A dire opportunity: rural communities in the face of climate change: CRA

Soil Health - Decarbonisation

"So, how far behind are we, and how much do these new reports change the conversation? In 2017, James Hansen, who is a native Iowan and one of the top climatologists in the world, published a report with some updated figures. We have already warmed the world beyond 1° C and have enough carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to commit ourselves to at least 1.3° C. To stay at or below 1.5° C would mean keeping atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration to 350 parts per million (ppm) or lower, hence the name of the activist group 350.org. We crossed the threshold of 400 ppm in 2013.



"The goal of the Paris Climate Accord of 2015 was to commit nations to pursue the common goal of limiting warming to 2° C. To some eyes, the two reports released this summer presented a slightly more optimistic path forward. But, even the goal of 2° C would mean sea level rises of 20 to 25 feet and possibly higher, and a doubling of the current warming we are living in.

Our best path forward is to stay focused on solutions. This means a dramatic increase in carbon-free energy such as wind and solar, or what experts call decarbonization. More states, cities, and even some utilities are stepping up and setting timelines to become 100 percent powered by clean energy. Another key element from all of the reports mentioned here is the need for negative emissions through soil health, and, specifically mentioned in the report, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. A key benefit of bioenergy is that plants used for energy pull carbon from the atmosphere before being harvested. Negative emissions are yielded by combining the plant’s natural ability to retain carbon with capturing and sequestering carbon from manufacturing. Just down the road from our office in Nevada, Iowa, is a facility that will soon be making natural gas derived from plant cellulose in corn stalks."

"At the same climate summit that resulted in the Paris Accord in 2015, a new effort kicked off focused on rebuilding agricultural soils around the world. The “4 per 1000” Initiative is based on this simple premise: “An annual growth rate of 0.4 percent in the soil carbon stocks, or 4 percent per year, would halt the increase in the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere related to human activities.”"

Read the original CRA article 

BUT NOTE:

"Proposed methods of extraction such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) or air capture of CO₂ have minimal estimated costs of USD89–535 trillion this century and also have large risks and uncertain feasibility."

From a Hansen et al report with some updated figures.