Ecological Impacts of Climate Change


Book Description

The world's climate is changing, and it will continue to change throughout the 21st century and beyond. Rising temperatures, new precipitation patterns, and other changes are already affecting many aspects of human society and the natural world. In this book, the National Research Council provides a broad overview of the ecological impacts of climate change, and a series of examples of impacts of different kinds. The book was written as a basis for a forthcoming illustrated booklet, designed to provide the public with accurate scientific information on this important subject.




Environmental Studies and Climate Change


Book Description

Currently, anthropogenic activities have caused unprecedented destruction of the environment at alarming rates, leading to undesirable alterations in air, land, and water. The process of environment degradation has been accelerated by industrial processes, which result in waste as well as over-consumption of natural resources. The ecological balance has been disturbed, and resources have shrunk. All this has resulted in climate change, which has emerged as a major concern in the 21st century. Changes in the environment are driven by demand for energy, water, and food to raise the standard of living. These are also responsible for climate change, with contributions from deforestation and CO2 emissions from fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum. The present volume discusses some of the main issues regarding environmental degradation and the causes as well as the impact of climate change, which is impacting the ecosystem. The effects of various pollutants, causes of climate change with case studies on geochemistry and glaciers, etc., and measures to reduce the impact on biodiversity, health, etc. are discussed in detail in its chapters. In a nutshell, this volume discusses in detail the following issues: • Anthropogenic and natural factors in environmental degradation • Climate change history, causes, and threats to abiotic and biotic systems • Case studies on the impact of climate change and living systems • Mitigation and preparedness for the future




Climate Change


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.




The Social Aspects of Environmental and Climate Change


Book Description

The Social Aspects of Environmental and Climate Change critically examines the prominence of natural science framing in mainstream climate change research, and demonstrates why climate change really is a social issue. The book highlights how assumptions regarding social and cultural systems that are common in sustainability science have impeded progress in understanding environmental and climate change. Keskitalo explains how social sciences theory and perspectives provide an understanding of institutional dynamics including issues of scale, possibilities for learning, and stakeholder interaction, using specific case studies to illustrate this impact. The book highlights the foundational role research into social, political, cultural, behavioural, and economic processes must play if we are to design successful strategies, instruments, and management actions to act on climate change. With pedagogical features such as suggestions for further reading, text boxes, and study questions in each chapter, this book will be an essential resource for students and scholars in sustainability, environmental studies, climate change, and related fields.




Action Research for Climate Change Adaptation


Book Description

Governments all over the world are struggling with the question of how to adapt to climate change. They need information not only about the issue and its possible consequences, but also about feasible governance strategies and instruments to combat it. At the same time, scientists from different social disciplines are trying to understand the dynamics and peculiarities of the governance of climate change adaptation. This book demonstrates how action-oriented research methods can be used to satisfy the need for both policy-relevant information and scientific knowledge. Bringing together eight case studies that show inspiring practices of action research from around the world, including Australia, Denmark, Vietnam and the Netherlands, the book covers a rich variety of action-research applications, running from participatory observation to serious games and role-playing exercises. It explores many adaptation challenges, from flood-risk safety to heat stress and freshwater availability, and draws out valuable lessons about the conditions that make action research successful, demonstrating how scientific and academic knowledge can be used in a practical context to reach useful and applicable insights. The book will be of interest to scholars and students of climate change, environmental policy, politics and governance.




Advancing the Science of Climate Change


Book Description




Climate Change and Cultural Heritage


Book Description

History reveals how civilisations can be decimated by changes in climate. More recently modern methods of warfare have exposed the vulnerability of the artefacts of civilisation. Bringing together a range of subjects - from science, energy and sustainability to aesthetics theory and civilization theory - this book uniquely deals with climate change and the ensuing catastrophes in relation to cultural factors, urbanism and architecture. It links the evolution of civilisation, with special emphasis on the dynamics of beauty as displayed in architecture and urbanism, to climate change. It then considers both the historic and predicted impacts of climate change and the threat it poses to the continued viability of human civilisation when survival is the top priority. This book gives students, researchers and professionals in architecture and sustainable design as well as anyone interested in the threat of global warming to civilisation, new insights as to what could be lost if action is not taken at a global level.




Communicating Climate Change


Book Description

This edited collection focuses on theoretical and applied research-based observations concerning how experts, advocates, and institutions make climate change information accessible to different audiences. Communicating Climate Change concentrates on three key elements of climate change communication – access, relevance, and understandability – to provide an overview of how these aspects allow multiple groups of stakeholders to act on climate-related information to build resilience. Featuring contributions from a wide range of scholars from across different disciplines, this book explores a multitude of different scenarios and communication methods, including social media; public opinion surveys; participatory mapping; and video. Overall, climate change communication is addressed from three different perspectives: communicating with the public; communicating for stakeholder engagement; and organizational, institutional, risk, and disaster communication. With each chapter focusing on implications and applications for practice, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of climate change and environmental communication, as well as practitioners interested in understanding how to better engage stakeholders through climate change-related communication.




Cool It


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.




Understanding Climate Change


Book Description

Conversations about climate change are filled with challenges involving complex data, deeply held values, and political issues. Understanding Climate Change examines climate change as both a scientific and a public policy issue. Sarah L. Burch and Sara E. Harris explain the basics of the climate system, climate models and prediction, and human and biophysical impacts, as well as strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The second edition has been fully updated throughout, including coverage of new advances in climate modelling and of the shifting landscape of renewable energy production and distribution. A brand new chapter discusses global governance, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, as well as mitigation efforts at the national and subnational levels. This new chapter makes the book even more relevant to climate change courses housed in social sciences departments such as political science and geography. An effective and integrated introduction to an urgent and controversial issue, this book is well-suited to adoption in a variety of introductory climate change courses found in a number of science and social science departments. Its ultimate goal is to equip readers with the tools needed to become constructive participants in the human response to climate change.