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This paper reports the pros and cons of co-management (i.e. concerted actions towards climate change and air quality management) through local sustainability initiatives using three case studies, each encompassing the planning and management issues at local government levels. Case study I is policy-based and reports the outcome of a consultation exercise while case studies II and III have greater scientific bearing. These case studies pave the way for development of a more integrated Climate Change Strategy Action Plan at local scales, specifically regarding policies on emissions sources from transportation and decentralised energy. They highlight the merits and the trade-offs of implementing local scale co-management practices, using a more integrated planning framework than what is currently under offer. We recognise that delivery of such ambitious, cross-cutting agenda may be impeded, primarily owing to limited expertise in assessing the synergies and the expected outcomes from cross-fertility between these two arenas. This calls for a step-change through more cohesive, cross-disciplinary policy frameworks, going beyond the local administrative spheres to maximise the co-management potentials while mitigating the wider environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 1990 carbon dioxide emissions in Africa have increased by about 50%. The total carbon dioxide emissions of the entire African continent are not, however, anywhere near those of countries such as India or China. Yet certain African countries have per capita emissions comparable to some European countries. What is the outlook for Africa? How should African countries respond as it becomes increasingly likely that climate change is occurring? Increased industrial growth and more foreign investment in Africa, especially in countries that are politically and economically stable, have led to huge commercial developments such as the In Salah gas project in Algeria, which releases more than a million tons of carbon dioxide annually; and synthetic fuel plants and power stations in South Africa that generate more than 350 million tons per year. In this perspective should some African countries be required to limit greenhouse gas emissions or should they be immune to 'environmental taxation'? This paper critically reviews the carbon dioxide problem in some parts of Africa and its role in climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To halt global warming, the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by human activities such as fossil fuel burning, cement production, and deforestation needs to be brought all the way to zero. The longer it takes to do so, the hotter the world will get. Lack of progress towards decarbonization has created justifiable panic about the climate crisis. This has led to an intensified interest in technological climate interventions that involve increasing the reflection of sunlight to space by injecting substances into the stratosphere which lead to the formation of highly reflective particles. When first suggested, such albedo modification schemes were introduced as a "Plan B," in case the world economy fails to decarbonize, and this scenario has dominated much of the public perception of albedo modification as a savior waiting in the wings to protect the world against massive climate change arising from a failure to decarbonize. But because of the mismatch between the millennial persistence time of carbon dioxide and the sub-decadal persistence of stratospheric particles, albedo modification can never safely play more than a very minor role in the portfolio of solutions. There is simply no substitute for decarbonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to extend the knowledge on the suitability and performance of different ventilation retrofit solutions for school buildings located in a temperate climate. A unique approach was used, where four similar and adjacent classrooms in the same school unit located north of Copenhagen, Denmark, were retrofitted either with a decentralized, balanced supply and exhaust mechanical ventilation unit with heat recovery; automatically operable windows with an exhaust fan; automatically operable windows with alternating counter-flow heat recovery through slots in the outside wall; or a visual feedback display unit showing the current classroom carbon dioxide concentration, thus advising when the windows should be opened. For comparison, one classroom retained the original approach for achieving ventilation by manual opening of windows. One year after retrofitting the classrooms carbon dioxide concentrations, temperatures, energy use, and window and door opening behavior were recorded during a four week period in the heating season in January. The measured carbon dioxide concentrations were significantly lower in the classrooms with the mechanical ventilation system and the system with automatic window opening and an exhaust fan as compared with the classrooms with automatic window opening and heat recovery, with visual carbon dioxide feedback and where windows were opened manually. The automatically controlled windows were open for 71% of the occupied time including breaks with an exhaust fan and for 49% with heat recovery. The façade windows were open up to 17% of the occupied time including breaks in the classrooms with manual window opening (with or without visual feedback). The classroom temperature was generally within the recommended thermal comfort range. The present results indicate that in temperate climates the mechanical ventilation system and both systems with automatic window opening are the recommended systems for classrooms in temperate climates. Providing simply visual feedback on the current carbon dioxide concentration, as a motivation for window opening, did not do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of potential metrics for comparing black carbon (BC) to carbon dioxide has been requested within legislation in the United States and has been discussed at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Poznan: therefore, it is important to further investigate the advantages and drawbacks to using such a metric. For context, we summarize the various proposed CO2 equivalent metrics and the rationales for developing them. We use BC marginal abatement curves to examine the implications of using 100-year global warming potentials to include BC in greenhouse gas (GHG) trading regimes. This idealized study demonstrates the impacts on emissions of CO2, and radiative forcing over time. Finally, we address the drawbacks of trading poorly quantified short-lived emissions with GHGs despite different physical interactions with the climate system. While the case for reducing BC for both health and climate benefits is compelling, there are reasons for limiting the use of BC metrics to illustrative analyses, such as identifying which BC mitigation actions would provide the greatest climate benefits, rather than using these metrics for trading with GHGs. Indeed, market-based mechanisms in general may not be appropriate for BC regulation at this time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs logical, scientific understanding and prediction of a Sensitivity Model which is an integer tool in the assessment of climate change for China. It simulated a smooth environmental sustainable transition for the next ten years, given the 11 simulated variables. The positive coefficient for GDP growth variable suggests that estimated emissions initially rise with GDP growth, and eventually fall; the impact of population on emissions has been more pronounced in lower rather than in higher income ranges, contradicting Environmental Kuznet Curve. The role of energy efficiency on emissions has been the greatest when CO2 emission is at its peak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gases with higher heat capacities than those of O2 and N2 cause greenhouse effects. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main greenhouse gas associated with global climate change. At the present time, coal is responsible for 30-40% of world CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. There was a higher correlation between the amount of carbon dioxide emission and percentage of carbon in the fuel for all equations. The squares of correlation coefficients were 0.9999, 0.9978, and 0.9995. The gas sensing characteristics of MgO and CaO as the CO2 gas sensors and CO2 emission capacities selected carbonaceous fuels have been investigated. It was found that increasing the percentage of carbon in carbonaceous fuel caused CO2 emission increase. Carbonation is a stabilization of CO2 by solidification process. The availability of a CO2 fixation technology would serve as insurance in case global warming causes severe restrictions on CO2 emissions. In order to prevent rapid climate change, it will be necessary to stabilize CO2 as carbonate by the carbonation process. The carbonation was carried out using MgO and CaO as CO2 sensors. The yield of carbonation increased with increasing temperature. The rate of carbonation conversion sharply increased in the initial 20 min and then reduced and reached a plateau value after about 40 min. The carbonation conversion with MgO is higher than that of CaO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes global climate models and crop growth models to estimate the potential agricultural effects of climate change caused by a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide for the southern Great Plains.. Protects climate changes cause simulated wheat and corn yields to decrease in the study area. Decreases in modeled grain yields are caused primarily by temperature increases which shorten the duration of crop life cycle and curtail the harvest able biomass production. While physiological effects of carbon dioxide and changing cultivars offer some hope of climate change mitigation, detrimental consequences to regional crop production, including need for increased irrigation, are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]