Impact of Science and Technology on Climate Change

Impact of Science and Technology on Climate Change

Earth, its nature, and climate are ever-changing and there is an increasing awareness that the earth is warming up. There is a scientific consensus now that the change in climate is induced by humans. Many have also agreed that climate change is one of the greatest threats that the planet has ever faced. Science and technology has brought humans into an era of technological civilisation where any issue is resolved to a greater extent through technology. This paper looks to explain the role of science and technology in solving the issue of climate change through diplomacy and international trade.

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Climate Change

“Climate Change refers to a change in climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods” – United Nations Framework convention on climate change.

As defined by the US agency NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), seven indicators were proposed in assessing the extent to which the earth was warming and 3 to assess whether the earth had warmed. The seven indicators are overland temperature, ocean heat content, sea level, and sea surface temperature, temperature over oceans, tropospheric temperature, and humidity. The three factors that indicate that the earth has warmed significantly are sea ice, snow cover, and glaciers (NOAA, 2010).

History

Concerns about climate change bgean in the early 1980’s and by 1988 an Intergovernmental panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). They were formed for assessing the scientific knowledge of global warming. One of the major reports issued in 1990 revealed that climate change was manmade. A world convention was then organised which came into effect in 1994. They formulated an international agreement and a world treaty by 1995 which led to the Kyoto Protocol. It provided data about the level of greenhouse gases being produced and suggested a flexible way in which they could be reduced. As of May 2011, UNFCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), has 194 parties in its membership and continue to update their achievements, benchmark others and set new targets to achieve.

Science and Climate Change

According to Holdren, science will be required for devising ways to use energy more effectively and efficiently, so that a shift can be made to energy sources like wind, solar and other kinds of energy. It plays an important role in understanding this shift and will help in making the necessary changes. Science is back in action and people are aware about it (Salazer, 2010).

To a certain extent it can be said that the achievement of set targets in reducing climate change will depend on the advancement of science and technology to reduce the impact caused by human irresponsibility. Group on Earth observations (GEO) believes that decisions taken for the benefit of mankind should be informed, coordinated, comprehensive and sustained, taken from observations and information. Science and technology is the key target for many of the sponsors and beneficiaries of GEOSS. The scientific and technical plan should be created by drawing on the expertise of the international scientific and technological communities and should involve consulting, coordinating and liaising with relevant UN specialised agencies and programmes. The implementation of the ten year plan should also involve integrating science and technological developments (GEO, 2008).

Technology and Climate Change

According to CCTP, becoming a success will require multiple technological path ways. This means that there is not a single technology that can mitigate the impact of the climate change alone. To achieve this, strategies are formulated in order of preference so that they can be realised on a timely basis. These are:

reducing emissions from energy end-use and infrastructure,
reducing emission from energy supply,
capture and sequester carbon dioxide,
improve capabilities to measure and monitor GHG emissions and
Bolster basic science contributions to technology development (CCTP, 2005).

Mitigation of Climate Change

The conventions have an ultimate objective of stabilising greenhouse gases. Under article 4.1(b), all parties are required to make steps towards mitigating climate change. Under the basis of the third assessment report of IPCC, SBSTA was given two new responsibilities. They are to work on scientific, technical and socio-economic aspects of the impacts of, and vulnerability and adaptation to climate change. In addition they are to find out the scientific and socio-economic aspects of the mitigation of climate change. Developments can advance as the parties share information and experiences with each other to formulate a special report on renewable energy sources and climate change mitigation. The report concentrated on six important renewable energy resources and their integration into the present and future energy systems. The report also took into consideration the social and environmental consequences of these technologies including the obstacles that may be encountered during their application and diffusion (UNFCC, 2012).

The six major renewable energy sources that are to be considered are:

Bio-energy, which refers to energy sourced from crops and livestock waste. These are also known as second generation bio-fuels.
Direct solar energy, which includes photovoltaics and is concentrated on solar power.
Geothermal energy that is created from the heat extracted from the earth’s interior.
Hydropower that uses the energy from water to create energy. Hydropower includes run-of –river, in-stream and other dam projects with reservoirs.
Ocean energy, which comes from barrages and ocean currents.
Wind energy that is created from wind powered by on-shore and offshore systems (SBSTA, 2011)
REDD Web Platform

This is a platform where in all the relevant organisation and members are supposed to submit details relating to the reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD). This is a platform that shares the information that is submitted by the stake holders and clients in order to encourage improvements and update the status of the fellow members. The information gathered here forms five categories including technical assistance, demonstration activities, country specific information, methodologies and tools and REDD partnership (UNFCC, 2012).

Change of Land Use and Forestry

The rate with which CO2 is increasing in the atmosphere can be taken advantage of because they accumulate in vegetation and soils in terrestrial ecosystems. This is done by the LULUF wing who focus on reducing emissions through deforestation in developing countries. This was a proposal that was put forward by LULUF and received wide support from other parties (UNFCC, 2012). The method that was suggested in the proposal recommended that the storage of carbon in forest products should be included in a national inventory only in cases where a country can document that existing stocks of long term forest products are increasing (UNFCCC, 2012). Reporting to this sector keeps CO2 emissions in control regardless of location. There are commitments the parties are supposed to fulfil on this basis, the conditions of which are defined in article 4. The parties are supposed to develop, periodically update, publish and make available to the conference details on emissions and reductions in CO2 gases. It is made mandatory for them to promote a management style that is sustainable and can enhance conservation of non-renewable energy sources.

Emissions of Bunker Fuels

There are also fuel emissions that are used for aviation and maritime transport. These issues are also addressed under UNFCCC. The COP (conference of parties) requested SBSTA for addressing the allocation of fuels where international bunker fuels are concerned. These fuels will be included under the national GHG inventories but not in the national total, although they are reported separately. The parties involved are separately required to reduce emissions.

Research and Development

Research and development has played an important role in determining the usage of science and technology for mitigating climate change. The need for addressing global climate change and having data that is accura…………………………………..