Category:Global Warming
Contents
Carbon Cycle
- Highlight from the CRS report:Carbon is stored in the atmosphere, oceans, vegetation, and soils of the land surface. The exchange, or flux, of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, and land surface is called the carbon cycle. Congress may opt to consider how land management practices, such as afforestation, conservation tillage, and other techniques, might increase the net flux of carbon from the atmosphere to the land surface. Congress may consider incorporating what is known about the carbon cycle into its legislative strategies, and may also evaluate whether the global carbon cycle is sufficiently well understood so that the consequences of long-term policies aimed at mitigating global climate change are fully appreciated.
- Read the full report.
- Highlight from the CRS report:Almost all scientists agree that the Earth’s climate is changing, having warmed by 0.6 to 0.9o Celsius (1.1 to 1.6o Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Revolution. Science indicates that the Earth’s global average temperature is now approaching, or possibly has passed, the warmest experienced since human civilizations began to flourish about 12,000 years ago. During the 20th Century, some areas became wetter while others experienced more drought. Most climate scientists conclude that humans have induced a large part of the climate change since the 1970s.
- Read the full report.
- Highlight from the CRS report: On April 2, 2007, the Supreme Court handed down Massachusetts v. EPA, its first pronouncement on climate change. By a narrow 5-4 margin, the Court held three things: that (1) Massachusetts had standing to sue, (2) the Clean Air Act (CAA) authorizes EPA to regulate emissions from new motor vehicles on the basis of their climate change impacts, and (3) the act does not authorize EPA to inject policy considerations into its decision whether to so regulate.
- Read the full report.
- Highlight from the CRS report: Businesses and individuals are buying carbon offsets to reduce their “carbon footprint” or to categorize an activity as “carbon neutral.” A carbon offset is a measurable avoidance, reduction, or sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) or other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
- Read the full report.
Climate Change
Massachusetts v. EPA
Voluntary Carbon Offsets
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