National Academies Press: OpenBook

Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change (2010)

Chapter: Appendix B: Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Statement of Task

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2010. Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12785.
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APPENDIX B
Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Statement of Task

The Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change will describe, analyze, and assess strategies for reducing the net future human influence on climate, including both technology and policy options (sometimes referred to as “mitigation of climate change”). The panel will focus on actions to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions and other human drivers of climate change, such as changes in land use, but will also consider the international dimensions of climate stabilization. The panel will not be responsible for evaluating specific proposals to limit or counteract climate change via direct interventions in the climate system (i.e., so-called geoengineering approaches) but may comment on the possible role that such approaches could play in future plans to limit the magnitude of climate change. The panel will also strive to keep abreast of the wide range of proposals currently being advanced by policy makers at a number of levels to limit the future magnitude of climate change, and strive to frame their recommendations in the context of these developments.


The panel will be challenged to produce a report that is broad and authoritative, yet concise and useful to decision makers. The costs, benefits, limitations, trade-offs, and uncertainties associated with different options and strategies should be assessed qualitatively and, to the extent practicable, quantitatively, using the scenarios of future climate change and vulnerability provided by the Climate Change Study Committee. The panel should also provide policy-relevant (but not policy-prescriptive) input to the committee on the following overarching questions:

  • What short-term actions can be taken to limit the magnitude of future climate change?

  • What promising long-term strategies, investments, and opportunities could be pursued to limit the magnitude of future climate change?

  • What are the major scientific and technological advances (e.g., new observations, improved models, research priorities, etc.) needed to limit the magnitude of future climate change?

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2010. Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12785.
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  • What are the major impediments (e.g., practical, institutional, economic, ethical, intergenerational, etc.) to limiting the magnitude of future climate change, and what can be done to overcome these impediments?

  • What can be done to limit the magnitude of future climate change at different levels (e.g., local, state, regional, national, and in collaboration with the international community) and in different sectors (e.g., nongovernmental organizations, the business community, the research and academic communities, individuals and households, etc.)?

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2010. Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12785.
×
Page 243
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B: Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2010. Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12785.
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Page 244
Next: Appendix C: Panel on Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change: Biographical Sketches »
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Climate change, driven by the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, poses serious, wide-ranging threats to human societies and natural ecosystems around the world. The largest overall source of greenhouse gas emissions is the burning of fossil fuels. The global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the dominant greenhouse gas of concern, is increasing by roughly two parts per million per year, and the United States is currently the second-largest contributor to global emissions behind China.

Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change, part of the congressionally requested America's Climate Choices suite of studies, focuses on the role of the United States in the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The book concludes that in order to ensure that all levels of government, the private sector, and millions of households and individuals are contributing to shared national goals, the United States should establish a "budget" that sets a limit on total domestic greenhouse emissions from 2010-2050. Meeting such a budget would require a major departure from business as usual in the way the nation produces and uses energy-and that the nation act now to aggressively deploy all available energy efficiencies and less carbon-intensive technologies and to develop new ones.

With no financial incentives or regulatory pressure, the nation will continue to rely upon and "lock in" carbon-intensive technologies and systems unless a carbon pricing system is established-either cap-and-trade, a system of taxing emissions, or a combination of the two. Complementary policies are also needed to accelerate progress in key areas: developing more efficient, less carbon-intense energy sources in electricity and transportation; advancing full-scale development of new-generation nuclear power, carbon capture, and storage systems; and amending emissions-intensive energy infrastructure. Research and development of new technologies that could help reduce emissions more cost effectively than current options is also strongly recommended.

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