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  1. Home
  2. Climate Solutions 101
  3. Unit 2: Stopping Climate Change

Unit 2: Stopping Climate Change

To achieve drawdown—the point when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start declining—it’s important to understand the sources of emissions and nature’s means of rebalancing the climate system. In this unit: Explore the sources and impacts of greenhouse gases, and zero-in on three critical principles: reducing sources, supporting nature’s “sinks” for storing carbon, and centering equality in global action.

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Navin Ramankutty, PhD
Navin Ramankutty, PhD

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change and Food Security, University of British Columbia

Ramankutty, a professor and research chair at the University of British Columbia, leads a program that explores how humans use and modify the Earth’s land surface for agriculture—and how that implicates our global environment. Using research observations and numerical ecosystem models, he aims to find solutions to the problem of feeding humanity with minimal global environmental footprint. Ramankutty—a Leopold Leadership Fellow—contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report and to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and currently serves as Associate Editor of Environmental Research Letters. Follow Ramankutty on Twitter and visit his website.

Hear more about the sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Unit 2, which covers three need-to-know principles of equitable climate solutions.

Dive into food systems and solutions with Ramankutty, a scientist focused on ways to feed humanity with minimal global environmental footprint. From the importance of voting and youth climate action to regenerative agriculture, Ramankutty shares up-to-date insight from his field.

36:29
Navin Ramankutty, PhD
Navin Ramankutty, PhD

Professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Environmental Change and Food Security, University of British Columbia

Ramankutty, a professor and research chair at the University of British Columbia, leads a program that explores how humans use and modify the Earth’s land surface for agriculture—and how that implicates our global environment. Using research observations and numerical ecosystem models, he aims to find solutions to the problem of feeding humanity with minimal global environmental footprint. Ramankutty—a Leopold Leadership Fellow—contributed to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report and to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and currently serves as Associate Editor of Environmental Research Letters. Follow Ramankutty on Twitter and visit his website.

Hear more about the sources of greenhouse gas emissions in Unit 2, which covers three need-to-know principles of equitable climate solutions.

Dive into food systems and solutions with Ramankutty, a scientist focused on ways to feed humanity with minimal global environmental footprint. From the importance of voting and youth climate action to regenerative agriculture, Ramankutty shares up-to-date insight from his field.

36:29

Key Graphics

The Moment of Drawdown
Drawdown Definition
No Greenhouse Effect
Natural Greenhouse Effect
Enhanced Greenhouse Effect
Global Greenhouse Gases
Greenhouse Gas Sources and Natural Sinks
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Learn More

The Drawdown Review

Project Drawdown's 2020 publication is the first major update to the research and analysis of climate solutions since Drawdown, its 2017 best-selling book. See pages 8 – 13 for more on the sources and impacts of greenhouse gases, and beyond.

The Project Drawdown Framework for Climate Solutions

Meet the handiest companion for your climate exploration journey. Explore the main buckets of Earth’s known climate solutions as well as the potential emissions impact of each sector.

The Three Most Important Graphs in Climate Change

Cut through the climate confusion with Foley’s Medium piece on three guiding graphs that help determine which solutions make the most sense (quickly, safely, and equitably).

Global Carbon Budget 2020

Explore the Earth System Science Data for the 2020 Global Carbon Budget—a large assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and their distribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and biosphere in a changing climate.

Next Unit

Unit 3: Reducing Sources

Climate Solutions 101
Unit 1: Setting the Stage
Unit 2: Stopping Climate Change
Unit 3: Reducing Sources
Unit 4: Supporting Sinks and Improving Society
Unit 5: Putting It All Together
Unit 6: Making It Happen

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