Testing 100-Year Global Warming Potentials: Impacts on Compliance Costs and Abatement Profile

The comprehensive approach adopted in the Kyoto Protocol relies on the use of 100-year Global Warming Potentials (GWPs) to convert emissions of various gases to `carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) equivalents'. This particular set of weights, or metric, has a limited capacity to handle the large variations in atmospheric adjustment times, and emissions of various gases that are equal in terms of `CO₂ equivalents' will not result in equal climatic effects. In this study, the 100-year GWP metric is assessed in the context of implementing the Kyoto Protocol. Using data from Norway, we explore how abatement policy formulated on the basis of 100-year GWPs compares to policies based on other metrics in terms of compliance costs and abatement profile, that is, the composition of the basket of gases reduced. We found that the costs for Norway change significantly when other metrics are used, but changes in the composition of the basket of gases are moderate. However, since compliance costs can be controlled through other mechanisms for post-Kyoto Protocols, the use of 100-year GWPs versus other metrics has little impact on the general formulation of Norwegian climate policy.     

CH4和N2O的辐射强迫与全球增温潜能

CH₄和N₂O作为主要温室气体,自工业革命以来排放量急剧增加,已经被列入《京都议定书》要求控制它们的排放。本文利用高光谱分辨率的辐射传输模式,计算了CH₄、N₂O在晴空大气和有云大气条件下的瞬时辐射效率和平流层调整的辐射效率,以及它们的全球增温潜能(GWP)和全球温变潜能(GTP),并根据模式结果拟合了CH₄和N₂O的辐射强迫的简单计算公式。本文的研究表明:CH₄和N₂O在有云大气下的平流层调整的辐射效率分别为4.142×10-4 W m-2 ppb-1和3.125×10-3 W m-2 ppb-1 (1ppb=10-9),经大气寿命调整后的辐射效率分别为3.732×10-4 W m-2 ppb-1和2.987×10-3 W m-2 ppb-1,与IPCC(2007)的相应结果高度一致。CH₄和N₂O 100年的全球增温潜能GWP分别为16和266;100年的脉冲排放的全球温变潜能GTPP分别为0.24和233;持续排放的全球温变潜能GTPS分别为18和268。它们在未来全球变暖和气候变化中,影响仅次于CO₂,仍然起着非常关键的作用。     

CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and non-CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> radiative forcings in climate projections for twenty-first century mitigation scenarios

Climate is simulated for reference and mitigation emissions scenarios from Integrated Assessment Models using the Bern2.5CC carbon cycle–climate model. Mitigation options encompass all major radiative forcing agents. Temperature change is attributed to forcings using an impulse–response substitute of Bern2.5CC. The contribution of CO₂ to global warming increases over the century in all scenarios. Non-CO₂ mitigation measures add to the abatement of global warming. The share of mitigation carried by CO₂, however, increases when radiative forcing targets are lowered, and increases after 2000 in all mitigation scenarios. Thus, non-CO₂ mitigation is limited and net CO₂ emissions must eventually subside. Mitigation rapidly reduces the sulfate aerosol loading and associated cooling, partly masking Greenhouse Gas mitigation over the coming decades. A profound effect of mitigation on CO₂ concentration, radiative forcing, temperatures and the rate of climate change emerges in the second half of the century.     

Metrics of Climate Change: Assessing Radiative Forcing and Emission Indices

In this paper, we review existing and alternative metrics of climate change, with particular emphasis on radiative forcing and global warming potentials (GWPs), in terms of their scientific performance. Radiative forcing is assessed in terms of questions such as the utility of the concept, uncertainties and sensitivity to key assumptions. The assessment of emission indices focuses on the climate and other resulting impacts (end points) against which emissions are weighted; the extent to which (and how) time dependence is included, with regard to both emission control and impact; how cost issues are dealt with; and the sensitivity of the metrics to various assumptions. It is concluded that the radiative forcing concept is a robust and useful metric of the potential climatic impact of various agents and that there are prospects for improvement by weighing different forcings according to their effectiveness. We also find that although the GWP concept is associated with serious shortcomings, it retains advantages over any of the proposed alternatives in terms of political feasibility. Alternative metrics, however, make a significant contribution to addressing important issues, and this contribution should be taken into account in the further development of refined metrics of climate change.     

Can radiative forcing be limited to 2.6 Wm−2 without negative emissions from bioenergy AND CO2 capture and storage?

Combining bioenergy and carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and storage (CCS) technologies (BECCS) has the potential to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere while producing useful energy. BECCS has played a central role in scenarios that reduce climate forcing to low levels such as 2.6 Wm^?2. In this paper we consider whether BECCS is essential to limiting radiative forcing (RF) to 2.6 Wm^?2 by 2100 using the Global Change Assessment Model, a closely coupled model of biogeophysical and human Earth systems. We show that BECCS can potentially reduce the cost of limiting RF to 2.6 Wm^?2 by 2100 but that a variety of technology combinations that do not include BECCS can also achieve this goal, under appropriate emissions mitigation policies. We note that with appropriate supporting land-use policies terrestrial sequestration could deliver carbon storage ranging from 200 to 700 PgCO₂-equiavalent over the 21st century. We explore substantial delays in participation by some geopolitical regions. We find that the value of BECCS is substantially higher under delay and that delay results in higher transient RF and climate change. However, when major regions postponed mitigation indefinitely, it was impossible to return RF to 2.6 Wm^?2 by 2100. Neither finite land resources nor finite potential geologic storage capacity represented a meaningful technical limit on the ability of BECCS to contribute to emissions mitigation in the numerical experiments reported in this paper.     

Sensitivity of multi-gas climate policy to emission metrics

The Global Warming Potential (GWP) index is currently used to create CO₂-equivalent emission totals for multi-gas greenhouse targets. While many alternatives have been proposed, it is not possible to uniquely define a metric that captures the different impacts of emissions of substances with widely disparate atmospheric lifetimes, which leads to a wide range of possible index values. We examine the sensitivity of emissions and climate outcomes to the value of the index used to aggregate methane emissions using a technologically detailed integrated assessment model. The methane index is varied between 4 and 70, with a central value of 21, which is the 100-year GWP value currently used in policy contexts. We find that the sensitivity to index value is, at most, 10–18 % in terms of methane emissions but only 2–3 % in terms of the maximum total radiative forcing change, with larger regional emissions differences in some cases. The choice of index also affects estimates of the cost of meeting a given end of century forcing target, with total two-gas mitigation cost increasing by 7–9 % if the index is increased, and increasing in most scenarios from 4 to 23 % if the index is lowered, with a slight (1 %) decrease in total cost in one case. We find that much of the methane abatement occurs as the induced effect of CO₂ abatement rather than explicit abatement, which is one reason why climate outcomes are relatively insensitive to the index value. We also find that the near-term climate benefit of increasing the methane index is small.     

Temperature control,emission abatement and costs: key EMF 27 results from Environment Canada’s Integrated Assessment Model

This paper investigates the potential impacts of alternative international climate change scenarios based on different policies and technological circumstances on future emission pathways and abatement costs. It also examines if these hypothetical scenarios could result in significant emission reductions required to control the global temperature from rising to no more than 2.5 °C above preindustrial level. Using an integrated assessment model, this paper examines these issues under 12 scenarios derived from four policy perspectives and three technology dimensions. Results show that the no-policy-change baseline scenarios lead to high global average temperatures in the future. To control the temperature efficiently, every global region will be required to undertake considerable abatement efforts. Current country pledges alone, even if fully implemented, cannot control the global temperature in the future to within a comfortable zone. There will still be large gap between the reductions needed to meet the 2.5 degree objective, associated with 550 ppm and the reductions associated with existing abatement efforts. Further stringent policies together with favourable technological conditions may lead to the desired level of temperature control. Participation by only a subset of nations not only makes achieving the temperature goal difficult but also costly. To achieve temperature control efficiently, global coordination and full participation by all regions are necessary and global participation may reduce global abatement costs. It is worth noting that abatement costs vary widely across regions under different policy and technology scenarios.     

Global Warming Potentials: 2. Accuracy

This paper exposes flaws in the mathematical structure of the Global Warming Potential (GWP) concept. These lead to errors when emissions changes in different greenhouse gases are compared. The most fundamental problem is that the unit impulse response functions from which GWPs, and many of their proposed alternatives, are constructed provide an incomplete representation of the relationship between emissions and radiative forcing. Additional errors occur when GWPs are used to compare finite-length emissions changes.     

Global warming potentials modified for surface radiative forcing for use in surface energy balance models

The radiative impact of greenhouse gases in warming the Earth varies significantly, depending on whether one considers the forcing at the tropopause or at the surface. Compared to the former, the surface forcing for some greenhouse gases is reduced by the interference of water vapour. Hence, we calculate alternative surface global warming potentials (SGWPs) that are derived from the surface forcing radiation of greenhouse gases for potential use in surface radiative energy balance models (SREBMs). For gases with a large water vapour overlap, the SGWPs are typically 30% smaller than current GWPs; for gases with relatively little overlap, the SGWPs are larger by more than 33%. These results may be used in conjunction with SREBMs as an additional means of calculating climate change, and may lead to an altered emissions budget compared to that outlined by the current Kyoto agreement.     

Relative radiative forcing consequences of global emissions of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and NOx from human activities estimated with a zonally-averaged two-dimensional model

A global two-dimensional (altitude-latitude) chemistry transport model is used to follow the changes in the tropospheric distribution of the two major radiatively active trace gases, methane and ozone, following step changes to the sustained emissions of the short-lived trace gases methane, carbon monoxide and non-methane hydrocarbons. The radiative impacts were dependent on the latitude chosen for the applied change in emissions. Step change global warming potentials (GWPs) were derived for a range of short-lived trace gases to describe their time-integrated radiative forcing impacts for unit emissions relative to that of carbon dioxide. The GWPs show that the tropospheric chemistry of the hydrocarbons can produce significant indirect radiative impacts through changing the tropospheric distributions of hydroxyl radicals, methane and ozone. For aircraft, the indirect radiative forcing impact of the NO _x emissions appears to be greater than that from their carbon dioxide emissions. Quantitative results from this two-dimensional model study must, however, be viewed against the known inadequacies of zonally-averaged models and their poor representation of many important tropospheric processes.     

Sensitivity of direct global warming potentials to key uncertainties

The concept of global warming potential was developed as a relative measure of the potential effects on climate of a greenhouse gas as compared to CO₂. In this paper a series of sensitivity studies examines several uncertainties in determination of Global Warming Potentials (GWPs). For example, the original evaluation of GWPs for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 1990) did not attempt to account for the possible sinks of carbon dioxide (CO₂) that could balance the carbon cycle and produce atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ that match observations. In this study, a balanced carbon cycle model is applied in calculation of the radiative forcing from CO₂. Use of the balanced model produces up to 21% enhancement of the GWPs for most trace gases compared with the IPCC (1990) values for time horizons up to 100 years, but a decreasing enhancement with longer time horizons. Uncertainty limits of the fertilization feedback parameter contribute a 20% range in GWP values. Another systematic uncertainty in GWPs is the assumption of an equilibrium atmosphere (one in which the concentration of trace gases remains constant) versus a disequilibrium atmosphere (one in which the concentration of trace gases varies with time). The latter gives GWPs that are 19 to 32% greater than the former for a 100 year time horizons, depending upon the carbon dioxide emission scenario chosen. Five scenarios are employed: constant-concentration, constant-emission past 1990 and the three IPCC (1992) emission scenarios. For the analysis of uncertainties in atmospheric lifetime (τ) the GWP changes in direct proportion toτ for short-lived gases, but to a lesser extent for gases withτ greater than the time horizontal for the GWP calculation.     

沙尘气溶胶辐射强迫全球分布的模拟研究

为了定景了解沙尘气溶胶对气候的影响,文中利用一个改进的辐射传输模式,结合伞球气溶胶数据集(G-ADS),计算了晴空条件下,冬夏两季沙尘气溶胶的直接辐射强迫在对流层顶和地面的全球分布,并讨论了云对沙尘气溶胶辐射强迫的影响.计算结果表明,对北半球冬季和夏季而言,在对流层顶沙尘气溶胶的全球短波辐射强迫的平均值分别为-0.477和-0.501 W/m2;长波辐射强迫分别为0.11和0.085 W/m2;全球平均短波地面辐射强迫冬夏两季分别为-1.362和-1.559 W/m2;长波辐射强迫分别为0.274和0.23 W/m2.沙尘气溶胶在对流层顶和地面的负辐射强迫的绝对值郁随太阳天顶角的余弦和地表反照率的增加而增大;地表反照率对沙尘气溶胶辐射强迫的强度和分布都有重要影响.研究指出:云对沙尘气溶胶的直接辐射强迫的影响不仅取决于云量,而且取决于云的高度和云水路径,以及地面反照率和太阳高度角等综合因素.中云和低云对沙尘气溶胶在对流层顶的短波辐射强迫的影响比高云明显.云的存在都使对流层顶长波辐射强迫减少,其中低云的影响最为明显.因此,在估算沙尘气溶胶总的直接辐射强迫时,云的贡献不可忽视.     

Temperature stabilization, ocean heat uptake and radiative forcing overshoot profiles

Political leaders in numerous nations argue for an upper limit of the global average surface temperature of 2 K above the pre-industrial level, in order to attempt to avoid the most serious impacts of climate change. This paper analyzes what this limit implies in terms of radiative forcing, emissions pathways and abatement costs, for a range of assumptions on rate of ocean heat uptake and climate sensitivity. The primary aim is to analyze the importance of ocean heat uptake for radiative forcing pathways that temporarily overshoot the long-run stabilization forcing, yet keep the temperature increase at or below the 2 K limit. In order to generate such pathways, an integrated climate-economy model, MiMiC, is used, in which the emissions pathways generated represent the least-cost solution of stabilizing the global average surface temperature at 2 K above the pre-industrial level. We find that the level of overshoot can be substantial. For example, the level of overshoot in radiative forcing in 2100 ranges from about 0.2 to 1 W/m2, where the value depends strongly and positively on the effective diffusivity of heat in the oceans. Measured in relative terms, the level of radiative forcing overshoot above its longrun equilibrium level in 2100 is 20% to 60% for high values of climate sensitivity (i.e., about 4.5 K) and 8% to 30% for low values of climate sensitivity (i.e., about 2 K). In addition, for cases in which the radiative forcing level can be directly stabilized at the equilibrium level associated with a specific climate sensitivity and the 2 K limit, the net present value abatement cost is roughly cut by half if overshoot pathways are considered instead of stabilization of radiative forcing at the equilibrium level without an overshoot.     

Scenarios of methane emission reductions to 2030: abatement costs and co-benefits to ozone air quality and human mortality

Methane emissions contribute to global baseline surface ozone concentrations; therefore reducing methane to address climate change has significant co-benefits for air quality and human health. We analyze the costs of reducing methane from 2005 to 2030, as might be motivated to reduce climate forcing, and the resulting benefits from lower surface ozone to 2060. We construct three plausible scenarios of methane emission reductions, relative to a base scenario, ranging from 75 to 180 Mton CH₄ yr^?1 decreased in 2030. Using compilations of the global availability of methane emission reductions, the least aggressive scenario (A) does not incur any positive marginal costs to 2030, while the most aggressive (C) requires discovery of new methane abatement technologies. The present value of implementation costs for Scenario B are nearly equal to Scenario A, as it implements cost-saving options more quickly, even though it adopts positive cost measures. We estimate the avoided premature human mortalities due to surface ozone decreases by combining transient full-chemistry simulations of these scenarios in a global atmospheric chemical transport model, with concentration-mortality relationships from a short-term epidemiologic study and projected global population. An estimated 38,000 premature mortalities are avoided globally in 2030 under Scenario B. As benefits of methane reduction are positive but costs are negative for Scenario A, it is justified regardless of how avoided mortalities are valued. The incremental benefits of Scenario B also far outweigh the incremental costs. Scenario C has incremental costs that roughly equal benefits, only when technological learning is assumed. Benefits within industrialized nations alone also exceed costs in Scenarios A and B, assuming that the lowest-cost emission reductions, including those in developing nations, are implemented. Monetized co-benefits of methane mitigation for human health are estimated to be $13–17 per ton CO₂eq, with a wider range possible under alternative assumptions. Methane mitigation can be a cost-effective means of long-term and international air quality management, with concurrent benefits for climate.     

The Paris Agreement and next steps in limiting global warming

The Paris Climate Agreement sets out an aggressive goal of limiting global average warming to well below 2 °C. As a first step, virtually all countries have put forth greenhouse gas emission reduction pledges in the form of nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, for the 2030 timeframe. Our analysis looks beyond the NDCs to explore potential post-2030 regional emissions reduction participation and ambition. For each scenario, we examine the implications for global emissions and long-term temperature. We then evaluate the regional consequences for energy systems and ensuing costs. We conclude by reflecting on the additional global abatement costs of tightening temperature goals. Overall, this study provides a multidimensional characterization of the scale of regional effort supporting climate outcomes, details important to decision-makers as they consider mid-century emissions targets, and long-run climate objectives.     

黑碳气溶胶辐射强迫全球分布的模拟研究

利用一个改进的辐射传输模式,结合全球气溶胶数据集（GADS）,计算晴空条件下冬夏两季黑碳气溶胶的直接辐射强迫在对流层顶和地面的全球分布。计算结果表明,与温室气体引起的整层大气都是正的辐射强迫不同,黑碳气溶胶的辐射强迫在对流层顶为正值,而在地面的辐射强迫却是负值。作者从理论上解释了造成这种结果的原因。对北半球冬季和夏季而言,在对流层顶黑碳气溶胶的全球辐射强迫的平均值分别为0.085W/m2和0.155 W/m2,在地面则分别为-0.37 W/m2和-0.63 W/m2。虽然气溶胶的辐射强迫主要依赖于其本身的光学性质和在大气中的浓度,太阳高度角和地表反照率对黑碳气溶胶的辐射强迫会产生很大的影响。研究指出:黑碳气溶胶在对流层顶正的辐射强迫和在地面负的辐射强迫的绝对值都随太阳天顶角的余弦和地表反照率的增加线性增大;地表反照率对黑碳气溶胶辐射强迫的强度和分布都有重要影响。黑碳气溶胶的辐射强迫分布具有明显的纬度变化特征,冬夏两季的大值区都位于30°N~90°N之间,表明人类活动是造成黑碳气溶胶辐射强迫的主要原因。     

Circumspection, reciprocity, and optimal carbon prices

Assessments of the benefits of climate change mitigation—and thus of the appropriate stringency of greenhouse gas emissions abatement—depend upon ethical, legal, and political economic considerations. Global climate change mitigation is often represented as a repeated prisoners’ dilemma in which the net benefits of sustained global cooperation exceed the net benefits of uncooperative unilateral action for any given actor. Global cooperation can be motivated either by circumspection—a decision to account for the damages one’s own actions inflict upon others—or by the expectation of reciprocity from others. If the marginal global benefits of abatement are approximately constant in total abatement, the domestically optimal price approaches the global cooperative optimum linearly with increasing circumspection and reciprocity. Approximately constant marginal benefits are expected if climate damages are quadratic in temperature and if the airborne fraction of carbon emissions is constant. If, on the other hand, damages increase with temperature faster than quadratically or carbon sinks weaken significantly with increasing CO₂ concentrations, marginal benefits will decline with abatement. In this case, the approach to the global optimum is concave and less than full circumspection and/or reciprocity can lead to optimal domestic abatement close to the global optimum.     

The impact of technology availability on the timing and costs of emission reductions for achieving long-term climate targets

While most long-term mitigation scenario studies build on a broad portfolio of mitigation technologies, there is quite some uncertainty about the availability and reduction potential of these technologies. This study explores the impacts of technology limitations on greenhouse gas emission reductions using the integrated model IMAGE. It shows that the required short-term emission reductions to achieve long-term radiative forcing targets strongly depend on assumptions on the availability and potential of mitigation technologies. Limited availability of mitigation technologies which are relatively important in the long run implies that lower short-term emission levels are required. For instance, limited bio-energy availability reduces the optimal 2020 emission level by more than 4 GtCO₂eq in order to compensate the reduced availability of negative emissions from bioenergy and carbon capture and storage (BECCS) in the long run. On the other hand, reduced mitigation potential of options that are used in 2020 can also lead to a higher optimal level for 2020 emissions. The results also show the critical role of BECCS for achieving low radiative forcing targets in IMAGE. Without these technologies achieving these targets become much more expensive or even infeasible.     

RCP4.5: a pathway for stabilization of radiative forcing by 2100

Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 is a scenario that stabilizes radiative forcing at 4.5?W?m^?2 in the year 2100 without ever exceeding that value. Simulated with the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM), RCP4.5 includes long-term, global emissions of greenhouse gases, short-lived species, and land-use-land-cover in a global economic framework. RCP4.5 was updated from earlier GCAM scenarios to incorporate historical emissions and land cover information common to the RCP process and follows a cost-minimizing pathway to reach the target radiative forcing. The imperative to limit emissions in order to reach this target drives changes in the energy system, including shifts to electricity, to lower emissions energy technologies and to the deployment of carbon capture and geologic storage technology. In addition, the RCP4.5 emissions price also applies to land use emissions; as a result, forest lands expand from their present day extent. The simulated future emissions and land use were downscaled from the regional simulation to a grid to facilitate transfer to climate models. While there are many alternative pathways to achieve a radiative forcing level of 4.5?W?m^?2, the application of the RCP4.5 provides a common platform for climate models to explore the climate system response to stabilizing the anthropogenic components of radiative forcing.     

Delayed action and uncertain stabilisation targets. How much will the delay cost?

Despite the growing concern about actual on-going climate change, there is little consensus on the scale and timing of actions needed to stabilise the concentrations of greenhouse gases. Many countries are unwilling to implement mitigation strategies, at least in the short term, and no agreement on an ambitious global stabilisation target has yet been reached. It is thus likely that international climate policies will be characterized by a high degree of uncertainty over the stringency of the climate objective, and that some countries might delay their participation to global action. What additional economic costs will this delay in the adoption of mitigation measures imply? What would the optimal short-term strategy be given the uncertainty surrounding the climate policy to come? Is there a hedging strategy that decision makers can adopt to cope with delayed action and uncertain targets? This paper addresses these questions by quantifying the economic implications of delaying mitigation action, and by computing the optimal abatement strategy in the presence of uncertainty about a global stabilisation target (which will be agreed upon in future climate negotiations). Results point to short-term inaction as the key determinant for the economic costs of ambitious climate policies. They also indicate that there is an effective hedging strategy that could minimise the cost of climate policy uncertainty over the global stabilisation target: a short-term moderate climate policy would be a good strategy to reduce the costs of delayed action and to cope with uncertainty about the outcome of future climate negotiations. By contrast, failing to curb emissions in the short term imposes rapidly increasing additional costs of compliance.