Adaptation and Mitigation to Climate Change

Since Taiwan does not have a national report, I am using information from Japan's national report.

- An interesting thing that Japan is investing is new technology that will "handle new infectious diseases, pests, foreign fish species, and noxious organisms." Another interesting thing is that Japan is trying to create a buoy method that will monitor the water of toxic and harmful plankton. Also, they will be aquafarming fish types that are highly resistant to high water temperatures. (Source: Japan’s Fifth National Communication)

This is charts of Drivers of change in small islands and the implications for island condition and well-being under no adaptation and the near-term and mid-term implementation of adaptation. (Source: IPCC)

This following information was taken from IPCC's adaptation section from Asia.

- An interesting thing that Asia is trying to do is make crops that are salt-tolerant. Which would be awesome because then less fresh water is used and they can use the oceans water which might even (over time) reduce the sea level! (Source: IPCC)

- Taiwan did not sign the Kyoto protocol because they did not match some of the "requirements." "This provision limits qualified signatories to the Convention to: (1) the state members of the UN; (2) specialixed agencies of the UN; (3) parties to the Statute of the Internation Court of Justice; and (4) regional economic integration organizations ("REIOs")." Taiwan is neither a member of the UN or the International Court of Justice. Also, the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) did not categorize Taiwan as a "developing country" or a "country in economic transition." (Source: The Effects of the Kyoto Protocol on Taiwan)

- Taiwan is taking many efforts to mitigating climate change. Taiwan pledged to the UNFCCC in 2010 that it would cut greenhouse gas emission by at least 30 percent by 2020. "The Committee for the Promotion of Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction, established by Taiwan’s Executive Yuan in the end of 2009, has drawn up a master plan to fulfill its mandate. The plan calls for concrete actions in such areas as energy, industry, transportation, architecture and lifestyle. In 2012, the Executive Yuan also approved national climate change adaptation guidelines covering eight major domains— disasters, essential infrastructure, water resources, land use, coastal areas, energy supply and the energy sector, agriculture and biodiversity, and health."
Taiwan is also trying to pass a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Bill. Also they have an Energy Tax Bill, a Renewable Energy Development Statute and the Energy Management Act. (Source: Taiwan Embassy)

- I personally think that Taiwan needs to do both because since Taiwan needs to learn how to conserve energy and put less emissions in the air but also, learn to adapt because they are such a small island that they need to learn how to adapt and survive the oncoming climate changes.

Climate Change Impacts

- Regional Climate Projections: Asia is supposed to warm up. The summer heat waves and hot spells are going to be longer, hotter, and happen more often. More precipitation will happen everywhere in Asia except central Asia and also more rainstorms might happen over Southern and Eastern Asia. With the increase in precipitation which might lead to more rainstorms, the monsoon and tropical storms are going to be weakened over southern-eastern Asia. These projected climate changes are at best a guess because of how complex Asia’s geography is and also how some countries in Asia are so close to the sea we don’t know how it is going to affect the climate change over time. (Source: Projected Climate Change)

- Monsoons and tropical storms usually drop because of global warming. This is because since global warming increases the temperature which means less moisture. Since there is less moisture in the air it messes with the cooling and warming equilibrium that happens in the monsoonal and tropical areas of Asia. There is also another consensus that says that the moisture would increase in a warmer area which would overcome the equilibrium which would lead to an increase in monsoons. (Source: Key Processes)

- Key Factors: A key factor is ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) because since we do not know how the ocean will react in the coming years, scientists cannot predict how much temperature, precipitation, or anything else will react. Other little key factors are aerosols and vegetation cover (the amount of soil covered by vegetation). ENSO influences heavy rainfall and also typhoons that could be very bad for eastern Asia so any modification or changes to rainfall in the Pacific could be very bad for Korea, Japan, and eastern Asia. (Source: Key Processes)

- East Asia: The precipitation that scientists have right now are way lower than what is happening right now. The precipitation is greater that what the scientists have perceived. There is about 50% more precipitation than what is perceived and it is associated with the extra tropical rain that came from southern Asia. (Source: East Asia)

Temperature:

This is a graph of temperature anamolies.
Source: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/figure-11-8.html

This is a graph of the temperature anomalies.
Source: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch11s11-1-2.html#table-11-1

- As seen from the graph the best case scenario would be a warming of 2°C but the worst case scenario would be around 4.25°C.

- Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability: Glaciers are supposed to melt in the Himalayas which means flooding since there is more water. Since glaciers are melting they recede which is going to affect river flows. With the increase in water there is going to be danger of flooding to the coastal areas of Asia and also a deficit of freshwater to large water basins in central, south, east and south-east Asia from climate change. Countries are going to continue to develop and an increase in population but since there is going to be a deficit of freshwater it is going to be hard for there countries around 2050. The flooding is going to be contaminating most of the coasts water which means more people are going to get sick and there are going to be more mortality's from contamination of dirty water. The only upside is that crops yielding could increase up to 20% in east and south-east Asia but crops are going to decrease in central and southern Asia. (Source: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability)

- Executive Summary: With the retreat of permafrost and glaciers means an increase in temperature. With the increase in temperature it has been affecting the people and also the crops have declined with the increase in heat. Large freshwater basins are also going to be less and less with an increase in standard of living and also population. Asia could get to the point of starvation in the 2020, 2050 and 2080. Also, river flow is going to decrease because of the receding of the glaciers and flooding is going to increase. With the increase of sea level it is going to mess up the ecosystem and Asia is projected to lose at least 25% of their coral reefs within the next 10 years. With these climate changes Asia might lose some of their fauna and flowers and also forests are going to recede. With the recession and drying of forests Asia is going to prone to more forest fires. These changes are going to stop developing countries in Asia to a halt because of the heating, loss of natural resources, and flooding. Many people are also going to be more prone to cholera since flooding is going to contaminate the water and less freshwater is going to be available. (Source: Executive Summary)

- Most Interesting Threat: The most interesting threat is going to be the ocean because it is so vital to helping asian countries but it can be so detrimental at the same time. With the increase in sea level people are going to lose homes and lives from flooding. Since sea level is increasing means less river flow and people are going to have to rely on the large water basins that feeds everyone fresh water. With fresh water decreasing people are going to start going towards dirty water and people are going to get sick and die from cholera. The increase in temperature means that people are going to be drinking more water since of the humidity and hot flashes but it also means that crops are going to be lost. In general, with the population that Asia has many people could die if all these things happen just from the earth warming.

Taiwan's Contribution to Climate Change

An Excel made graph on Carbon Dioxide Concentration (PPM) in the U.S.A.

An Excel made graph on Total Fossil Fuel Emission on 6 different countries. Information is take from Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2013. Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions.
Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A.
DOI: 10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2013 (Source: CDIAC)

Taiwan's Fossil Fuel Emissions from 1896 to 2010. Information is take from Boden, T.A., G. Marland, and R.J. Andres. 2013. Global, Regional, and National Fossil-Fuel CO2 Emissions.Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge, Tenn., U.S.A.
DOI: 10.3334/CDIAC/00001_V2013 (Source: CDIAC)

Taiwan's fossil fuel emissions are relatively low compared to some countries. An unusual result is solids take up most of Taiwan's fossil fuel emissions and I found it interesting.

Taiwan started emitting a lot of CO2 starting around 1975 with liquid CO2 but they have gotten better, but around 2002 was when Taiwan released more CO2 from solids.

Taiwan emitted 39.7 million tons of CO2 in 2007 – the highest of any power plant in the world.

Based on statistics from Energy International Administration, the annual CO2 emissions in Taiwan have increased 42% from 1997 until 2006. Taiwan has limited natural resources and relies heavily on imports to meet its energy needs, and the government must take serious measures control energy consumption to reduce CO2 emissions. (Source: Applied Energy)

Taiwan had an average of 3.1 metric tons of carbon per person which is about 63% compared to the U.S. For how small Taiwan is but having such a big effect is because as stated above Taiwan does not have many natural resources so it relies on other countries.

Taiwan’s is ranked 25 in the country’s rank based on per capita CO2 emissions. While the U.S. is ranked 12.

To be honest I’m very surprised on how high Taiwan is ranked in CO2 emissions per capita because of how small of a country it is but also at the same time how much CO2 is emitted from this tiny country.

Taiwan is nothing compared to how much fossil fuel emissions are given off by the U.S. and China. Taiwan is a small steady line and increases maybe 125,000,000 metric tons of carbon from 1970 to 2008.

United states was the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in 2008.

Comparing that the U.S has a population of 312,000,000 and China has a population of 1,338,000,000 but the United States is keeping up with China in CO2 emissions then an American citizen is more at fault for emitting more CO2.

Cumulative metric tons of carbon given off by 6 countries since 1900.

U.S.A. - 94,225,770,000 metric tons of carbon

China - 36,152,061,000 metric tons of carbon

India - 10,229,326,000 metric tons of carbon

Italy - 5,579,562,000 metric tons of carbon

Kenya - 86,840,000 metric tons of carbon

Taiwan - 1,708,585,000 metric tons of carbon

U.S.A. is responsible for the most cumulative CO2 emissions.

China/U.S.A. 

36,152,061,000/

94,225,770,000 = 38.37%

China/India 

36,152,061,000/

10,229,326,000 = 353.42%

China/Italy 

36,152,061,000/

5,579,562,000 = 647.93%

China/Kenya 

36,152,061,000/

86,840,000 = 41,630.66%

China/Taiwan 

36,152,061,000/

1,708,585,000 = 2,115.91%

China has at least tripled four other countries' total amount of CO2 emissions since 1900 except the U.S.A.. The U.S. has tripled what China has put into the air which means the U.S. has sextupled the other four countries! That is a lot of carbon given off by just two countries and not considering all the other countries on Earth.

The Keeling Curve compared to the global emissions of carbon are similar in shape. While the Keeling Curve is a constant rise in concentrations the global emissions is also a constant rise in metric tons of carbon but at a sharper rate.

The difference between a emission and concentration is an emission is how much of a specific pollutant is released into the air while concentration is the amount of pollutants in the atmosphere in a volume unit rather than metric tons. Concentration is also used to express how the air quality is. (Source: Emission vs. Concentration)

Welcome to my blog!