Search

A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR'An essential read.'—The Washington Post'Essential… This book belongs on the shelf next to Merchants of Doubt, Dark Money, and Kochland.'—Roy Scranton, author of Learning to Die in the Anthropocene'The petroleum industry is guilty of a Big Tobacco–style public cover-up, according to this vivid exposé.'—Publishers Weekly STARRED ReviewBurning fossil fuels will cause catastrophic global warming: this is what top American oil executives were told by scientists in 1959. But they ignored that warning. Instead, they developed one of the biggest, most polluting oil sources in the world—the oil sands in Alberta, Canada. As investigative journalist Geoff Dembicki reveals in this explosive book, the decades-long conspiracy to keep the oil sands flowing into the U.S. would turn out to be one of the biggest reasons for the world's failure to stop the climate crisis.In The Petroleum Papers, Dembicki draws from confidential oil industry documents to uncover for the first time how companies like Exxon, Koch Industries, and Shell built a global right-wing echo chamber to protect oil sands profits—a misinformation campaign that continues to this day. He also tells the high-stakes stories of people fighting back: a Seattle lawyer who brought down Big Tobacco and is now going after Big Oil, a Filipina activist whose family drowned in a climate disaster, and a former Exxon engineer pushed out for asking hard questions.With experts now warning we have less than a decade to get global emissions under control, The Petroleum Papers provides a step-by-step account of how we got to this precipice—and the politicians and companies who deserve our blame.Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute

Chosen for the 2011 ASLI Choice - Honorable Mention (History Category) for a compendium of the key scientific papers that undergird the global warming forecast. Global warming is arguably the defining scientific issue of modern times, but it is not widely appreciated that the foundations of our understanding were laid almost two centuries ago with the postulation of a greenhouse effect by Fourier in 1827. The sensitivity of climate to changes in atmospheric CO2 was first estimated about one century ago, and the rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration was discovered half a century ago. The fundamentals of the science underlying the forecast for human-induced climate change were being published and debated long before the issue rose to public prominence in the last few decades. The Warming Papers is a compendium of the classic scientific papers that constitute the foundation of the global warming forecast. The paper trail ranges from Fourier and Arrhenius in the 19th Century to Manabe and Hansen in modern times. Archer and Pierrehumbert provide introductions and commentary which places the papers in their context and provide students with tools to develop and extend their understanding of the subject. The book captures the excitement and the uncertainty that always exist at the cutting edge of research, and is invaluable reading for students of climate science, scientists, historians of science, and others interested in climate change.

This book explains the science of climate change in plain language and shows that the 2 to 4 percent of climate scientists who are skeptical that humans are the main cause of global warming are a fringe minority—and have a well-established history of being wrong.Although some politicians, pundits, and members of the public do not believe it, global warming predictions by mainstream climate scientists have been remarkably accurate while those made by climate deniers have not. And if mainstream global warming predictions continue to prove correct, the window of opportunity to prevent a climate catastrophe is quickly closing. This book is the first to illustrate the accuracy—and inaccuracy—of global warming predictions made by mainstream climate scientists and by climate contrarians from the 1970s to the present day. Written in simple, non-technical language that provides an accessible explanation of key climate science concepts, the book will appeal to general audiences without previous knowledge about climate science.Author Dana Nuccitelli, an environmental scientist and risk assessor, discusses some key climate discoveries dating back to the 19th century and debunks myths such as the idea that climate scientists and climate models have grossly over-predicted global warming. He addresses recent findings of a 97-percent consensus in the peer-reviewed scientific literature that humans are causing global warming—a nearly unanimous agreement that formed in the early 1990s and has grown through the present day. Nuccitelli also discusses what the future climate might look like if current trends continue unabated, and what we as a global society need to do to prevent a climate catastrophe.

Across the Middle East, population growth and the rising consumption of water represent two key variables that are closely intertwined. When added to the projected impact of climate change on the region, they threaten to undermine established methods that attempt to ensure a manageable level of domestic and regional water security. Developing nations lacking water security are forced to contend with the looming complications this shortage could yield, which consequently obstruct attempts to achieve long-term, sustainable development. It is therefore imperative that policy and decision-makers be mindful of ongoing environmental, societal and technological developments that hold the potential to either better assist, or alternatively, hinder their efforts in managing limited water supplies. The conference, titled ‘Climate Change and the Future of Water', co-organized by the ECSSR and the University of Maine, was held in Abu Dhabi from October 14–15, 2014. It brought together a group of distinguished experts and scientific researchers drawn from academia and government to provide valuable insights into developments in climate change and water security. In view of the clear importance of this issue to the Arab Gulf region, the ECSSR is pleased to present the resultant papers compiled in this volume. These professional and academic perspectives regarding regional implications of climate change and water scarcity offer innovative approaches to combatting some of the problems tied to climate change and water security.

The Way Things Go contains a mix of poetry, art writing, and life writing about anticipatory grief, or mourning someone or something before it's gone. Each successive chapter in the book decreases in length by exactly one sentence, from a 71-sentence-long opening chapter, to a 70-sentence-long second chapter, to 69 sentences, 68 sentences, and so on down to 1 (a book-length Oulipian'melting snowball'). This shrinking form enacts the book's concerns with loss, climate change, and the passage of time. At the level of its content, however, The Way Things Go is not fatalistic. Its title comes from a cult classic 1987 Fischli and Weiss film, in which objects such as bags of trash, car tires, and oil drums knock into one another in a Rube Goldberg-esque chain reaction. Moving through both personal history (his sister's lupus and heroin addiction, his grandmother's experience as a Holocaust survivor) and more global concerns (the Sixth Mass Extinction, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine), Bury considers the disruptions that occur as'things go,'as well as the continuity that remains. The book suggests that recent negotiations between optimism and pessimism with respect to the future reflect people's feelings of vulnerability, particularly people who are used to taking their life's stability for granted, in a world that seems increasingly precarious.

The maritime distress of refugees on the high seas and anthropogenic climate change represent two significant humanitarian and political challenges of our time. Referring to the Radbruch formula, this paper examines the question of whether state and supranational failure to act on these two complex problems can be classified as extreme injustice from a legal ethical perspective, and what minimum ethical requirements this would imply for states and communities of states. This paper argues that corresponding analyses and discourses could provide a valuable and differentiated normative orientation - not only for migrant and climate protection politics, but also for law makers and public discourse. Die Seenot von Flüchtlingen auf hoher See und der anthropogene Klimawandel stellen zwei der großen humanitären und politischen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit dar. Unter Bezugnahme auf die Radbruch'sche Formel wird im vorliegenden Paper der Frage nachgegangen, ob staatliches und supranationales Nichthandeln bei diesen beiden komplexen Problemen aus rechtsethischer Perspektive als extremes Unrecht eingestuft werden kann und welche ethischen Mindestanforderungen dies für Staaten und Staatengemeinschaften implizieren würde. Ich argumentiere, dass entsprechende Analysen und Diskurse eine wertvolle und differenzierte normative Orientierung bieten könnten - nicht nur für die Migrations- und Klimaschutzpolitik, sondern auch für den Gesetzgeber und den gesellschaftlichen Diskurs.

'Carbon intensity'is the traditional measure of an economy's carbon performance. However, it is incapable of capturing the multidimensional features of an economy's carbon performance, particularly when increased emissions have causes other than poor emitting technology, such as changes in the energy mix or the substitution of energy for labor. Hence, it can sometimes be a poor yardstick for comparing countries with different natural resources or factors of production. Introducing the concept of'carbon efficiency,'based on Data Envelopment Analysis, this study calculates the carbon performance in 2005 of 29 regions in the People's Republic of China with results different from what the carbon intensity indicator would have suggested: Better carbon performance is associated with higher levels of economic development and greater resource endowments.

This volume presents the outcome of an Agriculture Workshop organized by the Gulf Research Centre Cambridge (GRCC) and held at Cambridge University, UK during the Gulf Research Meeting 11-14 July 2012. Co-directed by the editors, the workshop, entitled “Environmental Cost and Changing Face of Agriculture in the Gulf States” was attended by participants from Australia, Bahrain, India, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, UK and Morocco. These scientists, educators, researchers, policy makers and managers share their experience in agriculture in the Gulf States, with the aim of helping to improve agriculture production and thus bridge the gap between local production and the food import.The papers gathered here were presented at the workshop and have all passed through rigorous peer review by renowned scientists. The diverse papers present various aspects of agriculture production in the evolving face of climate change and dwindling water resources in the region. The book covers topics such as the prospects of agriculture in a changing climate; the potential of climate-smart agriculture; the impact of food prices, income and income distribution on food security; improved efficiency in water use; challenges in using treated wastewater in agriculture; investment in foreign agriculture and agricultural research and development. The papers span the nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with specific case studies set in Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.

Why Elephants Cry is a fascinating frolic through the literature and evidence surrounding the use of unusual behavior of animals to measure and predict the environment. The role of animals, from the smallest ant to the biggest elephant, as predictors of environmental changes is framed around the climate crisis, which highlights the increasingly important part that animals will have to play in the future. Renowned biologist Professor John T. Hancock collects anecdotal stories and myths along with scientific evidence, demonstrating that observation of animals can be of tangible use. He looks at the measurement of the air temperature using ants, crickets and snakes, and goes on to assess the evidence that the observation of a wide range of animals can predict the weather or the imminent eruption of volcanoes and earthquakes. Evidence of animals being able to predict lunar and solar events, such as lunar cycles and the Northern Lights, is also considered. This is the only time that all this literature has been brought together in one place, a fascinating reference for anybody interested in animals and the environment. The book is also an ideal supplementary textbook for students studying animal behaviour.

A 365-day guide to step-by-step sustainability, bursting with actionable ideas and measurable goals across the yearStep up your sustainability and unlock your full eco potential with 365 easy, trackable changes.What if sustainability didn't have to be so complicated? 365 Ways to Save the Planet cuts through the noise and explains exactly how to live a'greener'lifestyle day by day. With its approachable ideas and achievable daily actions, anyone can up their sustainability score with this bible. Eco warrior Georgina Wilson-Powell breaks down the significance of environmental statistics for issues big and small, and quantifies the difference that low effort, high impact changes can make. In her one-year program, each day pairs a realistic goal with a simple'save the Earth'action for an individual to apply at home or work. With check boxes of small sustainability measures you can take and records to keep of the savings you've made, you can actively record your progress and reflect positively on the impact you are having on the environment over the course of a full year. With a guide that enables you to learn how to break previous habits and shift your mindset, being green has never been easier. If you want to make a difference but don't know where to begin, simply turn the page to start with day one.

In September 2021 a very special academic conference took place: T2051MCC - The 2051 Munich Climate Conference. Researchers from across the academic spectrum assembled to discuss climate change. What made it special was that everyone held their lecture as if it took place in an imagined year 2051. The theatre collective Büro Grandezza had released an open call for contributions to a conference in Munich. Almost 50 researchers wrote papers on climate narratives, geoengineering, coastal adaptation and other topics. This particular framework allowed them to break out of the constraints of the current discourse without neglecting methodology or thematic sharpness.

This book explores the role and importance of interdisciplinary research in addressing key issues in climate and energy decision making. For over 30 years, an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students anchored at Carnegie Mellon University, joined by investigators and students from a number of other collaborating institutions across North America, Europe, and Australia, have worked together to better understand the global changes that are being caused by both human activities and natural causes. This book tells the story of their successful interdisciplinary work. With each chapter written in the first person, the authors have three key objectives: (1) to document and provide an accessible account of how they have framed and addressed a range of the key problems that are posed by the human dimensions of global change; (2) to illustrate how investigators and graduate students have worked together productively across different disciplines and locations on common problems; and (3) to encourage funders and scholars across the world to undertake similar large- scale interdisciplinary research activities to meet the world's largest challenges. Exploring topics such as energy efficiency, public health, and climate adaptation, and with a final chapter dedicated to lessons learned, this innovative volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, energy transitions and environmental studies more broadly.

For tackling complex global challenges such as climate change, this publication advises how a Gateway Process (GP) can help the Asian Development Bank's developing member countries channel scarce public resources into viable, sustainable, and efficient infrastructure investments. Supporting ministries of finance and related agencies, this publication explains how GPs can enhance the preparation, procurement, and execution of public private partnership projects and traditional public investment projects. To advance the environmental, social, and fiscal priorities of diverse economies and build institutional capacities, the publication describes an adjustable GP model—allowing policymakers to develop bespoke GPs within broader public investment management strategies.

How do we currently preserve and access texts, and will our current methods be sustainable in the future? In From Handwriting to Footprinting, Anne Baillot seeks to answer this question by offering a detailed analysis of the methods that enable access to textual materials, in particular, access to books of literary significance. Baillot marshals her considerable expertise in the field of digital humanities to establish a philological overview of the changing boundaries of ‘access'to literary heritage over centuries, deconstructing the western tradition of archiving and how it has led to current digital dissemination practices. Rigorously examining the negative environmental impact of digital publishing and archiving, Baillot proposes an alternative model of preservation and dissemination which reconciles fundamental traditions with the values of social responsibility and sustainability in an era of climate crisis. Integrating historical, archival and environmental perspectives, From Handwriting to Footprinting illuminates the impact that digitisation has had on the dissemination and preservation of textual heritage and reflects on what its future may hold. It is invaluable reading for anyone interested in textual history from a linguistic or philological perspective, as well as those working on publishing, archival and infrastructure projects that require the storing and long-term preservation of texts, or who want to know how to develop a more mindful attachment to digitised material.

The ongoing assault on climate science in the United States has never been more aggressive, more blatant, or more widely publicized than in the case of the Hockey Stick graph—a clear and compelling visual presentation of scientific data, put together by MichaelE. Mann and his colleagues, demonstrating that global temperatures have risen in conjunction with the increase in industrialization and the use of fossil fuels. Here was an easy-to-understand graph that, in a glance, posed a threat to major corporate energy interests and those who do their political bidding. The stakes were simply too high to ignore the Hockey Stick—and so began a relentless attack on a body of science and on the investigators whose work formed its scientific basis.The Hockey Stick achieved prominence in a 2001 UN report on climate change and quickly became a central icon in the'climate wars.'The real issue has never been the graph's data but rather its implied threat to those who oppose governmental regulation and other restraints to protect the environment and planet. Mann, lead author of the original paper in which the Hockey Stick first appeared, shares the story of the science and politics behind this controversy. He reveals key figures in the oil and energy industries and the media frontgroups who do their bidding in sometimes slick, sometimes bare-knuckled ways. Mann concludes with the real story of the 2009'Climategate'scandal, in which climate scientists'emails were hacked. This is essential reading for all who care about our planet's health and our own well-being.

“I can't remember the last time I read a book that was more fascinating and useful and enjoyable.”—Bill BrysonReduce your carbon footprint and understand the issue with this “up-to-date life guide for carbon-conscious readers.”—Kirkus Calculate your carbon footprint: with an item-by-item breakdown.Meet your company's carbon goals: using the latest research.Covid-19 and the carbon battle: understand the new global supply chain.The Carbon Footprint of Everything breaks items down by the amount of carbon they produce, creating a calorie guide for the carbon-conscious. With engaging writing, leading carbon expert Mike Berners-Lee shares new carbon calculations based on recent research. He considers the impact of the pandemic on the carbon battle—especially the embattled global supply chain—and adds items we didn't consider a decade ago, like bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Supported by solid research, cross-referenced with other expert sources, illustrated with easy-to-follow charts and graphs, and written with Berners-Lee's trademark sense of humor, The Carbon Footprint of Everything should be on everyone's bookshelf.The Carbon Footprint of Everything is an extensively revised and updated edition of How Bad Are Bananas.

Although 40 million people lived in West Africa with 4% in cities in 1930, in 1990 there were about 190 million with 40% being in cities. Projected figures for 2020 indicate that 63% of the estimated population of 430 million will be found in urban cities. Nigeria is not exempted from this scenario. Providing food and fiber for the population will be a burden to all. This publication contains selected refereed research papers from the Alexander Von Humboldt international conference held in Nigeria in December, 2010. The research papers cover several disciplines from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities to policy studies. The first chapter contained the paper on urban governance. It dealt with urban resources and their environment to problems with Nigeria cities and prescribed the way forward. The paper that followed was on the role of primary agriculture in processing and nutrition in urban food security. It looked at the historical antecedents of urbanization and the strategies for improved food and nutrition security in urban cities. About four papers examined the issues surrounding climate change and building green productive cities. Case studies were presented and their implications were analyzed. There were other papers on urban waste management in different parts of Nigeria. The challenges of thermal discomfort and heat stress were highlighted with implication for building design. There were research reports on urban health complications in cities which gave comprehensive analysis of the magnitude of such burden if associated constraints were not tackled. There were other papers dealing with environmental hazards which drew attention to the environmental sanitation level and the nature or water and food hygiene. Finally there was a paper that examined the issues surrounding desertification and lessons to be learnt from experiences of Israel, Turkey and Egypt.

Carbon pricing is a key element of the broader climate policy architecture that can help countries reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cost-effectively, while mobilizing fiscal resources to foster green recovery and growth. This publication introduces carbon pricing instruments and provides insights on how they can be designed to stimulate and not constrain economic activity in the context of recovery from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. It aims to help countries design and implement an efficient climate change response. The publication underscores the important role of carbon pricing in achieving nationally determined contributions and developing road maps for longer-term net-zero GHG emission targets.

Nature is all around us, in the beautiful but also in the unappealing and functional, and from the awe-inspiring to the mundane. It is vital that we learn to see the agency of the natural world in all things that make our lives possible, comfortable and profitable. The Ecology of Everyday Things pulls back the veil of our familiarity on a range of ‘everyday things'that surround us, and which we perhaps take too much for granted. This key into the magic world of the everyday can enable us to take better account of our common natural inheritance.Professor James Longhurst, Assistant Vice Chancellor, University of the West of England (UWE Bristol)For many people, ecosystems may be a remote concept, yet we eat, drink, breathe and interface with them in every moment of our lives. In this engaging textbook, ecosystems scientist Dr. Mark Everard considers a diversity of ‘everyday things', including fascinating facts about their ecological origins: from the tea we drink, to the things we wear, read and enjoy, to the ecology of communities and space flight, and the important roles played by germs and ‘unappealing creatures'such as slugs and wasps.In today's society, we are so umbilically connected to ecosystems that we fail to notice them, and this oversight blinds us to the unsustainability of everyday life and the industries and policy environment that supports it. The Ecology of Everyday Things takes the reader on an enlightening, fascinating voyage of discovery, all the while soundly rooted in robust science. It will stimulate awareness about how connected we all are to the natural world and its processes, and how important it is to learn to better treat our environment. Ideal for use in undergraduate- and school-level teaching, it will also interest, educate, engage and enthuse a wide range of less technical audiences.

Relatively small climate fluctuations, such as the warming period that was observed in recent decades, occur over periods of tens and hundreds of years, and are called near-term climate fluctuations. More significant climate changes occur over periods of tens of thousands of years, and they are called long-term climate changes. As a result of the interaction of the Earth with the Moon, the Sun and the planets, the orbital and rotational movements of the Earth are evolving. The orbit itself rotates counter-clockwise in its plane, making a complete revolution in 147 thousand years, and its axis makes one revolution in 68.7 thousand years around a certain direction. The axis of rotation of the Earth also rotates clockwise in 25.7 thousand years around another direction. In addition, these axes also exercise oscillatory movements. As a result of the evolution of these movements, the insolation of the Earth and, consequently, the Earth's climate undergo changes. These long-term changes in the Earth's insolation are analyzed in the astronomical theory of climate change, first proposed by M. Milankovich almost one hundred years ago.This book presents a new version of this theory. In contrast to the previous version, the problems concerning the evolution of the orbital and rotational movements of the Earth are solved here in a different way, with new results obtained. These new results coincide with observations and with the warming and cooling periods that took place in the Earth's history. This book is intended for a wide range of readers of different specialties and ages. It can be used by both undergraduate students and graduate students in preparation of their term papers and dissertations.

This book presents a collection of papers under the theme of multi-hazard early warning and disaster risks. These were selected from the presentations made at the International Symposium on Tsunami and Multi-Hazard Risks, Early Warning and Community Awareness in supporting implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. This conference aimed to recognize achievements and to highlight work that still needs to be carried out. The conference promoted collaboration among academia, research institutions and disaster management offices, and further encouraged multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral interactionThis International Symposium on Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Disaster Risk Reduction provided an important opportunity to reflect upon our progress to date in tackling disaster risk, but also to consider some of the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead of us.A particular focus of this event wasMulti-Hazard Early Warning. During the negotiations for the Sendai Framework, countries and partners highlighted the need to:1. Continue to invest in, develop, maintain and strengthen people-centred, end-to-end early warning systems;2. Promote the application of simple and low cost early warning equipment and facilities;3. Broaden the dissemination channels for early warning information to facilitate early action.Countries also called for the further development of and investment in effective, nationally compatible, regional multi-hazard early warning mechanisms. To address these needs, global Target (g) of the Sendai Framework was adopted, namely to “substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to the people by 2030”. As illustrated by recent events in Indonesia, it is also vital to address the challenge of cascading hazards that pose a tsunami risk, and the importance of linking tsunami early warning to a multi-hazard environment. However, moving towards a multi-hazard environment is complex and poses many challenges but can bring significant benefits in terms of efficiencies and also in recognising the links between hazards, such as cascading threats. We very much hope that this book will provide an important platform to address these and other challenges in addressing disaster risk, as well as supporting implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

The Climate Change Encyclopedia responds to the outstanding risk, survival, and ethical issue of our time, requiring action and providing opportunity. Primary-source expert authors write in a unique case-study structure that enables the Encyclopedia to be approachable, informational, and motivational for the public. The key focus areas are Climate Change and Finance, Economics, and Policy, with many other related climate categories included. The over 100 case studies provide realistic and interesting views of climate change, based on authors'published papers, reports, and books, plus climate-related activities of organizations, and selected topics. This inspiring work can enhance optimism and courage to act urgently and persistently on climate change, with foresight for a livable future.For more information on the list of contributors, please refer to https://www.worldscientific.com/page/encyclopedia-of-climate-change.Related Link(s)

New research and innovations in the field of science are leading to life-changing and world-altering discoveries like never before. What does the horizon of science look like? Who are the scientists that are making it happen? And, how are we to introduce these revolutions to a society in which a segment of the population has become more and more skeptical of science? Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our nation, and scientists are working on renewable energy sources, meat alternatives, and carbon dioxide sequestration. At the same time, climate change deniers and the politicization of funding threaten their work. CRISPR, (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) repurposes bacterial defense systems to edit genes, which can change the way we live, but also presents real ethical problems. Optogenetics will help neuroscientists map complicated neural circuitry deep inside the brain, shedding light on treating Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Zimmer also investigates phony science ranging from questionable “health” products to the fervent anti-vaccination movement. Zimmer introduces readers to the real people making these breakthroughs. Concluding with chapters on the rise of women in STEM fields, the importance of US immigration policies to science, and new, unorthodox ways of DIY science and crowdsource funding, The State of Science shows where science is, where it is heading, and the scientists who are at the forefront of progress.

This new book presents an abundance of important information and case studies that deal with bamboo farming and its effects from and on climate change adaptation and mitigation. There is a lack of research on the role of bamboo in climate change adaptation and mitigation; this volume helps to fill that gap by providing information that will enable policymakers to consider bamboo farming and its implications in carbon trading.Bamboo represents one of the world's highest yielding renewable natural resources and is an important source of non-timber forest products for subsistence use as well as for materials with many commercial and industrial uses. There are over 1500 documented applications of bamboo products, including materials for bridges, construction, furniture, agricultural tools, handicrafts, papers, textiles, boards, edible, and bioenergy applications. With their fast growth rate and rapid propagation, bamboo forests have a high C storage potential, especially when the harvested culms are transformed into durable products and thereby prolonging the C storage. Environmentalists love bamboo for its quick growth and for the fact that it can be harvested without harming the environment. This volume is a rich resource on the role of bamboo in ecological farming and climate change mitigation.Key features of the book include:• Explores the role of bamboo on climate change and environment and ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change• Considers overlooked bamboo biomass resources• Explains carbon capture and storage potential in bamboo• Assesses opportunities for carbon farming and carbon trading in bamboo• Looks at the role on bamboo cultivation on the livelihood of rural populations• Details the soil properties needed for bamboo-based agroforestry systems

In a career spanning four decades, Gerald R. North contributed groundbreaking research that continues to shape the modern field of climate science. However, the route he has taken was full of surprising twists and turns that included hate mail, eavesdropping by the KGB, and sometimes acrimonious debate with climate-change deniers.North's significant contributions to the field include his innovative “toy model” analysis of climate change based on ingeniously simplified models and his lead proposal for and successful approval of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Launched in 1997, the TRMM's purpose was to collect data on the global climate system. The TRMM operated successfully for 17 years before it was deactivated in 2015.In The Rise of Climate Science, North recounts in detail his life in the vanguard of modern climate science. He offers an insider look at the academic research and government initiatives around global warming and what that means for the planet. He includes stories of conversations with top Soviet climate scientists at the height of the Cold War in the late 1970s—complete with clandestine electronic surveillance. He also describes the experience of testifying before Congress and engaging in public exchanges with those who doubted the reality of the phenomenon his research field described.Climatology today has advanced into a mature phase. This book is an important contribution to understanding its development in the twentieth century and adds a distinctly human face and sensibility to the ongoing societal conversation around climate change and its implications for our future.

This book gathers a selection of peer-reviewed contributions presented and discussed at the successful LANDCON 0905 Conference held at Tara Mountain, Serbia, between May 26-30 2009. In keeping with the title of the Conference, “Land Conservation: Global Change - Challenges for Soil Management”, this book analyses and discusses the state of the art and future perspectives of the land. Many of the contributed papers are interconnected with natural, socio-economic and environmental changes worldwide. This book is arranged under eight separate but interconnected headings: LANDCON keynote, Global Change and Soil Degradation, Water Management, Soil Erosion, Sediment Transport and Sedimentation Processes, Erosion and Torrent Control in Environmental Change, Desertification, Socio-Economic and Legal and Institutional Aspects of Soil and Water Conservation, Implementing Global and Regional Projects. The book offers reflections, analysis, facts, new data and suggestions/ recommendations on land issues which are the crucial elements in the functioning of biosphere/environment. Land conservation and erosion control require a site specific approach, the setting up of a persistent institutional activity in the affected river basins - an activity that must be legally based to be effective. In this sense, each region subject to land erosion needs to develop competent teams of experts able to deal with the site-specific problems, and to ensure institutional and legal support for this activity. An important aspect is the multidisciplinary character of the activity. It is essential to organize periodical exchange of information about the experiences of such teams operating in different regions. For the continuity of the ongoing efforts it is essential to educate and train young professionals to take part in the activity. The LANDCON offered an excellent opportunity in these regards and it can be recommended to continue the organization of similar meetings in the future, in different parts of the globe. Public information and education are most important aspects of land management and it is worth to underline the positive experiences reported at the LANDCON which confirmed that in many cases the local population has been most supportive to promote land conservation, and cases were quoted about areas where land erosion has been reduced with the growth of population and its agricultural activity - to the contrast of the general assumption that land erosion increases with the increase of population. Four key opportunities were proposed that may also help the message of land conservation reach a wider audience. First was the proposal for the formation of an Intergovernmental Panel on Land and Soil (1PLS), a little sister for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that had done so much to influence international policy. Second was the proposal to widen the brief of the UNESCO International Sediment Initiative (ISI) to include wider catchment characteristics and third was the proposal for a Balkan regional coordination group to continue the work begun in Serbia in 2007 on the creation of administrative frameworks for land conservation. Fourth, was the proposal to include a younger scholars forum in every future LANDCON meeting in order to help the development of the next generation of land conservation scientists.

In Climate Change Law in China in Global Context, seven climate change law scholars explain how the country's legal system is gradually being mobilized to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in China and achieve adaptation to climate change.There has been little English scholarship on the legal regime for climate change in China. This volume addresses this gap in the literature and focuses on recent attempts by the country to build defences against the impacts of climate change and to meet the country's international obligations on mitigation. The authors are not only interested in China's laws on paper; rather, the book explains how these laws are implemented and integrated in practice and sheds light on China's current laws, laws in preparation, the changing standing of law relative to policy, and the further reforms that will be necessary in response to the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.This comprehensive and critical account of the Chinese legal system's response to the pressures of climate change will be an important resource for scholars of international law, environmental law, and Chinese law.

Lorsque deux bombes nucléaires sont tombées sur Hiroshima et Nagasaki les 6 et 9 août 1945, le monde entier a réalisé que l'humanité avait atteint un point de non-retour dans sa capacité d'autodestruction. Aujourd'hui, l'Anthropocène est en train de provoquer la sixième extinction de masse et tous les signaux sont au rouge: hausse des émissions de GES, fonte des glaciers, feux de forêt, inondations, réfugiés climatiques… Pour Chomsky, ces deux menaces exigent une réponse qui ne peut être que de portée mondiale. Dans un contexte de montée en puissance des grandes entreprises mondialisées qui ont privé les États de leur capacité de façonner l'avenir, il plaide pour la signature urgente de traités internationaux contraignants sur le climat et l'armement, et lance un appel à une mobilisation populaire sans précédent. «Seul Noam Chomsky a su communiquer avec une telle passion les liens qui unissent les deux catastrophes d'origine humaine auxquelles fait face la civilisation, soit le bouleversement du climat et l'apocalypse nucléaire, et jamais n'a-t-il lancé ses mises en garde et ses appels à l'action de façon aussi impressionnante.» – Daniel Ellsberg, lanceur d'alerte des Pentagon Papers

This is an engaging handbook to launch a movement of individuals to tackle global warming by simply retooling our daily actions. Easy proactive steps develop a long term perspective based in civility, integrity and an invigorating love for our earth. Save money, lose clutter, live well, feel happy and healthier as you pull for the planet. Make smart changes through a bottoms up strategy for now where each of us is empowered to make a difference in little ways that trend to big solutions.The Movement of One is both the individual and all of us connected in this common goal. Pass this book on. We are the change.

Papers presented at the 1st International Conference on Urban Agriculture and City Sustainability are contained in this book. The research reviews ways in which urban agriculture can contribute to achieve sustainable cities and considers ways of reducing the impact in terms of use of natural resources, waste production and climate change.

Germany wishes to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 to 95 per cent by 2050. However, despite the success to date, the measures which have already been planned and implemented are not suffi cient for achieving this ambitious goal. In addition to the energy sector, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, German industry is also responsible for releasing considerable volumes of global warming gases. In its Climate Action Plan 2050, the Federal Government has for the fi rst time set a sector target for industry. The present acatech POSITION PAPER analyses the options for (re)utilising and storing CO2 (Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)) which come into consideration for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes. It is recommended that a wide-ranging public debate about the use of CCU and CCS be conducted in the near future. Only then will it be possible to take account of reservations about CCU and CCS, further develop suitable technology in good time and bring it to market maturity so that the necessary infrastructure can be planned, approved, funded and constructed.

Americans are burying ourselves in our own waste. It's befouling our air, land, waters, food, and bodies. The US tosses out enough foodstuff to feed the rest of the world. America is the largest buyer of fashion and cosmetics, the second dirtiest industry in the world. We lead the planet in transportation usage and waste, and we're now polluting outer space. Throwaway Nation takes a look at the pileup of waste in the US, including the problem of plastic, the industry of overmedication, e-waste products, everyday garbage, fast fashion trash, space waste, and other forms of profligacy that serve to make our nation the biggest waster on the planet. Looking at the environmental impact of so much garbage, Dondero explores not just how we got here and where we're headed, but ways in which we might be able to curb the tide. From what you do and don't eat, what and how your products are packaged, the rampant production of clothes, the space and waste in which you work, live, what you breath, eat, drink, the tools you use to work and play, the energy overproduced and ill-used for a pleasant lifestyle, the waste you generate, and how humans are beginning to clutter the cosmos—all and more are profiled in the Throwaway Nation—and what we ought to do to prohibit and mitigate the flow of our garbage and to use it productively.

This collection of primary sources, illuminated by extensive contextual analysis, provides a comprehensive and balanced survey of the evolution of global climate change policies and politics in the United States.This extensive collection of primary documents examines the history of climate science; various policy prescriptions for addressing the effects of climate change; political fault lines with respect to international efforts to address global warming; claims regarding the influence of industry groups and environmental'radicals'on climate policy and science; and the impact of climate change on other policy areas such as public health, energy, economic development, and wilderness conservation. The set includes excerpts from important scientific papers and government reports, political speeches from presidents and other influential lawmakers, perspectives from environmental activists and conservative think-tanks, editorial essays from leading media figures, provisions of major laws, and more. Together, these documents provide a broad range of perspectives, from scientific fields as well as from political and ideological standpoints that have emerged in response to the debate surrounding climate change. They offer readers a greater understanding of the arguments not only of lawmakers, activists, and scientists leading efforts to fight, mitigate, and adapt to climate change but also of those skeptical of climate change.

This book is open access under a Creative Commons license.This authoritative book presents the ever progressing state of the art in evaluating climate change strategies and action. It builds upon a selection of relevant and practical papers and presentations given at the 2nd International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development held in Washington DC in 2014 and includes perspectives from independent evaluations of the major international organisations supporting climate action in developing countries, such as the Global Environment Facility.The first section of the book sets the stage and provides an overview of independent evaluations, carried out by multilateral development banks and development organisations. Important topics include how policies and organisations aim to achieve impact and how this is measured, whether climate change is mainstreamed into other development programs, and whether operations are meeting the urgency of climate change challenges.The following sections focus on evaluation of climate change projects and policies as they link to development, from the perspective of international organisations, NGO's, multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, and academia. The authors share methodologies or approaches used to better understand problems and assess interventions, strategies and policies. They also share challenges encountered, what was done to solve these and lessons learned from evaluations. Collectively, the authors illustrate the importance of evaluation in providing evidence to guide policy change to informed decision-making.

This collection pulls together key documents from the scientific and political history of climate change, including congressional testimony, scientific papers, newspaper editorials, court cases, and international declarations. Far more than just a compendium of source materials, the book uses these documents as a way to think about history, while at the same time using history as a way to approach the politics of climate change from a new perspective. Making Climate Change History provides the necessary background to give readers the opportunity to pose critical questions and create plausible answers to help them understand climate change in its historical context; it also illustrates the relevance of history to building effective strategies for dealing with the climatic challenges of the future.

The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Panel of the National Research Council (NRC) was tasked by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) to provide a rapid and succinct assessment to relevant agencies on the general merit of the GEWEX America Prediction Project (GAPP), as well as the Coordinated Enhanced Observing Period (CEOP). In addition, the panel was asked to provide guidance to the agencies on the relationships between the agencies'newly proposed hydrologic research activities, GAPP, and CEOP. Providing this guidance is critical, in part, because the federal agencies tend to have somewhat differing priorities across the wide span of GEWEX activities.

Advocates and teachers often find it difficult to communicate the complexities of climate change, because the people they are trying to reach hold so many mistaken assumptions. They assume, for example, that when climate change becomes an obvious threat to our everyday lives, there will still be time enough to make changes that will avoid disaster. Yet at that point it will be too late. Or they assume we can use our current paradigms and policy tools to find solutions. Yet the approaches that caused damage in the first place will cause even more damage in the future. Even the increasingly dire warnings from scientists haven't shaken such assumptions. Is there another way to reach people? The simple, interactive exercises in The Climate Change Playbook can help citizens better understand climate change, diagnose its causes, anticipate its future consequences, and effect constructive change. Adapted from The Systems Thinking Playbook, the twenty-two games are now specifically relevant to climate-change communications and crafted for use by experts, advocates, and educators. Illustrated guidelines walk leaders through setting each game up, facilitating it, and debriefing participants. Users will find games that are suitable for a variety of audiences—whether large and seated, as in a conference room, or smaller and mobile, as in a workshop, seminar, or meeting. Designed by leading thinkers in systems, communications, and sustainability, the games focus on learning by doing.

Over the course of the twentieth century, scientists came to accept four counterintuitive yet fundamental facts about the Earth: deep time, continental drift, meteorite impact, and global warming. When first suggested, each proposition violated scientific orthodoxy and was quickly denounced as scientific—and sometimes religious—heresy. Nevertheless, after decades of rejection, scientists came to accept each theory. The stories behind these four discoveries reflect more than the fascinating push and pull of scientific work. They reveal the provocative nature of science and how it raises profound and sometimes uncomfortable truths as it advances. For example, counter to common sense, the Earth and the solar system are older than all of human existence; the interactions among the moving plates and the continents they carry account for nearly all of the Earth's surface features; and nearly every important feature of our solar system results from the chance collision of objects in space. Most surprising of all, we humans have altered the climate of an entire planet and now threaten the future of civilization. This absorbing scientific history is the only book to describe the evolution of these four ideas from heresy to truth, showing how science works in practice and how it inevitably corrects the mistakes of its practitioners. Scientists can be wrong, but they do not stay wrong. In the process, astonishing ideas are born, tested, and over time take root.

The papers included in these volumes explain and interpret the evolution and characteristics of topographical features, their origin, past evolution, present state and future prospects. The third volume covers the various aspects of climatology, while the last two volumes contain articles on Biogeography, Ecology and Environment. Covering a wide range of technical topics, these volumes are packed with enormous conceptual and factual knowledge which shall be useful for the teachers, students, academicians, policy makers and for those who are interested in earth sciences.

Payments for environmental services (PES) are a potential mechanism to provide incentives for sustainable management of grasslands and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. PES is not widely practiced in Mongolia, but has been included in the Green Development Strategy of the government. This paper reviews 50 PES schemes operating in grasslands and other grazing lands globally, including Mongolia. It discusses key issues related to the design of PES schemes in Mongolian grasslands, including potential benefits, risks, constraints, and trade-offs.

Booker focuses his attention on the mother of all environmental scares: global warming.This original book considers one of the most extraordinary scientific and political stories of our time: how in the 1980s a handful of scientists came to believe that mankind faced catastrophe from runaway global warming, and how today this has persuaded politicians to land us with what promises to be the biggest bill in history.Christopher Booker interweaves the science of global warming with that of its growing political consequences, showing how just when the politicians are threatening to change our Western way of life beyond recognition, the scientific evidence behind the global warming theory is being challenged like never before.The book exposes the myth that the global warming theory is supported by a'consensus of the world's top climate scientists'. It shows how the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is run by a small group of'global warming'zealots, who have repeatedly rigged evidence to support their theory. But the politicians, pushed by the media, have so fallen for its propaganda that, short of dramatic change, our Western world now faces an unprecedented disaster.

Forests and any other trees outside the forest play a relevant role all three great UN conventions on Climate Change, on Biodiversity, and on Combating Desertification. The policy processes to implement the measures in these conventions on sub-national, national, regional and international level are extremely complex. And that complexity comes, among other factors, from a blend of different sectoral and national interests, from a large number of scientifically not yet entirely resolved issues and a wide range of different biophysical, social, cultural and political conditions all over the world. The 3rd International DAAD Workshop on “Forests in Climate Change Research and Policy: The Role of Forest Management and Conservation in a Complex International Setting” held in Dubai and Doha along the conference of the parties (COP18) from 28st November to 2nd December had a strong focus on the role of forests and their management in context of international conventions and recent international and national policy. The volume contains 20 papers that are grouped under the topics The Role of Forests and their Management under Climate Change, International Policy Processes, Technical Issues on Remote Sensing, and Country Cases on Forest Management under Climate Change.

The volume is a compilation of some of the selected papers presented and discussed at the National Seminars on the theme Climate Change, Biodiversity and Green Economy organized on 5th and 6th June, 2010 and 2012 under the auspices of Indian Human Ecology Council-Indian Chapter of Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, London (Chec-India). The volume contains 22 chapters on various aspects of climate change, desertification, depletion of biodiversity, glacier melt, green economy and sustainable energy contributed by geoscientists, academicians and professionals in their respective fields. A great debate on the issue of climate change and its impacts on socio-economic fabric of society at a global is going on and scientists have a divergent opinion on the issue of climate change. Some scholars and scientists attribute climate change to natural processes while others to man induced changes by emission of green house gases leading to global warming. There is no doubt that the earth has been witnessing climate changes during geological history. However, anthropogenic forces have also profound impact on climatic phenomena particularly in the last 150 years after industrial revolution. The volume addresses a host of issues concerning the debate of climate changes. It is expected that the present volume will be of immense value to researchers, students, administrators and planners in understanding the significance of climate change in order to adopt a strategic pathway to prevent and mitigate the impacts of climatic changes.

This report is intended to promote a dialogue between the scientific community and the government officials who will lead our nation in the coming years on global change research. The first section of the report is a brief description of the challenges and proposed responses needed from the highest levels of the government and the second provides more detailed discussion and is directed to agency-level issues and responses. The last section is a detailed bibliography that lists many of the specific reports on which the views outlined here are ultimately based.

A Climate Services Vision: First Steps Toward the Future describes the types of products that should be provided through a climate service; outlines the roles of the public, private, and academic sectors in a climate service; describe fundamental principles that should be followed in the provision of climate services; and describes potential audiences and providers of climate services.

A climate change workshop with the theme'Moving from Strategy to Action'was organized by the Pacific Department of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and attended by 106 representatives from various stakeholder groups in Pacific developing member countries (DMCs). The workshop aimed to (i) disseminate ADB's work and approach in support of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures in its Pacific DMCs; (ii) promote partnership and dialogue with Pacific DMCs, development partners, and other stakeholders for a coordinated and harmonized response to climate change in the region; and (iii) discuss possible mechanisms and actionable recommendations for improving the access of Pacific DMCs to climate change financing in the region.

Weather related disasters like occurrence of floods, droughts, heat wave and cold waves is not uncommon across the Country. It is true world over. Increase in sea surface temperature and sea level has potential impact on monsoon uncertainties, water resources, shift in coastal population and marine products. Vulnerability to extreme weather events is higher than vulnerability to changing average climatic conditions. The society linked sectors like agriculture, biodiversity, fisheries, forestry, water resources, human and animal health and infrastructure are the worst sufferers in the event of weather uncertainties. As a result it is realized that food security is under threat due to global warming. The book deals with climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in agriculture, horticulture, plantation crops in the humid tropics, livestock, fisheries, forestry, water resources and biodiversity. The invited and research papers, included in the book, provide clues for developing adaptation and mitigation strategies in coping up with the expected climate change in future. Although global foodgrains production is likely to increase in tune with rising population and demand in ensuing decades, it may suffer unless new approaches to adapt crop plants to climate change are adopted. Therefore, “Research and education policy in climate change adaptation and mitigation is the need of the hour to address the climate issues in various sectors as the frequency of occurrence of floods and droughts, cold and heat waves are likely to increase under projected climate change scenarios and a threat to food security.

“This eloquent, elegant book thoughtfully plumbs the... consequences of our dependence on plastics” (The Boston Globe, A Best Nonfiction Book of 2011). From pacemakers to disposable bags, plastic built the modern world. But a century into our love affair, we're starting to realize it's not such a healthy relationship. As journalist Susan Freinkel points out in this eye-opening book, we're at a crisis point. Plastics draw on dwindling fossil fuels, leach harmful chemicals, litter landscapes, and destroy marine life. We're drowning in the stuff, and we need to start making some hard choices. Freinkel tells her story through eight familiar plastic objects: a comb, a chair, a Frisbee, an IV bag, a disposable lighter, a grocery bag, a soda bottle, and a credit card. With a blend of lively anecdotes and analysis, she sifts through scientific studies and economic data, reporting from China and across the United States to assess the real impact of plastic on our lives. Her conclusion is severe, but not without hope. Plastic points the way toward a new creative partnership with the material we love, hate, and can't seem to live without. “When you write about something so ubiquitous as plastic, you must be prepared to write in several modes, and Freinkel rises to this task.... She manages to render the most dull chemical reaction into vigorous, breathless sentences.” —SF Gate “Freinkel's smart, well-written analysis of this love-hate relationship is likely to make plastic lovers take pause, plastic haters reluctantly realize its value, and all of us understand the importance of individual action, political will, and technological innovation in weaning us off our addiction to synthetics.” —Publishers Weekly “A compulsively interesting story. Buy it (with cash).” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature “What a great read—rigorous, smart, inspiring, and as seductive as plastic itself.” —Karim Rashid, designer

This book is about African and Asian cities. Illustrated through selected case cities, the book brings together a rich collection of papers by leading scholars and practitioners in Africa and Asia to offer empirical analysis and up-to-date discussions and assessments of the urban challenges and solutions for their cities. A number of key topics concerning housing, sustainable urban development and climate change in Africa and Asia are explored along with how policy interventions and partnerships deliver specific forms of urban development. It is intended for all who are interested in the state of the cities and urban development in Africa and Asia. Africa and Asia present, in many ways, useful lessons in dealing with the burgeoning urban population, and the problems surrounding this influx of people and climate change in the developing word.

An overall increase in global-mean atmospheric temperatures is predicted to occur in response to human-induced increases in atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping'greenhouse gases.'The most prominent of these gases, carbon dioxide, has increased in concentration by over 30% during the past 200 years, and is expected to continue to increase well into the future. Other changes in atmospheric composition complicate the picture. In particular, increases in the number of small particles (called aerosols) in the atmosphere regionally offset and mask the greenhouse effect, and stratospheric ozone depletion contributes to cooling of the upper troposphere and stratosphere. Many in the scientific community believe that a distinctive greenhouse-warming signature is evident in surface temperature data for the past few decades. Some, however, are puzzled by the fact that satellite temperature measurements indicate little, if any, warming of the lower to mid-troposphere (the layer extending from the surface up to about 8 km) since such satellite observations first became operational in 1979. The satellite measurements appear to be substantiated by independent trend estimates for this period based on radiosonde data. Some have interpreted this apparent discrepancy between surface and upper air observations as casting doubt on the overall reliability of the surface temperature record, whereas others have concluded that the satellite data (or the algorithms that are being used to convert them into temperatures) must be erroneous. It is also conceivable that temperatures at the earth's surface and aloft have not tracked each other perfectly because they have responded differently to natural and/or human-induced climate forcing during this particular 20-year period. Whether these differing temperature trends can be reconciled has implications for assessing: how much the earth has warmed during the past few decades, whether observed changes are in accord with the predicted response to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere based on model simulations, and whether the existing atmospheric observing system is adequate for the purposes of monitoring global-mean temperature. This report reassesses the apparent differences between the temperature changes recorded by satellites and the surface thermometer network on the basis of the latest available information. It also offers an informed opinion as to how the different temperature records should be interpreted, and recommends actions designed to reduce the remaining uncertainties in these measurements.