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Strategies to Adapt/Mitigate Climate Change - Coggle Diagram
Strategies to Adapt/Mitigate Climate Change
Clean Energy
Ever since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has used fossil fuels: temporary sources of energy that release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Oils, coal and gas have been a main source driving the temperature of the Earth up almost 1.5˚C since 1850. They are also the leading factor of global warming, as around 68% of GHG released in the atmosphere has been caused by burning these items.
This realization has prompted many countries and organisations to try to switch to more reliable sources of energy. These sources of energy could (technically) last forever, unlike fossil fuels. It is projected that by the end of the decade, energy production from renewable energies are supposed to increase 90% from 2023. Generally, renewable energies are also more efficient at producing electricity than fossil fuels. The top 4 most used green sources are: geothermal, hydroelectric, solar and wind.
Hydropower is the act of using a dam and running water from a river to turn a turbine and produce electricity. Likewise to geothermal energy, it is expensive and requires a facility to manage. It is also quite situational. However it produces a huge amount of energy, more than any other renewable source.
You've probably seen giant wind turbines somewhere in the country side. Giant fan-like structures are erected and use the wind to produce electricity. They are relatively easy and cheap to set up and can be used almost anywhere. However there is a major problem: there isn't always wind. Though many countries like the Netherlands, Denmark and Norway are large users of wind electricity.
Geothermal energy comes from the already existing heat of the Earth's core. Usually, in order to extract heat or steam from underground, you need a large facility and itself requires a lot of energy to run, making it not the most popular to use. There are three different types of geothermal methods.
Dry Steam. This method is straightforward, it uses steam directly from the Earth's core to turn a turbine. This is the most used type of geothermal energy.
Flash Steam. A pump pushes hot liquid into a tank and cools it. As it cools, the liquid "flash vaporizes" into gas, which powers a turbine.
Binary System. Liquid is pumped from underground into a tank filled with a different liquid. The second liquid is heated by the first, producing steam.
Solar energy is by far both the cheapest and easiest to implement. Sometimes, you can see regular houses with solar panels on the roof, allowing the house to essentially generate its own electricity. However, it becomes a problem when it is either cloudy or nighttime, as it is rendered useless when the sun is not out. Furthermore the technology isn't quite developed yet, but it is being perfected by the day.
New Technologies
Every day, different companies and organisations are working to better improve different new technologies that can either work around climate change or attempt to tackle the problem head on.
Carbon Capture technologies focus on taking CO2 emissions from industrialized areas and power plants. CO2 is the most produced GHG by humans in the atmosphere and is the leading reason for climate change. Right now, 45 commercial facilities are using carbon capture technologies. The gas could also be reused for a different, more reliable purpose like power generation.
Carbon capture technologies are projected to grow 35% by 2030, resulting in storage of up to 435 million tonnes annually.
Direct Air capture is similar to carbon capture but takes CO2 directly out of the atmosphere. 27 were commissioned in 2024, and capture roughly 0.01 Mt of CO2 per year. Plans of 130 being built are in development.
Gas-powered vehicles (especially cars) are one of the biggest producers of CO2 annually. This is why companies like Tesla and Volkswagen invested heavily into electric vehicle production. Governments are also on board, who are making EV charging stations more accessible for owners.
In 2024, 17 million EVs were purchased across the world.
The largest seller of EVs is China, with almost 1 in every 10 vehicle on their roads being electric.
All in all, the production of electric vehicles are increasing by the year.
Varieties of Transportation
Just relying on one type of transportation - especially one that producing a plethora of greenhouse emissions - isn't good for the environment. Cars are extremely space inefficient. If every car were full, it would take 10-12 of them to fit 50 people. The same amount of people could fit in just one bus. Different cities and governments are looking for ways to replace car-based travel.
Public transportation is much better for the atmosphere. In Toronto, there are three main methods for public travel: Subway, bus and streetcar.
Recently, the TTC just hit a new milestone, having 100 electric busses in service. Along with this, 30% of the TTC's bus fleet is hybrid, running partially on gas and partially on electricity. They are looking to be 50% zero-emission by 2030 and 100% by 2040.
The TTC has 4 operating lines and hopefully 5 in the coming weeks. They use four different models: Lines 1 and 4 run on the Bombardier Toronto Rocket, Line 2 runs on the T-1, Line 5 will use the Flexity Freedom and Line 6 uses the Citadus Spirit. All of these train models run on electricity rather than gas. For a few decades, Toronto has been going for a zero-emissions transit system, and even though they are just one city, it still makes a difference toward climate change.
With 9 different streetcar lines spanning primarily downtown, the TTC's streetcar system is the 3rd most popular in North America. All 9 use the Flexity Outlook, which runs of electricity.
Walking instead of taking a gas based vehicle obviously produces 0 emissions. In Toronto, most of the city is considered "liveable," and possible to walk to most of the places you require to instead of driving.
Protecting/Restoring Nature
Forests cover about 31% of Earth's land area, and they are crucial for mitigating climate change. Trees - along with other plants - take in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and use photosynthesis to release oxygen back out. This makes trees carbon sinks. Over centuries, 75% of forests have been taken down for human activities, releasing all that carbon bank into the atmosphere.
One solution is to stop eating as much meat. To industrialize livestock, companies and organizations clear out millions of acres worth of forestry to give land to animals. As a result, a lot of carbon is released back in the atmosphere. By not supporting this, you'd be saving thousands of trees.
On a governmental level, agreements could be signed to end deforestation. In 2021, the Glasgow Declaration on Forests and Land Use agreement was signed by over 140 countries, including Canada. One of the main clauses was to end deforestation and eventually reverse it by 2030.
Many non-profit and governmental organizations are already trying to restore the world's forest. The Amazon, the Earth's biggest forest, which is large enough to create its own climate has experienced heavy deforestation in the past several decades. If the forest gets to its "tipping point," the forest won't be able to continue, disrupting and permanently changing the ecosystem. Many groups are trying to prevent this from happening by getting government attention and attempting to grow the forest by replanting.
Less Meat in Comsumption
Surprisingly, livestock is extremely bad for the environment. It alone produces roughly 14-18% of the world's greenhouse emissions, and 32% of methane emissions. The vast majority of the world eats some sort of livestock meat, which contributes heavily toward global warming.
Unfortunately, one of the only ways to prevent further damage to the environment is to cut meats like pork, chicken and beef out of your diet. Though even having simply less of this meat does support the environment, even if it's a little bit.
Alternate artificial meats are another solution. Without the need for livestock, it limits the amount of methane put into the atmosphere dramatically. However current industrial processes still aren't great for the environment. CO2 is emitted while making it but it does have the potential to be better, once a more efficient tactic is cemented.
