Examining the Relationship Between Physical Vulnerability and Public Perceptions of Global Climate Change in the United States

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel D. Brody ◽  
Sammy Zahran ◽  
Arnold Vedlitz ◽  
Himanshu Grover

Significance The United States has already committed, in an unprecedented deal with China in November 2014, to reducing its emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025 (an improvement on its previous 17% goal). China in return pledged that its emissions would peak around 2030. This agreement is a game-changer for combating global climate change, since the two countries are the world's largest sources of carbon emissions, together accounting for 40% of the total, and were not covered under the now-expired Kyoto Protocol. Impacts Washington is poised to reclaim its place, lost after Kyoto, as a leader in global efforts against climate change. US-China climate cooperation initiatives could serve as templates for other developing countries. There are new opportunities for trilateral cooperation involving the EU. Fears that the bilateral agreement makes the UNFCCC obsolete are unwarranted, but it could preclude more ambitious efforts.


First Monday ◽  
2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Latham

Planetary phenomena, such as global climate change and transborder disease transmission, are increasing subject to monitoring aided by advances in surveillance and data processing technologies. The most powerful governments of the world, especially the United States, are building monitoring systems they can control. Communities and activists around the world face a fundamental choice: become involved in shaping those systems so they better serve the needs and interests of the world’s population or build their own independent, unofficial monitoring systems.


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