Class Research Resources and Assignments

Week 10
Videos of Class10 Lectures


Part I. Social Impact of Climate Change
What are the Scientists Saying...now ( that is, since February and since last week)?
Assigned Reading

James Lovelock
2006
The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity (Basic Books, 2006).

Suggested Reading
Fred Pearce
  With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change (Boston, Beacon Press, 2007)

...for reflection and discussion...

James Lovelock & the "'Climate crisis' debate opinions," BBC (4 July 2006)

2006
 
James Lovelock & Andrew Revkin
2006
"Making the Case for Nuclear Power," The New York Times, (12 September 2006).
IPCC-Working Group I
2 February 2007
Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis: Summary for Policymakers [Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (This Summary for Policymakers was formally approved at the 10th Session of Working Group I of the IPCC, Paris, February 2007.)], (Geneva, Switzerland, IPCC, 2 February 2007).
Andrew Revkin
  "[Backstory on] IPCC Fourth Assessment Report," The New York Times, (2 February 2007).


What has happened .... since we last met?

IPCC- Working Group II
6 April 2007
Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Summary for Policymakers: Working Group II Contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report Climate Change 2007 [ IPCC WGII Fourth Assessment Report ], (Geneva, Switzerland, Brussles, Belgium, 6 April 2006).
NPR News
  "U.N. Report: Climate Change Poses Bleak Future," NPR - Morning Edition, (6 April 2007).
NPR News
  "U.N. Climate Report Predicts Droughts, Flooding," NPR - All Things Considered, (6 April 2007).
Juliet Eilperin
  "U.S., China Got Climate Warnings Toned Down," The Washington Post, (7 April 2007).
NPR - Living on Earth
  "International Climate Report Reveals World Vulnerabilities," NPR - Living on Earth, (6 April 2007).
PBS Newshour
  "Climate Change Will Hit Poor Hardest, U.N. Panel Says," PBS - Newshour Online, (6 April 2007).
CNN
  "New, Grim Global Warming Study," CNN News Online, (7 April 2007).
BBC
  What is happening in the mountains of Peru?
BBC
  What, according to tomorrow's IPCC 4th Assessment Report is happeing globally?
BBC
  What is the world community beginning to do about it?
 
What are we beginning to do in Cambridge? Boston?
   
Remember what is happening.....The Day After Tomorrow...

Part II. Social Impact of Climate Change:

Addressing Climate Outside the "Climate Regime"

What are the possibilities for NGOs, corporations and other institutions of civil society for addressing climate change in the absence of national governmental leadership and official diplomacy on a global "climate regime?"

When the leadership of the nation-state fails and international diplomacy reaches a stalemate, what else can be and is being accomplished?

 
 

     "Addressing global climate change will require a sustained effort, over many generations. My approach recognizes that sustained economic growth is the solution, not the problem – because a nation that grows its economy is a nation that can afford investments in efficiency, new technologies, and a cleaner environment."

President George W. Bush
Global Climate Change Policy Book


Resources to explore in depth for Civil Society and Climate Change

Climate Action Initiatives

Clean Air Cool Planet

Native Energy


The Climate Group


The Tufts University Climate Initiative
(TCI)
     Reporting on Nature's Deadline

Business Week
  2005 Special Report: Battling Global Warming - Business Gets Serious About Emissions, Business Week, 12 December 2005.

 

 

Business Week
  2005 The Race Against Climate Change: How top companies are reducing emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, Business Week, 12 December 2005.

Further Readings:

Stephen H. Schneider (Editor), John O. Niles (Editor), Armin Rosencranz (Editor)
  2002 Climate Change Policy: A Survey (Washington, D. C., Island Press, 2002), Chapters 7-11, pp. 221-304.
Jeremy K. Leggett
  2001 The Carbon War: Global Warming and the End of the Oil Era (N.Y., Routeledge, 2001), pp. 1-150.

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