University of MelbourneMelbourne Sustainable Society Institute

If adaptation is the attempt to manage the unavoidable, mitigation is trying to avoid the unmanageable. Any perceived gains of a slow response towards dealing with climate change have to be weighed against the risks of severe or abrupt climate change. The precautionary principle, therefore, leads many researchers to recommend the development and adoption of measures that will help mitigate climate change.

One measure is to enhance the natural sequestration of carbon. Forests act as carbon stores, locking up their carbon and keeping it from being released into the atmosphere for decades or even centuries. But plants also absorb carbon dioxide by the constant process of photosynthesis. When reforestation - especially in tropical regions - expands the area or density of forests, these act as carbon sinks, soaking up carbon dioxide. The adoption of strategic fire management, such as conducting controlled burns early in the dry season, can result in less combustion of overall biomass and therefore less carbon releases or losses of sequestration. Soils can also sequester carbon and this can be enhanced by such practices as residue mulching, crop rotation, cover cropping, and no-till farming, as advocated by organic farming methods, for example. The oceans also absorb carbon dioxide and also store carbon in their biomass. But the healthier our oceans the better they will function in this way. Some researchers are investigating the viability and safety of geo-engineering the oceans. Ocean nourishment is the purposeful introduction of nutrients, such as phosphate, while ocean fertilisation is the introduction of iron. Both are being considered as a way of increasing the marine food chain thereby sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The buffering effects of natural sequestration need to be complemented by changes in human activities. Greenhouse gas emissions can be significantly reduced by replacing some carbon-intensive production practices with those which involve less releases of carbon dioxide in the lifecycle of goods and services. For example, the development and adoption of hybrid-electric or even fully-electric cars can reduce the emissions that would occur with the traditional engine. Another way to significantly reduce emission is to increase efficiency gains in otherwise quite carbon-intensive activities. For instance, car engines which can strategically switch off some of their cylinders can save petrol. Thirdly, the greater recycling of materials can help get the most out of the carbon that has already been released in their production.

Many researchers are convinced that it will only be with the roll-out of genuinely renewable energy that significant levels of mitigation can be achieved. Currently available technologies include solar power, tidal and ocean energy, geothermal power, and wind power. More controversially, the nuclear reactor is perceived by some to be a cleaner, greener alternative to the coal-fired power station and, moreover, to be the best chance at seriously reducing coal use. Others favour the development of carbon sequestration technologies which might convert coal power stations into non-emitters.

Some nations are trying to reduce carbon emissions by manipulating the market mechanisms of supply and demand. This might involve issuing carbon credits in a capped emissions trading scheme, or it could take the form of a carbon tax. Most mitigation proposals imply that global fossil fuel production will eventually reduce. But a growing global population and the planned economic growth of nations based on current carbon-intensive technologies are counter-productive to mitigation measures. Accordingly, some see the bottom-up influence of individuals and businesses changing their lifestyles and practices as a crucial factor in any effort to mitigate climate change.

 

Related Publications

See publications related to this topic.

 

Grants and Projects

2009-2011
ARC Discovery Project
Responding to Climate Change: Australia’s Environmental Law and Regulatory Framework
Prof. Rod Keenan, Head Of School - Forest & Ecosystem Science
A/Prof. Jacqueline Peel, Melbourne Law School
Prof. Lee Godden, Melbourne Law School

2008-2009
Dynamics of Carbon Stocks in Timber in Australian Residential Housing
Prof. Rod Keenan, Head Of School - Forest & Ecosystem Science
M. Kapambwe, F. Ximenes, P. Vinden,
Forest & Wood Products Australia - Project Number: PN07.1058

2007-2010
Assessment, management and marketing of goods and services from cutover native forests in Papua New Guinea
Prof. Rod Keenan, Head Of School - Forest & Ecosystem Science
ACIAR (Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research)
Project ID: FST/2004/061

2006-2010
Department of Sustainability and Environment – University of Melbourne Project 1.5
Climate Change and greenhouse gas emissions in forested landscapes
A/Prof. Dr Stefan Arndt, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Dr Stephen Livesley, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science

2008-2011
ARC Linkage: LP0883573
Combining recycled water use, biofuel production and phytoremediation of contaminated land and biosolids
A/Prof. Dr Stefan Arndt, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Mr J D Gregory
In collaboration with: Melbourne Water Corporation

2008-2009
Infrastructure Grant: AE Rowden White Foundation
MEGA - Mobile Ecosystem Gas-exchange Analyser for Australian landscape
A/Prof. Dr Stefan Arndt, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Dr Stephen Livesley, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science

2008-2009
ARC LIEF Infrastructure: LE0882936
Mobile Ecosystem Gas-exchange Analyzer (MEGA)
A/Prof. Dr Stefan Arndt, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Dr Stephen Livesley, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
A/Prof. Jason Beringer, Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University

2007-2009
ARC Linkage: LP0774812
Integrative assessment of disturbance and land-use change on total greenhouse gas balance and nutrient cycling in savanna ecosystems
Dr Lindsay Hutley, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, Charles Darwin University
A/Prof. Jason Beringer, Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University
A/Prof. Dr Stefan Arndt, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Dr Stephen Livesley, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Dr G. D. Cook, CSIRO
Dr Klaus Butterbach-Bahl, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

2008-2009
University of Melbourne Joint Research Project.
Methane uptake in Australian ecosystems – controlled by diffusion or microbial activity?
A/Prof. Dr Stefan Arndt, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science
Dr Stephen Livesley, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science

2005-2010
Improving the management of water and nitrogen fertilizer for agricultural profitability, water quality and reduced nitrous oxide emissions in China and Australia
Project Leader: A/Prof. Deli Chen, Resource Management and Geography
Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

2009-2011
ARC: LP0989525
Enhanced efficiency fertilizers for agricultural sustainability and environmental quality
Project Leader & Chief Investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen

2006-2009
Co-chief investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Indirect greenhouse gases: Quantifying volatilization of nitrogen from farming systems
Co-chief investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Project leader: Dr Robert Edis, Resource Management and Geography
Jointly funded by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and the Australian Greenhouse Office

2009-2012
Enhanced efficiency fertilizers as mitigation tools for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from intensive agricultural systems in Australia
Project Leader & Chief Investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Jointly funded by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

2004-2009
Open path systems (Laser and FTIR) for the measurement of greenhouse gases from land-managed systems
Project Leader & Chief Investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Australian Greenhouse Office

2007-2009
Quantifying NH3 (an indirect greenhouse gas) volatilisation from intensive agricultural systems in Australia and China
Project Leader & Chief Investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Australian Greenhouse Office

2006-2009
Improving the efficiency, profitability and environmental friendliness of nitrogen fertilizers
Project Leader & Chief Investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Incitec-Pivot Stratigic R&D Grant

2006-2009
Greenhouse gas emissions for Australian beef cattle feedlots
Project Leader & Chief Investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) & Australian Greenhouse Office

2009-2012
Manure management to reduce greenhouse emissions from cattle feedlots
Project Leader & Chief Investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) & Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

2009-2012
Mitigation of methane emissions from the northern Australian beef herd
Co-chief investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Project leader: Dr ED Charmley, CSIRO
Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) & Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

2009-2012
Development of a GIS-based agricultural decision support GHG and NH3 emissions from biogas plants and biogas slurry tanks
Partner investigator: A/Prof. Deli Chen
Project leader Dr Andreas Pacholski, University of Kiel
EU and German Ministry of Science, Foundation for Innovation of the Federal State of Schleswig-Holstei

2009-2012
Green roofs - improving urban environments in a changing climate
ARC Linkage LP0990704
Dr Nicholas Williams, Department of Resource Management and Geography, A/Prof. Dr Stefan Arndt, Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science, Dr Kathryn Williams, Department of Resource Management and Geographym Dr Nigel Dunnett, University of Sheffield

 

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Greenhouse in Agriculture
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