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The industrial production of long-lived charcoal products (commonly referred to as biochar) from otherwise shorter-lived logging resides (commonly referred to a slash) has been proposed as a means to increasing terrestrial carbon storage thus mitigating global warming caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. We present a generalized model that describes the temporal dynamics of biochar carbon stocks, relative to carbon of unmodified logging residue, and evaluate the sensitivity of carbon storage to various biophysical and production parameters. Using this model, we then attribute net carbon storage to several potential biochar production scenarios, specifically engineered to use wood recovered from harvests prescribed to reduce fire hazard in mixed-conifer forests of South-central Oregon. Relative to a baseline scenario where logging residue is left to decay on site, the net carbon storage attributed to 20 years of biochar production is generally negative for the first several decades, then remains positive for several centuries at levels approximately one-fourth the total feedstock carbon processed. Positive net carbon storage and the time required for it to manifest is notably sensitive to biochar conversion efficiencies, logging residue decay rates, and alternate baseline fates of logging residue. The magnitude of net carbon storage, and the time required for it to become positive, is largely similar across range of production facility types. Moreover, the time required for net carbon storage to become positive, and its magnitude over the first 100 years is notably insensitive to biochar decomposition rates provided biochar decays at least ten-times slower than the logging residue it is made from. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile air conditioning (MAC) is potentially a huge source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China from a life cycle (LC) perspective as the vehicle population increases in the future. The MAC-GHG-LCA model is developed to calculate LC GHG emissions from MAC systems, covering life-span refrigerant leakage (direct emissions) and emissions caused by energy use in MAC system production and operation (indirect emissions). Using R152a and R1234yf as alternative refrigerants instead of R134a in MAC systems can decrease LC GHG emissions by 22–32% and 17–29%, respectively. Their GHG reduction benefits mainly result from their lower global warming potential (GWP) values though the indirect emissions are only slight lower or even higher than R134a. Using R744 can offer reduction in 2050 though it will cause an increase of 20% in 2020. Total LC GHG emissions from MAC systems of the whole light duty vehicle (LDV) fleet in China will be 159 million tonnes of CO 2 -equivalent in 2050 in the scenario where R134a will be the only refrigerant adopted, about 3 times that in 2015. It is found that alternative low-GWP refrigerants can help reduce LC GHG emissions from MAC systems effectively. The shift from conventional cooling and heating technology to advanced heat pump technology in electric vehicles (EVs) can reduce electricity use in MAC system operation and reduce LC GHG emissions from the MAC systems in EVs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is mainly caused by emission of greenhouse gases such as CO2, CH4 and N2O to the atmosphere. Agriculture plays an important role in the increasing of global greenhouse gases emission with large numbers of livestock and poultry industries. This study focuses on investigating the emission dynamics of CO2, CH4 and N2O in covered storage process of manure slurry. The experiment was carried out during summer, in a dairy farm in Beijing, with a population of 3 400 cows. On this farm, dairy manure is cleaned by scrapers, and later solid-liquid separated. After separation, the liquid part is directly fed into the covered storage lagoon for anaerobic fermentation, while the solid part is used to produce organic fertilizer. A storage tank was built in the dairy processing area of ??the dairy farm with a floating film and a base membrane to prevent leaching and pollution of groundwater. The cover film kept floating on the surface and served to reduce on the smell nuisance and ammonia loss. After a certain storage period and stabilization in the covered storage tank, the digested sludge could be used onto the farm as fertilizer. The storage tank was 200 m in length, 25 m in width and 3 m in depth. There were 14 ventilation holes (5 cm inner diameter) on both sides along the length and width of the tank. Based on the enclosed condition, the amount of exhausted gas from this storage tank could be calculated. The test was conducted for 7 days from July 28th to August 3rd . The emitted gases were collected every 3 hours for the further composition analysis. Similarly, at every 3 h, slurry samples were also collected and analyzed for pH value, dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand（COD）and ammonium. The environmental condition was also recorded by parameters of humidity, pressure and air temperature. Results showed that, under this covered storage tank, the emitted concentration of CO2, CH4 and N2O were (634.01 ± 81.54) g/m3, (215.33 ± 18.59) g/m3 and (0.19 ± 0.07) mg/m3, respectively. The emission were (4.18 ± 0.53) g/(m2?h), (1.42 ± 0.12) g/(m2?h) and (0.0013±0.0005) mg/(m2·h), respectively. The CO2 equivalent of emitted CH4 and N2O were 35.50 and 0.0004 g/(m2·h), respectively. The contribution rates of emitted CO2, CH4 and N2O were 10.53%, 89.46% and 0, respectively. During this experiment, the emission of the CO2 and CH4 showed clearly positive correlation tendency with temperature, however, the relationships were not significant (P>0.05). It may due to the test period of the experiment was only during the summer, the seasonal change with a bigger temperature range may cause the more clear positive correlations, which need to be studied in future. With a low emission of N2O under anaerobic condition, the emission of CH4 plays the main role and should be well controlled. Thus, the appropriate method to effectively utilize the CH4 produced from the covered storage tank in the dairy factory has become the key issue for the environmental protection and renewable energy utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane, with a global warming potential twenty five times higher than that of CO 2 is the second most important greenhouse gas emitted nowadays. Its bioconversion into microbial molecules with a high retail value in the industry offers a potential cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solution for mitigating anthropogenic diluted CH 4 -laden streams. Methane bio-refinery for the production of different compounds such as ectoine, feed proteins, biofuels, bioplastics and polysaccharides, apart from new bioproducts characteristic of methanotrophic bacteria, has been recently tested in discontinuous and continuous bioreactors with promising results. This review constitutes a critical discussion about the state-of-the-art of the potential and research niches of biotechnologies applied in a CH 4 biorefinery approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of management practices on the global warming impact of some perennial fruit crops. The global warming potential (GWP) of single operations during a fresh fruit production under local conventional management ( C mng ) and the mitigation potential of introducing sustainable management practices ( S mng ) were assessed. A life cycle assessment analysis (ISO 14067) was performed for the whole life cycle of pilot apricot and peach orchards in Southern Italy (3 sites), taking into account greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions related to all annual agricultural operations, orchard establishment and removal. Results revealed that fertilization shared the highest fraction of GWP (from 22.4% to 60.5%) among all agricultural operations in both C mng and S mng scenarios. The adoption of S mng had a reduction of GWP ranging from 1% to 17%. When accounting for SOC change (modelled through Roth-C) after the S mng application and for recycling the permanent biomass of trees at the end-of-life of the orchard, the GWP can become negative ranging from approx. −0.8 to −4.2 kg CO 2 eq. per ton of fruit. The estimated average mitigation potential of adopting S mng practices was −2.7 t CO 2 eq. ha −1 yr −1 , and derives mostly from soil carbon storage capacity. The adoption of S mng practices could be considered within GHGs mitigation policies for the agricultural sector, if assessed at landscape level. Composting, as a possible scenario for the disposal of the tree biomass at the end of the orchard life cycle, results to have a higher GWP impact than burning it for home heating purposes. However, the improvement of soil quality and of the related ecosystem services of using compost for agricultural purposes should promote the spread of composting practices and the multiplication of composting facilities in Southern Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to start the study of the effects of the Kyoto Protocol on the agricultural and forestry sector. The emission levels of Greenhouse gases are greatly changed from a geographical point of view over the years after Kyoto Accord. Except for technical innovation, the design and timing of policy interventions is crucial for reducing innovation barriers and improving production efficiency. The proper use of available databases linked to the identification and application of tools by decision makers for grooming emissions are one of the main drivers for improving the efficient use of resources and global warming reduction. In this paper we propose a first proposal of methodologies to analyse the effects of the Kyoto protocol policies on the agricultural and forestry sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for biofuels is rising with the growing population and decreasing reserves of petroleum. Indeed the rising population and increasing level of greenhouse gases not only contribute for global warming, but also imparts serious effects on humans and the environment. There is a constant urge to find other alternatives to the petroleum-based products. Of the three generations of biofuel feed stocks i.e. food crops, non-food crops and microalgae-derived biofuels; it is discussed that microalgae can be the best source of feed stock in terms of food security and for reducing the harmful impact on the environment. This paper serves as base to discuss the benefits of using microalgae as a source of biomass for biofuels and the methods that can be used to enhance the microalgal biology in order to improve their production. It reviews how the use of optimized nutrient concentration and culture conditions increase the yield, cell density and lipid productivity. It further reviews the role of bacteria in enhancing/inhibiting the microbial biomass and lipid productivity in microalgal-bacterial biological associations. The final part of the paper lays emphasis on the importance of improving microalgal biology by the use of genetic engineering and metabolic engineering in order to obtain desired results. Overall stress is placed upon unfolding and unraveling the gaps present in producing microalgal biomass, such as inefficient and reduced production, poor penetration of light in dense cultures, low oil content and higher harvesting costs. Overcoming of these major bottlenecks by ecologically engineering species specific valuable microalgal-bacterial mini consortium might lead to specific and noteworthy breakthrough in the production of clean, green, renewable, sustainable and high yielding microalgal biofuel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CO 2 injection and storage in geological reservoirs is an attractive prospect for mitigating the anthropogenic production of greenhouse gases and global warming. The technology could lead to mineral precipitation and therefore stable storage over geological time scales. This contribution investigates the evolution of three calcite-rich reservoir rock analogues during injection of and exposure to supercritical CO 2 (scCO 2 ), i.e., two limestones (Tuffeau and Savonnieres) and a synthetic calcite-cemented sandstone (CIPS). Three types of exposure protocols have been conducted: (i) scCO 2 injection and a four-hour residence time in an initially dry rock; (ii) scCO 2 injection and a two-hour residence time in an initially brine-saturated rock; and (iii) scCO 2 injection and a four-hour residence time in an initially brine-saturated rock. Two aspects are monitored during these experiments: (i) the evolution of the pore fluid chemical composition; and (ii) the evolution of the rocks’ physical properties (i.e. porosity, permeability, P-wave velocity and electrical resistivity). Additionally, some scCO 2 injection and exposure experiments in the brine-saturated rocks have been conducted using X-ray tomographic monitoring. X-ray tomographic monitoring suggests that scCO 2 first displaces the water, leading to an average water saturation of about 70–90%. Then, scCO 2 dissolves in the pore brine, leading to a homogeneous decrease by about 3% in water saturation of the sample. As a result, the pore brine acidifies even after 2 h of exposure only, which leads to calcite dissolution and a significant increase in the brine’s concentration in calcium cations. For the samples and most exposure experiments, evidence of calcite dissolution is inferred from the measured physical properties. For the brine-saturated Tuffeau limestone and CIPS sandstone, calcite dissolution leads to significant mechanical weakening. For the brine-saturated Savonnieres limestone, the sample subject to two-hour residence time shows evidence of calcite dissolution, whereas the sample after four-hour residence time does not. Calcite re-precipitation could be the cause of this unexpected response after four hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fifth IPCC Assessment Report estimates the world's ‘carbon budget’, which is the cumulative amount of anthropogenic CO2 emissions limiting global warming below 2°C. We model this carbon budget as a resource asset depleted by annual GHG emissions, and estimate the user cost associated with depletion. For constant emissions, social welfare increases US$3.3 trillion (6 per cent of global GDP) over the business as usual scenario of growing emissions, and the carbon budget's lifetime increases from 18 to 21 years. For declining emissions, the gain is US$10.4 trillion (19 per cent of global GDP), and the budget's lifetime is 30 years. Extending indefinitely the lifetime of the carbon budget would require emissions to fall exponentially by 4.8 per cent or more. Although the Paris Agreement abatement pledges will generate social gains of US$2–2.5 trillion (4–5 per cent of world GDP), they are insufficient to prevent depletion of the 2°C global carbon budget by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The production and consumption of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in soils are largely regulated by biological processes. Increasing atmospheric CO may alter these processes, thereby affecting GHG emissions and their feedbacks to climate. Methods and aims: Here, we used an open top chamber (OTC) experiment to examine the effects of elevated CO for ten years on soil GHG fluxes in a Quercus mongolica dominated system in northeastern China. Results: Our results showed that elevated CO increased soil CO emissions, consistent with increased microbial biomass and the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and actinomycetes. Additionally, elevated CO increased CH uptake due to stimulated growth of methanotrophs. The seasonal mean soil NO flux was not changed by elevated CO, consistent with unchanged ammonia oxidizing bacteria, archaea and denitrifiers, which was probably due to large variations between the individual OTCs and with time. However, seasonal cumulative soil NO emissions increased by 64.7% under elevated CO. Our results also hinted that nitrification by ammonia oxidizing archaea was the major process of soil NO emissions. Conclusions: In our study elevated CO increased soil GHG emissions and the cumulative global warming potential by 27.8%, causing an important positive feedback to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the failure of integrated, top-down bargaining strategies, analysts and diplomats have now turned to bottom-up methods such as 'building blocks' and 'climate clubs' to coordinate national climate change policies and to avoid persistent diplomatic deadlock. We agree that decomposition of the grand problem of climate change into smaller units is a crucial first step towards effective cooperation. But we argue that given the great uncertainty of the feasibility and costs of potential solutions, this bottom-up approach will only work if it is supported by institutions that promote joint exploration of possibilities by public and private actors along with the scaling up of successes. As politics precludes creating many of these institutions under the consensus-oriented decision rules of the UN system, engaged outsiders-including especially clubs or building blocks that can learn in the face of uncertainty-working in parallel with the UN diplomatic process will have to provide them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the World Input-Output Database (WIOD) to test the hypothesis of per capita convergence in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for a multi-sectorial panel of countries. The empirical strategy applies conventional estimators of random and fixed effects and Arellano and Bond's (1991) GMM to the main pollutants related to the greenhouse effect. For reasonable empirical specifications, the model revealed robust evidence of per capita convergence in CH 4 emissions in the agriculture, food, and services sectors. The evidence of convergence in CO 2 emissions was moderate in the following sectors: agriculture, food, non-durable goods manufacturing, and services. In all cases, the time for convergence was less than 15 years. Regarding emissions by energy use, the largest source of global warming, there was only moderate evidence in the extractive industry sector—all other pollutants presented little or no evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many efforts have been made to learn the fertilization effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the current crop season of multiple cropping systems, however, residual effects on the succeeding crop season are not clear. Based on a thirty-year fertilization experiment, we investigated the impacts of wheat fertilization on GHG emissions in the succeeding soybean season. There were five fertilization regimes for the wheat-soybean cropping system, including sole organic manure (M), balanced chemical NPK fertilizer (NPK), chemical NPK plus manure (NPKM), chemical NP plus wheat straw (NPS), and no fertilizer application (CK). Fertilization significantly affected GHG emissions not only in the current fertilizing season of winter wheat but also in the non-fertilizing season of summer soybean. Compared to the NPK treatment, the M and NPKM treatments stimulated annual soil CO 2 and N 2 O emissions, and reduced CH 4 emissions. The M and NPKM treatments also significantly increased soil organic C and total N contents, soil microbial biomass C and N, and NH 4 N and NO 3 N concentrations, especially in the soybean season. Although fertilizers were only applied in wheat season, the emissions of CO 2 and N 2 O were higher in the soybean season. At the cropping system scale, the treatments of M and NPKM significantly increased annual global warming potential (GWP) by 75.5% and 38.3%, respectively, compared to the NPK. Sole manure application (M) significantly increased greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) in comparison with the NPK, while there was no significant increment in the GHGI caused by the treatments of chemical fertilizer plus manure (NPKM) and crop straw (NPS). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As government officials, policymakers, and the general public increasingly express their concern about global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions, scientists search for alternative sources of vehicle fuel and electric power. One sustainable energy source that shows considerable promise is biogas produced from organic waste. For various reasons, biogas plants in Sweden struggle with profitability. This is especially true for agricultural biogas plants. Suggestions on how to deal with this problem include the use of business model innovation (BMI) to develop agricultural networks and to implement new strategies for arranging, producing, and marketing farm-produced biogas. This qualitative study, influenced by grounded theory, identifies and examines the success factors in an agricultural network in which biogas is produced at four farms in Sweden with distribution by pipeline to a refinery for purification and conversion to vehicle fuel. Fourteen interviews were conducted with various individuals in this network: farmers, a local politician, municipal employees, and external consultants. Of the six success factors identified in the network for farm-produced biogas, the long-term perspective on profitability was found most important. The six factors were used to create a conceptual business model framework for such networks that adds new value propositions while retaining the original value propositions. We propose that long-term government subsidies and other incentives can make farm-produced biogas profitable, not only in social and environmental terms but also in economic terms. Our main conclusion is that BMI can be used to create public-private networks that invest in farm-based biogas production. Such investments can stimulate rural development and provide new business possibilities for SMEs in the agricultural sector. This study also shows that BMI that takes a long-term perspective can result in high-value environmental and social benefits as well as financial profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Net Energy Ratio and Life cycle greenhouse gases (GHG) assessment of five agricultural residues to produce dimethyl ether (DME) including rice straw, palm empty fruit bunches, cassava rhizome, sugar cane tops and leaves, maize stem with DME derived from lignite coal and natural gas by simulation of two-stage DME production. Sugar cane tops and leaves indicated highest NER at 4.83 and lowest GHG emission at 0.89 kg CO 2 e/kg DME due to their properties and low GHG burden in acquisition phase. Compared to fossil-DME and diesel, it was found that the bio-DMEs derived from rice straw, sugar cane tops and leaves and maize stem have potential for substitution with much lower life cycle GHG emissions as well as high NER. On the other hand, cassava rhizome and palm empty fruit bunches show low possibility of utilizing as DME feedstock due to high moisture content as well as low heating value. Reducing their moisture content by using flue gas and solar drying are improvement measures to make them promising as bio-DME feedstock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerated sea-level rise will be one of the most significant effects of global warming. Global mean sea level has risen more than 0.2 m since 1880 and continues rising at above 4 mm yr.. Here we allocate responsibility to countries for global sea-level rise commitment (SLRC) over the period 1850 to 2100 and weigh that against their exposure to inundation from sea-level rise. We bridge two lines of climate-related research by combining assessment of countries' greenhouse gas emissions with predictions of the multi-millennial sea level response to global warming. Under the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's business-as-usual scenario our findings show that the five most responsible countries for global SLRC are also the most exposed to absolute land loss. This is mostly due to their own emissions, which we call intrinsic risk. We also assess extrinsic risk, defined as a country's land exposed to inundation due to all other countries' emissions. We show that for 6 m of global SLRC, the two non-island countries with the highest extrinsic risk are predicted to lose 27 % and 15 % of their own land, yet contributed less than 1.1 % each to the emissions driving SLRC. We anticipate that our findings will directly inform policy discussions in international climate negotiations by identifying the relative degree of country responsibility and risk associated with sea-level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geopolymer concrete is an environmentally friendly, green construction material. However, its use is constrained by its increased brittleness and lack of understanding of its behaviour under multi-axial loadings. Similar to ordinary portland cement concrete (OPC), the ductility of geopolymer concrete columns can be increased by lateral confinement and using fibre-reinforced polymers is one option in doing that. This research paper aims at investigating the effect of different confinements on the ductility of geopolymer concrete. Three different mixes with varying binder (fly ash and slag) and different curing conditions together with different levels of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) confinement were investigated in this research paper. FRP confined normal strength geopolymer concrete shows similar stress–strain behaviour when compared to that of high-strength OPC concrete When compared with the same level of confinement, CFRP confined geopolymer concrete marginally outperforms GFRP confined geopolymer concrete in 28-day compressive strength. However, ductility levels with GFRP confinement are better than those with CFRP confinement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in China, which is one of the major causes of global warming. Anoxic/Oxic (A/O) and sequencing batch reactors (SBR) are two commonly used methods for wastewater treatment in China. In this study, GHG emission levels were investigated in both full-scale A/O and SBR wastewater treatment systems in Beijing, China, over a period of 12 months. GHG emission, calculated by carbon emission (CO 2 -equivalent) from WWTPs, is composed of the direct emission of CO 2 , CH 4 , and N 2 O during the treatment processes and indirect emission due to the consumption of electricity and chemicals. The total GHG emissions were 404.93 gCO 2 -eq m −3 wastewater and 864.98 gCO 2 -eq m −3 wastewater during the A/O and SBR processes, respectively, including the direct carbon emissions of 199.12 gCO 2 -eq m −3 wastewater, and 534.93 gCO 2 -eq m −3 wastewater from the A/O and SBR WWTP, respectively. N 2 O was the major contributor towards total GHG emissions during both the A/O and SBR process. In addition, the dominant source of direct GHG emission occurred during the aerobic unit/period, and was caused by aeration stripping as well as the degradation and transformation of nutrition. The indirect emission varied only slightly during both wastewater treatment processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Attribution studies clearly show that the recent global warming is mainly linked with changes in atmospheric composition induced by human activities, especially by emissions of greenhouse gases ( GHGs). Even if the increasing trend in temperatures is well caught by global climate models ( GCMs), some periods of quasi-constant temperature behaviour are not completely understood. In this article we focus on the role of sulfates and apply an inferential method (Granger causality analysis) in order to analyse in detail their role in changes of global temperature. Starting from the identification of two sub-periods (1943-1975 and 1976-2011) characterized by a quasi-constant plateau and a steep increase in temperature, respectively, we find that in the first period the cooling induced by sulfates is able to balance the warming effect of GHGs. This does not happen in the second period, when GHG forcing probably overwhelms the other causal factor here considered. In any case there exists a strong evidence of a joint driving of temperature by these two forcings. This allows us to identify sulfates as a major driver of the quasi-stationary period 1943-1975. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on climatic changes and the physical chemistry of climate metrics. Topics discussed include radioactive forcing by greenhouse gases, aerosols and its relation with climate change, Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) that helps to quantifying the relative potential of greenhouse gases for integrated forcing on climate and abuses of climate metrics due to incorrect GWP quantitative values.

This Article criticizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) climate change regulations and policies, arguing that EPA has failed to control the dangerous level of greenhouse gas discharges that have been causing the steady growth of global warming and climate change. Unlike other critiques of EPA climate change efforts, this Article focuses on the administrative incentives and disincentives shaping EPA's inadequate regulatory performance. The relevant disincentives include insufficient budgets and personnel, exposure to constant criticism from affected parties, especially congressional criticisms arising from the lobbying efforts of wealthy fossil fuel industries, the inability to resolve many scientific and economic uncertainties, and the continuing absence of widespread public support. This Article contends that adopting, revising, or extending ambitious climate change laws and regulations will never succeed in overcoming climate change hazards as long as EPA and other environmental protection, health, and safety agencies lack essential public backing, financial support, and positive professional and personnel incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal aspects have traditionally not been recognized adequately in life cycle assessment (LCA). The dynamic LCA model recently proposed offers a significant step forward in the dynamic assessment of global warming impacts. The results obtained with dynamic LCA are highly sensitive to the choice of a time horizon. Therefore, decision making between alternative systems can be critical because conclusions are dependent on the specific time horizon. In this article, we develop a decision-making methodology based on the concept of time dominance. We introduce instantaneous and cumulative time dominance criteria to the dynamic LCA context and argue why the dominance of an alternative should also imply preference. Our approach allows for the rejection of certain alternatives without the determination of a specific time horizon. The number of decision-relevant alternatives can thereby be reduced and the decision problem facilitated. We demonstrate our methodology by means of a case study of end-of-life alternatives for a wooden chair derived from the original authors of dynamic LCA and discuss the implications and limitations of the approach. The methodology based on time dominance criteria is supplementary to the dynamic LCA model, but does not substitute it. The overall value of this article stretches beyond LCA onto more general assessments of global warming, for example, in policy where the choice of a time horizon is equally significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swine producers are supplementing animal diets with increased levels of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) to offset the cost of a standard corn-soybean meal (CSBM) diet. However, the environmental impact of these diets on emissions of greenhouse gases, ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is largely unknown. Twenty-four pigs (103.6 kg initial body weight) were fed a standard CSBM diet or a CSBM diet containing 35% DDGS for 42 d. Pigs were fed and their manure was collected twice daily over the 42-d trial. Pigs fed diets containing DDGS had reduced manure pH (P < 0.01), increased surface crust coverage (P < 0.01), increased manure dry matter content (P < 0.01), and increased manure C (P < 0.01), N (P < 0.01), and S (P < 0.01) contents. Animals fed DDGS diets also had significantly higher concentrations of total ammoniacal nitrogen (P < 0.01) and sulfide (P < 0.01) in their manure compared with animals fed CSBM diets. Manure emissions of NH3 (P < 0.01) and H2S (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in animals fed the CSBM diet. There was no dietary treatment effect for methane or nitrous oxide emissions from manure. This study demonstrates that diets containing DDGS can significantly affect manure composition and potentially lower emissions of NH3 and H2S. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change already has begun destabilizing natural systems, prompting unprecedented heat waves, droughts, floods, and severe storms. While scientists admonish us that greenhouse gases must be cut deeply and quickly to avoid the worst impacts, past emissions have committed the planet to some further warming. Resulting physical changes will require a legal system that functions amidst extreme weather, rising seas, and scientific uncertainty about the stability of natural systems upon which we relied in designing institutions and infrastructure. An effective response requires both substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit the harm ("mitigation") and significant adaptation. Scholars and policymakers have largely treated mitigation and adaptation as distinct strategies, overlooking critical interactions between the two issues. This Article addresses the resulting gap in scholarship. Adequate preparation for climate change requires fundamentally rethinking systems and infrastructure designed for more stable conditions. Part of this rethinking process includes evaluating whether legal measures designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will ultimately aid or hinder adaptation. Using a case study of one proposed mitigation measure–expanded reliance on nuclear power–this Article illustrates how disconnected approaches to adaptation and mitigation can undermine both efforts. The Article then offers a preliminary framework for holistic climate change governance that directs mitigation investment toward adaptive and adaptable infrastructure that reduces human risks, decreases reliance on complex networks, and moderates the extent of scientific uncertainty that legislators and administrative agencies will face in an unpredictable future environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University researchers have recently quantified the value of carbon sequestration provided by landscape trees (Ingram, 2012, 2013). However, no study to date has captured the economic costs of component horticultural systems while conducting a life cycle assessment of any green industry product. This study attempts to fill that void. The nursery production system modeled in this study was a field-grown, 5-cm (2-in) caliper Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' in the Lower Midwest. Partial budgeting modeling procedures were also used to measure the sensitivity of related costs and potential benefits associated with short-run changes in cultural practices in the production systems analyzed (e.g., transport distance, post-harvest activities, fertilization rates, and plant mortality). Total variable costs for the seedling and liner stages combined amounted to $2.93 per liner, including $1.92 per liner for labor, $0.73 for materials, and $0.27 per liner for equipment use. The global warming potential (GWP) associated with the seedling and liner stages combined included 0.3123 kg of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) for materials and 0.2228 kg CO2e for equipment use. Total farm-gate variable costs (the seedling, liner, and field production phases combined) amounted to $37.74 per marketable tree, comprised of $9.90 for labor, $21.11 for materials, and $6.73 for equipment use, respectively. However, post-harvest costs (e.g., transportation, transplanting, take-down, and disposal costs) added another $33.78 in labor costs and $27.08 in equipment costs to the farm-gate cost, yielding a total cost from seedling to end of tree life of $98.60. Of this, $43.68 was spent on labor, $21.11 spent on materials, and $33.81 spent on equipment use during the life cycle of each marketable tree. As per an earlier study, the life cycle GWP of the described redbud tree, including greenhouse gas emissions during production, transport, transplanting, take-down, and disposal, would be a negative 63 kg CO2e (Ingram et al., 2013). These combined data can be used to communicate to the consuming public the true (positive) value of trees in the landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the issue of global warming which is a world-wide conspiracy of scientists according to Texas Governor Perry. Topics discussed include procedures for determining the scientific process which are responsible for destruction of nature, impact of increase in production of carbon dioxide on global warming and increase in greenhouse gases, and study on doubts over decision making such as cycle of evaporation and rainfall, and catastrophic species loss.

The Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project (PlioMIP) is the first coordinated climate model comparison for a warmer palaeoclimate with atmospheric CO2 significantly higher than pre-industrial concentrations. The simulations of the mid-Pliocene warm period show global warming of between 1.8 and 3.6 °C above pre-industrial surface air temperatures, with significant polar amplification. Here we perform energy balance calculations on all eight of the coupled ocean-atmosphere simulations within PlioMIP Experiment 2 to evaluate the causes of the increased temperatures and differences between the models. In the tropics simulated warming is dominated by greenhouse gas increases, with the cloud component of planetary albedo enhancing the warming in most of the models, but by widely varying amounts. The responses to mid-Pliocene climate forcing in the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes are substantially different between the climate models, with the only consistent response being a warming due to increased greenhouse gases. In the high latitudes all the energy balance components become important, but the dominant warming influence comes from the clear sky albedo, only partially offset by the increases in the cooling impact of cloud albedo. This demonstrates the importance of specified ice sheet and high latitude vegetation boundary conditions and simulated sea ice and snow albedo feedbacks. The largest components in the overall uncertainty are associated with clouds in the tropics and polar clear sky albedo, particularly in sea ice regions. These simulations show that albedo feedbacks, particularly those of sea ice and ice sheets, provide the most significant enhancements to high latitude warming in the Pliocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay on opportunities for solving global environmental problems is presented. Topics discussed include premise of global problem of climate change; role of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on climate change; implications of the incentives on global climate change; and opportunities; obstacles regarding climate change prevention; and need of polycentric climate change governance.

An essay on the Hari M. Osofsky's article 'The Geography of Solving Global Environmental Problems' published within issue is presented. Topics discussed include Osofsky's premise of global problem of climate change; role of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on climate change; implications of the incentives on global climate change; and opportunities and obstacles regarding climate change prevention.

The carbon footprint (CF) in a winery company is determined using the Method Composed of Financial Accounts (MC3), considered to be one of the simplest procedures to be implemented in a company. Aspects related to the adoption of the CF concept by the company, as a clear element to determine how environmentally friendly has been the product manufacture, are discussed. Nowadays, and in the near future, having an appropriate determination of the CF is an important factor of competitiveness, especially in the international market that will inevitably impose restrictions based on sustainable production. The MC3 method was applied to the company Viña Modelo and the CF found was 2 tons of CO2 per bottle of wine. This result is lower than values reported in the literature for other companies around the world, aspect that is also analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural activity is a primary factor contributing to global warming. In higher latitude freeze zone, agricultural activities pose a more serious threat to global warming than other zones. The crop management practices of various land use types have direct impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) and global warming potential (GWP). Crop variations and cultivation practices are two important factors affecting carbon sequestration and the exchange of greenhouse gases between soils and the atmosphere. This exchange has special characteristics in the freeze zone. In this paper, the impact of crop patterns and cultivation management (i.e., residue return rate, manure amendment, and chemical N fertiliser application) on SOC and GWP in an agricultural freeze zone was analysed. The Denitrification–Decomposition (DNDC) model was employed to predict the long-term dynamics of nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) for dryland and paddy rice systems. The CO2-equivalent index was used to express the GWP response of N2O, CH4 and CO2. The simulated results indicated that the manure amendment and N fertiliser application can improve the SOC, increase crop production and enhance the GWP. The cultivation of returning residue to the soil is the win–win solution for SOC conservation and GWP control. It was found that paddy rice was preferable to dryland for sequestering atmospheric CO2 and mitigating global warming. This analysis also indicated that the DNDC model is a valid tool for predicting the consequences of SOC and GWP changes in cropland agroecosystems in the freeze zone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article addresses research into the ability of greenhouse gasses, notably carbon dioxide, to warm the Earth and contribute to climate change. It discusses the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, commenting on the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and global surface temperature. Other topics explored include skepticism about the warming of the planet, the history of Earth's climatology, and curbing emissions.

Global warming due to increasing greenhouse gases emission and the subsequent climatic changes are the most serious environmental challenges faced by environmental scientists, academicians, regulatory agencies and policy makers worldwide. Among the various greenhouse gases, CO constitutes a major share and its concentration is increasing rapidly. Therefore, there is perhaps an urgent need to formulate suitable policies and programs that can firmly reduce and sequester CO emissions in a sustainable way. In order to combat the predicted disaster due to rising CO level, several CO capture and storage technologies and medium are being widely pursued and deliberated. Among them soil carbon sequestration (SCS) is gaining global attention because of its stability and role in long-term surface reservoir, natural low cost and eco-friendly means to combat climate change. Apart from the carbon capturing, the process of soil carbon stabilization also provides other tangible benefits that includes achieving food security, by improving soil quality, wasteland reclamation and preventing soil erosion. The present article aimed to address all these concerns and provide strategies and critical research needs to implement SCS as a mitigation option for increasing atmospheric CO level and its future directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The annual-mean tropospheric circulation change in global warming is studied by comparing the response of an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) to a spatial-uniform sea surface temperature (SST) increase (SUSI) with the response of a coupled ocean-atmosphere GCM to increased greenhouse gas concentrations following the A1B scenario. In both simulations, tropospheric warming follows the moist adiabat in the tropics, and static stability increases globally in response to SST warming. A diagnostic framework is developed based on a linear baroclinic model (LBM) of the atmosphere. The mean advection of stratification change (MASC) by climatological vertical motion, often neglected in interannual variability, is an important thermodynamic term for global warming. Once MASC effect is included, LBM shows skills in reproducing GCM results by prescribing latent heating diagnosed from the GCMs. MASC acts to slow down the tropical circulation. This is most clear in the SUSI run where the Walker circulation slows down over the Pacific without any change in SST gradient. MASC is used to decelerate the Hadley circulation, but spatial patterns of SST warming play an important role. Specifically, the SST warming is greater in the Northern than Southern Hemisphere, an interhemispheric asymmetry that decelerates the Hadley cell north, but accelerates it south of the equator. The MASC and SST-pattern effects are on the same order of magnitude in our LBM simulations. The former is presumably comparable across GCMs, while SST warming patterns show variations among models in both shape and magnitude. Uncertainties in SST patterns account for intermodel variability in Hadley circulation response to global warming (especially on and south of the equator). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this article, the authors discuss the positive and negative impact of natural gas fracking known as hydraulic fracturing to health and environment. Robert W. Howarth and Anthony Ingraffea say that extracting natural gas from shale increases the health and environmental risks. However, Terry Engelder argues that hydraulic fracturing is important to global economic stability in which fracking-related gas production can help alleviate global warming and reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions.