Access Science, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology Online
News and General Interest databases, including Press Display (online access to today's newspapers from around the world in full-color, full-page format. The ever-expanding collection currently includes over 250 titles with a 60 day backfile):
There are citations on "global climate change" or "global warming" in just about every database to which the UNE Libraries subscribe; Databases by Major
Teaching About Global Climate Change: Cool Schools (book)
Global Climate Change, by SL Spray (book)
Teachers' Guide to High Quality Educational Materials on Climate Change and Global Warming
Global Warming/Climate Change Theme Page, CLN (Community Learning Network) K-12
Curriculum Guide for the Climate Impacts Map
Global Warming: Early Signs (map)
AAAS, Project 2061, Communicating and Learning about Global Climate Change
Government of Canada, ecoACTION
Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Education and Outreach Information
Union of Concerned Scientists:
Climate Change in the Northeast
Materials for Educators
Northeast Science Center Collaborative:
Teaching Tools
Climate 101
Teaching Climate Change: Lessons from the Past
US Global Change Research Program Educational Resources
Climate Change in Scotland: Scottish Executive by Learning and Teaching Scotland
CampaignEarth.org, out of Cape Porpoise Maine
Adger, W. Neil; Paavola, Jouni; Huq, Saleemul; Mace, M.J. (eds.)(2006). Fairness in Adaptation to Climate Change. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Cowie, Jonathan. 2007. Climate Change : Biological and Human Aspects. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Dauncy, Guy with Patick Mazza. 2001. Stormy Weather : 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change. Gabriola Island, B.C. : New Society Publishers. UC CIRCULATION: QC 981.8.C5 D3863s 2001. Ten solutions each for individuals, citizens organizations, cities, towns & counties, businesses and organizations, energy companies, auto companies, states & provinces, national governments, developing nations, and ten global solutions.
DiMento, Joseph and Pamela Doughman. 2007. Climate Change : What It Means For Us, Our Children, And Our Grandchildren. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Ehlers, Eckart; Krafft, Thomas (eds.)(2006). Earth System Science in the Anthropocene: Emerging Issues and Problems. Springer, Berlin.
Ehleringer, James R.; Cerling, Thure E.; Dearing, M. Denise (eds.)(2005). A History of Atmospheric CO2 and Its Effects on Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems. Springer, New York, New York, USA.
Emanuel, Kerry A. (2005). Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes. Oxford University Press, New York, New York, USA.
Farrell, Alexander E.; Jäger, Jill (eds.)(2006). Assessments of Regional and Global Environmental Risks: Designing Process for the Effective Use of Science in Decisionmaking. Resources for the Future (RFF), Washington, DC, USA.
Flannery, Tim. 2006. The Weather Makers : How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth. New York: Atlantic Monthly.
Godrej, Dinyar. 2006. The No-Nonsense Guide To Climate Change. Oxford : New Internationalist.
Goodstein, Eban. 2007. Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction: How Passion and Politics Can Stop Global Warming. University of Vermont Press. www.fightingforlove.com
Heinberg, Richard. 2004. Powerdown : Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World. New Society Publishers.
Isham, Jonathon and Sissel Waage, eds. 2007. Ignition: What You Can Do to Fight Global Warming and Start a Movement. Island Press. www.ignitionthebook.com
Kolbert, Elizabeth. 2006. Field Notes From a Catastrophe : Man, Nature, and Climate Change. New York: Bloomsbury.
Lovejoy, Thomas E.; Hannah, Lee Jay (eds)(2005). Climate Change and Biodiversity. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Low, Pak Sum. 2005. Climate Change and Africa. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
McCaffrey, Paul. ed. 2006. Global Climate Change. Bronx, NY : H. W. Wilson Company.
McKibben, Bill. 2007. Deep Economy : The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future. New York: Times Books.
NRC (National Research Council) (2006). Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years. National Academy of Sciences - National Research Council - Division on Earth and Life Studies - Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate - Committee on Surface Temperature Reconstructions for the Last 2,000 Years. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, USA.
Schellnhuber, Hans Joachim; Cramer, Wolfgang; Nakicenovic, Nebojsa; Wigley, Tom; Yohe, Gary (eds.) (2006). Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Shearman, David and Joseph Wayne Smith. 2007. The Climate Change Challenge and the Failure of Democracy. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Speth, James Gustave. 2005. Red Sky at Morning : America and the Crisis of the Global Environment. New Haven: Yale Nota Bene.
BOOK CHAPTERS:
Myanna Lahsen. "The Detection and Attribution of Conspiracies: The Controversy Over Chapter 8" in George E. Marcus (ed.), Paranoia Within Reason: A Casebook on Conspiracy as Explanation, Vol. 6, Late Editions Series of Cultural Studies for the End of the Century, 1999. Available at:
Laurance, William F. (2006). Fragments and fire: Alarming synergisms among forest disturbance, local climate change, and burning in the Amazon. In: Laurance, William F.; Peres, Carlos A. (eds.): Emerging Threats to Tropical Forests. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Root, Terry L.; Liverman, Diana; Newman, Chris (2006). Managing biodiversity in the light of climate change: current biological effects and future impacts. In: Macdonald, David W.; Service, Katrina (eds.): Key Topics in Conservation Biology. Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford, United Kingdom.
SCHOLARLY ARTICLES:
Aldhous, Peter (2005). China's burning ambition. Nature (London) 435(7046): 1152.
Bradshaw, William E.; Holzapfel, Christina M. (2006). Evolutionary response to rapid climate change. Science (Washington) 312(5779): 1477-1478. 9 June.
Brumfiel, Geoff (2006). Academy affirms hockey-stick graph: But it criticizes the way the controversial climate result was used. Nature (London) 441(7097): 1032.
Emanuel, Kerry A. (2005). Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years. Nature (London) 436(7051): 686-688.
Gilman, Sarah E.; Wethey, David S.; Helmuth, Brian (2006). Variation in the sensitivity of organismal body temperature to climate change over local and geographic scales. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(25): 9560-9565 (June 20)
Gough, Clair; Shackley, Simon (2006). Towards a multi-criteria methodology for assessment of geological carbon storage options. Climatic Change 74(1-3): 141-174.
Hansen, James; Sato, Makiko; Ruedy, Reto; Lo, Ken; Lea, David W.; Medina-Elizade, Martin (2006). Global temperature change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(39): 14288-14293 (September 26)
Lahsen, Myanna. "Seductive Simulations: Uncertainty Distribution Around Climate Models." Social Studies of Science 2005 35, 895-922. Electronically available at:
Lahsen, Myanna. "Technocracy, Democracy and U.S. Climate Science Politics: The Need for Demarcations." Science, Technology, and Human Values, 30(1), 137-169 (2005). Electronically available at:
Lewis, Simon L.; Phillips, Oliver L.; Baker, Timothy R. (2006). Impacts of global atmospheric change on tropical forests. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 21(4): 173-174.
Keith, David W.; Ha-Duong, Minh; Stolaroff, Joshuah K. (2006). Climate strategy with CO2 capture from the air. Climatic Change 74(1-3): 17-45.
McCright, A. M. (2000). Challenging Global Warming as a Social Problem: An Analysis of the Conservative Movementâ€(tm)s Counter-Claims. Social Problems, 47(4), 499-522.
McCright, A. M., & Dunlap, R. E. (2003). Defeating Kyoto: The Conservative Movement's Impact on U.S. Climate Change Policy. Social Problems, 50(3), 348-373.
McMichael, Anthony J.; Woodruff, Rosalie E.; Hales, Simon (2006). Climate change and human health: present and future risks. The Lancet 367(9513): 859-869.
Mervis, Jeffrey (2006). Climate sensors dropped from U.S. weather satellite package. Science (Washington) 312(5780): 1580.
Mitchell, John F.B.; Lowe, Jason; Wood, Richard A.; Vellinga, Michael (2006). Extreme events due to human-induced climate change. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 364(1845): 2117-2133 (August 15: Special Issue on Extreme Natural Hazards)
Monaghan, Andrew J.; Bromwich, David H.; Fogt, Ryan L.; Wang, Sheng-Hung; Mayewski, Paul A.; Dixon, Daniel A.; Ekaykin, Alexey; Frezzotti, Massimo; Goodwin, Ian; Isaksson, Elisabeth; Kaspari, Susan D.; Morgan, Vin I.; Oerter, Hans; Van Ommen, Tas D.; Van der Veen, Cornelius J.; Wen, Jiahong (2006). Insignificant change in Antarctic snowfall since the International Geophysical Year. Science (Washington) 313(5788): 827-831.
Patt, Anthony; Suarez, Pablo; Gwata, Chiedza (2005). Effects of seasonal climate forecasts and participatory workshops among subsistence farmers in Zimbabwe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102(35): 12623-12628. August 30.
Root, Terry L.; Macmynowski, Dena P.; Mastrandrea, Michael D.; Schneider, Stephen H. (2005). Human-modified temperatures induce species changes: Joint attribution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 102(20): 7465-7469. May 24.
Root, Terry L.; Schneider, Stephen H. (2006). Conservation and climate change: The challenges ahead. Conservation Biology 20(3): 706-
Sala, Enric (2006). Top predators provide insurance against climate change. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 21(9): 479-480.
Schimel, David S. (2006). Climate change and crop yields: Beyond Cassandra. Science (Washington) 312(5782): 1889-1890.
Scholze, Marko; Knorr, Wolfgang; Arnell, Nigel W.; Prentice, I. Colin (2006). A climate-change risk analysis for world ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 1039(35): 13116-13120. August 29.
Stigter, C.J.; Dawei, Zheng; Onyewotu, L.O.Z.; Xurong, Mei (2005). Using traditional methods and indigenous technologies for coping with climate variability. Climatic Change 70(1-2): 255-271.
Thompson, Lonnie G.; Mosley-Thompson, Ellen; Brecher, Henry; Davis, Mary; León, Blanca; Les, Don; Lin, Ping-Nan; Mashiotta, Tracy; Mountain, Keith (2006). Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103(28): 10536-10543.
Woodworth, Philip L. (ed.)(2006). Sea Level Science. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 364(1841). April 15.
Zimov, Sergey A.; Schuur, Edward A.G.; Chapin, F. Stuart, III (2006). Permafrost and the global carbon budget. Science (Washington) 312(5780): 1612-1613.
ARTICLES IN MAGAZINES:
Here's an article that might interest all. I never realized that cement contributed so significantly to CO2 emissions. 5-10% of worldwide emissions is quite a contribution.
ARTICLES IN THE PRESS:
http://bostonreview.net/BR32.1/emanuel.html
This essay on climate change from the Boston Review provides the clearest and most succinct summary of the current status and debates surrounding climate change science that I have yet come across. It also includes some interesting insights into the politics surrounding these debates. Among other things, Emmanuel describes some of the critical limits and key points of uncertainty surrounding the use of climate models, something that previous postings expressed interest in learning more about. This is very much worth the read for those interested, not only in climate change science per se, but also the nature of scientific debates, consensus, uncertainty, etc.
November 18, 2007, U.N. Chief Seeks More Climate Change Leadership
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
In releasing a report on climate change, the U.N. secretary general called on the U.S. and China to play "a more constructive role."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/portal/climate_change/default.stm
A good source of information on climate change, and related issues e.g summaries of IPCC's report is on the BBC website
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/newsfeed/?name=Climate+Change
This is a good news feed on climate change also.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7052115.stm
China's CO2 Emissions linked to Western consumption
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/planet.in.peril/
CNNStudentNews.com:Planet in Peril
Democracy Now--Unbowed: Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai on Climate Change, Wars For Resources, the Greenbelt Movement and More
As President Bush convenes a special meeting on climate change, we speak to a woman who has been on the frontlines of the popular struggle for the environment long before the current global warming crisis: Kenyan ecologist and Green Belt Movement founder, Wangari Maathai.
REPORTS:
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report and commentary
Policy Memorandum by Scientists regarding the UN Security Council's first discussion on Climate Change.
On 17 April, 2007 the U.N. Security Council discussed climate change for the first time. Since 1999 the Security Council has addressed human security threats and challenges caused by violence and poverty. This follows the launch on 6 April 2007 of the report of the Working Group II of the IPCC that highlighted the severe impacts climate change will have during this century on humankind, especially on the poor. This group of scientists suggests a new way of thinking systematically about the links connecting climate change and international, national, and human security. Climate change undermines livelihoods and well-being of the rural and urban poor in many parts of the world, groups of people already marginalized by national policies and economic globalization. As a result, social discontent and alienation rise. In many countries such discontent has led to populist and military coups in the past. In the future such conflicts may further destabilize whole regions. Ironically, some climate change mitigation and adaptation investments such as large scale forestry and large dams may also displace people, further fueling polarization in societies. All of this is likely to be taking place as geopolitical rela¬tions are strained over scarce water resources and the stress of coping with millions of people displaced by a rising sea level. The co-authors have long international experience working on issues of climate change, disaster risk, social vulnerability, crises, conflicts and security issues as anthropologists, geographers, sociologists, political scientists, engineers, lawyers, and health workers. They and are based in Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Germany, Mexico, Nepal, UK, and the U.S.
Epstein, Paul R.; Mills, Evan with Frith, Kathleen; Linden, Eugene; Thomas, Brian; Weireter, Robert (eds.)(2006). Climate Change Futures: Health, Ecological and Economic Dimensions. Harvard Medical School - Center for Health and the Global Environment / Swiss Re / United Nations Development Programme. Harvard Medical School - Center for Health and the Global Environment, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
http://www.climatechangefutures.org/report/index.html
Full report on the economic impacts of climate change, prepared by Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the UK Government Economics Service and former Chief Economist of the World Bank
www.sternreview.org.uk/
A criticism of the Stern Report:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6132826.stm
The School of Forestry and the Environment at Yale University is developing an exciting initiative with considerable promise called Project on Climate Change. Last October over one hundred leaders and thinkers from all across the U.S. discussed the issue and how to close the gap between science and action. One conclusion is that global warming is essentially a moral and spiritual issue. You can dowload a free copy of the report at:
http://www.environment.yale.edu/climate
Climate change and national security report:
http://www.csis.org/component/option,com_csis_pubs/task,view/id,4154/type,1/
2003 Pentagon Report on Climate Change:
http://www.climate.org/PDF/clim_change_scenario.pdf
Links to The Observer article about the secret Pentagon report:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1153513,00.html
The following report on use of coal and sea level rise is worth reading re: your climate change educational efforts. The report is available at
http://www.architecture2030.org/current_situation/coastal_impact.html
UNDP Human Development Report with focus on the consequences of climate change for human development:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/
Part of it was featured on NPR:
WEBSITES OF ORGANIZATIONS AND OTHER WEB RESOURCES:
The Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
The International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change
An international, interdisciplinary science programme dedicated to promoting, catalyzing and coordinating research on the human dimensions of global environmental change. IHDP takes a social science perspective on global change and it works at the interface between science and practice. IHDP is a joint programme of the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the United Nations University (UNU).
US National Research Council's Committee on Human Dimensions of Global Change.
Since the mid-1980s they have issued a series of reports that are highly interdisciplinary and deal with a variety of topics related to global change.
CLIMAS, the Climate Assessment of the Southwest
Publications list (all downloadable) for, a multidisciplinary project based at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Anthropologists, hydrologists, geographers, climate scientists, geoscientists, economists, dendrochronologists and more have been collaborating to evaluate vulnerability to climate change and develop climate prediction products that will be of use to those affected by climate change and variability.
Convenient Resources for "An Inconvenient Truth", Electronic Green Journal Issue #25:
The Economists' Voice
The Economists' Voice is a nonpartisan forum for economists to present innovative policy ideas and engaging commentary on the issues of the day. Columnists range over the political spectrum. Readers include professional economists, lawyers, policy analysts, policymakers, and students. Articles are short, 600-2000 words, and intended to contain deeper analysis than is found on the Op-Ed page of the Wall Street Journal or New York Times, but to be of comparable general interest. Regular columnists with voices from across the political spectrum write several articles each year. We also welcome submissions from professional economists, which we will generally peer-review. Short letters to the Editor are encouraged and may comment on any article or letter.
Special Issue: Global Climate Change; Special Editor: Lawrence H. Goulder, Stanford University
COLUMNS
Joseph Stiglitz (2006) "A New Agenda for Global Warming", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 3: No. 7, Article 3.
SUMMARY:
Joseph E. Stiglitz presents his plan for getting the United States and the Developing World to address global warming, and argues that by failing to address this problem, the United States is implicitly subsidizing energy usage and engaging in unfair trade practices.
Sheila M. Olmstead and Robert N. Stavins (2007) "A Meaningful Second Commitment Period for the Kyoto Protocol", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4: No. 3, Article 1.
SUMMARY:
Robert Stavins and Sheila Olmstead propose ways to modify the Kyoto Protocol for its second commitment period (2012-2016) so that it will provide a way forward that is scientifically sound, economically rational, and politically pragmatic.
Kenneth J. Arrow (2007) "Global Climate Change: A Challenge to Policy", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4: No. 3, Article 2.
SUMMARY:
Kenneth J. Arrow explains why something must be done to limit global warming even if the Stern Report inadequately discounted future costs.
Thomas C. Schelling (2007) "Climate Change: The Uncertainties, the Certainties and What They Imply About Action", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4: No. 3, Article 3.
SUMMARY:
Thomas Schelling argues although the uncertainties regarding climate change are many, the certainties create certain urgencies and inaction is an extreme position; he emphasizes technological advance and governmental sponsorship.
Lawrence H. Goulder (2007) "California's Bold New Climate Policy", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4: No. 3, Article 5.
SUMMARY:
Lawrence Goulder describes California's recent commitments addressing Global Climate Change and recommends that a cap-and-trade program play a key role in achieving the state's climate policy goals.
Scott Barrett (2007) "Proposal for a New Climate Change Treaty System", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4: No. 3, Article 6.
SUMMARY:
The existing international agreements on climate change are inadequate, according to Scott Barrett, and a new approach is needed.
Joshua S. Gans (2007) "Do Voluntary Carbon Offsets Work?", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4: No. 4, Article 7.
SUMMARY:
Voluntary purchases of offsets for carbon emissions have been criticized as potentially increasing emissions. However, Joshua S. Gans argues that even if offsets do increase the consumption of carbon intensive goods, net emissions will always fall because these goods will become less carbon intensive.
Rognvaldur Hannesson (2007) "Letter: The Other Problems with the Stern Report", The Economists' Voice: Vol. 4: No. 3, Article 4.
SUMMARY:
The Stern Report seems optimistic about the cost of emissions reductions, and does not seriously face the fact that stabilizing the climate could require keeping much of the world in poverty, according to Rognvaldur Hannesson.
Climate Change News, Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Carol Werner, Executive Director
ARCHIVE: Past issues of the newsletter are posted on our website under "publications"
http://www.eesi.org/publications/Newsletters/CCNews/ccnews.htm
http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101500533487
EcoAlerts from American P.I.E
American P.I.E. Public Information on the Environment, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. P.O. Box 676, Northfield, MN 55057-0676, Telephone: 1-800-320-APIE(2743); fax 507-645-5724, E-mail: Info@AmericanPIE.org
EXAMPLE: Title: It's not just about the Polar Bears. Date: 26 September, 2007
Earlier this month ABC news featured a project which is examining the effects of planetary heating on the United States. The project was initiated by an architect who gave up his architechural practice to start a non profit organization called Architecture2030. An objective of the project is to help sound an alarm for the crisis-level planetary events that will occur if we fail to take decisive action to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have failed to acknowledge the severity with which looming events will impact the United States...it's not just about the Polar Bears.
The homepage for Architecture2030 offers discouraging news, under the banner *Think you're Making a Difference?*, about some of the presently planned initiatives to curb global heating. Once you skip the intro on the homepage, click on the link *U.S. Devastated by Sea Level Rise*. You will see what several cities will look like under 1, 3 and 5 meter sea level rise scenarios. The images portrayed suggest what will happen as the polar ice begins to go.
The images of U. S. cities under a layer of water in the Architecture2030 report are chilling. A sea level rise of 3 feet by the end of this century may seem apocalyptic (as noted in the ABC news release), but some leading scientists say it is a very real possibility. Earlier this year the IPPC (Intergovernmental Planel on Climate Change), consisting of thousands of scientists from around the world, said various warming scenarios could raise sea levels anywhere from 7 to 23 inches. A top climate scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute, James Hansen, has said that if humans continue to heat the atmosphere in a business-as-usual fashion, and the Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets start to collapse, we could witness sea level rise measured in meters. The implications would be catastrophic.
Following on the heels of the September ABC news report came a release from the BBC and other sources that the Northwest Passage this summer became ice free and navigable to commercial traffic http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6995999.stm. From CNN and other sources we learned of results from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder reporting that the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, essential to sustaining life for Polar Bears, has shattered the all-time low record this summer http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/09/11/arctic.ice.cover/.
The spectre of climatic mayhem is made only more daunting by the myopic and miserable leadership on matters of climate policy set upon the United States. The founder of the Architecture2030 project, Edward Mazria, notes, however, that: The American public is exceptional at taking hold of a problem and solving it. If there's a need to do something, we'll do it. American PIE says the time has come and...it's not just about the Polar Bears.
Weather Report: Art and Climate Change, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder CO
Cape Jourimain Nature Centre, New Brunswick, Canada, EcoArts Festival
EcoTipping Points Project
Disseminating a New Paradigm for Strategic Sustainability. EcoTipping Points are levers for restoring sustainability to our imperiled environment. Small actions can make a big difference when they tap the inborn powers of nature and human societies to heal themselves. Many ecological problems look so complex, it's hard to know where to begin. But eco-pioneers around the world are showing what it takes to turn a problem around. In an Indian dust bowl, an ancient technology is making the rivers flow. Community gardens transform crime-ridden blocks in lower Manhattan. A Philippine marine sanctuary brings a coral reef fishery and an island economy back to life. These stories sound very different. But each has something in common: an EcoTipping Point. The EcoTipping Points Project is dedicated to disseminating this paradigm, its stories, and its lessons through many media: books, magazine articles, seminars, workshops, and direct collaboration with community groups. As we investigate and analyze cases from around the world, our scientific goal is to better understand the principles for how EcoTipping Points work. The pragmatic goal is to help average citizens identify potential tipping points right at home.
The Earth Charter and Climate Change
We want to call your attention to a new website and global forum for dialogue on Ethics and Climate Change that has just been opened by Earth Charter International (ECI) -- and to invite your participation in the dialogue. As you know, the Earth Charter is a widely recognized declaration on a common global vision, values, and ethics for a just, sustainable, and peaceful future. Addressing climate change, caused by the human release of greenhouse gases, raises profound ethical questions and creates a set of ethical imperatives for action.
This website will be dedicated to the publication of well-formulated statements, papers, and reports, and to comments on these publications. To launch the dialogue, Earth Charter International has published a report by two of ECI's Council members, Brendan Mackey, a prominent scientist at Australian National University, and Song Li, a Chinese lawyer working with the World Bank. Titled "Winning the Struggle Against Global Warming," this well-researched "Report to the Council" presents the views of these two Council members (it does not speak for the Council as a whole, or for Earth Charter International). Mary Evelyn Tucker is a member of the Earth Charter International Council who is helping to foreground the role of religions and ethical values in discussions regarding mitigating climate change. We hope to get many comments on this paper, and then to publish other papers and viewpoints on this important topic.
Please visit the website above, read the launching paper, and consider registering your comment. Please also help us spread the word. We welcome your input, either via posted comment on the website, or
by sending an email to editors@earthcharterinaction.org.
CLIMATE CHANGE MODELING:
Visit the Gund Institute's web page on the Global Unified Metamodel of the Biosphere (GUMBO). You can download the model (it runs on Stella software). A GUMBO PowerPoint presentation is also available.
UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE EFFORTS:
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat has set up a searchable database compiling strategies adopted by communities to adapt to specific conditions related to climate change. The idea is to provide examples of community-initiated actions that can be replicable elsewhere. I believe many of you will find this database interesting, and expect that you have much to contribute to it. It responds to a request by developing countries (in particular the Least Developed Countries) to focus on local knowledge when addressing adaptation to climate change. The database can be found at:
United Nations launches new climate change internet site, "Gateway to the UN System's Work on Climate Change", that highlights the wide-ranging work of the various parts of the United Nations system on climate change has been launched. The new website makes it easier for Internet users to find information on climate change from across the United Nations system.
VIDEOS AND VIDEO CLIPS:
A View from Water Level - a remarkable presentation by Jill Fredston, Co-Director of the Alaskan Mountain Safety Center, who spends five months of each summer with Doug, her Norwegian husband, rowing (Jill) & kayaking (Doug) through Arctic waters and along Arctic shorelines.
Climate Change 2.0 is an evolving open public/private network of organizations and individuals committed to harnessing the powers of information and communications technology in addressing convened by Information Habitat: Where Information Lives, an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Climate Change 2.0 is powered by a networked information economy - described brilliantly by Yochai Benkler in The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom and draws on an extensive set of freely available resources, networks and information relating to sustainable development, climate change, software and the digital commons.
This not new, but a variant of the classic Pascal's Wager argument, similar to a Prisonner's Dilemma or St. Petersburg Paradox, published posthumously in 1870 in his "Pensées sur la religion". Pascal used it to show why it is rational to believe in God, whether or not he/she/it/other exists. It's a common strategy for arguing for risk avoidance (e.g. the precautionary principle), and has been advanced for climate change prior to this viral video (on Google, "Pascal's Wager" and "climate change" bring up over 12,000 hits (by far the leader: natural disasters: 894; environmental change: environmental change: 87; biodiversity loss: 7 (though biodiversity alone brings it to 508); sustainable development: 235), although it suffers from a number of weaknesses ("Pascal's Flaw": See Wikipedia and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy online for useful summaries; Connor, James A. (2006). Pascal's Wager: The Man Who Played Dice with God. HarperCollins for a book-length treatment of Pascal, and the social and political ecology of the Wager). Most importantly, perhaps, this is an argument for rational belief in a state of metaphysical ignorance, and we can do much better in evaluation decisions when we can come up with quantitative measures concerning real outcomes.
"Focus Explained" video. The best way to get up to speed on the Focus the Nation project is to watch this two-minute video.
A powerful short video documenting the citizen response at the "Major Emitters" conference in Septermber of 2007, where over 50 people were arrested for non-violent civil disobedience.
Stanford Experts on Climate Change and Carbon Trading. A discussion on climate change and the emerging carbon trading markets. Dr. Schneider is one of the world's leading scientific experts of climate change. 1 hr 42 min - Jan 27, 2006.
China-U.S. Climate Change Forum: What's at Risk? Held May 23-24, 2006, at UC Berkeley. The China-U.S. Climate Change Forum was organized by the Berkeley China Initiative, which is forging closer ties between U.C. Berkeley and China by bringing together key experts on important international and bilateral issues. Growing concern over climate change makes this topic an obvious choice for the first of this series of annual events. This panel will highlight the mutual vulnerability of China and the U.S. to climate change, and the indispensable role of scientific research in understanding the problem and developing solutions. The Forum is co-sponsored by Peking University's College of Environmental Sciences and UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, International and Area Studies, Institute of East Asian Studies, Center for Chinese Studies, Energy and Resources Group, and Berkeley Institute of the Environment. Financial sponsors include the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, the Energy Foundation, and the Hewlett Foundation. Click on any one of the series of eleven webcasts.
AAAS Climate Change... A video produced by the The American Association for the Advancement of Science covering the topic of climate change. 10 min - Mar 25, 2007.
101 Solutions to Global Climate Change. Author Guy Dauncey's lively, optimistic solutions for Peak Oil and climate crisis are do-able here and now. Conservation, efficiency, proven technologies, and emerging innovations will take us through this critical planetary energy transition. 28 min, September 28, 2006.
Inconvenient Truth -Al Gore DVD is available in the UNE Libraries
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