scholarly journals Looking through the Lens of Complexity Theory: An Evaluation of Climate Change and Coronavirus 2019 Outbreak

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 36-47
Author(s):  
Raymond Ndubisi Anyanwu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
World War ◽  
Second World ◽  
25Th Congress

When world leaders and delegates convened in Madrid, Spain in December 2019 for the 25th Congress of Parties (COP-25) to re-evaluate their obligations to the Paris Agreement on climate change, they could not prefigure coronavirus was about to overrun humanity. Virtually everyone describes climate change as the most complex ecological and social crisis confronting society in this century. When coronavirus outbreak struck humanity in December 2019, virtually everyone also describes it as the most complex crisis that had struck mankind since the end of Second World War. Both crises have also attracted significant response from policymakers; yet no research has weighed these two common challenges of our time side-by-side in a single study to establish whether they have equivalent level of complexity. This is crucial because confronting a problem without first understanding its complexity would culminate in a waste of resources and or failure to find a permanent solution to it. To address this concern, this paper evaluates global climate change and corona-virus 2019 outbreak using complexity theory as a conceptual framework, and makes recommendations for policy and research based on the outcomes.

scholarly journals Disasters: contributions of hazardscape and gaps in response practices

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3775-3787 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Khan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Emergency Management ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Response Strategy ◽  
Current Response ◽  
Hazard Response ◽  
Mitigation Policies

Abstract. Disasters are frequent, ongoing and very likely to increase in the future with global climate change. Significant investments in hazard mitigation, policies and emergency management have so far failed to stop disasters. Their recurrences suggest that either there are some gaps in the current response or a different perspective is needed on the way hazards have been dealt with to date. This paper views disasters through the lens of hazardscape, which shows the context of both hazard occurrence and response. It finds that one major cause of response failure is inadequate consideration of the local hazardscape in planning. It notes that although globalization of hazard response practices is progressive, it has been less successful in dealing with local variations in vulnerability. This paper presents the conceptual framework of hazardscape, and illustrates various shortcomings of the current responses in relation to the local hazardscapes where they are adopted. It recommends a holistic approach that considers various aspect of the hazardscape in order to plan a response strategy.

Risks from Global Climate Change and the Paris Agreement

2017 ◽  
pp. 31-44
Author(s):  
Kiyoshi Takahashi ◽  
Seita Emori ◽  
Shinichiro Fujimori ◽  
Toshihiko Masui
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Paris Agreement

scholarly journals A Life Saving Tooth Extraction

2015 ◽  
Vol 03 (03) ◽  
pp. 185-188
Author(s):  
Vandana Chhabra ◽  
Ajay Chhabra ◽  
Girish Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Female Patient ◽  
Tooth Extraction ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Local Infection ◽  
World War ◽  
Local Factor ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Haematological Disorders ◽  
Second World

AbstractDentoalveolar surgery is accompanied by a number of complications, one of these is bleeding. The majority of patients who bleed after extractions do not have any underlying haematological disorders and generally have had extractions previously without complications, suggesting a purely local factor in the occurrence of haemorrhage; e.g, local infection, traumatic surgery and noncompliance to postoperative instructions. Here we report a case of 14 year old female patient who reported to our department for ortho extraction and after atraumatic tooth extraction the blood continued to ooze for hours. All the local measures failed to control the oozing. Dengue has become a global problem since the second world war. No antiviral drugs or vaccine has been invented so far. The range of the disease appears to be expanding possibly due to climate change.

scholarly journals Rethinking Everything: A sustainable economic system requires radical change in almost everything people consider normal

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Graeme Maxton
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic System ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Environmental Destruction ◽  
Sustainable System ◽  
Second World

Economic growth is not a prerequisite for human development. While economic growth appeared useful following the Second World War, its continued pursuit will result in further environmental destruction and ever-widening inequality. It risks making climate change unstoppable, with dire consequences for humanity and most other species. It is not possible to make a gradual shift to a more sustainable system, as the basic requirements for an enduring economic system are fundamentally different from those that currently exist. To avoid an environmental catastrophe, societies need to deconstruct their economies and radically rethink their purpose.

scholarly journals Why did President Donald Trump Withdraw from the Paris Agreement on Global Climate Change?

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Industrial Emissions ◽  
Production Processes

The Paris Agreement on combating global climate change expresses the consensus of almost all countries in the world on the awareness of the unpredictable dangers of global climate change. We all have to work together to execute the necessary solutions to fight global climate change. Human-induced CO2 is a fundamental part of the global greenhouse effect, so must be handling sources of CO2 emissions into the earth’s atmosphere. From electricity production processes using fossil fuels releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment, which is the main reason for global climate change. In the meantime, until now, people have not had effective solutions to thoroughly treat industrial emissions. Therefore, we must quickly eliminate all thermal power plants with fossil fuels, and must quickly deploy renewable energy production processes.

Soil and War

Earth Matters ◽  
2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bardgett
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
The West ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Soil P ◽  
Scottish Highlands ◽  
The Government ◽  
Second World

My first visit to a battleground was during a family holiday to Scotland. We were staying in Applecross, a small, isolated village on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands that looks over the sea towards the Island of Raasay. On the way back we passed through Inverness, the most northerly city in Scotland. To break the long journey we decided to stop off at Culloden Moor, the site of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, between the Government forces, which were mainly English, and the Jacobite army, made up of Scottish Highlanders led by Bonnie Prince Charlie. I had never visited the site before, but I recall thinking that it was an odd place for a battle; it is exposed moorland and the ground is rough and boggy, which would be difficult ground on which to go to war. I later learned that Bonnie Prince Charlie’s choice of this site for battle was catastrophic; not only did the exposed ground leave the Jacobite forces vulnerable to the superior artillery of the Government forces, but also the boggy soil hampered their attack, rendering them even more exposed. These factors led to the slaughter of the Jacobite forces and the collapse of the Jacobite campaign. I don’t know exactly how much the boggy soil contributed to the outcome of this war but it certainly played a part. For centuries, soil has played an enormous, and often unexpected, role in the outcome of war. War can also leave lasting and often irreversible scars on soil, leaving it churned, riddled with battle debris and bodies, polluted with heavy metals, toxic dioxins, oil and radioactivity. In many cases, it is left unusable. War can also indirectly affect the soil, for example through the need in Britain, during the Second World War, to cultivate gardens and city parkland for food. And the current growing demand for food, coupled with environmental pressures related to climate change, will place increasing pressure on soil, potentially leading to future wars. This chapter will look at how war is affected by and how it affects soil.

Obligations to Reduce Emissions: From the Oslo Principles to Enterprises

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Tort Law ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Reduce Emissions ◽  
Mitigate Climate Change ◽  
Central Pillar ◽  
Domestic Law

AbstractThe release of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) by the activities of humans is a major contributor to current global climate change. A major environmental catastrophe caused by this climate change will be averted only if the emission of GHGs are drastically reduced. Attempts have been made to reach international agreements among nations to achieve this, but these attempts, of which the Paris Agreement is the most recent, appear to be inadequate and ineffective. A group of scholars, the Oslo group, therefore asked the question whether more comprehensive obligations that bind states and enterprises could be deduced from other sources of law. The attempts to answer these questions have culminated in the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations. The basic methodology that was followed in drafting the Oslo Principles is described. The Oslo group concluded that several concrete obligations to mitigate climate change could be stated by reference to international and domestic law. Particular attention is given in this contribution to tort law as a basis for mitigation obligations in the Oslo Principles but some attention is also given to other areas of law. The central pillar of the Oslo Principles is the primary mitigation obligation, which according to the Principles, is imposed on states. The ambit and nature of this obligation are described. Finally, it is acknowledged that the Oslo Principles only describe rudimentary obligations on enterprises and that it is both difficult and necessary to set out mitigation obligations that can be imposed on enterprises. The contribution finally proposes that the ideas behind the Oslo Principles and United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights can be utilised in devising basic mitigation obligations for enterprises.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document