![]() ![]() Solutions in progress: In October 2016, officials from more than 170 countries gathered in Kigali, Rwanda, to negotiate a deal to address the problem of HFCs. Their replacement chemicals, primarily hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), have minimal deleterious effect on the ozone layer, but their capacity to warm the atmosphere is 1,000 to 9,000 times greater than that of carbon dioxide, depending on their exact chemical composition. Huge volumes of CFCs and HCFCs remain in circulation, retaining their potential for ozone damage. Refrigerants continue to cause climate change, however. Now, three decades later, the ozone layer is beginning to heal. ![]() It took two short years from the discovery of the gaping hole over the Antarctic for the global community to adopt a legally mandated course of action. Thanks to the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, CFCs and HCFCs have been phased out of use. Refrigerants, specifically chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), were once key culprits in depleting the stratospheric ozone layer, which is essential for absorbing the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. The problem: Every refrigerator, supermarket case, and air conditioner contains chemical refrigerants that absorb and release heat, making it possible to chill food and keep buildings and vehicles cool. the Green America editors Top 10 Solutions to Reverse Climate Change 1. For the other 90 solutions, we highly recommend you read Drawdown: the Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming (Penguin Books, 2017), edited by Paul Hawken. Using the scenario that gets us to drawdown-which requires ramping up the solutions a bit more than the conservative measure, particularly renewable energy-they reduce or sequester carbon by 1,442 gigatons by 2050.īelow are the top ten solutions, ranked in terms of emissions reduction potential over a 30-year period. Together, all 80 reduce or sequester carbon by 1,051 gigatons by 2050 in the Plausible Scenario. Most prominently was that even when the solutions are modeled in terms of what they call a “Plausible Scenario”-a conservative measure of projected solution implementation that is “reasonable yet optimistic”-society still makes great strides toward achieving drawdown, the point where greenhouse-gas levels in the atmosphere begin to decline. ![]() But the data had some surprises in store. Paul Hawken and the Project Drawdown experts thought they knew what to expect when they modeled and ranked 80 solutions that could reverse climate change. ![]()
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