Thursday 12 January 2023

Canada's Ban on Single-Use Plastics

"Starting on December 20, 2022, with the prohibition on the import and manufacture of single-use plastic checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from problematic plastics, stir sticks, and straws; the prohibition on the sale of these items will come into force in December 2023"

Government of Canada, December 17, 2022

January 2023 Study's Prediction on Global Glacier Change in the Next One Hundred Years (also, icebreaking NN's haitus)

After an extended hiatus, thank you to everyone who is still here and welcome back to Nature Nimbus. 

To break the ice, let's start with sharing a bit of research on a new study on the fate of the world's glaciers.

Global Glacier Change in the Next One Hundred Years

A study published on January 5th of this year in the journal Science estimates that there will be substantially more loss of glaciers in the next century than predicted by previous models. David R. Rounce and his team predict that this figure may look like one quarter to one half of glacier masses on the planet may melt within the next 100 years.

Chris Mooney of the Washington post writes:

"The study, published Thursday in the journal Science, finds that even with just 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming above preindustrial levels, some 104,000 of the world’s more than 215,000 mountain glaciers and ice caps will melt, raising global sea levels by a little shy of 4 inches." (Mooney, 2023)

As many people already know, glaciers are giant, ancient masses of ice. Their melt provides water, and they are so massive that whether they stay frozen or they melt significant impacts sea levels, and has implications for availability of drinking water.

The term "pre-industrial climate" could technically refer to any point in time before the industrial revolution. Left undefined, this can make for a bit of a difficult point of reference to work with because measurements of temperature available before the industrial revolution are limited. However, a study may choose to declare a more specific time range, such as an IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C using 1850–1900 as a point of reference pre-industrial temperature explaining,"[1850-1900] is the earliest period with near-global observations and is the reference period used as an approximation of pre-industrial temperatures in the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report" (IPCC, n.d.).

Further, "1.5 degrees Celsius of warming" refers to the total average temperature around the whole world, not in one smaller, more local place. This is why in spite of global warming, there can still be very intense winter storms with changing climate. Some places are warming faster than others. Predicting what effects this could have on local weather events for example can be very difficult, though many people around the world have experienced a change in climate and lived through more severe weather events than expected.

The COP21 Paris agreement in 2015 had made the goal of preventing 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming globally, though if temperatures continue to rise at the rate that they currently are, this goal will not be met (IPCC, n.d.).

A Recent Student's Perspective

Something that struck me as a student in an environmental program was the emphasis on climate resilience. I had expected much more emphasis on combating climate change itself, but instead the message I found was that one of the most critical ways civil engineers and technicians can help is to design and build infrastructure in a way helps communities accommodates expected changes in climate.

While this message could received as resignation, a more fruitful approach may be to see it as adaptation. Although it is too late to change our past choices, there is still much good that can be done when we are resolved to do the best we can to manage the cards still in our hand.

Sources

IPCC. (n.d.). FAQ Chapter 1. Global Warming of 1.5 ÂșC. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from 

https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/faq/faq-chapter-1/ 

Mooney, C. (2023, January 8). Half of Earth's glaciers could melt even if key warming goal is met, 

study says. The Washington Post. Retrieved January 11, 2023, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/05/glaciers-melt-this-century-warming/