scholarly journals It’s Our Fault: A Global Comparison of Different Ways of Explaining Climate Change

Human Ecology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schnegg ◽  
Coral Iris O’Brian ◽  
Inga Janina Sievert
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Global Comparison ◽  
Local Phenomenon ◽  
World Regions ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Specific Factors

AbstractInternational surveys suggest people increasingly agree the climate is changing and humans are the cause. One reading of this is that people have adopted the scientific point of view. Based on a sample of 28 ethnographic cases we argue that this conclusion might be premature. Communities merge scientific explanations with local knowledge in hybrid ways. This is possible because both discourses blame humans as the cause of the changes they observe. However, the specific factors or agents blamed differ in each case. Whereas scientists identify carbon dioxide producers in particular world regions, indigenous communities often blame themselves, since, in many lay ontologies, the weather is typically perceived as a local phenomenon, which rewards and punishes people for their actions. Thus, while survey results show approval of the scientific view, this agreement is often understood differently and leads to diverging ways of allocating meaning about humans and the weather.

Physical capital stock, technological upgrading and modernisation in Hungary

2005 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Szalavetz
Keyword(s):  
Capital Accumulation ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Technology Generation ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Physical Capital Accumulation

This paper discusses the relation between the quality and quantity indicators of physical capital and modernisation. While international academic literature emphasises the role of intangible factors enabling technology generation and absorption rather than that of physical capital accumulation, this paper argues that the quantity and quality of physical capital are important modernisation factors, particularly in the case of small, undercapitalised countries that recently integrated into the world economy. The paper shows that in Hungary, as opposed to developed countries, the technological upgrading of capital assets was not necessarily accompanied by the upgrading of human capital i.e. the thesis of capital skill complementarity did not apply to the first decade of transformation and capital accumulation in Hungary. Finally, the paper shows that there are large differences between the average technological levels of individual industries. The dualism of the Hungarian economy, which is also manifest in terms of differences in the size of individual industries' technological gaps, is a disadvantage from the point of view of competitiveness. The increasing differences in the size of the technological gaps can be explained not only with industry-specific factors, but also with the weakness of technology and regional development policies, as well as with institutional deficiencies.

Cultivating Ice over Time: On the Idea of Timeless Knowledge and Places in the Himalayas

1969 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karine Gagné
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Local Populations ◽  
Close Study ◽  
Indian Himalayas ◽  
Over Time

Assumptions that local communities have an endogenous capacity to adapt to climate change stemming from time-tested knowledge and an inherent sense of community that prompts mobilisation are becoming increasingly common in material produced by international organisations. This discourse, which relies on ahistorical and apolitical conceptions of localities and populations, is based on ideas of timeless knowledge and places. Analysing the water-place nexus in Ladakh, in the Indian Himalayas, through a close study of glacier practices as they change over time, the article argues that local knowledge is subject to change and must be analysed in light of changing conceptions and experiences of place by the state and by local populations alike.

Climate-forced changes of bio-productivity of Belorussian terrestrial ecosystems

2019 ◽  
pp. 77-88
Author(s):  
S. A. Lysenko
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Precipitation Amount ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Vegetation Period ◽  
Climatic Trend ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Current Century ◽  
The Impact

The spatial and temporal particularities of Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) changes over territory of Belarus in the current century and their relationship with climate change were investigated. The rise of NDVI is observed at approximately 84% of the Belarus area. The statistically significant growth of NDVI has exhibited at nearly 35% of the studied area (t-test at 95% confidence interval), which are mainly forests and undeveloped areas. Croplands vegetation index is largely descending. The main factor of croplands bio-productivity interannual variability is precipitation amount in vegetation period. This factor determines more than 60% of the croplands NDVI dispersion. The long-term changes of NDVI could be explained by combination of two factors: photosynthesis intensifying action of carbon dioxide and vegetation growth suppressing action of air warming with almost unchanged precipitation amount. If the observed climatic trend continues the croplands bio-productivity in many Belarus regions could be decreased at more than 20% in comparison with 2000 year. The impact of climate change on the bio-productivity of undeveloped lands is only slightly noticed on the background of its growth in conditions of rising level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Configurations to Superior Environmental Innovation Strategy: A Both–And Approach

2021 ◽  
pp. 108602662110316
Author(s):  
Tiziana Russo-Spena ◽  
Nadia Di Paola ◽  
Aidan O’Driscoll
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Innovation Strategy ◽  
Environmental Innovation ◽  
Data Set

An effective climate change action involves the critical role that companies must play in assuring the long-term human and social well-being of future generations. In our study, we offer a more holistic, inclusive, both–and approach to the challenge of environmental innovation (EI) that uses a novel methodology to identify relevant configurations for firms engaging in a superior EI strategy. A conceptual framework is proposed that identifies six sets of driving characteristics of EI and two sets of beneficial outcomes, all inherently tensional. Our analysis utilizes a complementary rather than an oppositional point of view. A data set of 65 companies in the ICT value chain is analyzed via fuzzy-set comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a post-QCA procedure. The results reveal that achieving a superior EI strategy is possible in several scenarios. Specifically, after close examination, two main configuration groups emerge, referred to as technological environmental innovators and organizational environmental innovators.

scholarly journals Grassroots and Global Governance: Can Global–Local Linkages Foster Food System Resilience for Small Northern Canadian Communities?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2415
Author(s):  
Carla Johnston ◽  
Andrew Spring
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Global Networks

Communities in Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT) are at the forefront of the global climate emergency. Yet, they are not passive victims; local-level programs are being implemented across the region to maintain livelihoods and promote adaptation. At the same time, there is a recent call within global governance literature to pay attention to how global policy is implemented and affecting people on the ground. Thinking about these two processes, we ask the question: (how) can global governance assist northern Indigenous communities in Canada in reaching their goals of adapting their food systems to climate change? To answer this question, we argue for a “community needs” approach when engaging in global governance literature and practice, which puts community priorities and decision-making first. As part of a collaborative research partnership, we highlight the experiences of Ka’a’gee Tu First Nation, located in Kakisa, NWT, Canada. We include their successes of engaging in global network building and the systemic roadblock of lack of formal land tenure. Moreover, we analyze potential opportunities for this community to engage with global governance instruments and continue connecting to global networks that further their goals related to climate change adaptation and food sovereignty.

scholarly journals Projections of Local Knowledge-Based Adaptation Strategies of Mexican Coffee Farmers

Climate ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Patricia Ruiz-García ◽  
Cecilia Conde-Álvarez ◽  
Jesús David Gómez-Díaz ◽  
Alejandro Ismael Monterroso-Rivas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Local Knowledge ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Coffee Farmers ◽  
Extreme Hydrological Events ◽  
Adaptation Policies

Local knowledge can be a strategy for coping with extreme events and adapting to climate change. In Mexico, extreme events and climate change projections suggest the urgency of promoting local adaptation policies and strategies. This paper provides an assessment of adaptation actions based on the local knowledge of coffee farmers in southern Mexico. The strategies include collective and individual adaptation actions that farmers have established. To determine their viability and impacts, carbon stocks and fluxes in the system’s aboveground biomass were projected, along with water balance variables. Stored carbon contents are projected to increase by more than 90%, while maintaining agroforestry systems will also help serve to protect against extreme hydrological events. Finally, the integration of local knowledge into national climate change adaptation plans is discussed and suggested with a local focus. We conclude that local knowledge can be successful in conserving agroecological coffee production systems.

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