other questions illustrate how much needs to be learned.

To illustrate what a carbon offset might involve, consider a carbon offset to be an investment in a project or activity that reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or sequesters carbon from the atmosphere that is used to offset GHG emissions from your company or household.Environment Clean Generations

Carbon Offsets may be purchased to offset emissions from your business as a whole, from specific activities such as travel, or from lifecycle emissions from a product.

Carbon Offsets can be generated from many activities including:

• Planting trees
• Energy efficiency investments
• Reducing methane emissions
• Renewable energy investments

A key consideration in Carbon Offsets is that the offsetting emissions be generated from a project or activity that generates real, measurable reductions in GHG emissions that would not have occurred anyway. To meet this goal, the project must go beyond business as usual, go beyond regulatory requirements, and not be counted against another emission reduction commitment.

What are the business benefits of Carbon Offsets?

• Meeting business goals to reduce your carbon footprint from manufacturing or transportation activities
• Preparing for an emissions trading regulatory requirement, gaining market experience
• Brand enhancement, product differentiation
• Attracting Investors
• Engaging employees on environmental issues, attracting new employees
• Being a good environmental citizen

In conclusion, Carbon Offsets offer a number of benefits to the enterprise, and also to the planet. While not a perfect approach, they are in many ways a win-win scenario.Environment Clean Generations

Photo of forest credit: ep_stock, shutter stock

Australia is taking a leadership position on Carbon Offsets, and the Victoria EPA has an excellent series of web pages with information on this topic. Much of the content of this article is base on their resources.

by "environment clean generations"

Keep Reading...

Posted in: Carbon Offsets,emissions,environment clean generations,environment. atmosphere,greenhouse gas emissions

Sea Levels Rising for 500 Years?

Rising sea levels in the coming centuries is perhaps one of the most catastrophic consequences of rising temperatures. Massive economic costs, social consequences and forced migrations could result from global warming. But how frightening of times are we facing? Researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute are part of a team that has calculated the long-term outlook for rising sea levels in relation to the emission of greenhouse gases and pollution of the atmosphere using climate models.

The results have been published in the scientific journal Global and Planetary Change.

"Based on the current situation we have projected changes in sea level 500 years into the future. We are not looking at what is happening with the climate, but are focusing exclusively on sea levels," explains Aslak Grinsted, a researcher at the Centre for Ice and Climate, the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen.

Model based on actual measurements

He has developed a model in collaboration with researchers from England and China that is based on what happens with the emission of greenhouse gases and aerosols and the pollution of the atmosphere. Their model has been adjusted backwards to the actual measurements and was then used to predict the outlook for rising sea levels.

The research group has made calculations for four scenarios: a pessimistic one, an optimistic one, and two more realistic ones.

In the pessimistic scenario, emissions continue to increase. This will mean that sea levels will rise 1.1 meters by the year 2100 and will have risen 5.5 meters by the year 2500.

Even in the most optimistic scenario, which requires extremely dramatic climate change goals, major technological advances and strong international cooperation to stop emitting greenhouse gases and polluting the atmosphere, the sea would continue to rise. By the year 2100 it will have risen by 60 cm and by the year 2500 the rise in sea level will be 1.8 meters.

For the two more realistic scenarios, calculated based on the emissions and pollution stabilizing, the results show that there will be a sea level rise of about 75 cm by the year 2100 and that by the year 2500 the sea will have risen by 2 meters.

Rising sea levels for centuries

"In the 20th century sea has risen by an average of 2mm per year, but it is accelerating and over the last decades the rise in sea level has gone approximately 70% faster. Even if we stabilize the concentrations in the atmosphere and stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, we can see that the rise in sea level will continue to accelerate for several centuries because of the sea and ice caps long reaction time. So it would be 2-400 years before we returned to the 20th century level of a 2 mm rise per year," says Aslak Grinsted.

He points out that even though long-term calculations are subject to uncertainties, the sea will continue to rise in the coming centuries and it will most likely rise by 75 cm by the year 2100 and by the year 2500 the sea will have risen by 2 meters.

 by "environment clean generations"

Keep Reading...

Posted in: atmosphere,climate,earth,emissions,greenhouse gases,Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen,Sea Levels Rising for 500 Years,temperature