FLINT Handbook

“There is nothing permanent except change. - Heraclitus “.

Change is a phenomenon we are taught to expect or welcome, but what should we do if those changes bring about adverse and unfortunate events? An excellent example of such a change is climate change.

Climate change can be referred to as long-term temperature and weather pattern shifts. Although these shifts may be natural, human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation have been the major cause of climate change since the 1800s. Other causes of climate change include solar variability, volcanic activity, etc.

Greenhouse gases that wrap the globe are released as a result of land usage related to agriculture, forestry, and human growth. More focus has been placed on reducing the effects of human-induced climate change, which includes hotter temperatures, more intense storms, increasing drought, rising sea levels, and increased health hazards. This brings us to FLINT.

The Full Lands Integration Tool (FLINT) is a moja global software used for measuring, reporting, and verifying (MRV) greenhouse gas emissions and removals from forestry, agriculture, and other land uses (AFOLU).

Consistent with the guidelines by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), FLINT utilises multiple data streams to forecast future greenhouse gas emissions and removals.

Who is this handbook for?

This handbook is geared toward introducing FLINT so that users can appreciate what FLINT aims to achieve, what inputs and processes go into creating analysis with the moja global software, and, more importantly, what the analysis results mean for the future of our environment.

The handbook presents the topics clearly and concisely so that readers, regardless of their knowledge level, can understand the FLINT handbook and the advanced form of the topics treated in it when needed.

What is included in this handbook

The FLINT handbook will discuss understanding climate science, the problems climate change poses to our environment, and steps we can take to mitigate the effects.

Expanding on FLINT, this handbook seeks to highlight FLINT modules, inputs and expected outputs from the tool. We shall discuss using carbon models like the Generic Carbon Budget Model (GCBM) to assess the natural and anthropogenic effects of disturbances like wildfire, oil and gas explorations, etc., on our forest’s landscape.

Lastly, we shall walk through what the future holds for the world we live in, what does increase in carbon dioxide mean for our forests, and, more importantly, how we expect our world to change.