› › Arguing About Climate Change

Climate Change in Africa

Author : Camilla Toulmin

Publisher : Zed Books Ltd.

Page : 169 pages

File Size : 17,38 MB

Release : 2009-11-16

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 1848136285

Get eBook

Book Description

Climate change is a major challenge for us all, but for African countries it represents a particular threat. This book outlines current thinking and evidence and the impact such change will have on Africa's development prospects. Global warming above the level of two degrees Celsius would be enormously damaging for poorer parts of the world, leading to crises with crops, livestock, water supplies and coastal areas. Within Africa, it's likely to be the continent's poorest people who are hit hardest. In this accessible and authoritative introduction to an often-overlooked aspect of the environment, Camilla Toulmin uses case studies to look at issues ranging from natural disasters to biofuels, and from conflict to the oil industry. Finally, the book addresses what future there might be for Africa in a carbon-constrained world.



Apocalypse Never

Author : Michael Shellenberger

Publisher : HarperCollins

Page : 432 pages

File Size : 19,86 MB

Release : 2020-06-30

Category : Science

ISBN : 0063001705

Get eBook

Book Description

Now a National Bestseller! Climate change is real but it’s not the end of the world. It is not even our most serious environmental problem. Michael Shellenberger has been fighting for a greener planet for decades. He helped save the world’s last unprotected redwoods. He co-created the predecessor to today’s Green New Deal. And he led a successful effort by climate scientists and activists to keep nuclear plants operating, preventing a spike of emissions. But in 2019, as some claimed “billions of people are going to die,” contributing to rising anxiety, including among adolescents, Shellenberger decided that, as a lifelong environmental activist, leading energy expert, and father of a teenage daughter, he needed to speak out to separate science from fiction. Despite decades of news media attention, many remain ignorant of basic facts. Carbon emissions peaked and have been declining in most developed nations for over a decade. Deaths from extreme weather, even in poor nations, declined 80 percent over the last four decades. And the risk of Earth warming to very high temperatures is increasingly unlikely thanks to slowing population growth and abundant natural gas. Curiously, the people who are the most alarmist about the problems also tend to oppose the obvious solutions. What’s really behind the rise of apocalyptic environmentalism? There are powerful financial interests. There are desires for status and power. But most of all there is a desire among supposedly secular people for transcendence. This spiritual impulse can be natural and healthy. But in preaching fear without love, and guilt without redemption, the new religion is failing to satisfy our deepest psychological and existential needs.



Why We Disagree about Climate Change

Author : Mike Hulme

Publisher : Cambridge University Press

Page : 393 pages

File Size : 16,85 MB

Release : 2009-04-30

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 1107268893

Get eBook

Book Description

Climate change is not 'a problem' waiting for 'a solution'. It is an environmental, cultural and political phenomenon which is re-shaping the way we think about ourselves, our societies and humanity's place on Earth. Drawing upon twenty-five years of professional work as an international climate change scientist and public commentator, Mike Hulme provides a unique insider's account of the emergence of this phenomenon and the diverse ways in which it is understood. He uses different standpoints from science, economics, faith, psychology, communication, sociology, politics and development to explain why we disagree about climate change. In this way he shows that climate change, far from being simply an 'issue' or a 'threat', can act as a catalyst to revise our perception of our place in the world. Why We Disagree About Climate Change is an important contribution to the ongoing debate over climate change and its likely impact on our lives.



Debating Climate Ethics

Author : Stephen M. Gardiner

Publisher : Oxford University Press

Page : 281 pages

File Size : 21,54 MB

Release : 2016-06-01

Category : Philosophy

ISBN : 0199996490

Get eBook

Book Description

In this volume, Stephen M. Gardiner and David A. Weisbach present arguments for and against the relevance of ethics to global climate policy. Gardiner argues that climate change is fundamentally an ethical issue, since it is an early instance of a distinctive challenge to ethical action (the perfect moral storm), and ethical concerns (such as with justice, rights, political legitimacy, community and humanity's relationship to nature) are at the heart of many of the decisions that need to be made. Consequently, climate policy that ignores ethics is at risk of "solving" the wrong problem, perhaps even to the extreme of endorsing forms of climate extortion. This is especially true of policy based on narrow forms of economic self-interest. By contrast, Weisbach argues that existing ethical theories are not well suited to addressing climate change. As applied to climate change, existing ethical theories suffer from internal logical problems and suggest infeasible strategies. Rather than following failed theories or waiting indefinitely for new and better ones, Weisbach argues that central motivation for climate policy is straightforward: it is in their common interest for people and nations to agree to policies that dramatically reduce emissions to prevent terrible harms.



Climate Change

Author : The Royal Society

Publisher : National Academies Press

Page : 74 pages

File Size : 20,48 MB

Release : 2014-02-26

Category : Science

ISBN : 0309302021

Get eBook

Book Description

Climate Change: Evidence and Causes is a jointly produced publication of The US National Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society. Written by a UK-US team of leading climate scientists and reviewed by climate scientists and others, the publication is intended as a brief, readable reference document for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and other individuals seeking authoritative information on the some of the questions that continue to be asked. Climate Change makes clear what is well-established and where understanding is still developing. It echoes and builds upon the long history of climate-related work from both national academies, as well as on the newest climate-change assessment from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It touches on current areas of active debate and ongoing research, such as the link between ocean heat content and the rate of warming.



Cool It

Author : Bjorn Lomborg

Publisher : Vintage

Page : 272 pages

File Size : 15,22 MB

Release : 2007-09-11

Category : Science

ISBN : 0307267792

Get eBook

Book Description

Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and staggeringly expensive actions now being considered to meet the challenges of global warming ultimately will have little impact on the world’s temperature. He suggests that rather than focusing on ineffective solutions that will cost us trillions of dollars over the coming decades, we should be looking for smarter, more cost-effective approaches (such as massively increasing our commitment to green energy R&D) that will allow us to deal not only with climate change but also with other pressing global concerns, such as malaria and HIV/AIDS. And he considers why and how this debate has fostered an atmosphere in which dissenters are immediately demonized.



The Climate Change Hoax Argument

Author : C. Paul Smith

Publisher :

Page : 140 pages

File Size : 22,56 MB

Release : 2021-09-30

Category : Law

ISBN : 9781956373127

Get eBook

Book Description

Environmental extremists claim that a consensus of scientists agree that humans arc causing climate change that will cause catastrophic damage to the planet if we do not immediately enact laws and practices to stop it. But those who believe this cannot explain scientific reasons to support it. In fact, the science does not support it-not the "human-caused" part, not the catastrophic damage part, and especially not the assertion that most scientists agree with it. The claim that humans are causing catastrophic climate change is a hoax. The Climate Change Hoax Argument reveals and discusses the history of the hoax and the science that refutes it. Hundreds of renowned scientists from around the world dispute the claims of the IPCC that human-caused climate change is an existential threat to the world. Here are three such statements: "[C]urrent alarm over carbon dioxide is mistaken. . . Fears about man made global warming are unwarranted and are not based on good science." --Dr. Will Happer Professor at the Department of Physics at Princeton University and Former Director of Energy Research at the Dept. of Energy The IPCC's assertion of consensus in support of its AGW claim is "really outrageous and unethical." --Dr. Brilliant AL Briggs, climate statistician and Assoc. Editor of Monthly Weather Review "worst scientific scandal in ... history .... When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists." --Dr. Kiminori Itoh, environmental physical chemist (Japan) Environmental extremists insist that fossil fuels are destroying the earth by emitting too much CO2 into the atmosphere. But they are wrong. Scientific studies confirm that continued use of fossil fuels is not causing global warming; is not causing rising sea levels; is not causing extreme weather; and is not causing more droughts, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, or tornadoes. Science has exposed the climate change hoax.



False Alarm

Author : Bjorn Lomborg

Publisher : Basic Books

Page : 347 pages

File Size : 16,34 MB

Release : 2020-07-14

Category : Science

ISBN : 1541647483

Get eBook

Book Description

An “essential” (Times UK) and “meticulously researched” (Forbes) book by “the skeptical environmentalist” argues that panic over climate change is causing more harm than good Hurricanes batter our coasts. Wildfires rage across the American West. Glaciers collapse in the Artic. Politicians, activists, and the media espouse a common message: climate change is destroying the planet, and we must take drastic action immediately to stop it. Children panic about their future, and adults wonder if it is even ethical to bring new life into the world. Enough, argues bestselling author Bjorn Lomborg. Climate change is real, but it's not the apocalyptic threat that we've been told it is. Projections of Earth's imminent demise are based on bad science and even worse economics. In panic, world leaders have committed to wildly expensive but largely ineffective policies that hamper growth and crowd out more pressing investments in human capital, from immunization to education. False Alarm will convince you that everything you think about climate change is wrong -- and points the way toward making the world a vastly better, if slightly warmer, place for us all.



How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate

Author : Andrew J. Hoffman

Publisher : Stanford University Press

Page : 121 pages

File Size : 26,65 MB

Release : 2015-03-11

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 0804795053

Get eBook

Book Description

Though the scientific community largely agrees that climate change is underway, debates about this issue remain fiercely polarized. These conversations have become a rhetorical contest, one where opposing sides try to achieve victory through playing on fear, distrust, and intolerance. At its heart, this split no longer concerns carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, or climate modeling; rather, it is the product of contrasting, deeply entrenched worldviews. This brief examines what causes people to reject or accept the scientific consensus on climate change. Synthesizing evidence from sociology, psychology, and political science, Andrew J. Hoffman lays bare the opposing cultural lenses through which science is interpreted. He then extracts lessons from major cultural shifts in the past to engender a better understanding of the problem and motivate the public to take action. How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate makes a powerful case for a more scientifically literate public, a more socially engaged scientific community, and a more thoughtful mode of public discourse.



Unsettled (Updated and Expanded Edition)

Author : Steven E. Koonin

Publisher : BenBella Books

Page : 385 pages

File Size : 30,66 MB

Release : 2024-06-11

Category : Science

ISBN : 1637745818

Get eBook

Book Description

In this updated and expanded edition of climate scientist Steven Koonin’s groundbreaking book, go behind the headlines to discover the latest eye-opening data about climate change—with unbiased facts and realistic steps for the future. "Greenland’s ice loss is accelerating." "Extreme temperatures are causing more fatalities." "Rapid 'climate action' is essential to avoid a future climate disaster." You've heard all this presented as fact. But according to science, all of these statements are profoundly misleading. With the new edition of Unsettled, Steven Koonin draws on decades of experience—including as a top science advisor to the Obama administration—to clear away the fog and explain what science really says (and doesn't say). With a new introduction, this edition now features reflections on an additional three years of eye-opening data, alternatives to unrealistic “net zero” solutions, global energy inequalities, and the energy crisis arising from the war in Ukraine. When it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that “the science is settled.” In reality, the climate is changing, but the why and how aren’t as clear as you’ve probably been led to believe. Koonin takes readers behind the headlines, dispels popular myths, and unveils little-known truths: Despite rising greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures decreased from 1940 to 1970 Models currently used to predict the future do not accurately describe the climate of the past, and modelers themselves strongly doubt their regional predictions There is no compelling evidence that hurricanes are becoming more frequent—or that predictions of rapid sea level rise have any validity Unsettled is a reality check buoyed by hope, offering the truth about climate science—what we know, what we don’t, and what it all means for our future.