scholarly journals The Cascading Climate Crisis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke Kemp

• Risk cascades are where an adverse climatic impact or trend triggers or amplifies a set of risks, including through maladaptive responses. • Climate risk cascades have already occurred and are set to increase going into the future. Some of these could be non-linear and high impact. • Risk cascades can occur through a unilinear chain – a ‘domino’ effect—or when the cascades reinforce the initial risk or driver – a ‘spiral’ or ‘cycle effect. At worst, these can snowball into crises that cross sectors and countries. • Predicting risk cascades will be inherently difficult, if not impossible. Yet we can likely understand the different pathways they may take, and the thresholds past which they are likely to occur. • Protecting again risk cascades means faster decarbonisation, supporting the most vulnerable, and building more resilient socio-economic systems. This will require indirect measures, such as remedying inequalities.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén D. Manzanedo ◽  
Peter Manning

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak pandemic is now a global crisis. It has caused 1.6+ million confirmed cases and 100 000+ deaths at the time of writing and triggered unprecedented preventative measures that have put a substantial portion of the global population under confinement, imposed isolation, and established ‘social distancing’ as a new global behavioral norm. The COVID-19 crisis has affected all aspects of everyday life and work, while also threatening the health of the global economy. This crisis offers also an unprecedented view of what the global climate crisis may look like. In fact, some of the parallels between the COVID-19 crisis and what we expect from the looming global climate emergency are remarkable. Reflecting upon the most challenging aspects of today’s crisis and how they compare with those expected from the climate change emergency may help us better prepare for the future.


Author(s):  
Lionel Manin ◽  
Jarir Mahfoudh ◽  
Matthieu Richard ◽  
David Jauffres

Sports and mountaineering activities are becoming more and more popular. Equipment constructors seek to develop products and devices that are easy to use and that take into account all safety recommendations. PETZL and INSA have collaborated to develop a model for the simulation of displacements and efforts involved during the fall of a climber in the “safety chain”. The model is based on the classical equations of motion, in which climber and belayer are considered as rigid masses, while the rope is considered as a series of non-linear stiffness passing through several devices as brakes and runners. The main goal is to predict the forces in the rope and on the return anchor at the first rebound of the fall. Experiments were first performed in order to observe and determine the dynamic characteristics of the rope, and then to validate results stemming from simulations. Several fall configurations are simulated, and the model performs satisfactorily. It also provides a close approximation of the phenomena observed experimentally. The model enables the assessment of the existing equipments and the improved design of the future one.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Maier

One of the most fundamental insights into the nature of our subjective perception of the world around us is that it is not veridical. In other words, we tend to not perceive information about the world around us accurately. Instead, our brains interpret new information through a host of innate and learned mechanisms that can introduce bias and distortions One of the best studied mechanisms that guide – and distort – our perception is the psychophysical Weber-Fechner law. According to this empirically derived, mathematically formulated law we tend to put more emphasis on smaller deviations in size while underestimating larger changes. The original formulation of the Weber-Fechner law takes the shape of a logarithmic function and is commonly applied to somatosensory perception such as the weight of an object. However, later work showed that the Weber-Fechner law can be generalized and describe a large variety of perceived changes in magnitude that even go beyond the sensory domain. Here we investigate the hypothesis that our perception of data associated with the spread of COVID-19 and similar pandemics is governed by the same psychophysical laws. Based on several recently published studies, we demonstrate that the Weber-Fechner law can be shown to directly affect the decision-making of officials in response to this global crisis as well as the greater public at large. We discuss how heightened awareness of the non-linear nature of subjective perception could help alleviate problematic judgements in similar situations in the future.


1963 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. J. Hancock

SummaryThe validity and applicability of the static margin (stick fixed) Kn,where as defined by Gates and Lyon is shown to be restricted to the conventional flexible aircraft. Alternative suggestions for the definition of static margin are put forward which can be equally applied to the conventional flexible aircraft of the past and the integrated flexible aircraft of the future. Calculations have been carried out on simple slender plate models with both linear and non-linear aerodynamic forces to assess their static stability characteristics.


BioEssays ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 821-822
Author(s):  
Andrew Moore
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Tyler McCreary

Abstract Using a case study of Alberta, Canada, this paper demonstrates how a geographic critique of fossil capitalism helps elucidate the tensions shaping tar sands development. Conflicts over pipelines and Indigenous territorial claims are challenging development trajectories, as tar sands companies need to expand access to markets in order to expand production. While these conflicts are now well recognised, there are also broader dynamics shaping development. States face a rentier’s dilemma, relying on capital investments to realise resource value. Political responses to the emerging climate crisis undercut the profitability of hydrocarbon extraction. The automation of production undermines the industrial compromise between hydrocarbon labour and capital. Ultimately, the crises of fossil capitalism require a radical transformation within or beyond capital relations. To mobilise against the tar sands, organisers must recognise the tensions underpinning it, developing strategies that address ecological concerns and the economic plight of those dispossessed and abandoned by carbon extraction.


Author(s):  
Robert van Wessel ◽  
Henk J. de Vries

We all take the ubiquity of the Internet for granted: anyone, anywhere, anytime, any device, any connection, any app…but for how long? Is the future of the Internet really at stake? Discussions about control of the Internet, its architecture and of the applications running on it started more than a decade ago (Blumenthal & Clark, 2001). This topic is becoming more and more important for citizens, businesses, and governments across the world. In its original set-up, the architecture of the Internet did not favor one application over another and was based on the net neutrality principle (Wu, 2003). However, architectures should be understood an “alternative way of influencing economic systems” (Van Schewick, 2010), but they should not be a substitute for politics (Agre, 2003). The architecture is laid down in standards and therefore discussions about the future of the Internet should also address the role of standards. This is what this chapter aims to do.


Author(s):  
P. E. Perkins ◽  
B. Osman

Abstract This chapter explores the livelihood and care implications of the climate crisis from a gendered viewpoint that includes the implications of this approach for climate decision making at multiple scales, from local to global. The focus is on grassroots political organizing, activism, and movements as well as women's community-based actions to (re)build social resilience in the face of climate chaos. Challenges and policy implications are discussed as governments struggle to meaningfully and equitably address climate change. Also highlighted are the transformational imperatives of care and livelihood priorities which cast into stark relief the unsustainability of the long-established gender inequities that serve as the foundation for economic systems everywhere.


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