Name: Yuzhu Gong Due Date: 2015/1/13
Article Title: A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check
Author/Source: Scientific American
Article Title: A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check
Author/Source: Scientific American
A: List major ideas, concepts or key points - point by point
- Retreating glaciers, stronger hurricanes, hotter summers, thinner polar bears: the ominous harbingers of global warming are driving companies and governments to work toward an unprecedented change in the historical pattern of fossil-fuel use.
- Today the world’s coal, oil and natural gas industries dig up and pump out about seven billion tons of carbon a year, and society burns nearly all of it, releasing carbon dioxide (CO2).
- Every increase in concentration carries new risks, but avoiding that danger zone would reduce the likelihood of triggering major, irreversible climate changes.
- Two long-term trends are certain to continue and will help. First, as societies get richer, the services sector—education, health, leisure, banking and so on—grows in importance relative to energy-intensive activities.
- Second, deeply ingrained in the patterns of technology evolution is the substitution of cleverness for energy.
- Today’s notoriously inefficient energy system can be replaced if the world gives unprecedented attention to energy efficiency.
- The goal is to reduce it even more. A synfuel-powered car emits the same amount of CO2 as a gasoline-powered car, but synfuel fabrication from coal spews out far more carbon than does refining gasoline from crude oil—enough to double the emissions per mile of driving.
- If emissions from natural gas increase, the combined emissions from oil and coal must decrease. If emissions from air travel climb, those from some other economic sector must fall.
- The world will have a fossil-fuel energy system about as large as today’s but one that is infused with modern controls and advanced materials and that is almost unrecognizably cleaner.
- If nuclear power is playing a large role, strong international enforcement mechanisms will have come into being to control the spread of nuclear technology from energy to weapons.
B: Summarize the author's main point or idea
Summary of Author's Main Points:
Humanity can emit only so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere before the climate enters a state unknown in recent geologic history and goes haywire. Climate scientists typically see the risks growing rapidly as CO2 levels approach a doubling of their pre-18thcentury value. To make the problem manageable, the required reduction in emissions can be broken down into “wedges”—an incremental reduction of a size that matches available technology. The current pace of emissions growth already includes some steady reduction in carbon intensity. The goal is to reduce it even more. A synfuel-powered car emits the same amount of CO2 as a gasoline-powered car, but synfuel fabrication from coal spews out far more carbon than does refining gasoline from crude oil—enough to double the emissions per mile of driving. As with coal-fired electricity, at least a wedge may be available from each of three complementary options: reduced use, improved efficiency and decarbonized energy sources. People can take fewer unwanted trips (telecommuting instead of vehicle commuting) and pursue the travel they cherish (adventure, family visits) in fuel-efficient vehicles running on low-carbon fuel.
Summary of Author's Main Points:
Humanity can emit only so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere before the climate enters a state unknown in recent geologic history and goes haywire. Climate scientists typically see the risks growing rapidly as CO2 levels approach a doubling of their pre-18thcentury value. To make the problem manageable, the required reduction in emissions can be broken down into “wedges”—an incremental reduction of a size that matches available technology. The current pace of emissions growth already includes some steady reduction in carbon intensity. The goal is to reduce it even more. A synfuel-powered car emits the same amount of CO2 as a gasoline-powered car, but synfuel fabrication from coal spews out far more carbon than does refining gasoline from crude oil—enough to double the emissions per mile of driving. As with coal-fired electricity, at least a wedge may be available from each of three complementary options: reduced use, improved efficiency and decarbonized energy sources. People can take fewer unwanted trips (telecommuting instead of vehicle commuting) and pursue the travel they cherish (adventure, family visits) in fuel-efficient vehicles running on low-carbon fuel.
C: Reaction to the article
My Own Thoughts on the Topic:
Critically, a planetary consciousness will have grown. Humanity will have learned to address its collective destiny—and to share the planet. There needs to be something done to prevent the continuous spreading of carbon around the world. Carbon should continue stay in check or things could get out of control. Earth is too good to us for us to not go out of our way to protect it's valuable resources. We all need to come together. Education is the key to make the changes we want to see in Earth. There is only one Earth and we need to take car of it.
My Own Thoughts on the Topic:
Critically, a planetary consciousness will have grown. Humanity will have learned to address its collective destiny—and to share the planet. There needs to be something done to prevent the continuous spreading of carbon around the world. Carbon should continue stay in check or things could get out of control. Earth is too good to us for us to not go out of our way to protect it's valuable resources. We all need to come together. Education is the key to make the changes we want to see in Earth. There is only one Earth and we need to take car of it.