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7.B. - Page 117 Redwood City Chapter 4.Environmental Impact Analysis availability of hydroelectric power,and affect regional air quality and public health.Like most criteria and toxic air pollutants,much of the GHG emissions come from motor vehicles. GHG emissions can be reduced to some degree by improved coordination of land use and transportation planning on the City, County,and regional level,and other measures to reduce automobile use. Energy conservation measures also can contribute to reductions in GHG emissions. Emissions of GHGs contributing to global climate change are attributable in large part to human activities associated with the transportation,electricity generation,commercial/residential, industry,and agriculture sectors. In California,the transportation,electricity generation,and industry sectors are responsible for over 80 percent of GHG emissions (California Air Resources Board 2008).Emissions of COa are byproducts of fossil fuel combustion. CH4,a potent GHG,is largely associated with agricultural practices and landfills. NaO,an even more potent GHG,is also largely attributable to agricultural practices and soil management.COa sinks include vegetation and the ocean,which absorb COa through sequestration and dissolution (Bay Area Air Quality Management District 2011). Over the period from 2000-2008,emission sources in California emitted 474 million metric tons of GHGs,expressed as COa equivalent,or COae.Carbon dioxide is used as a unit of ineasurement for GHGs to account for the difference in the potential to retain infrared radiation in the atmosphere (contributing to the greenhouse effect) for different GHGs (California Air Resources Board 2010). This potential,known as the global warming potential (GWP) of a GHG,is dependent on the lifetime, or persistence,of the gas molecule in the atmosphere.Based on information from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Second Assessment Report, CH4 has 21 times the 100-year GWP of COa,and Na0 has 310 times the 100-year GWP of COa (The Climate Registry 2008). Expressing emissions in COae accounts for the contributions of all GHG emissions to long-term climate change as a single measurement equivalent to the effect that would occur if only COa was being emitted. Assembly Bill(AB) 32 requires a return to 1990 emission levels (estimated as 427 million metric tons CO2e)by 2020.ARB's most recent estimate of 2020 "business as usual"(BAU) emissions is 545 million metric tons COae. In order to meet the AB 32 goal,there will need to be a reduction of 118 million metric tons COae,or approximately a 22 percent reduction from the 2020 BAU condition (California Air Resources Board 2011b). Significant Impact Criteria Similar to the criteria for air pollutants,BAAQMD also considers impacts related to global climate change and GHG emissions to be cumulative in nature.GHG emissions contribute cumulatively to significant adverse environmental effects associated with global climate change.Cumulative climate change impacts could include increased extreme heat days,higher concentrations of criteria air pollutants,sea level rise,water supply and quality impacts,impacts on public health and natural ecosystems,impacts on agriculture,and other environmental impacts. No individual project could generate sufficient GHG emissions on its own to noticeably change average global temperatures. However,the combined GHG emissions from past,present,and future projects can contribute to global climate change and its associated environmental impacts (Bay Area Air Quality Management District 2011). Addendum No.2 to the Environmental Impact Report for 4�Z September 2012 the Redwood City Costco Wholesale Project ICF 00154.12