scholarly journals Climate Imperialism: Ecocriticism, Postcolonialism, and Global Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Hartnett
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Indigenous Resistance ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Form ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Climate Crisis

Global climate change threatens to kill or displace hundreds of thousands of people and will irrevocably change the lifestyles of practically everyone on the planet. However, the effect of imperialism and colonialism on climate change is a topic that has not received adequate scrutiny. Empire has been a significant factor in the rise of fossil fuels. The complicated connections between conservation and empire often make it difficult to reconcile the two disparate fields of ecocriticism and postcolonial studies. This paper will discuss how empire and imperialism have contributed to, and continue to shape, the ever-looming threat of global climate crisis, especially as it manifests in the tropics. Global climate change reinforces disparate economic, social, and racial conditions that were started, fostered, and thrived throughout the long history of colonization, inscribing climate change as a new, slow form of imperialism that is retracing the pathways that colonialism and globalism have already formed. Ultimately, it may only be by considering climate change through a postcolonial lens and utilizing indigenous resistance that the damage of this new form of climate imperialism can be undone.

scholarly journals Demographic determinants of energy consumption in the European Union: Econometric analysis results

Stanovnistvo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Predrag Petrovic ◽  
Goran Nikolic ◽  
Ivana Ostojic
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Human Society

Over the past several decades there has been a strong intensifying trend of human society impact on ecosystems, consumption of natural resources and global change. The environmental impact of the society is fully apparent and dominantly implemented through various greenhouse gases emissions (GHG), leading towards global climate change with considerably spread harmful effects. Global climate change includes the earth and ocean surface and atmospheric warming, but also melting of snow and ice, increase of sea levels and ocean acidity, as well as ever more common natural phenomena extremes (winds, various forms of rainfall/precipitation, extremely low or high temperatures, etc.). Scientists are well-familiarized with the fact that use of fossil fuels, such as oil derivatives and coal, is the main generator of harmful gases. In addition, possible substitutions for fossil fuels in the form of other energy sources are very limited, and it should be remembered that other energy sources also have certain adverse environmental effects. Bearing in mind climate change caused by products of fossil fuels combustion, as well as inevitable depletion of natural crude oil resources, management of growing global energy demand becomes one of the key goals and challenges of 21st century. If these reasons are coupled with obligations emanating from Kyoto Protocol, it is clear that attention of researches should be more than reasonably focused on the main determinants of energy consumption. This study is focused on illumination of key demographic and economic determinants of energy consumption in 28 EU member states in the period 1960- 2014. The results obtained demonstrate that population positively and quite strongly influence total energy consumption. An increase of population of 1% will result in an increase of energy consumption of 1.59% to 1.76%. Such relation most probably can be explained by the fact that demographic growth of the society aggravates and complicates planning processes of efficient energy consumption, diminishing the ability of society to be energy efficient. The population effect of persons aged 65 and above to energy consumption is also positive. An increase in share of this age group of 1% will result in an increase in energy consumption of approximately 0.43%. Positive elasticity coefficient should be understood as a proof that European societies with higher share of senior citizens consume more energy that societies with higher share of younger population, not necessarily as an argument that senior citizens use more energy than younger population. The explanation for such nature of a cause-andeffect relation could be that high share of senior citizens influences the structure of production and consumption, spatial distribution of population, transport infrastructure and social services provided. A significant influence on energy consumption in the EU is made by the level of economic development of countries, which is in accordance with the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), suggesting a relation of inverted letter ?U?. The amount of income per capita needed to have the EKC expressed ranges between 54,183 and 81,552 dollars.

scholarly journals Managing pandemics as super wicked problems: lessons from, and for, COVID-19 and the climate crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Auld ◽  
Steven Bernstein ◽  
Benjamin Cashore ◽  
Kelly Levin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Multiple Scales ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Path Dependency ◽  
Wicked Problem ◽  
Forward Path ◽  
Resource Requirements ◽  
Climate Crisis

AbstractCOVID-19 has caused 100s of millions of infections and millions of deaths worldwide, overwhelming health and economic capacities in many countries and at multiple scales. The immediacy and magnitude of this crisis has resulted in government officials, practitioners and applied scholars turning to reflexive learning exercises to generate insights for managing the reverberating effects of this disease as well as the next inevitable pandemic. We contribute to both tasks by assessing COVID-19 as a “super wicked” problem denoted by four features we originally formulated to describe the climate crisis: time is running out, no central authority, those causing the problem also want to solve it, and policies irrationally discount the future (Levin et al. in Playing it forward: path dependency, progressive incrementalism, and the “super wicked” problem of global climate change, 2007; Levin et al. in Playing it forward: Path dependency, progressive incrementalism, and the "super wicked" problem of global climate change, 2009; Levin et al. in Policy Sci 45(2):123–152, 2012). Doing so leads us to identify three overarching imperatives critical for pandemic management. First, similar to requirements to address the climate crisis, policy makers must establish and maintain durable policy objectives. Second, in contrast to climate, management responses must always allow for swift changes in policy settings and calibrations given rapid and evolving knowledge about a particular disease’s epidemiology. Third, analogous to, but with swifter effects than climate, wide-ranging global efforts, if well designed, will dramatically reduce domestic costs and resource requirements by curbing the spread of the disease and/or fostering relevant knowledge for managing containment and eradication. Accomplishing these tasks requires building the analytic capacity for engaging in reflexive anticipatory policy design exercises aimed at maintaining, or building, life-saving thermostatic institutions at the global and domestic levels.

Final Words

Glaciers ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Daniel Taillant
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Phase Out

In the preceding chapters of this book, we’ve traveled through a world of ice that was probably largely uncharted for most of us. Hopefully, we’ve learned a little bit about these fantastic frozen natural resources that play such a fundamental role in the sustainability and balance of our global ecosystem. Glaciers are melting. They are in danger because we have placed them in danger and, as such, we need to take note of and responsibility for this vulnerability, not only to protect glaciers but also to protect the very essence of our global habitat. Glaciers have been unprotected because they are obscure, removed, alien to our daily lives, located in far away places that are for the most part inhospitable to our way of life. And yet, they are a fundamental and integral part of our way of life. With modern tools like the Internet and programs like Google Earth, we can get closer to these fabulous vulnerable resources, to learn about them and work to protect them. The world is challenged today to address global climate change. If we envision a sustainable and harmonious environment in our future, we must progressively move away from fossil fuels and introduce a more balanced and sustainable mix of energy sources grounded on renewable energy. We must find solutions to generating, harnessing, transporting, and managing renewable energies, and we must progressively phase out oil and gas from our daily lives. It is possible; it just takes personal and collective conviction to set ourselves in motion to achieve this goal. Glaciers are a majestic resource, inspiring awe and wonder in a world of frozen beauty that awaits our discovery but that also alerts us to our excesses and indifference. We are losing our glaciers because we have ignored the extreme vulnerability of our planetary ecosystem, and we now must face difficult decisions about policy, consumption, and lifestyle changes that shake the foundations of our society. Global climate change for many seems intangible.

scholarly journals Climate strike as an instrument of public influence on global climate change issues

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (27) ◽  
pp. 162-171
Author(s):  
Jaryna Turchyn ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
New Instrument ◽  
Fundamental Research ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Change Problem

The article considers peculiarities of climate strike as a new instrument that might stop climate change as a biggest challenge of the present. The author outlines main reasons that prompted Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg to initiate school strikes for the climate. It is explained about environmental activism as a movement of representatives of various groups of individuals and organizations that work in collaboration in social, scientific, political and conservational fields with the main purpose of addressing environmental concerns. It has been analyzed an origin, goals, methods and tools of the climate strike activities of 350.org as an international environmental organization addressing the climate crisis. Special attention is paid to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking as a technique designed to recover gas and oil from shale rock. Based on US fundamental research, the author underlines dangers and risks of fracking due to earth tremor concerns as well as possibility of escaping of potentially carcinogenic chemicals during drilling and contaminating groundwater around the fracking site. Besides of FridaysforFuture and 350.org movements addressed climate crisis author describes the history, main goals, vision and strategy of the Extinction Rebellion movement. It is emphasized that Extinction Rebellion created with the aim of using nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse. It is underlined that activists often violate public order; most of them during protests accept arrest and imprisonment. It has been mentioned that 2019 was the year of climate change and because of coronavirus disease global climate strike nowadays moved online. The author draws conclusion, pointing that acknowledge the reality of climate change, cooperation of all stakeholders and far-sighted leadership are among the fundamentally important steps that must be taken to achieve the goals and consolidate countries around the global climate change problem.

Revisiting Zanzibari Seaweed

2018 ◽  
pp. 213-254
Author(s):  
Nadra O. Hashim
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Seaweed Production

Well before island nations began to consider rising ocean levels, a feature of global climate change, they have been concerned with the allocation of water resources. The purpose of this chapter is to revisit the efforts of Zanzibar's academic, as well as private and public institutions, as they promote environmentally responsible entrepreneurial projects, while advancing women's economic empowerment. Analysis will examine the history of seaweed production and consider how Zanzibar's seaweed farmers have recently responded to the dislocations associated with global climate change. This discussion will also consider to what extent Zanzibari seaweed production reflects the norms enshrined in the United Nation's Rio + 20 platform, and the language of the UN's 2030 sustainable development goals.

Zanzibari Seaweed

2015 ◽  
pp. 132-158
Author(s):  
Nadra Hashim
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Dar Es Salaam ◽  
Economic Empowerment ◽  
General Development ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
History Of

Well before island nations began to consider rising ocean levels, a feature of global climate change (GCC), they have been concerned with the allocation of water resources. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the efforts of universities, in the Tanzanian cities of Zanzibar and Dar-Es-Salaam, to promote environmentally responsible entrepreneurial projects, which sustain women's economic empowerment, while advancing the general development of the broader community, in which they live. The object of this discussion is to examine the history of sea-weed production, and to examine how Zanzibar's seaweed farmers, who are largely women, have responded to adversity, and what, if anything, they can do to address current difficulties.

Revisiting Zanzibari Seaweed

2022 ◽  
pp. 230-261
Author(s):  
Nadra O. Hashim
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
History Of ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Seaweed Production

Well before island nations began to consider rising ocean levels, a feature of global climate change, they have been concerned with the allocation of water resources. The purpose of this chapter is to revisit the efforts of Zanzibar's academic, as well as private and public institutions, as they promote environmentally responsible entrepreneurial projects, while advancing women's economic empowerment. Analysis will examine the history of seaweed production and consider how Zanzibar's seaweed farmers have recently responded to the dislocations associated with global climate change. This discussion will also consider to what extent Zanzibari seaweed production reflects the norms enshrined in the United Nation's Rio + 20 platform, and the language of the UN's 2030 sustainable development goals.

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