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| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Change Jason Smerdon, 2009-04-25 Climate Change is geared toward a variety of students and general readers who seek the real science behind global warming. Exquisitely illustrated, the text introduces the basic science underlying both the natural progress of climate change and the effect of human activity on the deteriorating health of our planet. Noted expert and author Edmond A. Mathez synthesizes the work of leading scholars in climatology and related fields, and he concludes with an extensive chapter on energy production, anchoring this volume in economic and technological realities and suggesting ways to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Climate Change opens with the climate system fundamentals: the workings of the atmosphere and ocean, their chemical interactions via the carbon cycle, and the scientific framework for understanding climate change. Mathez then brings the climate of the past to bear on our present predicament, highlighting the importance of paleoclimatology in understanding the current climate system. Subsequent chapters explore the changes already occurring around us and their implications for the future. In a special feature, Jason E. Smerdon, associate research scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, provides an innovative appendix for students. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate Andrew J. Hoffman, 2015-03-11 Though the scientific community largely agrees that climate change is underway, debates about this issue remain fiercely polarized. These conversations have become a rhetorical contest, one where opposing sides try to achieve victory through playing on fear, distrust, and intolerance. At its heart, this split no longer concerns carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, or climate modeling; rather, it is the product of contrasting, deeply entrenched worldviews. This brief examines what causes people to reject or accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Synthesizing evidence from sociology, psychology, and political science, Andrew J. Hoffman lays bare the opposing cultural lenses through which science is interpreted. He then extracts lessons from major cultural shifts in the past to engender a better understanding of the problem and motivate the public to take action. How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate makes a powerful case for a more scientifically literate public, a more socially engaged scientific community, and a more thoughtful mode of public discourse. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Exploring Climate Change through Science and in Society Mike Hulme, 2013-09-11 Mike Hulme has been studying climate change for over thirty years and is today one of the most distinctive and recognisable voices speaking internationally about climate change in the academy, in public and in the media. The argument that he has made powerfully over the last few years is that climate change has to be understood as much as an idea situated in different cultural contexts as it is as a physical phenomenon to be studied through universal scientific practices. Climate change at its core embraces both science and society, both knowledge and culture. Hulme’s numerous academic and popular writings have explored what this perspective means for the different ways climate change is studied, narrated, argued over and acted upon. Exploring Climate Change through Science and in Society gathers together for the first time a collection of his most popular, prominent and controversial articles, essays, speeches, interviews and reviews dating back to the late 1980s. The 50 or so short items are grouped together in seven themes - Science, Researching, Culture, Policy, Communicating, Controversy, Futures - and within each theme are arranged chronologically to reveal changing ideas, evidence and perspectives about climate change. Each themed section is preceded with a brief introduction, drawing out the main issues examined. Three substantive unpublished new essays have been specially written for the book, including one reflecting on the legacy of Climategate. Taken as a collection, these writings reveal the changes in scientific and public understandings of climate change since the late 1980s, as refracted through the mind and expression of one leading academic and public commentator. The collection shows the many different ways in which it is necessary to approach the idea of climate change to interpret and make sense of the divergent and discordant voices proclaiming it in the public sphere. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: The Humanities: Past, Present and Future Michael F. Shaughnessy, 2017 The humanities have been an integral part of humanitys cultural structure for centuries. In this book, a number of leading scholars reflect on the past, present and offer their perspectives for the future of the humanities. The first chapter (written by Jennifer Laubenthal, Jonathan Helmick and Kathleen Melago) describes the vitality of music for humanistic study. Next, Kevin Donnelly provides his perspectives and research of the humanities as they pertain to Australian history. Professor Donald Elder then extols the humanities from a historical perspective, investigating key crucial events that have taken place in America. Literacy and literacy instruction in the past, present and future are detailed by Professors Thompson and Coffey, while scholar Paul Horton examines the plight of the humanities in the vise of K-20 corporate education reform. Emerging technologies in humanities education is critically examined by Arjun Sabharwal while Gerald Cupchik explores the humanities, emotions and aesthetics in a singular fashion. The realms of pedagogy and knowledge are explored by Will Fitzhugh and Michael F. Shaughnessy, while Greg Eft paints a panorama of concerning the definition of beauty as it pertains to the humanities. Geni Flores then follows in a chapter that promotes and accentuates the importance of multiculturalism and diversity as instruments of social justice. Josh McVey interprets Scripture and its origins within the humanities while Anna Beck explores historical American theatre and provides a glimpse of this realm through various windows. Opal Greer sheds light on what we may be able to discern from the humanities past and envisions the realm of their future in universities and academia. Professor Elder contributes a second time to this manuscript, boldly going where not historian has gone before and examining the relevance of space history to this subject matter. Bringing the book to a close, Herbert London offers his perspective on the future of the humanities. Scholars, researchers, critics, historians, art lovers, and musicians as well as many involved in education will relish and enjoy this rich, robust exploration of the humanities and its relation to the past, present and future. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Facilitating Climate Change Responses National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Panel on Addressing the Challenges of Climate Change Through the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 2010-11-27 The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, understanding the need for policy makers at the national level to entrain the behavioral and social sciences in addressing the challenges of global climate change, called on the National Research Council to organize two workshops to showcase some of the decision-relevant contributions that these sciences have already made and can advance with future efforts. The workshops focused on two broad areas: (1) mitigation (behavioral elements of a strategy to reduce the net future human influence on climate) and (2) adaptation (behavioral and social determinants of societal capacity to minimize the damage from climate changes that are not avoided). Facilitating Climate Change Responses documents the information presented in the workshop presentations and discussions. This material illustrates some of the ways the behavioral and social sciences can contribute to the new era of climate research. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Can Science Fix Climate Change? Mike Hulme, 2014-06-04 Climate change seems to be an insurmountable problem. Political solutions have so far had little impact. Some scientists are now advocating the so-called 'Plan B', a more direct way of reducing the rate of future warming by reflecting more sunlight back to space, creating a thermostat in the sky. In this book, Mike Hulme argues against this kind of hubristic techno-fix. Drawing upon a distinguished career studying the science, politics and ethics of climate change, he shows why using science to fix the global climate is undesirable, ungovernable and unattainable. Science and technology should instead serve the more pragmatic goals of increasing societal resilience to weather risks, improving regional air quality and driving forward an energy technology transition. Seeking to reset the planet’s thermostat is not the answer. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Gender and Climate Change Joane Nagel, 2015-09-25 Does gender matter in global climate change? This timely and provocative book takes readers on a guided tour of basic climate science, then holds up a gender lens to find out what has been overlooked in popular discussion, research, and policy debates. We see that, around the world, more women than men die in climate-related natural disasters; the history of science and war are intimately interwoven masculine occupations and preoccupations; and conservative men and their interests drive the climate change denial machine. We also see that climate policymakers who embrace big science approaches and solutions to climate change are predominantly male with an ideology of perpetual economic growth, and an agenda that marginalizes the interests of women and developing economies. The book uses vivid case studies to highlight the sometimes surprising differential, gendered impacts of climate changes. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Thriving on Our Changing Planet National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences, Space Studies Board, Committee on the Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space, 2019-01-20 We live on a dynamic Earth shaped by both natural processes and the impacts of humans on their environment. It is in our collective interest to observe and understand our planet, and to predict future behavior to the extent possible, in order to effectively manage resources, successfully respond to threats from natural and human-induced environmental change, and capitalize on the opportunities †social, economic, security, and more †that such knowledge can bring. By continuously monitoring and exploring Earth, developing a deep understanding of its evolving behavior, and characterizing the processes that shape and reshape the environment in which we live, we not only advance knowledge and basic discovery about our planet, but we further develop the foundation upon which benefits to society are built. Thriving on Our Changing Planet presents prioritized science, applications, and observations, along with related strategic and programmatic guidance, to support the U.S. civil space Earth observation program over the coming decade. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Change and Society Riley E. Dunlap, Robert J. Brulle, 2015-08-24 Climate change is one of the most critical issues of the twenty-first century, presenting a major intellectual challenge to both the natural and social sciences. While there has been significant progress in natural science understanding of climate change, social science analyses have not been as fully developed. Climate Change and Society breaks new theoretical and empirical ground by presenting climate change as a thoroughly social phenomenon, embedded in behaviors, institutions, and cultural practices. This collection of essays summarizes existing approaches to understanding the social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of climate change. From the factors that drive carbon emissions to those which influence societal responses to climate change, the volume provides a comprehensive overview of the social dimensions of climate change. An improved understanding of the complex relationship between climate change and society is essential for modifying ecologically harmful human behaviors and institutional practices, creating just and effective environmental policies, and developing a more sustainable future. Climate Change and Society provides a useful tool in efforts to integrate social science research, natural science research, and policymaking regarding climate change and sustainability. Produced by the American Sociological Association's Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change, this book presents a challenging shift from the standard climate change discourse, and offers a valuable resource for students, scholars, and professionals involved in climate change research and policy. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States U.S. Global Change Research Program, 2009-08-24 Summarizes the science of climate change and impacts on the United States, for the public and policymakers. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: How to Talk About Climate Change in a Way That Makes a Difference Rebecca Huntley, 2020-07-02 'The antidote to climate anxiety is action. Make your first action reading this book.' OSHER GUNSBERG 'Rebecca Huntley has given us a great gift: an essential guide to understanding ourselves and each other as we face the climate crisis. Let's take down the walls that divide us. Collectively, with compassion and courage, we can make real change happen.' KYLIE KWONG 'Explains whether and how we will choose to solve the climate problem. Immensely important analysis in a great read.' PROFESSOR ROSS GARNAUT Why is it so hard to talk about climate change? While scientists double down on the shocking figures, we still find ourselves unable to discuss climate change meaningfully among friends and neighbours - or even to grapple with it ourselves. The key to progress on climate change is in the psychology of human attitudes and our ability to change. Whether you're already alarmed and engaged with the issue, concerned but disengaged, a passive skeptic or an active denier, understanding our emotional reactions to climate change - why it makes us anxious, fearful, angry or detached - is critical to coping on an individual level and convincing each other to act. This book is about understanding why people who aren't like you feel the way they do and learning to talk to them effectively. What we need are thousands - millions - of everyday conversations about the climate to enlarge the ranks of the concerned, engage the disengaged and persuade the cautious of the need for action. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States Julie Koppel Maldonado, Benedict Colombi, Rajul Pandya, 2014-04-05 With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: The Systemic Turn in Human and Natural Sciences Lucia Urbani Ulivi, 2018-12-14 This book is dedicated to the consolidation and to the expansion of theoretic systems thinking as a necessary integration of the general reductionist and analytical attitude dominant in our culture. Reductionism and analytical approaches have produced significant results in many fields of contemporary knowledge giving a great contribution to relevant scientific discoveries and to their technological application, but their validity has been improperly universalized as the only and best methods of knowledge in every domain. It is nowadays clear that analytical or mereological approaches are inadequate to solve many problems and that we should introduce – or support the diffusion of - new concepts and different research attitudes. A good candidate to support such a shift is the well known theoretical approach based on the concept of “system” that no more considers the elementary constituents of an object, but the entity emerging from the relations and interactions among its elementary parts. It becomes possible to reconstruct several domains, both philosophical and scientific, from the systemic point of view, introducing fresh ideas in the research in view of a general rational vision of the world on more comprehensive basis. This book contributes to the diffusion and evolution of systemic thinking by focusing on two main objectives: developing and updating the systemic approach in disciplines currently using it and introducing the systemic perspective in humanistic disciplines, where the approach is not widely used. The Systemic Turn in Human and Natural Sciences: A Rock in the Pond is comprised of ten chapters. The chapter authors adopt a trans-disciplinary perspective, consisting in the recognition and harmonization of the special outlooks that together, within the general systemic paradigm, gives an ideal unity to the book. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Psychology and Climate Change Susan Clayton, Christie Manning, 2018-06-05 Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses organizes and summarizes recent psychological research that relates to the issue of climate change. The book covers topics such as how people perceive and respond to climate change, how people understand and communicate about the issue, how it impacts individuals and communities, particularly vulnerable communities, and how individuals and communities can best prepare for and mitigate negative climate change impacts. It addresses the topic at multiple scales, from individuals to close social networks and communities. Further, it considers the role of social diversity in shaping vulnerability and reactions to climate change. Psychology and Climate Change describes the implications of psychological processes such as perceptions and motivations (e.g., risk perception, motivated cognition, denial), emotional responses, group identities, mental health and well-being, sense of place, and behavior (mitigation and adaptation). The book strives to engage diverse stakeholders, from multiple disciplines in addition to psychology, and at every level of decision making - individual, community, national, and international, to understand the ways in which human capabilities and tendencies can and should shape policy and action to address the urgent and very real issue of climate change. - Examines the role of knowledge, norms, experience, and social context in climate change awareness and action - Considers the role of identity threat, identity-based motivation, and belonging - Presents a conceptual framework for classifying individual and household behavior - Develops a model to explain environmentally sustainable behavior - Draws on what we know about participation in collective action - Describes ways to improve the effectiveness of climate change communication efforts - Discusses the difference between acute climate change events and slowly-emerging changes on our mental health - Addresses psychological stress and injury related to global climate change from an intersectional justice perspective - Promotes individual and community resilience |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Beauty and the Beast Peter Raven, Ileene Anderson, Genevieve Arnold, Ryan Burnett, Kitty Connolly, José Gonzáles, Mary Ellen Hannibal, Kenna Kuhn, Robin Wall Kimmerer, Margaret Leinen, Gordon Leppig, Amber Pairis, Will Rogers, Erin Schrode, Douglas W. Tallamy, Wendy Tokuda, Susan J. Tweit, 2020 Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change is a 12 x 12'' beautifully illustrated and designed 264 page coffee table book created by conservation photographers Rob Badger and Nita Winter.Illustrations: 190 stunning images of California's diverse wildflowers and their habitats, from high mountain passes in the Sierra Nevada mountains to below sea level in Death Valley National Park.Essays: Sixteen talented and diverse authors and scientists, most of whom are women, wrote 18 storytelling style essays (1,200 to 1,800 words) about nature, conservation, climate change or taking action. The two younger authors write about hope and action, and what people can do to help create positive change. The book has three sections: The Gift of Beauty, The Human Connection and Ensuring the Future.Because people are constantly hearing about all the negative things going on in the world, Nita and Rob believed there was a need for a different, softer approach to grab people's attention and center it on the climate-change story, and conservation and population issues. They engage their audiences by first inviting them to experience the splendor of the natural world through a universal symbol of beauty, the wildflower, and then educate and inspire them to take some of the simple actions they provide to create positive change and a healthier planet. Their goal is to spread conservation and climate change ideas far beyond native plant and nature lovers, and to plant the seeds to foster action.Beauty and the Beast is a 27 year photographic journey into the public lands of California. Lands we all own, lands under constant threat of development or resource extraction, impacts of global warming, sea level rise and wildfires. This book is as much a treasure as the flowers and creatures which are featured within its pages. Nita and Rob extend a hand to you to come in and take a long, slow look around and see what they have seen, experienced and have learned. Book includes two comprehensive indexes and a glossary.Co-published by WinterBadger Press and the California Native Plant Society |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Understanding Climate Change Sarah Burch, Sara E. Harris, 2021-06-01 Conversations about climate change are filled with challenges involving complex data, deeply held values, and political issues. Understanding Climate Change examines climate change as both a scientific and a public policy issue. Sarah L. Burch and Sara E. Harris explain the basics of the climate system, climate models and prediction, and human and biophysical impacts, as well as strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The second edition has been fully updated throughout, including coverage of new advances in climate modelling and of the shifting landscape of renewable energy production and distribution. A brand new chapter discusses global governance, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, as well as mitigation efforts at the national and subnational levels. This new chapter makes the book even more relevant to climate change courses housed in social sciences departments such as political science and geography. An effective and integrated introduction to an urgent and controversial issue, this book is well-suited to adoption in a variety of introductory climate change courses found in a number of science and social science departments. Its ultimate goal is to equip readers with the tools needed to become constructive participants in the human response to climate change. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Cool It Bjorn Lomborg, 2007-09-11 Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and staggeringly expensive actions now being considered to meet the challenges of global warming ultimately will have little impact on the world’s temperature. He suggests that rather than focusing on ineffective solutions that will cost us trillions of dollars over the coming decades, we should be looking for smarter, more cost-effective approaches (such as massively increasing our commitment to green energy R&D) that will allow us to deal not only with climate change but also with other pressing global concerns, such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. And he considers why and how this debate has fostered an atmosphere in which dissenters are immediately demonized. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Change and the Humanities Alexander Elliott, James Cullis, Vinita Damodaran, 2017-11-01 This volume of essays fills a lacunae in the current climate change debate by bringing new perspectives on the role of humanities scholars within this debate. The humanities have historically played an important role in the various debates on environment, climate and society. The past two decades especially have seen a resurfacing of these environmental concerns across humanities disciplines in the wake of what has been termed climate change. This book argues that these disciplines should be more confident and vocal in responding to climate change while questioning the way in which the climate change debate is currently being conducted in academic, political and social arenas. Addressing climate change through the varied approaches of the humanities means re-thinking and re-evaluating its fundamental assumptions and responses to perceived crisis through the lens of history, philosophy and literature. The volume aims thus to be a catalyst for emerging scholarship in this field and to appeal to an academic and popular readership. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: A Brief History of the Earth's Climate Steven Earle, 2021-10-12 I love it. Earle understands the big climate picture and paints it with exceptional clarity. — JAMES HANSEN, director, Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions, Columbia University Earth Institute What's natural, what's caused by humans, and why climate change is a disaster for all A Brief History of the Earth's Climate is an accessible myth-busting guide to the natural evolution of the Earth's climate over 4.6 billion years, and how and why human-caused global warming and climate change is different and much more dangerous. Richly illustrated chapters cover the major historical climate change processes including evolution of the sun, plate motions and continental collisions, volcanic eruptions, changes to major ocean currents, Earth's orbital variations, sunspot variations, and short-term ocean current cycles. As well as recent human-induced climate change and an overview of the implications of the COVID pandemic for climate change. Content includes: Understanding natural geological processes that shaped the climate How human impacts are now rapidly changing the climate Tipping points and the unfolding climate crisis What we can do to limit the damage to the planet and ecosystems Countering climate myths peddled by climate change science deniers. A Brief History of the Earth's Climate is essential reading for everyone who is looking to understand what drives climate change, counter skeptics and deniers, and take action on the climate emergency. AWARDS SILVER | 2022 IPPY Awards - Science |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Colors in Fashion Jonathan Faiers, Mary Westerman Bulgarella, 2016-11-17 Color speaks a powerful cultural language, conveying political, sexual, and economic messages that, throughout history, have revealed how we relate to ourselves and our world. This ground-breaking compilation is the first to investigate how color in fashionable and ceremonial dress has played a significant social role, indicating acceptance and exclusion, convention and subversion. From the use of white in pioneering feminism to the penchant for black in post-war France, and from mystical scarlet broadcloth to the horrors of arsenic-laden green fashion, this publication demonstrates that color in dress is as mutable, nuanced, and varied as color itself. Divided into four thematic parts – solidarity, power, innovation, and desire – each section highlights the often violent, emotional histories of color in dress across geographical, temporal and cultural boundaries. Underlying today's relaxed attitude to color lies a chromatic complexity that speaks of wars, migrations and economics. While acknowledging the importance that technology has played in the development of new dyes, the chapters explore color as a catalyst for technical innovation that continues to inspire designers, artists, and performers. Bringing together cutting-edge contributions from leading scholars, it is essential reading for academics of fashion, textiles, design, cultural studies and art history. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Sustainability Science Bert J. M. de Vries, 2023-12-07 Thoroughly updated, integrated, transdisciplinary approach to sustainable development for advanced students, researchers, and policymakers. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Change in Practice Robert L. Wilby, 2017-04-13 This accessible book challenges and provokes readers by posing a series of topical questions concerning climate change and society. With topic summaries, practical exercises, case studies and various online resources, it is ideal for students of geography, natural science, engineering and economics, and practitioners in the climate service industry. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate and Culture Giuseppe Feola, Hilary Geoghegan, Alex Arnall, 2019-10-03 Discusses how culture both facilitates and inhibits our ability to address, live with, and make sense of climate change. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Teaching Climate Change in the Humanities Stephen Siperstein, Shane Hall, Stephanie LeMenager, 2016-10-04 Climate change is an enormous and increasingly urgent issue. This important book highlights how humanities disciplines can mobilize the creative and critical power of students, teachers, and communities to confront climate change. The book is divided into four clear sections to help readers integrate climate change into the classes and topics they are already teaching as well as engage with interdisciplinary methods and techniques. Teaching Climate Change in the Humanities constitutes a map and toolkit for anyone who wishes to draw upon the strengths of literary and cultural studies to teach valuable lessons that engage with climate change. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Cosmic Queries Neil deGrasse Tyson, 2021-03-02 In this thought-provoking follow-up to his acclaimed StarTalk book, uber astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tackles the world's most important philosophical questions about the universe with wit, wisdom, and cutting-edge science. For science geeks, space and physics nerds, and all who want to understand their place in the universe, this enlightening new book from Neil deGrasse Tyson offers a unique take on the mysteries and curiosities of the cosmos, building on rich material from his beloved StarTalk podcast. In these illuminating pages, illustrated with dazzling photos and revealing graphics, Tyson and co-author James Trefil, a renowned physicist and science popularizer, take on the big questions that humanity has been posing for millennia--How did life begin? What is our place in the universe? Are we alone?--and provide answers based on the most current data, observations, and theories. Populated with paradigm-shifting discoveries that help explain the building blocks of astrophysics, this relatable and entertaining book will engage and inspire readers of all ages, bring sophisticated concepts within reach, and offer a window into the complexities of the cosmos. or all who loved National Geographic's StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson, Cosmos: Possible Worlds, and Space Atlas, this new book will take them on more journeys into the wonders of the universe and beyond. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Companion to Environmental Studies Noel Castree, Mike Hulme, James D. Proctor, 2018-05-01 Companion to Environmental Studies presents a comprehensive and interdisciplinary overview of the key issues, debates, concepts, approaches and questions that together define environmental studies today. The intellectually wide-ranging volume covers approaches in environmental science all the way through to humanistic and post-natural perspectives on the biophysical world. Though many academic disciplines have incorporated studying the environment as part of their curriculum, only in recent years has it become central to the social sciences and humanities rather than mainly the geosciences. ‘The environment’ is now a keyword in everything from fisheries science to international relations to philosophical ethics to cultural studies. The Companion brings these subject areas, and their distinctive perspectives and contributions, together in one accessible volume. Over 150 short chapters written by leading international experts provide concise, authoritative and easy-to-use summaries of all the major and emerging topics dominating the field, while the seven part introductions situate and provide context for section entries. A gateway to deeper understanding is provided via further reading and links to online resources. Companion to Environmental Studies offers an essential one-stop reference to university students, academics, policy makers and others keenly interested in ‘the environmental question’, the answer to which will define the coming century. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Diversifying Power Jennie C. Stephens, 2020-09-17 The climate crisis is a crisis of leadership. For too long too many leaders have prioritized corporate profits over the public good, exacerbating climate vulnerabilities while reinforcing economic and racial injustice. Transformation to a just, sustainable renewable-based society requires leaders who connect social justice to climate and energy. During the Trump era, connections among white supremacy; environmental destruction; and fossil fuel dependence have become more conspicuous. Many of the same leadership deficiencies that shaped the inadequate response in the United States to the coronavirus pandemic have also thwarted the US response to the climate crisis. The inadequate and ineffective framing of climate change as a narrow, isolated, discrete problem to be “solved” by technical solutions is failing. The dominance of technocratic, white, male perspectives on climate and energy has inhibited investments in social change and social innovations. With new leadership and diverse voices, we can strengthen climate resilience, reduce racial and economic inequities, and promote social justice. In Diversifying Power, energy expert Jennie Stephens argues that the key to effectively addressing the climate crisis is diversifying leadership so that antiracist, feminist priorities are central. All politics is now climate politics, so all policies, from housing to health, now have to integrate climate resilience and renewable energy. Stephens takes a closer look at climate and energy leadership related to job creation and economic justice, health and nutrition, housing and transportation. She looks at why we need to resist by investing in bold diverse leadership to curb the “the polluter elite.” We need to reclaim and restructure climate and energy systems so policies are explicitly linked to social, economic, and racial justice. Inspirational stories of diverse leaders who integrate antiracist, feminist values to build momentum for structural transformative change are woven throughout the book, along with Stephens’ experience as a woman working on climate and energy. The shift from a divided, unequal, extractive, and oppressive society to a just, sustainable, regenerative, and healthy future has already begun. But structural change needs more bold and ambitious leaders at all levels, like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with the Green New Deal, or the Secwepemc women of the Tiny House Warriors resisting the Trans Mountain pipeline. Diversifying Power offers hope and optimism. Stephens shows how the biggest challenges facing society are linked and anyone can get involved to leverage the power of collective action. By highlighting the creative individuals and organizations making change happen, she provides inspiration and encourages transformative action on climate and energy justice. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change National Research Council, Division on Earth and Life Studies, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, America's Climate Choices: Panel on Informing Effective Decisions and Actions Related to Climate Change, 2010-12-07 Global climate change is one of America's most significant long-term policy challenges. Human activity-especially the use of fossil fuels, industrial processes, livestock production, waste disposal, and land use change-is affecting global average temperatures, snow and ice cover, sea-level, ocean acidity, growing seasons and precipitation patterns, ecosystems, and human health. Climate-related decisions are being carried out by almost every agency of the federal government, as well as many state and local government leaders and agencies, businesses and individual citizens. Decision makers must contend with the availability and quality of information, the efficacy of proposed solutions, the unanticipated consequences resulting from decisions, the challenge of implementing chosen actions, and must consider how to sustain the action over time and respond to new information. Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change, a volume in the America's Climate Choices series, describes and assesses different activities, products, strategies, and tools for informing decision makers about climate change and helping them plan and execute effective, integrated responses. It discusses who is making decisions (on the local, state, and national levels), who should be providing information to make decisions, and how that information should be provided. It covers all levels of decision making, including international, state, and individual decision making. While most existing research has focused on the physical aspect of climate change, Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change employs theory and case study to describe the efforts undertaken so far, and to guide the development of future decision-making resources. Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change offers much-needed guidance to those creating public policy and assists in implementing that policy. The information presented in this book will be invaluable to the research community, especially social scientists studying climate change; practitioners of decision-making assistance, including advocacy organizations, non-profits, and government agencies; and college-level teachers and students. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: The Closing of the Western Mind Charles Freeman, 2007-12-18 A radical and powerful reappraisal of the impact of Constantine’s adoption of Christianity on the later Roman world, and on the subsequent development both of Christianity and of Western civilization. When the Emperor Contstantine converted to Christianity in 368 AD, he changed the course of European history in ways that continue to have repercussions to the present day. Adopting those aspects of the religion that suited his purposes, he turned Rome on a course from the relatively open, tolerant and pluralistic civilization of the Hellenistic world, towards a culture that was based on the rule of fixed authority, whether that of the Bible, or the writings of Ptolemy in astronomy and of Galen and Hippocrates in medicine. Only a thousand years later, with the advent of the Renaissance and the emergence of modern science, did Europe begin to free itself from the effects of Constantine's decision, yet the effects of his establishment of Christianity as a state religion remain with us, in many respects, today. Brilliantly wide-ranging and ambitious, this is a major work of history. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: The Regional Impacts of Climate Change Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Working Group II., 1998 Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 1998. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Emergency Mark Harvey, 2021-07-28 This book analyses the socio-economic and political forces driving the climate emergency, developing the concept of 'sociogenic climate change' to show how societies create the crisis and are challenged by it; the development of inequalities within and between countries are at the heart of generating the emergency and in obstructing its resolution. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Contextualizing Climate Change Keith E. Peterman, Matthew R. Cordes, 2022-03-15 This book is about Contextualizing Climate Change: Linking Science and Culture-- |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Change across the Curriculum Eric J. Fretz, 2015-12-24 Climate Change across the Curriculum examines ways of thinking and conveying information about climate change across university curricula and within academic disciplines. The contributors provide methods, strategies, rationales, and theoretical justifications for teaching climate issues at the university level. The content of this book aims to introduce climate change to classes outside of the sciences, as it will take a wide range of disciplines, broader institutional thinking, and experimentation to fully engage university resources and knowledge toward the mitigation of fossil fuel consumption and adaptation to the negative consequences of climate change. Climate Change across the Curriculum encourages professors to engage salient aspects of their academic disciplines to the study of climate issues in the classroom, as well as sample theories, practices, and resources from a wide range of academic disciplines outside of their own areas of specialization. The contributors ask: what role will higher education play in addressing environmental challenges and producing students who become professionals who accomplish work that solves these problems? |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Justice in the Majority World Neil J.W. Crawford, Kavya Michael, Michael Mikulewicz, 2023-07-31 This edited collection explores a diverse range of climate (in)justice case studies from the Majority World – where most of humans and non-humans live. It is also the site of the most severe impacts of climate change and home to some of the key solutions for the climate crisis. The collection brings together 12 chapters featuring the work of over 30 authors from around the globe. The impacts of climate change are disproportionately affecting individuals, communities, and countries in the Majority World who historically have contributed little to rising global temperatures. The 12 chapters focus on a range of cross-cutting themes, demonstrating both individual and collective experiences of climate change and struggles for achieving climate justice from the Majority World. This includes activism, resistance, and social movement organizing in India and Brazil; lived experiences and understandings of frontline communities in Bangladesh and South Africa; consequences of and responses to disasters in Mozambique and Puerto Rico; and contested accounts, narratives, and futures in the Maldives and Pakistan, among other topics. By adopting a decolonial lens, this book provides rich empirical content, insightful comparisons, and novel conceptual interventions. It foregrounds climate justice from an intersectional perspective and contributes to the ongoing efforts by scholars and activists to address epistemic injustice in climate change research, policy, and practice. It will appeal to undergraduate and graduate-level students, academics, activists, policymakers, and members of the public concerned with the impacts and inequalities of climate change in the Majority World. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Social Science Research Anol Bhattacherjee, 2012-04-01 This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Anthropology and Climate Change Susan A Crate, Mark Nuttall, 2016-06-03 Comprehensively assessing anthropology's engagement with climate change, this volume both maps out exciting trajectories for research and issues a call to action. Linking sophisticated knowledge to effective actions, 'Anthropology and Climate Change' is essential for students and scholars in anthropology and environmental studies. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Diary of a Citizen Scientist Sharman Apt Russell, 2023-03-14 A critically acclaimed nature writer explores the citizen scientist movement through the lens of entomological field research in the American Southwest. Award-winning nature writer Sharman Apt Russell felt pressed by the current environmental crisis to pick up her pen yet again. Encouraged by the phenomenon of citizen science, she decided to turn her attention to the Western red-bellied tiger beetle, an insect found widely around the world and near her home in the Gila River Valley of New Mexico. In a lyrical, often humorous voice, Russell shares her journey across a wild, rural landscape tracking this little-known species, an insect she calls “charismatic,” “elegant,” and “fierce.” What she finds is renewed optimism in mysteries still left to be explored, that despite the challenges of climate change, there is a growing diversity of ways ordinary people can contribute to the research needs of scientists today in the name of environmental activism. Offering readers a glimpse into the pioneering field of citizen science, Diary of a Citizen Scientist documents one woman’s transformation from a feeling of powerlessness to engaged hopefulness. Winner of the John Burroughs Medal and the WILLA Literary Award for Best Creative Nonfiction Named one of the top ten best nature books of 2014 by GrrlScientist in The Guardian |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Climate Change and the Health of Nations Anthony J. McMichael, Alistair Woodward, Cameron Muir, 2017 When we think climate change, we think of man-made global warming, caused by greenhouse gas emissions. But natural climate change has occurred throughout human history, and populations have had to adapt to its vicissitudes. Tony McMichael, a renowned epidemiologist and a pioneer in the field of how human health relates to climate change, is the ideal guide to this phenomenon, and in his magisterial Climate Change and the Health of Nations, he presents a sweeping and authoritative analysis of how human societies have been shaped by climate events. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Research Handbook on Climate Change Adaptation Policy E.C.H. Keskitalo, B.L. Preston, 2019 This topical and engaging Research Handbook illustrates the variety of research approaches in the field of climate change adaptation policy in order to provide a guide to its social and institutional complexity. |
| climate change through the natural science lens: Farming for Our Future PETER H.. ROSENBERG LEHNER (NATHAN A.), Nathan Rosenberg, 2021-12-07 Farming for Our Future examines the policies and legal reforms necessary to accelerate the adoption of practices that can make agriculture in the United States climate-neutral or better. These proven practices will also make our food system more resilient to the impacts of climate change. Agriculture's contribution to climate change is substantial--much more so than official figures suggest--and we will not be able to achieve our overall mitigation goals unless agricultural emissions sharply decline. Fortunately, farms and ranches can be a major part of the climate solution, while protecting biodiversity, strengthening rural communities, and improving the lives of the workers who cultivate our crops and rear our animals. The importance of agricultural climate solutions can not be underestimated; it is a critical element both in ensuring our food security and limiting climate change. This book provides essential solutions to address the greatest crises of our time. |
Climate - World Meteorological Organization
May 27, 2025 · The WMO Climate Services Information System (CSIS) is the principal mechanism through which information about climate – past, present and future – is routinely …
Climate change - World Meteorological Organization
May 28, 2025 · Climate change is the term used to describe changes in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the average and/or the variability of its properties and that …
State of the Climate 2024 Update for COP29 - wmo.int
The WMO State of the Climate 2024 Update once again issues a Red Alert at the sheer pace of climate change in a single generation, turbo-charged by ever-increasing greenhouse gas …
2024 State of Climate Services - wmo.int
The State of Climate Services report says that in 2024, one third of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) provide climate services at an ‘essential’ level, and nearly one …
WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update (2025-2029)
May 28, 2025 · The WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update (2025–2029) projects that global temperatures are expected to continue at or near record levels in the next five years, …
Climate change impacts grip globe in 2024 - wmo.int
Climate change impacts gripped the globe in 2024, with cascading impacts from mountain peaks to ocean depths and on communities, economies and the environment. Canva The year 2024 …
State of the Climate in Africa 2024 - wmo.int
May 12, 2025 · The Key Climate Indicators dashboard is a companion to the State of the Climate in Africa reports. State of the Climate in Africa 2024: Figures Figures as annexes to the State …
State of the Global Climate 2024 - public.wmo.int
Supplement: State of Climate Services 2024. Supplement: Significant Weather & Climate Events 2024. The clear signs of human-induced climate change reached new heights in 2024, which …
Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United …
Extreme weather and climate change impacts hit Africa hard
“The State of the Climate in Africa report reflects the urgent and escalating realities of climate change across the continent,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “It also reveals a …
Climate - World Meteorological Organization
May 27, 2025 · The WMO Climate Services Information System (CSIS) is the principal mechanism through which information about climate – past, present and future – is routinely …
Climate change - World Meteorological Organization
May 28, 2025 · Climate change is the term used to describe changes in the state of the climate that can be identified by changes in the average and/or the variability of its properties and that …
State of the Climate 2024 Update for COP29 - wmo.int
The WMO State of the Climate 2024 Update once again issues a Red Alert at the sheer pace of climate change in a single generation, turbo-charged by ever-increasing greenhouse gas …
2024 State of Climate Services - wmo.int
The State of Climate Services report says that in 2024, one third of National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) provide climate services at an ‘essential’ level, and nearly one …
WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update (2025-2029)
May 28, 2025 · The WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update (2025–2029) projects that global temperatures are expected to continue at or near record levels in the next five years, …
Climate change impacts grip globe in 2024 - wmo.int
Climate change impacts gripped the globe in 2024, with cascading impacts from mountain peaks to ocean depths and on communities, economies and the environment. Canva The year 2024 …
State of the Climate in Africa 2024 - wmo.int
May 12, 2025 · The Key Climate Indicators dashboard is a companion to the State of the Climate in Africa reports. State of the Climate in Africa 2024: Figures Figures as annexes to the State …
State of the Global Climate 2024 - public.wmo.int
Supplement: State of Climate Services 2024. Supplement: Significant Weather & Climate Events 2024. The clear signs of human-induced climate change reached new heights in 2024, which …
Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)
The Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) is co-sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United …
Extreme weather and climate change impacts hit Africa hard
“The State of the Climate in Africa report reflects the urgent and escalating realities of climate change across the continent,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “It also reveals a …
