COMPLIANCE INFO_FINAL INITIAL STUDY/MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION 5/25

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Memorandum 25 March 2025 Page 3 According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), over the past few hundred years the atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have increased to unprecedented levels compared to previous fluctuations in CO2 concentrations observed over the past 800,000 years due to anthropogenic sources. According to a 2022 report, eight of the top 10 warmest years on record since 1880 had occurred in the last decade based on measurements of the Earth’s global average surface temperature.2 The global increases in CO2 concentrations primarily are related to fossil fuel combustion and land use change (e.g., deforestation). The dominant anthropogenic sources of methane are from ruminant livestock, fossil fuel extraction and use, rice paddy agriculture, and landfills, while the dominant anthropogenic sources of N2O are from ammonia for fertilizer and industrial activity. Fossil fuels combustion and industrial processes account for the largest share and growth in gross GHG emissions.3 Effects of GHG Emissions In March 2023, the IPCC published the final installment of the Six Assessment Report (AR6), summarizing the state of knowledge of climate change, its widespread impacts and risks, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. The IPCC report found that the consequences of global warming already are being seen because of a 1.1 degree Celsius (°C) increase in pre- industrial levels, such as extreme weather, rising sea levels, and diminishing Arctic Sea ice. Climate impacts on ecosystems and humans are widespread across the globe and vulnerable communities who have historically contributed the least to current climate change are disproportionately affected. Global warming will continue to increase in the near term (2021-2040) mainly due to increased cumulative CO2 emissions and is likely to reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels between 2021 and 2040. Risks and projected adverse impacts and related losses and damages from climate change will escalate with every increment of global warming. The IPCC states that deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in GHG emissions would lead to a discernible slowdown in global warming within around two decades, and also to discernible changes in atmospheric composition within a few years. 2 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), 2022. 2021 Tied for 6th Warmest Year in Continued Trend, NASA Analysis Shows. Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3140/2021-tied-for-6th-warmest-year- in-continued-trend-nasa-analysis-shows/, accessed October 7, 2023. Posted January 13. 3 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2023. Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Available at: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf