ClimatEGGlobal Warming Issues
In 2018, the level of carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere reached 410 parts per million or ppm. Such a high level was not seen in the last 3 million years of the Earth’s history. This elevated level, compared to the level of 280 ppm in the preindustrial age in 1850, means that the global average nearsurface temperature has since increased by ~1 degree C. Measurements show that both the ppm value of atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and global near-surface temperature have been trending upwards in recent years. This trend, if unchecked, is expected to lead to dangerous impacts of global warming.
Signatory countries of the 2015 Paris Agreement have committed to do their best to hold global average temperature increase to well below 2 degree C, and ideally to no more than 1.5 degree C, above pre-industrial level in order to avoid dangerous impacts of global warming.
In November 2016, the U.S. submitted its Mid-Century Strategy for Deep De-carbonization to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change as a response to its commitment in the Paris Agreement. This strategy aims to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 by 26% to 28% relative to 2005 levels. Such a goal is consistent with a U.S. pathway towards an 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 relative to 2005 levels.
In 2006, California passed a law, The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill (AB) 32, to limit the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. This law mandates that the state’s greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. Ten years later, California passed another law, Senate Bill (SB) 32, The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: emissions limit. SB 32 strengthens AB 32’s mandate by further requiring that by 2030, the state’s greenhouse gas emissions will be 40% below 1990 levels.
To meet the above greenhouse gas emissions targets, the state has prescribed emissions-abatement methods through various policy implementations to:
- Initially require more efficient fossil-fuel electricity generation and progressively generate greater shares of electricity from renewable sources;
- Reduce petroleum use in transportation through setting higher vehicle mileage standards, and progressively expand use of electric private and commercial vehicles;
- Improve energy efficiency in buildings and appliances, and gradually electrify space and domestic-water heating;
- Improve management in land use and land-use changes;
- Reduce short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon; and
- Implement carbon pricing and trading programs such as greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade.
The above prescriptions have put California on track to meet its target for greenhouse gas emissions levels by 2020. Among the above abatement measures, carbon cap-and-trade is the only one that is potentially economy-wide and market-based. Others are top-down regulations.
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ClimatEG’s contribution
Our current project supports one of the prescriptions of California’s broad-based climate change mitigation policy. We have designed and built an educational game to teach students how an emissions cap-and-trade system contributes to reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. It is a simplified representation of California’s emissions cap-and-trade policy.