Balancing an Emissions Budget
The latest episode of the Climopedia podcast is up, and this time we’re talking about the National Academy of Science’s recommendation that the U.S. institute a greenhouse gas emissions budget to help minimize the impact of climate change in the coming years.
The recent America’s Climate Choices report, Limiting the Magnitude of Climate Change, recommends that between 2012 and 2050, this country should emit no more than between 170 and 200 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalents.
But what does that even mean? And most importantly: can we meet this goal?
As you’ll hear, it’s hard to get a clear idea of either of those things.
On this episode, you’ll hear from both Robert Fri, the chair of the second America’s Climate Choices report, and Robert Socolow, a Princeton University researcher who helped review the report and also contributed to the fourth report, Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change.
Joining me from Climate Central are senior science writer Michael D. Lemonick and Eric Larson, a scientist who closely studies energy issues.
To subscribe to the Climopedia podcast for free, check out our iTunes page.
Comments
Related Content
Related Graphics
-
- Global Warming Coastal Flood Risk
- The odds of extreme coastal floods nationally by 2030.
-
- Small Modular Reactors: How Do They Measure Up?
- How to small modular reactors measure up to conventional nuclear plants?
-
- Interactive: Small Modular Reactors - Safe and Cheaper?
- An interactive graphic detailing the pros and cons of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
-
- The Age of Man: A New Geologic Epoch
- Scientists think the past 250 years represent the beginning of a new geologic era, marked by human influence around the planet.
-
- 20 Big U.S. Cities that Should Worry About Sea Level Rise
- 20 U.S. cities with populations over 300,000 that are most likely to be dramatically affected by sea level rise.
-
- Future Renewable Fuel Standard Targets
- Renewable Fuel Standards
-
- Geoengineering Methods
- These are some of the main geoengineering proposals that have been put forward by scientists and other experts.
-
- Keeling Curve
- Charles David Keeling's measurements provided the significant evidence of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration
-
- Proposed Carbon Capture and Sequestration in Linden, NJ
- The CCS project proposed for Linden, NJ will use a process called gasification to convert coal into hydrogen.
-
- US Fossil Fuel CO2 Emissions
- US fossil fuel CO2 emissions are projected to continue growing if no legislation is passed to reduce emissions.
Related Videos
-
- Will Your Home Flood?
- Sample coverage of the national report called Surging Seas, which has recalculated the risk of flooding to coastal communities.
-
- A Look at Flood Risks Across America
- Surging Seas: A project of Climate Central
-
- Watch 131 Years of Global Warming in 26 Seconds
- An amazing 26-second video depicting how temperatures around the globe have warmed since 1880.
-
- Adapting to New Normals: The Heat’s On
- One city in the Mid-Atlantic already is taking the new climate "normals" into consideration as it plans for weather extremes.
-
- Frank von Hippel on Nuclear Energy and Weapons Proliferation
- Reactor accidents and radiation leakage aren't the only risks with nuclear energy; nuclear weapons are another problem.
-
- M.V. Ramana on Safety at Nuclear Power Plants
- Engineers who design nuclear plants can plan a worst case scenario, but this may not be enough to prevent all accidents.
-
- M.V. Ramana on Nuclear Power in India and China
- Both India and China have big expansion plans for nuclear power. Here's a look at why they are expanding and what the risks are.
-
- ClimateCenter: The New Normals
- What we’ve known as “normals” for our climate the past decade will very likely change soon.
-
- Wind Energy
- Why do we get less than 2% of our energy from wind?
-
- What Does Nuclear Power Cost?
- We don’t know what it will cost to build the next nuclear power plant in the US
Twitter Facebook YouTube Vimeo Pinterest RSS