The Extent to which Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Can Contribute towards Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change Futures

Case Background: - In transportation industry, one of the biggest challenge is how to deal with carbon dioxide emissions and how to reduce the energy. According to the Natural Resources Canada, one third of the greenhouse emission is because of transportation industry.

The rapidly increasing amount of carbon dioxide may be one of the factors that cause climate change. As Hillman states, “Concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are increasing, and have done so since the Industrial Revolution.” An atmospheric CO2 concentration, research shows that there is a dramatic increase from 280 parts per million (ppm) in 1750 to 373 ppm in 2002, a rise of the third. Furthermore, the linear chart demonstrated the trend of annual global CO2

Climate Change- Climate is a long term change in the Earth's weather, especially due to an increase in the average atmospheric temperature. According to research, it was discovered that the Earth's temperature rose by 0.6 degrees Celsius (C) and predicted that the sea surface temperature may rise by up to 1 degrees C over the next 50 years. Unfortunately, carbon dioxide and methane gas levels are the highest they have ever been for the last 420000 years. These two gases with water vapour, nitrous oxide and halocarbons create the five predominate greenhouse gases, effecting the environment greatly. Furthermore, it is evident that an average person release 4 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. Due to this fact, carbon dioxide

“1 gallon of gas =24 pounds of global warming emissions” (UCSUSA). Many of the people in our world today don’t understand just how much The Automobile affects us, our lives, and the world we live in. Undoubtedly, the invention of the car has changed our perspective on the different technology created over the past years. However, cars are some of the leading factors towards one of the largest ongoing problems occurring in our world today. That problem goes by the name of global warming. “Since 1990, Transportation has been one of the fastest growing sources of U.S. GHG” (U.S.D.T), otherwise known as Greenhouse gasses. In which most of us know; global warming affects our health, environment, weather, and ultimately our lives. It is a

In 2012, transportation accounted for 19% of the total global energy consumption, 96% of which was produced by fossil fuels [1, p. 201]. Furthermore, air transport is the most carbon intensive mode of transportation, accounting for approximately 10 times more carbon emissions than road transport and 100 times more than shipping (per tonne km) [2, p. 4].

Climate change and transportation play a big role and it is important to be concerned for our future generations. The use of gasoline cars is a major producer in carbon dioxide emissions, although they are not entirely responsible for it—they play a role in it. Other form of transportations like buses and taxis also contribute to carbon dioxide emissions. The total amount of carbon dioxide emissions from an average car is seventy six percent which comes from usage of a vehicle containing gasoline. Efficiency has increased by twenty percent in regards to electric motors, especially when it comes to their wheels using no power when the car is at rest. Car ownership will increase and with this, improvements in technology could be a vital

Climate change or colloquially known as global warming, now pose a new threat to civilization as the levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) are soaring to new levels. The most significant contributor to greenhouse gasses would be Carbon Dioxide (Co2). The levels of Carbon Dioxide (Co2) gas have risen to levels civilization has not seen before. As such, the effects of these levels are not known to civilization as data gathered from the ice cores drilled in the Antarctica only shows data up to 650,000 years ago. However we can conclude that present CO2 concentrations are higher compared to any time in the last 650,000 years (IPCC 2007). Current carbon dioxide concentrations are hovering around 389 parts per million (ppm) as of September 2011,

Climate change is influenced by the greenhouse effect which is the increase of Carbon dioxide, Methane, Ozone and Nitrogen Oxide. On one hand, the presence of these gases in the atmosphere make the earth habitable with respect to regulating the earth’s temperature. However, an increase in the concentration of these gases results in trapping energy in the atmosphere and this in turn increases earth’s temperature. “Global greenhouse gas emissions have grown since pre-industrial times, with an increase of 70% between

Global warming has been a controversial topic for years and some have even denied its existence; however, as more studies are being published every day in regards to our changing climate, it is hard to ignore this growing issue and how humans contribute to it. The term greenhouse gases refers to the group of gases that are primarily responsible for global warming and chief among these gases is carbon dioxide. Rising carbon dioxide levels can be attributed to a combination of burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum as well as deforestation in general ( Source A). To slow the effects of global warming, it is important for leaders in our society to consider their greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide, and make

Climate change is a huge problem in this world today. The effects it has on the environment are long-lasting, widespread, and detrimental to the planet's health. It affects various life forms all over the planet, and the effects are starting to show today. However, efforts to stop or control climate change’s effects have been expensive, making efforts to solve the problems associated with climate change hard to justify. The debate over whether or not the protection of the environment is worth the potential destruction of developed economies still continues on to this day.

Current data reveals that the concentration of Carbon Dioxide in the earth's atmosphere is approximately 387 parts per million, which is roughly a 31% increase in the period 1750 to 2009. Consequently, it is evident that such increases in temperatures have caused a warmer planet (7). It is also evident that it is impossible to reverse the developments of industrial revolution. This means that as the advancements of industrial revolution continue and as energy demands increases, it is possible that this trend of climate change will continue for decades to come (McAloon, 8). The consent of the climate research community is that it most likely already affects climate noticeably and will compel significant

Scientific evidence suggests that human activity like agriculture, urbanization and industrialization have influenced climate change. Clearing land and building cities up for agriculture results in changing the climate. This is because the population is increasing rapidly and the demand to use fossil fuels in our everyday life is also increasing. Increasing use for fossil fuels, industrialization and deforestation has a huge impact on the climate. Enhanced greenhouse gases are an increase in natural greenhouse gases impacted by mankind. The major cause of greenhouse gases is the increase in carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide being released in the atmosphere. If greenhouse gases continue to be produced at the same rate as it did in 2000, then there will be a 0.1-degree change in temperature per decade. This isn’t likely to happen though because of the dramatic need for fossil fuel.

The climate changing was first suspected in the 19th century when scientists in britain debated whether Europe was covered by ice in the past. “Guy S Callender suggested that the warming trend revealed in the 19th century had been caused by a 10% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.” (Harding) The debate intensified by 2005 when a study was published stating that a large scale disruption could occur by 2050 if we do not slow the process of climate change. The debate has now spiraled back to whether climate change is occurring or not. However the climate warming pattern has been increasing exponentially since the 1950’s.

The earth’s climate is predicted to change because human activities are altering the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of greenhouse gases –– primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. The heat-trapping property of these gases is undisputed. Although uncertainty exists about exactly how earth’’s climate responds to these gases, global temperatures are rising. Go to the Emissions section for much more on greenhouse gases.

The rapid change in our climate due to anthropogenic forces has caused the Earth’s average temperature to rise to an unparalleled level in human history. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as well as the cyclical processes of the Earth and Sun, affect the warming of our oceans and atmosphere. Although processes other than anthropogenic practices modify the climate, our influence on the climate since the Industrial Revolution has been unmatched. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Recent climate changes have widespread impacts on human and natural systems” (IPCC , 2014). The impact that climate change has on human and natural systems is difficult to quantify, because the effects are complex and slow moving. Although the magnitude of the impact is challenging to measure, it is quite clear that, “Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, and sea level has risen” (IPCC , 2014). Equally important, carbon dioxide levels have reached nearly 390 ppm and scientists estimated this number could rise to 500 ppm by 2050 and 800 ppm by 2100 (Hardt & Safina, 2010).