Against Doomsday Scenarios: What Is to Be Done Now?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
John Bellamy Foster ◽  
John Molyneux ◽  
Owen McCormack
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Call To Action

We should avoid offering a fatalistic worldview. In fact, the environmental movement in general and ecosocialism in particular are all about combating the current trend toward ecological destruction. Climate change is now "code red for humanity." This is not a doomsday forecast but a call to action.

scholarly journals The Evolution of Communicating the Uncertainty of Climate Change to Policymakers: A Study of IPCC Synthesis Reports

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2466
Author(s):  
Tomas Molina ◽  
Ernest Abadal
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The Public ◽  
Level Of Confidence ◽  
Ipcc Report ◽  
Degree Of Certainty ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tackle Climate Change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports on climate change have served to alert both the public and policymakers about the scope of the predicted changes and the effects they would have on natural and economic systems. The first IPCC report was published in 1990, since which time a further four have been produced. The aim of this study was to conduct a content analysis of the IPCC Summaries for Policymakers in order to determine the degree of certainty associated with the statements they contain. For each of the reports we analyzed all statements containing expressions indicating the corresponding level of confidence. The aggregated results show a shift over time towards higher certainty levels, implying a “Call to action” (from 32.8% of statements in IPCC2 to 70.2% in IPCC5). With regard to the international agreements drawn up to tackle climate change, the growing level of confidence expressed in the IPCC Summaries for Policymakers reports might have been a relevant factor in the history of decision making.

The Changing Ethics of Climate Change

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Mittler
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Renewable Energies ◽  
Car Use ◽  
The Face ◽  
Speed Up ◽  
The Right

Many in the environmental movement have argued in recent years that in order to speed up climate actions we should take the ethics out of the climate change debate. Focusing on the moral obligation to act or on the effects of climate change on the most vulnerable was often judged to render the discourse too “heavy,” “negative,” or “difficult.” Many also deemed it unnecessary. After all, renewable energies, better designed cities that allow for reduced car use, and power plant regulations that lead to cleaner local air—to take just three examples—all have real and substantial benefits unrelated to the fact that they are “the right thing to do” in the face of climate change. They create jobs, reduce health problems and costs, and make society fitter.

scholarly journals Potential impacts of climate change on Mongolia’s plant protection status quo

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (02) ◽  
pp. 26-32
Author(s):  
Batkhuyag B ◽  
Batnaran Kh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Modeling ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Agricultural Pests ◽  
Migratory Locust ◽  
Colorado Beetle ◽  
Wide Range

Mongolia’s 2030 Sustainable Development Vision set a goal to be a self-sufficient in grain, potatoes and vegetables by 2030. However, Mongolia’s pastoral animal husbandry and rain-fed agriculture are extremely sensitive to climate change. The Asian migratory locust is considered as the most harmful grasshopper in the world. Until 1970th, these locust’s distribution areas in Mongolia were confined to oasis of Gobi deserts. A study on Asian migratory locust in Russia predicts distribution and formation of new permanent habitats of the locust in Chita oblast, Krasnoyarsk territory and Republic of Tyva. The Colorado beetle is one of the world’s most infamous invasive species due to its rapid adaptation to a wide range of ecological conditions and ability to disperse long distances. The climate modeling of Colorado beetle showed that with current trend, the beetle will expand its distribution into the most eastern and north-eastern regions of the Russian Federation. In China, the Colorado beetle was first detected in Xinjiang in 1993 and subsequently spread eastward. In China the Colorado beetle is currently expanding its areas at rate of 25 kms year (12-45 kms/year). Both species’ distribution patterns in neighboring countries show eventual establishment of permanent habitats around Mongolia. Their invasion to Mongolia will threaten country’s food security due to direct destruction of cereal and potato crops, and increased application of highly toxic pesticides. In light of these threats, Mongolia should start taking serious preventive measures by increasing surveillance and dedicated risk assessment studies for potential agricultural pests and diseases.

Evolution

Eco-Alchemy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan McKanan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
The World ◽  
At Home

Anthroposophy, with its alchemical emphasis on the balancing of polarities, brings several gifts to the ongoing evolution of the environmental movement. These gifts include a cosmic holism that challenges us to attend to ever-widening circles of interconnection; a homeopathic model of social change that invites us to use subtle influences to heal the world; an appropriate anthropocentrism that allows us to experience ourselves as fully at home in the world; and a vision of planetary transmutation that can resist climate change while embracing biological and spiritual evolution.

scholarly journals The Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions and Vygotsky: Fostering ecological action and environmental citizenship

2009 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mishka Lysack
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Public Education ◽  
Zone Of Proximal Development ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Proximal Development ◽  
University Of Calgary ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Ecological Action ◽  
The University

Abstract The Teach-in on Global Warming Solutions is part of a larger socio-environmental movement concerned with combating climate change. Highlighting the history and elements of the teach-in as a model of learning, the article examines the teach-in movement, using a local event at the University of Calgary as an illustration. Conceptual resources from Vygotsky – the Zone of Proximal Development, and learning as social/relational transaction – are used to illuminate specific aspects of the teach-in. The article concludes by discussing the challenges and opportunities facing the global warming movement regarding public education.

scholarly journals Serial Application of SWAT and CE-QUAL-W2 to Predict Water Quality Dynamics in the Basin and Lake of the Yongdam Dam, Korea to Analyze Climate Change Effects

10.29007/1l72 ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongil Seo ◽  
Jongtae Park ◽  
Youngmin Koo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Quality ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Swat Model ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Precipitation Pattern ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Flow Rates ◽  
Runoff Reduction

Long term changes in pollutant loadings and water quality of the Yongdam Lake due to climate changes were estimated by using a basin model and a surface water quality model in series. Two Representative Concentration Pathways scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, that stabilize radiative force at 4.5 W/m2 (significant reduction) and 8.5 W/m2 (current trend), respectively, were applied and their impacts were predicted. The SWAT model was selected in the basin to predict flow rates and loadings of major pollutants to the lake. Then, the CE-QUAL-W2 model was used to estimate water levels and water concentrations in the study lake. Both models were applied for 6 years from 2010 to 2015 and the latter three years were used for calibrations discarding the first three year warming up periods’ results. Using the both models, future flow rate and water concentration were estimated for 80 years from 2016 to 2095. The RCP8.5 scenario application results shows future flow rate and water quality concentrations will be increased in flood seasons and decreased in dry seasons. This result indicates that drought and flood will become more serious and also their effects on water quality will become more serious in the future. The RCP4.5 scenario showed greater increase in flow rates and TSS and TP concentrations than RCP8.5 scenarios despite the significant reduction in green house gas. This may be caused by increased air temperature followed by increased evapotranspiration that led surface runoff reduction in the basin area of the RCP8.5. This study suggests that dependent on characteristics of local climate change effect, impacts on the environmental may be different. Also, temporal distributions of precipitation pattern during simulation period and also in a year must be investigated thoroughly as simple arithmetic averages may not reflect detailed phenomena appropriately.

scholarly journals Connecting the world through local Indigenous Knowledge

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Margaret Sraku-Lartey
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Sacred Groves ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

This paper focuses upon the importance and value of local Indigenous Knowledge and how it is being threatened in today’s modern world rather than being leveraged to catalyze development. The author specifically calls out three types of Indigenous Knowledge: (1) medicinal knowledge related to human health, i.e., herbal medicine; (2) sacred groves – geographic areas set aside to preserve plants and animals and that can help to mitigate the impact of climate change; and (3) living libraries – communities of people who are also holders of cultural wisdom and history and who are custodians of all knowledge relating to the history of their own community. The author makes a call to action, requesting that scientists, librarians, publishers, and others in the information community collaborate and move forward together to save and build upon global Indigenous Knowledge.

scholarly journals Media Coverage and Perceived Policy Influence of Environmental Actors: Good Strategy or Pyrrhic Victory?

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-310
Author(s):  
Adam C. Howe ◽  
Mark C. J. Stoddart ◽  
David B. Tindall
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Policy Networks ◽  
Policy Network ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Policy Influence ◽  
Change Policy ◽  
Movement Organizations

In this article we analyze how media coverage for environmental actors (individual environmental activists and environmental movement organizations) is associated with their perceived policy influence in Canadian climate change policy networks. We conceptualize media coverage as the total number of media mentions an actor received in Canada’s two main national newspapers—the <em>Globe and Mail</em> and <em>National Post</em>. We conceptualize perceived policy influence as the total number of times an actor was nominated by other actors in a policy network as being perceived to be influential in domestic climate change policy making in Canada. Literature from the field of social movements, agenda setting, and policy networks suggests that environmental actors who garner more media coverage should be perceived as more influential in policy networks than actors who garner less coverage. We assess support for this main hypothesis in two ways. First, we analyze how actor attributes (such as the type of actor) are associated with the amount of media coverage an actor receives. Second, we evaluate whether being an environmental actor shapes the association between media coverage and perceived policy influence. We find a negative association between media coverage and perceived policy influence for individual activists, but not for environmental movement organizations. This case raises fundamental theoretical questions about the nature of relations between media and policy spheres, and the efficacy of media for signaling and mobilizing policy influence.

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