Climate change and the Bui Dam in Ghana (original) (raw)
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Climate Change: In Context (2009 RUSA Book and Media Award)
Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, eds. Climate Change: In Context. Cengage Gale, 2008. | 2009 RUSA Book and Media Award ”Timely… Clear… Concise.. Stunning…” An “excellent guide to a vitally important issue” Ref Rev. October 2008.
Introductions to books usually attempt to offer words of motivation designed to inspire readers toward their studies. For Climate Change: In Context, however, the editors wish to stand aside a bit and ask readers, especially students just beginning their serious studies of science, to carefully read the special introductions by Dr. Wallace S. Broecker (Newberry Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, recipient of the National Science Medal (1996), and member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the British Royal Society).and Thomas Hayden that immediately follow. Together, these introductions serve as exemplary primary sources (personal narratives from experts in the field of climate change) and as both elegant motivation to readers to carefully consider the issues and impacts of climate change, and eloquent calls to actively engage in the challenge of finding solutions. In the wake of the stunning 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, Climate Change: In Context is one of the first reference books designed to attempt to explain the complexities of those reports..." "Science sometimes speaks truths we might not wish to hear, and at this time in human history science is speaking clearly, with a chorus of voices, that with regard to the human activities that drive climate change, it is now time to fuse our science and technology with our noblest qualities of caring, commitment, and sacrifice so that our children enjoy the pleasures of the good Earth." (continued) -- K. Lee Lerner & Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, editors. Paris, France. December 2007
From science to policy: developing responses to climate change
2006
Climate change poses risks to human health, ecosystems, social and cultural systems, and economic development. It also provides opportunities. The goals of climate policy should be to reduce the risks and take advantage of the opportunities. Adapting to the potential effects of climate change is a complex and ongoing process requiring actions by individuals, communities, governments and international agencies. In order to make informed decisions, policymakers will need timely and useful information about the possible consequences of climate change, people’s perceptions of whether the consequences are positive or negative, available adaptation options, and the benefits of slowing the rate of climate change. The challenge for the assessment community is to provide this information. Assessments must be made of the potential consequences of climate change, as well as of opportunities to adapt in order to reduce the risks, or take advantage of the opportunities, presented by change. A po...
Climate and Related Uncertainties Influencing Research and Development Priorities
ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A: Civil Engineering, 2015
Sources of risk and uncertainty are key drivers of R&D priorities for infrastructure assets, projects, and policies. This paper describes risk factoring, which is a quantification of which climate and other diverse factors most influence the priorities of large industry and government facilities. The uncertainties addressed herein include temperature, storm intensity and frequencies, precipitation, coastal populations, sea--level rise, other environmental stressors, and factors deemed relevant by agency stakeholders. This process engages planners in four aspects: (i) a baseline multicriteria decision analysis of agency mission priorities; (ii) building of scenarios from uncertain factors including sea rise, storm frequency, erosion, land--use regulation, ecology, hydrology, etc.; (iii) priority evaluation of agency initiatives including projects, assets, geographical zones, policies, follow on studies, etc.; and (iv) concept for elicitation that supports dialogue in adaptive iterations. The results of the process have implications for a research and development roadmap for environment and ecology and other external stressors that impact the resilience of large-scale systems. The roadmap benefits from understanding which factors and combinations Headquarters 441 G St NW Washington, DC 20314 of factors are demonstrating relatively greater needs of additional investigation and modeling.
Tailoring information about climate change and its impacts
Acta Biotheoretica, 2011
Nothing in this publication may be copied, stored in automated databases or published without prior written consent of the National Research Programme Knowledge for Climate / Nationaal Onderzoekprogramma Kennis voor Klimaat. Pursuant to Article 15a of the Dutch Law on authorship, sections of this publication may be quoted on the understanding that a clear reference is made to this publication. Liability The National Research Programme Knowledge for Climate and the authors of this publication have exercised due caution in preparing this publication. However, it can not be excluded that this publication may contain errors or is incomplete. Any use of the content of this publication is for the own responsibility of the user. The Foundation Knowledge for Climate (Stichting Kennis voor Klimaat), its organisation members, the authors of this publication and their organisations may not be held liable for any damages resulting from the use of this publication.
Is Climate Change the "Defining Challenge of Our Age"? Energy & Environment 20(3): 279-302 (2009).
Climate change, some claim, is this century's most important environmental challenge. Mortality estimates for the year 2000 from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate, however, that a dozen other risk factors contribute more to global mortality and global burden of disease. Moreover, the state-of-theart British-sponsored fast track assessments (FTAs) of the global impacts of climate change show that through 2085-2100, climate change would contribute less to human health and environmental threats than other risk factors. Climate change is, therefore, unlikely to be the 21 st century's most important environmental problem. Combining the FTA results with WHO's mortality estimates indicates that halting climate change would reduce cumulative mortality from hunger, malaria, and coastal flooding, by 4-10 percent in 2085 while the Kyoto Protocol would lower it by 0.4-1 percent. FTA results also show that reducing climate change will increase populations-at-risk from water stress and, possibly, threats to biodiversity. But adaptive measures focused specifically on reducing vulnerability to climate sensitive threats would reduce cumulative mortality by 50-75 percent at a fraction of the Kyoto Protocol's cost without adding to risks from water stress or to biodiversity. Such "focused adaptation" would, moreover, reduce major hurdles to the developing world's sustainable economic development, lack of which is the major reason for its vulnerability to climate change (and any other form of adversity). Thus, focused adaptation can combat climate change and advance global well-being, particularly of the world's most vulnerable populations, more effectively than aggressive GHG reductions. Alternatively, these benefits and more -reductions in poverty, and infant and maternal mortality by 50-75%; increased access to safe water and sanitation; and universal literacy -can be obtained by broadly advancing sustainable economic development through policies, institutions and measures (such as those that would meet the UN Millennium Development Goals) at a cost approximating that of the Kyoto Protocol. However, in order to deal with climate change beyond the 2085-2100 timeframe, the paper also recommends expanding research and development of mitigation options, reducing barriers to implementing such options, and active science and monitoring programs to provide early warning of any "dangerous" climate change impacts. 279 1
Annotated Bibliography: A Full Analysis on Climate Change.docx
This annotated bibliography is essentially a compilation of the extent of the issue at hand--namely climate change. My paper contains multiple analyses of the nefarious effects of humanly propagated climatic changes as well as ways to mitigate their effects inclusive of adopting and implementing sustainable or renewable energy sources.
Climate Change 2012: Water and Climate: Policy Implementation Changes; Proceedings of the 2nd Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference, 1-3 May 2012, Canberra. Barton, A.C.T, 2012
The National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) was established by the Commonwealth Governmentto ensure Australia is in a position to make sound decisions about climate change adaptation investments. NCCARF's mission is to generate the biophysical, social and economic information needed by decision-makers in government, and in vulnerable sectors and communities, to manage the risks of climate change, by leading the research community in a national interdisciplinary effort. Climate change adaptation is about decisions, investments and actions made by stakeholders; under significant levels of enduring uncertainty. NCCARF addresses the challenge of uncertainty faced by climate change adaptation decision-makers by facilitating and supporting the identification of prioritised research topics, commissioning research to address these topics and communicating the research findings quickly and efficiently to people and organisations who can benefit from them.NCCARF also synthesises existing information, making it more available to decision makers. In addition to research into matters of interest to particular industry or community sectors, NCCARF's research also is concerned with cross-sectoral issues; uncertainty itself is one of the key topics for NCCARF's research portfolio. NCCARF's research model provides a sound approach for generating information that is relevant to key decision-makers in government, business and the community. This paper describes NCCARF's approach and model in the context of it's 'settlements and infrastructure' theme, and outlines the research program relevant to this theme.