Hot Topics: Climate Change: Social and Science Aspects

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"In this edition of 'Climate Change', Mark Maslin explores all of the key debates. Examining the most recent scientific research, he looks what climate change is, its impact on our planet, and why it's such a complex problem to solve."

"Description: Introduction: The man on the bus and the science of climate change -- Fake news : the science and politics of climate change -- Our rational and irrational selves -- See no evil : how do we stay so optimistic? -- Climate change campaigns and why they failed -- Hard lessons from cigarette advertising -- Assessing our real attitude to climate change -- Concluding remarks.
What explains our attitudes towards the environment? Why do so many climate change initiatives fail? How can we do more to prevent humans damaging the environment? The Psychology of Climate Change explores the evidence for our changing environment, and suggests that there are significant cognitive biases in how we think about, and act on climate change. The authors examine how organisations have attempted to mobilise the public in the fight against climate change, but these initiatives have often failed due to the public's unwillingness to adapt their behaviour. The book also explores why some people deny climate change altogether, and the influence that these climate change deniers can have on global action to mitigate further damage."

" the book adopts and supports the argument that the key driver of global climatic and environmental change is the global economy controlled primarily by the world's upper class, which profits from a ceaseless engine of increased production for national middle classes who have been converted into constant consumers. Drawing on case studies from Alaska, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Haiti and Mali, Climate Change and Social Inequality will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change and climate science, environmental anthropology, medical ecology and the anthropology of global health". -- Provided by publisher.

Description: Preamble: the doctor's approach -- Climate change cascade. Climate change 101 : a primer -- Heat waves and heat stress -- Extreme weather -- Vector-borne diseases -- Mental health -- Clear and present pathogens. Air degradation -- Water security -- Food security -- Allergens -- Harmful algal blooms -- Biodiversity in descent. Nature's pharmacopeia -- Ecosystem services -- Summation. Climate justice -- Rx for the future.
While the subject of climate change is often in the news and social media, and its realities debated in various arenas of science and government, the health impacts are often overlooked. Here, two seasoned physicians dispel myths, clarify science, and help readers understand the threats of environmental change to human health.

"Climate Church, Climate World argues that climate change is the greatest moral challenge humanity has ever faced. Hunger, refugees, poverty, inequality, deadly viruses, war -- climate change multiplies all forms of global social injustice. Environmental leader Reverend Jim Antal presents a compelling case that it's time for the church to meet this moral challenge, just as the church addressed previous moral challenges. Antal calls for the church to embrace a new vocation so that future generations might live in harmony with God's creation. After describing how we have created the dangers our planet now faces, Antal urges the church to embrace a new vocation, one focused on collective salvation and an expanded understanding of the Golden Rule (Golden Rule 2.0). He suggests ways people of faith can reorient what they prize through new approaches to worship, preaching, witnessing and other spiritual practices that honor creation and cultivate hope. -- Provided by publisher."

"Introduction and analytical background. Introduction -- Climate policy, fiscal interactions, and economic outcomes -- The model's structure, inputs, and baseline output. Structure of the E3 model -- Data, parameters, and the reference case path -- Policy approaches and outcomes. Two approaches to carbon dioxide emissions pricing : a carbon tax and a cap-and-trade system -- Alternatives to emissions pricing : a clean energy standard and a gasoline tax increase -- Distribution of policy impacts across industries and households -- Conclusions. Key insights. "

"This big-picture, policy-oriented book explains in gripping terms what rising oceans will do to coastal cities and the drastic actions we must take now to remove vulnerable populations. The authors detail specific threats faced by Miami, New Orleans, New York, and Amsterdam. Aware of the overwhelming social, political, and economic challenges that would accompany effective action, they consider the burden to the taxpayer and the logistics of moving landmarks and infrastructure, including toxic-waste sites. They also show readers the alternative: thousands of environmental refugees, with no legitimate means to regain what they have lost. The authors conclude with effective approaches for addressing climate-change denialism and powerful arguments for reforming U.S. federal coastal management policies."

From abrupt climate changes and adaptation to Zimbabwe and zooplankton, this second edition of a three-volume encyclopedia on global warming and climate change would be useful for a variety of professionals, including biologists, economists, political scientists, government and business officials, and others with a professional or general interest in the subjects included. Entries are listed by topic and by country, and also include recommended further readings and referrals to related subjects. The set also provides a reader's guide of topic groupings and a detailed chronology. Editor is Philander (geosciences, Princeton U.). Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

he editors (current and former professors of philosophy and religion studies at the U. of North Texas) present some 300 articles, alphabetically arranged from "Abbey, Edward" to "Wright, Frank Lloyd." The essays cover a broad range of topics within environmental philosophy and ethics, including, to name a few. agrarianism, alternative technologies, animal ethics, Wendell Berry, Buddhism, coral bleaching, deserts and desertification, environmental citizenship, economic discounting, the Gaia hypothesis, green chemistry, Hurricane Katrina, mining and mountaintop removal, natural law theory , nuclear power, postcolonial environmental ethics, speciesism, teleology, urban environments, utilitarianism, vegetarianism, waste management, and the World Trade Organization. Each entry includes a bibliography for further reading. The text is augmented by some 200 photographs, illustrations, and sidebars. Appendices include an annotated bibliography, a glossary, and a collection of classic articles and documents. The volume also includes an index and a guide to entries by thematic subject. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Includes bibliographical references and index. Includes chronology--This resource for students and researchers contains selected primary source documents that shed light on a diverse array of environmental issues. In addition to bibliographical information, each entry begins with an introduction that summarizes the source's historical background and concludes with a discussion of its significance and a list of additional resources. Entries are arranged in rough chronological order within each of eight thematic sections.

"Earth's climate is undergoing profound changes. Understanding and assessing these changes requires insight from the past. The period since 1700 is of particular relevance because Earth's climate underwent a transition from the Little Ice Age climate to the era of anthropogenic global warming. Moreover, pronounced climatic excursions occurred on interannual and decadal time scales, and atmospheric composition changed. Recent developments in the fields of paleoclimatology and historical climatology - high-resolution climate proxies, climate model simulations, and numerical techniques such as data assimilation - allow a much more detailed analysis of climatic changes of the past centuries than possible only a decade ago. "Climatic Changes since 1700"--The title honours the 1890 book by the same title of geographer Eduard Brückner - covers data and methods used to study climate of the past centuries, summarises the mechanisms behind interannual to multidecadal climate variability and provides an overview of global climate history since 1700 based on new data sets and model simulations. "