According to the Paris Agreement, we should cut greenhouse gas emissions to keep the increase in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius. But do we possess the measurement techniques required to accomplish this? In a study that was published in Environmental Research Letters, Linköping University researchers asked this query. Their response is demoralizing.
Global warming is a fact, and it’s happening faster than ever. As a result of intense drought, rising sea levels, or persistent flooding, huge portions of the Earth’s people are forced to leave their homes in many areas, changing the natural conditions there. In addition, it is anticipated that things will only get worse in the upcoming years.
“When a health emergency arises, society may work together to quickly create new diagnostic tools and so begin the proper therapy.” Not least of all, the COVID-19 epidemic made this clear. To address the enormous danger that climate change entails, we urgently need the quick development of new detection techniques. “If we want to know if we are acting in the best interests of society, we must be able to measure in a variety of ways,” says Linköping University’s David Bastviken, a professor of environmental sciences.
He oversaw a study that looked at over 13,500 scholarly articles while working with colleagues from the Department of Thematic Studies—EEnvironmental Change. They looked at the techniques for calculating greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. The findings, which have been published in Environmental Research Letters, highlight critical and urgent issues.
According to the report, the monitoring techniques now in use are good for research but not for planning and assessing emission-reduction measures. If we are to achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement, the researchers contend that this must alter. There are no measurement techniques available to track the evolution of emissions over time or assess the success of implemented interventions. Additionally, there aren’t any techniques for resolving significant medium-range landscape impacts. For areas ranging from hectares to square kilometers, they are necessary in addition to small-scale point observations and measurements of large-scale average values. This causes gaps in our understanding of regional variances and possible regulatory methods for emissions. It is also impossible to choose the most effective emission reduction strategies.
We have accurate data on global greenhouse gas concentrations over time, as well as trustworthy data on emissions from sources produced from fossil fuels. In other words, the core factors causing climate change have been determined and cannot be disputed. However, the climate issue requires that we understand all sorts of emissions, not just the well-known ones originating from fossil fuels, and that we take action against all types. Making judgments on local activities that will, in the long term, have an impact on the global climate is challenging since there are several types of emissions and we lack straightforward tools to map when and where they occur.
“We require affordable and simple techniques so that we can monitor all forms of local greenhouse gas output.” We won’t have the whole picture till then. To minimize emissions, we must be able to confirm that the activities done serve the desired purpose. “New sorts of measurement techniques are urgently needed to better support society’s efforts to reduce emissions, but method development takes time,” David Bastviken explains.
Better measurement techniques are required for the Paris Agreement.
Formas, the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Energy Agency, and the European Research Council all provided funding for the study.
