What is Carbon Sequestion? July 25, 2016 Carbon Sequestration is a process where carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere for long term storage in plants, soils, geologic formations, and the ocean also referred to as carbon sinks. This occurs both naturally as a part of the carbon cycle and as a response to the growing amounts of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere that has been leading to climate change. Sequestration has become increasingly popular as carbon dioxide levels increase due to human activities, notably…

What are Carbon Offsets? July 25, 2016 Carbon Offsets are voluntary measures to counter the greenhouse gas emissions that are emitted by a person or entity. This is often in the form of a credit that represents the reductions of one entity to offset the emission of another. These credits are measured in tonnes of carbon equivalents and can include activities such as investing in cleaner forms of energy. One thing to consider when looking into projects to offset emissions would be the quality of…

What is Carbon Neutral? July 25, 2016 Carbon Neutral is the idea of making products or doing actions that will have no net greenhouse gas emissions. These measures can include: – Energy reduction: using machinery or cutting back on the amount of energy required. – Using renewable resources: this may include switching to recycled materials or switching to a more sustainable source of materials. – Offsetting greenhouse emissions: the finding more sustainable sources of energy that will make up for the greenhouses that may be…

What is Carbon Leakage? July 27, 2016 Carbon leakage is an occurrence in climate change policy where carbon emissions from one country are increased because of reductions in another. This is usually due to companies moving from the reducing country to one that has less strict climate policies. This could be because those leaving companies may find it too costly to reduce emissions and therefore find it easier to move to countries with less stringent climate change policies. National governments need to be careful in…

What is a Carbon Footprint? July 25, 2016 A Carbon Footprint is an image used to represent the amount of carbon dioxide emitted both directly and indirectly by humans. It is useful in determining the impact one has on the environment as the idea is: the more carbon emitted, the larger the footprint. The Carbon Footprint derived from and is part of a larger concept known as the ecological footprint, invented in the early 1990s by Canadian ecologist William Rees and Swiss-born regional planner Mathis…