Posts Tagged ‘climate change’
Climate Change: A Brief Introduction
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on June 24th, 2010
Source: Food Climate Research Network
Rothamsted Research has put an really useful new document up on its website called: Climate Change- a brief introduction for scientists and engineers – or anyone else who has to do something about it.
The document has been written by David Jenkinson, a Rothamsted senior fellow. It provides a detailed but accessible walk-through of the hows and whats and whys and wheres of climate change. Its chapters cover the following:
- Chapter 1 – the science of climate change (solar radiation, the greenhouse effect, radiative forcing etc, long term climate variations etc)
- Chapter 2 – the greenhouse gases (water; sources and sinks of CO2 methane, nitrous oxide; halocarbons, ozone, aerosols)
- Chapter 3 – how people use energy (fossil fuel combustion, reserves, per capita emissions)
- Chapter 4 – using models to forecast future climate (models for temperature, precipitation, sea level, extreme weather etc)
- Chapter 5 – reducing the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere (transport, buildings, industry, electricity generation, carbon capture, agriculture, deforestation)
- Chapter 6 – geoengineering as a way of counteracting climate change (biological and chemical sequestration, solar iradiation measures)
- Chapter 7 – energy from biomass (current
- Chapter 8 – sources of energy that do not depend on carbon (nuclcear fusion and fission, hydroelectricity, wind, wave, solar, tidal, geogrhermal and others)
- Chapter 9 – adapting to climate change (population growth, sea level rise, water, food security)
- Chapter 10 – economic incentives to reduce emissions (economic tools, the Kaya Identity)
To download the document go to: http://www.rothamsted.bbsrc.ac.uk/aen/reviews/Climate_Change_Draft_B03.pdf
Source: Tara Garnett, Food Climate Research Network
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Community Action, Campaign Success
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on May 25th, 2010
Source: guardian.co.uk via Greenleap
Image: planestupid via flickr CC
“Direct action played an absolutely critical role in the campaign. Its edginess both dramatised the issues and plied new pressure on the authorities. It was when the Climate Camp came to Heathrow that the campaign literally went global.” John Stewart, local residents group leader.
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From “The crucial role of activism in scrapping Heathrow’s third runway” by Joss Garman
It was more than four years ago when George Monbiot wrote [...] “At last the battlelines have been drawn, and the first major fight over climate change is about to begin. All over the country, a coalition of homeowners and anarchists, Nimbys and internationalists is mustering to fight the greatest future cause of global warming: the growth of aviation.”
Now the frontline in that battle, the third runway at Heathrow, has been officially cancelled, and so too have the new runways that Labour planned for Stansted and Gatwick. What began with a strong campaign by local people in west London whose communities were under threat from demolition and staggering levels of noise and air pollution, turned into a climate movement opposing airport expansion, and ultimately led to victory – and with it an example of Labour getting on the wrong side of the political argument.
Sustainable Lifestyles- Context, Practice and Policy: Resolve Seminar
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on May 12th, 2010
Source: Food Climate Research Network
Image: periwinklekog via flickr CC
“…the breadth of environmental issues such as climate change can often lead to conflict between different forms of environmental practice (such as travel behaviours, waste management and energy conservation) in different social contexts (e.g. within and beyond the ‘home’ environments).”
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Encouraging environmentally responsible and ‘low carbon’ lifestyles is now a centre-piece of UK policy for sustainable development (DEFRA, 2005). DEFRA’s current Framework for Environmental Behaviours (DEFRA, 2008) has embedded a social marketing approach towards behaviour change in which segmentation plays a key role in identifying and targeting population groups with specific characteristics. Using data collected from several research projects exploring environmental behaviour in both home-based and tourism contexts, this presentation will argue that whilst segmentation may have a valuable role to play in understanding and promoting specific behaviours in particular contexts, the breadth of environmental issues such as climate change can often lead to conflict between different forms of environmental practice (such as travel behaviours, waste management and energy conservation) in different social contexts (e.g. within and beyond the ‘home’ environments).
Stewart Barr is Senior Lecturer and head of the Climate Change and Sustainability Research Group at the University of Exeter’s School of Geography. His research is focused on the intellectual and policy debates surrounding the understanding and promotion of environmentally responsible behaviour. His research has been funded by a number of organisations, including the Economic and Social Research Council, DEFRA, British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. His current research is focused on understanding sustainable travel behaviour, alongside long-term interests in waste management and recycling, energy use and water conservation.
Wednesday 19 May, 2010, 1300-1400, 45b AZ 04, University of Surrey, UK
For more information contact Gemma Cook, RESOLVE coordinator on 01483 686689 or g.cook@surrey.ac.uk
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Sustainability in the Tropics: Whole-Community Approach
Posted in Movements by Kate Archdeacon on May 7th, 2010
Source: Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF)
From Green Home Community Profile: Cairns
If you had to nominate the most beautiful place in Australia it would be hard to go past the lush rainforests and coral reefs of far north Queensland. But the very natural icons that make this place so special also make it vulnerable, and in response to this threat, organisations and individuals throughout the local community have banded together to do their bit to reduce their environmental footprint and limit the impacts of climate change.
As Sarah Hoyal, the coordinator of the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC) explains, “The impacts of climate change on our World Heritage rainforests and the Great Barrier Reef will be extreme, and the local community realises how important it is to act. Whether it’s residents who don’t want to see our unique ecosystems harmed or local businesses concerned about the economic impact this will have, we’re all moving in the same direction.”
As for where this action needs to take place, the answer is simple: everywhere.
“When you’re in a regional area you can’t afford to draw artificial distinctions between individual behaviour at home, communities protecting their local environments, planning decisions by local councils and overall government policy,” says Sarah. “They’re all part of the bigger picture.”
Living Climate Change Video Challenge
Posted in Visions by Kate Archdeacon on February 22nd, 2010
Source: Inhabitat
As designers, we believe that envisioning the future leads to new choices and opportunities. Living Climate Change, an online community hosted by IDEO, presents a conversation designed to move the dialogue about climate change toward inspiring, human-centered scenarios that create new possibilities for business and society.
The Living Climate Change Video Challenge invites you to show us your vision of a future shaped by climate change, as we move along the path toward reduced carbon emissions.
The Challenge
Create an original video that envisions how climate change will impact our lives over the next 20 to 30 years. Looking beyond the doom and gloom and the policy discussions that have dominated the debate, how would you envision a human-centered, sustainable future? Which behaviors will change? Which will be preserved?
Climate change Guide: how to win hearts and minds
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on December 8th, 2009
Source: Environmental Research Web
From “Climate change: how to win hearts and minds“, by Liz Kalaugher
Despite the fact that in 2007 the scientists compiling the IPCC report were 90% certain that human activities are causing climate change, climate scepticism amongst the public is on the rise. In the US there has been a sharp decline over the last year in the percentage of the population who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising, while in the UK the number of people believing that claims about the effects of climate change have been exaggerated rose from 15% to 29% between 2003 and 2008.
So how can a climate scientist best communicate their work to a sceptical audience?
With that in mind, the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) at Columbia University has issued a guide on the psychology of climate change communication that brings together the latest social science research in the field. Although it’s a serious topic, the guide is easy to read and contains many a cartoon and case study to illustrate its points. “Gaining public support for climate change policies and encouraging environmentally responsible behaviour depends on a clear understanding of how people process information and make decisions,” says the report. “Social science research provides an essential part of this puzzle but there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to the challenges of communicating about climate change. Rather, each of the many barriers presents a new opportunity to improve the way we present information.”
Walk Against Warming
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on November 30th, 2009
Source: Zero Carbon Moreland
Come along to the Walk Against Warming and help form a massive human sign, a sign so big that the message will reach Copenhagen! In Melbourne, the walk will start by the State Library, on the corner of Swanston Street and La Trobe Street at noon on December 12 and end at Princess Bridge. On the bridge, 20,000 people will make a human sign saying: SAFE CLIMATE – DO IT. Zero Carbon Moreland friends and supporters are invited to meet and walk together. To find actions in other cities, visit the website.
Climate-change affordability: Economic study
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on November 19th, 2009
Source: Environmental Research Web
Image: D Sharon Pruitt via flickr CC
From “Climate-change policy is affordable after all” by Liz Kalaugher
Climate policy is cheaper than most economic studies have suggested. Indeed it is affordable without causing any disastrous effects on our economies. That’s according to Jeroen van den Bergh of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, and Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. “I wasn’t satisfied with the dominant economic approaches, notably cost-benefit analysis of climate policy,” van den Bergh told environmentalresearchweb. “In addition, I had the feeling that many important arguments, including very down-to-earth ones, were being left out of the debate on climate policy. I decided therefore to list all the relevant alternative perspectives on the cost of climate policy I could come up with in a single paper.”
Writing in Climatic Change, van den Bergh details twelve new angles on climate policy cost that haven’t received any attention so far. He believes that cost-benefit analysis isn’t appropriate for climate change policies as it’s hard to be certain about the costs of climate damage, to put a cost on the value of a human life, or to handle scenarios that have a small probability of taking place but would have a high impact, including irreversible changes such as a slow-down of the global thermohaline circulation, or the collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets. The studies tend also to neglect the impact of climate change on human conflict, biodiversity, economic development and human populations. Cost-benefit analyses carried out to date have come up with a wide range of estimates for climate costs. Instead van den Bergh prefers to assess the cost of a reasonably safe climate policy.
“If it can be argued that a safe climate policy means considerably lower net costs than the absence of such a policy, it is rational to be in favour of such a policy,” he writes. “This represents a kind of cost-effectiveness combined with precaution, given the uncertainties involved, aimed at avoiding extreme damage costs due to climate change.”
The Big Green Idea
Posted in Events by Kate Archdeacon on November 17th, 2009
Source: GreenRazor, the GreenPages Newsletter
An innovative funding scheme for eco-visionary Australians
Got a big green idea? Need money to help it grow? Then the British Council wants to hear from you. The Big Green Idea is a new funding initiative from the British Council designed to help put eco-visionary ideas into action. For the first time, in 2009 we’re offering five project grants of AU$10,000 each to people who will make a real contribution to Australia’s environmental future. The Big Green Idea is designed to assist in initiating new projects that motivate people to minimise their own climate change impacts. We’re looking for eco-entrepreneurs with savvy ideas to address some of the biggest sustainability challenges faced by urban communities.
Resource: Climate Change Map
Posted in Research by Kate Archdeacon on October 30th, 2009
Source: Met Office, UK
Image: Met Office
A new map illustrating the global consequences of failing to keep temperature change to under 2 °C was launched [last week] by the UK Government, in partnership with the Met Office. The map was developed using the latest peer-reviewed science from the Met Office Hadley Centre and other leading impact scientists. The poster highlights some of the impacts that may occur if the global average temperature rises by 4 °C above the pre-industrial climate average. Ahead of December’s international climate change talks in Copenhagen, the Government is aiming for an agreement that limits climate change as far as possible to 2 °C. Increases of more than two degrees will have huge impacts on the world.
The poster shows that a four degree average rise will not be spread uniformly across the globe. The land will heat up more quickly than the sea, and high latitudes, particularly the Arctic, will have larger temperature increases. The average land temperature will be 5.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The impacts on human activity shown on the map are only a selection of those that may occur, and highlight the severe effects on water availability, agricultural productivity, extreme temperatures and drought, the risk of forest fire and sea-level rise. Agricultural yields are expected to decrease for all major cereal crops in all major regions of production. Half of all Himalayan glaciers will be significantly reduced by 2050, leading to 23% of the population of China being deprived of the vital dry season glacial melt water source.
“The map’s release marks a significant shift in political discourse on climate change, with many politicians until recently unwilling to discuss the possibility of a failure to hit the 2C target “, David Adam and Allegra Stratton, guardian.co.uk.
Read the full article.