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Student Worksheet: Mitigating Global Climate Change: What will it take?
The objective of this project is to determine what we need to do to mitigate climate change. Mitigation
strategies can include energy efficiency, developing renewable energy resources, reforestation, or other actions.
Two important questions are:
1. How do we set goals to define what is enough mitigation?
2. What actions are required to meet these goals?
The first question has been pondered by climate scientists and policy makers. There are currently three primary
ways to consider how much mitigation is required:



Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of the 1990 values by 2050 (80x50)
Limiting atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to 350 ppm
Limiting the global average temperature anomaly to 2°C
The activities included in this project will provide an answer to the second question while ideally meeting these
three climate change mitigation goals.
Introduction to stabilization wedges
Choose five wedges that you think will be appropriate for mitigating climate change. See the wedge summary
table to help you select your choices.
Strategy
Sector
(E, T,H or B)
Cost ($)
Challenges
1
2
3
4
5
Discuss your rationale for choosing these 5 mitigation wedges and your thoughts on the ease or difficulty
implementing these strategies would require.
Click here to enter text.
Part 1: Projected Carbon emissions and CO2 concentrations
A. for 5 mitigation wedges:
Open the spreadsheet labeled “Student Spreadsheet” and view the worksheet labeled “Wedges.” You will notice
there are two sets of data for emissions and carbon dioxide concentrations (rows 12-22). The first is for
projected “Business as Past” emissions (A1G) to compare to future emissions. The second set is a dynamic data
range for emissions and concentrations under the selected mitigation strategy. These values change when
students enter in a number of wedges (multiple of 5 from 0 to 25) they would like to consider.
1. Define an emission strategy:
a. Enter a number of wedges (use 5 for the first analysis) in the yellow box (Cell C7)
b. Calculate the required emissions in 2061 (50 years into the future( (enter equation in cell C8).
The projected 2061 BAP emissions are 25.85 GtC/y. By noting that each of the wedges helps
Project Module prepared for the NASA GCCE Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project
Copyright 2011 © Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, August 2011.
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html
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by reducing the global total emissions by 1 GtC/y, we can see that the
2061 BAP emissions – number of wedges = required 2061 emissions.
2. The carbon emissions and CO2 concentration graphs are automatically updated to provide some
understanding of how successful the mitigation strategy (# wedges) was.
3. The emissions and concentration graph are automatically updated. Review these graphs (rows 24-39) to
provide a visual sense of how well your mitigation strategy worked.
4. Evaluate if the emissions and concentration goals were met:
a. For the 80x50 emission reduction goal: Enter an equation in cell J8 to calculate the percent
reduction in emissions. The 1990 value is constant and provided in cell J5, and the value for the
year 2050 is automatically included in cell J6. Enter the % reduction calculation in cell J8.
% 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 =
(1990 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒) − (2050 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒)
∗ 100
(1990 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒)
As an excel equation, this can be written as
=100*(J5-J6)/J5
b. For the 350 ppm concentration target in 50 years (2061), review information automatically
generated in cells J10 and L10.
Enter values from your spreadsheet into the second and third columns of the table below.
Value
Result for 5 wedges
Does it meet the
Result for your
goal? (yes/no)
choice of # of
wedges
# wedges
5
--2050 emissions
--(GtC/y)
2061 emissions
--(GtC/y)
% reduction in
carbon emissions
(2050 relative to
1990)
2061 CO2
concentration (ppm)
Does it meet the
goal? (yes/no)
-------
Discussion questions:
1. Were 5 stabilization wedges effective in meeting the target CO2 concentration and emission reduction
goals? Describe if you were close or very ineffective.
Click here to enter text.
2. Write a hypothesis for your estimate of how many wedges really are required (chose a multiple of 5
between 0 and 25.
Click here to enter text.
B. For your choice of the number of wedges:
Number of wedges considered: Click here to enter text.
Repeat steps 1-4 (above) and enter new results into the 4th and 5th columns of the table above. Copy and paste
the Excel graphs in the boxes below.
Project Module prepared for the NASA GCCE Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project
Copyright 2011 © Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, August 2011.
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html
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Discussion questions:
1. Was your mitigation strategy (# wedges) effective in meeting either the climate change mitigation goals
considered in this section (80 x 50 or 350 ppm)? Describe how close (or not) you were in meeting each
of these goals.
Click here to enter text.
2. Compare your results with someone who chose a different number of wedges. How do they compare?
Click here to enter text.
3. If you had the opportunity to repeat this analysis, would you choose a different number of wedges? If
yes, how many? Explain your answer.
Click here to enter text.
Insert carbon emission graph here
Insert CO2 concentration graph here
Project Module prepared for the NASA GCCE Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project
Copyright 2011 © Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, August 2011.
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html
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Part 2: Projected Global Temperatures
1. Open document summarizing EdGCM modeling results that show temperature anomalies in 2061
2. Evaluate the global average temperature anomalies: Record the temperature anomaly in 2061 for five
wedges and your chosen wedge scenario in the table below.
Number of Wedges
2061 Global Average
Temperature Anomaly (°C)
How much is this above
goal of 2°C?
5
3. At the bottom of the results document (page 1), click the link with your desired number of wedges. This
will bring you to a map of the temperature anomalies around the world. The “Business as Past” map is
given with each scenario to provide a comparison. Answer the following questions based on the 2061
maps given.
Discussion questions:
1. Was your mitigation strategy (# wedges) effective in meeting either the climate change mitigation goal
considered in this section (≤2°C)? Describe how close (or not) you were in meeting this goal.
Click here to enter text.
2. If you had the opportunity to repeat this analysis, would you choose a different number of wedges? If
yes, how many? Explain your answer.
Click here to enter text.
3. What areas of Earth experienced the most change in temperature? How much will the temperature
change over the 21st century?
Click here to enter text.
4. Did any geographic regions experience a decrease in temperature with your choice?
Click here to enter text.
Project Module prepared for the NASA GCCE Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project
Copyright 2011 © Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, August 2011.
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html
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Part 3: Selection of suitable mitigation wedges
Review the wedge options. Choose specific wedges to equal the total number of wedges you used in your
analysis above. Consider your thoughts on the feasibility, cost and acceptability of each of the options. The
wedge options marked with a blue star can only be used once in your set of selected wedges. Other wedges can
be used multiple times.
Number of wedges:
Click here to enter text.
Note:



You may use a strategy more than once (except those marked with a blue star)
Only use whole numbers of wedges
The maximum number of wedges of any type depends on the current sources of carbon dioxide
emissions. The table below summarizes the maximum number of wedges of each type.
Number of Wedges
5
10
15
20
25
Maximum Number of Wedges of Each Type
Heat/
Transportation
Electricity
Direct Fuel Use
4
3
3
7
5
5
10
8
8
14
10
10
18
15
15
Record your strategies to reduce in the table on the next page.
Discussion questions:
1. What were some of the wedges that you readily selected? Explain why.
Click here to enter text.
2. Was it difficult to find enough wedges to meet the number of wedges you selected for your analysis? If
yes, what made the selection difficult?
Click here to enter text.
3. Were there any wedges that you selected purely because you needed to add more but that you were
reluctant to add? If yes, identify which ones were hard to add and describe why.
Click here to enter text.
4. After completing this analysis, how feasible do you think it will be to meet the three climate change
mitigation goals used in this project? What advice would you give to policy makers about their goals or
actions we should undertake to mitigate climate change?
Click here to enter text.
5. Did this analysis and the extent of actions required to mitigate climate change make you think about
your own lifestyle and energy consumption? Are there any mitigation actions you might consider for
yourself, family or school?
Click here to enter text.
Project Module prepared for the NASA GCCE Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project
Copyright 2011 © Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, August 2011.
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html
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Table to record selection of mitigation wedges
Strategy
Sector
(E, T,H or B)
Cost ($)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Enter total for each type of strategy and dollar
signs
E=
T=
H=
B=
Project Module prepared for the NASA GCCE Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project
Copyright 2011 © Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, August 2011.
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html
Comments on why you selected this strategy
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Project Module prepared for the NASA GCCE Project-Based Global Climate Change Education Project
Copyright 2011 © Office of Educational Partnerships, Clarkson University, August 2011.
http://www.clarkson.edu/highschool/Climate_Change_Education/index.html