Abstract
This presentation is an attempt to build a bridge from science to
political decision making. In the worldwide process of preparing
and following up the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), which will be held in Brazil in June 1992, it
is likely that the urge to find a convincing basis for decision
making in order to counter climatic change will become evere more
acute. Even though most governments may agree that something
should be done, many disagree over the extent, the pace, and the
acceptable costs of action. Is it, for example, sufficient to
follow the recommendation of the 1988 conference in Toronto on
"The Changing Atmosphere" and reduce global CO2 emissions by 20%
until year 2005, or is it vital for the future of the World to
reduce emissions at a much quicker pace? And how do we compare
reductions of different greenhouse gases by different amounts,
implemented over different time spans?The present paper seeks to
contribute to the creation of a more convincing an operational
basis for decision making. The authors recommend the application
of calculated profiles of realized global warming or avoided
global warming as a direct and comprehensible way of comparing
different options for reducing emissions. Computed results for two
selected global and two national scenarios are presented.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY POLICY |
Place of Publication | New York |
Publisher | American Institute of Physics |
Publication date | 1992 |
Pages | 457-468 |
Publication status | Published - 1992 |
Event | Global Climate Change: Its Mitigation Through Improved
Production and Use of Energy - Las Alamos, New Mexico, USA Duration: 1 Jan 1994 → … |
Conference
Conference | Global Climate Change: Its Mitigation Through Improved Production and Use of Energy |
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City | Las Alamos, New Mexico, USA |
Period | 01/01/1994 → … |