From adb79d5ab0c24995f6336ad074e5eff673140fb5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: HarshCasper Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2022 18:37:58 +0530 Subject: [PATCH] improve language & docs for chapter-1 --- Chapter1/index.rst | 32 ----- Chapter1/section_one.rst | 55 -------- Chapter1/section_two.rst | 5 - index.rst | 2 +- .../index.rst | 54 +++++++ .../section_one.rst | 132 ++++++++++++++++++ .../section_two.rst | 9 ++ 7 files changed, 196 insertions(+), 93 deletions(-) delete mode 100644 Chapter1/index.rst delete mode 100644 Chapter1/section_one.rst delete mode 100644 Chapter1/section_two.rst create mode 100644 understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/index.rst create mode 100644 understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_one.rst create mode 100644 understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_two.rst diff --git a/Chapter1/index.rst b/Chapter1/index.rst deleted file mode 100644 index a34fc34..0000000 --- a/Chapter1/index.rst +++ /dev/null @@ -1,32 +0,0 @@ -Chapter 1: Understanding Climate Science and Carbon Models -=========================================================== -This chapter discusses climate models, and to convey their usefulness, we need to understand disturbances. We can recognise disturbances as events, such as fires, flooding, insect and pest outbreaks, etc., that cause short-term or temporary changes to the landscape. Although the changes to the landscapes can be short-termed, disturbances can have significant ecosystem impacts. - -Carbon models evaluate how artificial or natural disturbances affect our forests. Understanding these disturbances provides us with important information about the future of our landscapes and the steps to take to lessen their negative consequences. - -**Pools, Stocks and flows** - -Pools are reservoirs or containers that can hold, accumulate, or discharge chemicals. Nature contains pools in the ocean, the lithosphere, soils, atmosphere, and other places. A carbon pool, for instance, stores and releases carbon. - -Stock refers to the entire amount of a substance in a pool at any time. - -On the other hand, flows are measured in units per time and alter the stock in a pool. - -The bathtub analogy is a great way to explain these concepts. A bathtub holding the water can be considered a pool, the faucet and drain can be understood as flows, and the total water in the bathtub as stock. - - -**Simulation models, States and Transition** - -Simulation models help provide valuable insights into the dynamics of these landscapes. To run a simulation model, we must define the area or landscape we want to study at a particular time. This landscape is divided into small pixels to be simulated. - -A pixel can be classified by its state, which might change over time; for example, simple forest vegetation can have different states like Deciduous, Mixed, and Coniferous. Due to transitions, the forest vegetation can change to a different state over time. - -State transitions can be due to fire, harvest, and succession disturbances. These transitions impact the stocks and flows of carbon pools. - - -.. toctree:: - :hidden: - - section_one - section_two - \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/Chapter1/section_one.rst b/Chapter1/section_one.rst deleted file mode 100644 index 137436f..0000000 --- a/Chapter1/section_one.rst +++ /dev/null @@ -1,55 +0,0 @@ -The Organisations behind the Climate Mitigation Steps -====================================================== -As the world works together to reduce the adverse effects of climate change, here are some organizations championing the cause. - -**What is the IPCC?** - -Established in 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations responsible for assessing the research and preparing reports on climate change. The main objective of the IPCC is to assess reports and information related to understanding human-induced climate change, its effects, and, more importantly, how to mitigate these effects. - -Currently chaired by the Korean economist Hoesung Lee, the IPCC does not conduct research or partake in monitoring climate change. This body is largely concerned with the periodic review of the resources and methodologies. These resources and methodologies enable countries to estimate their emissions and removals through sinks of greenhouse gases. - -Scientists extremely knowledgeable in climate science review these data reports and resources. The scientists that prepare the special reports are divided into working groups: Working Group I, Working Group II, and Working Group III. - -- Working Group I(WGI): The IPCC WGI assesses the physical science supporting past, present, and future climate change. Working Group 1 covers topics like: greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere; temperature changes in the air, land, and ocean; the hydrological cycle and changing precipitation (rain and snow) patterns; extreme weather; glaciers and ice sheets; oceans and sea level; biogeochemistry and the carbon cycle; and climate sensitivity. The WGI assessments provide the global community with the resources to combat climate change. - -- Working Group II (WGII): The IPCC WGII assesses the impact of climate change on the environment. The WGII also assesses the human and natural systems' capability to adapt our environment to climate change. This assessment exposes vulnerabilities in the systems that countries can improve. - -- Working Group III(WGIII): The IPCC WGII focuses on how to mitigate climate change. It takes a solution-oriented approach but refrains from advocating for any specific climate change mitigation approach. - - -**What is the UNFCCC?** - -Established in 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as UNFCCC, constitutes the foundational climate agreement that has provided the platform for most subsequent international climate agreements. Signed by 154 states, the UNFCCC created an international treaty to mitigate the effects of "dangerous human interference with the climate system" by stabilizing the greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. - -The UNFCC uses the framework agreement to develop treaties. This framework agreement begins with the parties signed to UNFCCC acknowledging a problem and committing to take action without taking concrete obligations. - -To help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the UNFCCC implemented the Kyoto Protocol, which acknowledges that global warming is occurring and man-made. The UNFCCC implemented the Kyoto protocol to achieve the UNFCCC's objective of reducing the effect of global warming by reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. - -The Kyoto Protocol applies to seven greenhouse gases. These greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). - -The different parties or countries signed to UNFCCC take on varying commitments according to the countries' capabilities. The parties to the UNFCC are classified as follows: -- Annex I: This class has 43 countries or parties. These countries are industrialized countries and "economies in transition". Check out this post to see the list of countries in this annex. - -- Annex II: This class consists of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) members, minus Turkey. Annex II also consists of the European Union (EU). - -- Least Developed Countries: This class consists of 49 parties. It includes countries that are developing and therefore have limited capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change. - -- Non-Annex I: This class consists of developing countries and countries of low income. These developing countries could volunteer to become parties of Annex I when they have become adequately developed. - - -The UNFCC collects carbon emissions data from every country to provide an authoritative source of global greenhouse gas emissions. These reports underpin important international treaties like the Paris Agreement. The Paris agreement effectively negotiates between countries that are responsible for cutting emissions and who sequester the most atmospheric carbon. Broadly, we have a goal for the entire world to be carbon neutral by 2050 (this is referred to as ''net zero'' where emissions are perfectly balanced by sequestration), hopefully keeping global warming under a +2C increase in long-term mean temperature. If we fail to achieve this goal, we might end up in a +4C world which is catastrophic. - - -**What does land sector reporting mean?** - -Land sector reporting can be understood as the estimation and reporting of the anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gas (GHG) over land units subject to activities relating to land use, land use change, and forestry. - -In line with the `UNFCC reporting guidelines `_, the greenhouse gas inventory or report should have the following qualities: - -- Transparency: Transparency ensures that the data sources, assumptions, and methodologies used for an inventory are clearly explained. -- Consistency: Report should be internally consistent for every single year reported, in all its elements across sectors, categories, and gases. -- Comparability: Estimates of emissions and removals from Annex I parties should be comparable to other Annex I parties. For comparability to happen, Annex I parties should use the methodologies and formats described and agreed by the `Conference of the Parties (COP) `_. -- Completeness: The greenhouse gas report should cover at least all the sources and sinks, and gases. -- Accuracy: The report submitted must be correct, that is, neither under nor over true emissions or removals, and those uncertainties are reduced as far as practicable. - - diff --git a/Chapter1/section_two.rst b/Chapter1/section_two.rst deleted file mode 100644 index e35a773..0000000 --- a/Chapter1/section_two.rst +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5 +0,0 @@ -How does FLINT help solve issues arising from Climate Change -============================================================= - -`Full Lands Integration Tool (FLINT) `_ is a moja global software used for measuring, reporting, verifying (MRV), or forecasting greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forestry, agriculture, and other land uses (AFOLU). With FLINT, we can use data from multiple sources to simulate past events and project the progression of a landscape. - diff --git a/index.rst b/index.rst index 7b92188..e29c89d 100644 --- a/index.rst +++ b/index.rst @@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Lastly, we shall walk through what the future holds for the world we live in, wh .. toctree:: :hidden: - Chapter1/index + understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/index Chapter2/index Chapter3/index Chapter4/index diff --git a/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/index.rst b/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/index.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4998c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/index.rst @@ -0,0 +1,54 @@ +Chapter-1: Understanding climate science & carbon models +========================================================== + +This chapter discusses climate models, and to convey their usefulness, +we need to understand disturbances. We can recognise disturbances as +events, such as fires, flooding, insect and pest outbreaks, etc., that +cause short-term or temporary changes to the landscape. Although the +changes to the landscapes can be short-termed, disturbances can have +significant ecosystem impacts. + +Carbon models evaluate how artificial or natural disturbances affect our +forests. Understanding these disturbances provides us with important +information about the future of our landscapes and the steps to take to +lessen their negative consequences. + +Pools, Stocks and flows +----------------------- + +Pools are reservoirs or containers that can hold, accumulate, or +discharge chemicals. Nature contains pools in the ocean, the +lithosphere, soils, atmosphere, and other places. A carbon pool, for +instance, stores and releases carbon. + +Stock refers to the entire amount of a substance in a pool at any time. On +the other hand, flows are measured in units per time and alter the +stock in a pool. + +The bathtub analogy is a great way to explain these concepts. A bathtub +holding the water can be considered a pool, the faucet and drain can be +understood as flows, and the total water in the bathtub as stock. + +Simulation models, States and Transition +----------------------- + +Simulation models help provide valuable insights into the dynamics of +these landscapes. To run a simulation model, we must define the area or +landscape we want to study at a particular time. This landscape is +divided into small pixels to be simulated. + +A pixel can be classified by its state, which might change over time; +for example, simple forest vegetation can have different states like +Deciduous, Mixed, and Coniferous. Due to transitions, the forest +vegetation can change to a different state over time. + +State transitions can be due to fire, harvest, and succession +disturbances. These transitions impact the stocks and flows of carbon +pools. + + +.. toctree:: + :hidden: + + section_one + section_two diff --git a/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_one.rst b/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_one.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..845eba5 --- /dev/null +++ b/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_one.rst @@ -0,0 +1,132 @@ +Organizations behind climate mitigation +====================================================== + +As the world works together to reduce the adverse effects of climate +change, some organizations are championing the cause. + +What is the IPCC? +----------------- + +Established in 1988, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change +(IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations responsible +for assessing research and preparing reports on climate change. The main +objective of the IPCC is to assess reports and information related to +understanding human-induced climate change, its effects, and, more +importantly, how to mitigate these effects. + +Currently chaired by the Korean economist Hoesung Lee, the IPCC does not +conduct research or partake in monitoring climate change. This body is +largely concerned with the periodic review of resources and +methodologies. These resources and methodologies enable countries to +estimate their emissions and removals through sinks of greenhouse gases. + +Scientists extremely knowledgeable in climate science review these data +reports and resources. The scientists that prepare the special reports +are divided into working groups: Working Group I, Working Group II, and +Working Group III. + +- **Working Group I(WGI)**: The IPCC WGI assesses the physical science + supporting past, present, and future climate change. Working Group 1 + covers topics like greenhouse gases and aerosols in the atmosphere; + temperature changes in the air, land, and ocean; the hydrological + cycle and changing precipitation (rain and snow) patterns; extreme + weather; glaciers and ice sheets; oceans and sea level; + biogeochemistry and the carbon cycle; and climate sensitivity. The + WGI assessments provide the global community with the resources to + combat climate change. +- **Working Group II (WGII)**: The IPCC WGII assesses the impact of climate + change on the environment. The WGII also assesses the human and + natural systems' capability to adapt our environment to climate + change. This assessment exposes vulnerabilities in the systems that + countries can improve. +- **Working Group III(WGIII)**: The IPCC WGII focuses on how to mitigate + climate change. It takes a solution-oriented approach but refrains + from advocating for any specific climate change mitigation approach. + +What is the UNFCCC? +------------------- + +Established in 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate +Change, also known as UNFCCC, constitutes the foundational climate +agreement that has provided the platform for most subsequent +international climate agreements. Signed by 154 states, the UNFCCC +created an international treaty to mitigate the effects of "dangerous +human interference with the climate system" by stabilizing the +greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. + +The UNFCC uses the framework agreement to develop treaties. This +framework agreement begins with the parties signed to UNFCCC +acknowledging a problem and committing to take action without taking +concrete obligations. + +To help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the UNFCCC implemented the +Kyoto Protocol, which acknowledges that global warming is occurring and +artificial. The UNFCCC implemented the Kyoto protocol to achieve the +UNFCCC's objective of reducing the effect of global warming by reducing +greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. + +The Kyoto Protocol applies to seven greenhouse gases. These greenhouse +gases are carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), +hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride +(SF6), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3). + +The different parties or countries signed to UNFCCC take on varying +commitments according to the countries' capabilities. The parties to the +UNFCC are classified as follows: - Annex I: This class has 43 countries +or parties. These countries are industrialized countries and "economies +in transition". Check out this post to see the list of countries in this +annexe. + +- **Annex II**: This class consists of Organisation for Economic + Co-operation and Development (OCED) members, minus Turkey. Annex II + also consists of the European Union (EU). +- **Least Developed Countries**: This class consists of 49 parties. It + includes countries that are developing and therefore have limited + capacity to adapt to the effects of climate change. +- **Non-Annex I**: This class consists of developing countries and + countries of low income. These developing countries could volunteer + to become parties of Annex I when they have become adequately + developed. + +The UNFCC collects carbon emissions data from every country to provide +an authoritative source of global greenhouse gas emissions. These +reports underpin important international treaties like the Paris +Agreement. The Paris agreement effectively negotiates between countries +that are responsible for cutting emissions and who sequester the most +atmospheric carbon. Broadly, we have a goal for the entire world to be +carbon neutral by 2050 (this is referred to as ''net zero'' where +emissions are perfectly balanced by sequestration), hopefully keeping +global warming under a +2C increase in long-term mean temperature. If we +fail to achieve this goal, we might end up in a +4C world which is +catastrophic. + +What does land sector reporting mean? +------------------------------------- + +Land sector reporting can be understood as the estimation and reporting +of the anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gas (GHG) over land +units subject to activities relating to land use, land use change, and +forestry. + +In line with the `UNFCC reporting +guidelines `__, +the greenhouse gas inventory or report should have the following +qualities: + +- **Transparency**: Transparency ensures that the data sources, + assumptions, and methodologies used for an inventory is clearly + explained. +- **Consistency**: Report should be internally consistent for every single + year reported, in all its elements across sectors, categories, and + gases. +- **Comparability**: Estimates of emissions and removals from Annex I + parties should be comparable to other Annex I parties. For + comparability to happen, Annex I parties should use the methodologies + and formats described and agreed upon by the `Conference of the + Parties + (COP) `__. +- **Completeness**: The greenhouse gas report should cover at least all the + sources and sinks, and gases. +- **Accuracy**: The report submitted must be correct, that is, neither + under nor over true emissions or removals, and those uncertainties + are reduced as far as practicable. diff --git a/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_two.rst b/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_two.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5389c9b --- /dev/null +++ b/understanding-climate-science-carbon-models/section_two.rst @@ -0,0 +1,9 @@ +Using FLINT to mitigate climate change +============================================================= + +`Full Lands Integration Tool (FLINT) `__ is +a moja global software used for measuring, reporting, verifying (MRV), +or forecasting greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forestry, +agriculture, and other land uses (AFOLU). With FLINT, we can use data +from multiple sources to simulate past events and project the +progression of a landscape.