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Political Economy, Media, and Climate Change: Sinews of Modern Life Maxwell T
Advanced Review Political economy, media, and climate change: sinews of modern life Maxwell T. Boykoff1∗ and Tom Yulsman2 In this 21st century, examining how climate change is described and considered, largely through mass media, is as important as formal climate governance to the long-term success or failure of efforts to confront the challenge. Mass media stitch together formal science and policy with the public sphere. And many dynamic, contested factors contribute to how media outlets portray climate change. This paper addresses contemporary political economics—from greater workloads and reductions in specialist science journalism to digital innovations and new media organizational forms—as they relate to media coverage of climate change. By way of recent studies and indications of these dynamics, we appraise how power flows through culture, politics, and society, to construct coverage, public discourses, and knowledge on climate change. In so doing, we explore how media representations of climate change have changed over time, and particularly how the rise of digital media has reshaped climate coverage. Considerations of climate change, arguably the most heavily politicized scientific issue at the turn of the new millennium, seek to inform and anticipate corollary science issues, such as ongoing concerns for genetically modified organisms, nanotechnology risks, and increased threats to water quantity and quality. The focus on political economy—the ‘sinews’ of modern life—can also then help to inform perceptions and decision making in associated environmental challenges. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. How to cite this article: WIREs Clim Change 2013. doi: 10.1002/wcc.233 INTRODUCTION and livelihoods—depend directly on our exploitation of carbon-based fuels.2 New York Times journalist John Broder3 wrote that these issues are ‘the sinews The world is going one way, people are going another of modern life’. -
Bert Bolin: Meteorologist and First Chair of the IPCC Who Cajoled the World Into Actio
Bert Bolin: Meteorologist and first chair of the IPCC who cajoled the world into actio... Page 1 of 2 l Home ¡ > News n > People n > Obituaries Bert Bolin: Meteorologist and first chair of the IPCC who cajoled the world into action on climate change Published: 05 January 2008 Bert Richard Johannes Bolin, meteorologist: born Nykoping, Sweden 15 May 1925; Professor of Meteorology, Stockholm University 1961-90; Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1988-97; married Ulla Frykstrand (two sons, one daughter; marriage dissolved 1979); died Stockholm 30 December 2007. The Swedish meteorologist Bert Bolin was one of the giants of the climate-change debate. For 30 years he, more than any other individual, made sense of the rising tide of research emerging from weather observations and computer models, and cajoled a reluctant world into recognising the urgency of the issue. Between 1988 and 1997, Bolin chaired the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These were the years of the IPCC's most crucial work, establishing a broad scientific consensus for political action, and many believe Bolin, more than the panel's current leading lights, deserved the Nobel prize that it won last month. Bert Bolin was born in Nykoping, Sweden, in 1925. An early academic high-flier, he swiftly joined a long tradition of world-renowned Swedish meteorologists. In the 1950s, he had already earned a reputation as a pioneer in using computers to predict the weather. But by the end of the decade he had found his true role by being one of the first scientists to recognise the importance to future climate of new findings about rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. -
Climate Change Solutions for Australia the Australian Climate Group First Published in June 2004 by WWF Australia
2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Climate Change Solutions for Australia The Australian Climate Group First published in June 2004 by WWF Australia © WWF Australia 2004. All Rights Reserved. ISBN: 1875 94169X Authors: Tony Coleman Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg Professor David Karoly Professor Ian Lowe Professor Tony McMichael Dr Chris Mitchell Dr Graeme Pearman Dr Peter Scaife Anna Reynolds The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WWF. WWF Australia GPO Box 528 Sydney NSW Australia Tel: +612 9281 5515 Fax: +612 9281 1060 www.wwf.org.au For copies of this report or a full list of WWF Australia publications on a wide range of conservation issues, please contact us on [email protected] or call 1800 032 551. Cover image: Shock and Awe © Andrew Pade (www.andrewpade.com). Printed on Monza Satin recycled. Contents The Australian Climate Group 04 Climate change - solutions for Australia The Australian Climate Group was convened in late 2003 by WWF Australia and the Insurance Australia Group (IAG) in response to the increasing need for action on climate change in Australia. 06 Summary 08 Act now to lower the risks 10 A way forward for Australia 16 Earth is overheating Tony Coleman Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg Professor David Karoly Insurance Australia Group University of Queensland University of Oklahoma 22 Very small changes in the global temperature have very large impacts 30 Background information on the group 34 References Professor Ian Lowe Professor Tony McMichael Dr Chris Mitchell Griffith University Australian National Cooperative Research University Centre for Greenhouse Accounting Dr Graeme Pearman Dr Peter Scaife Anna Reynolds CSIRO Atmospheric University of Newcastle WWF Australia Research Climate Change – Solutions for Australia 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 Introduction There are moments in time when global threats arise, and when action is imperative. -
Political Dysfunction and the Election of Donald Trump: Problems of the U.S. Constitution's Presidency
POLITICAL DYSFUNCTION AND THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP: PROBLEMS OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION’S PRESIDENCY DAVID ORENTLICHER* INTRODUCTION This Article discusses a critical, but overlooked, cause of political dysfunction in the United States—the Constitution’s design for the executive branch. Specifically, this Article argues that by opting for a single executive rather than a multi-person executive, the Constitution causes two serious problems—it fuels the high levels of partisan polarization that we see today, and it increases the likelihood of misguided presidential decision making. Drawing on the experience in other countries with executive power shared by multiple officials, this Article proposes a bipartisan executive. By adopting a two- person, two-party presidency, we would do much to promote a more effective political system. Giving meaningful representation to persons across the political spectrum would defuse partisan conflict and ensure that public policy reflects a broad range of policy perspectives. A bipartisan executive would especially do much to address concerns about the election of Donald Trump in November 2016. His erratic temperament and use of fascist rhetoric1 have highlighted the risk that an authoritarian executive could misuse the enormous power of the Oval Office. A presidential partner would provide an important check on autocratic behavior, especially when the President’s party controls Congress and therefore is not likely to push back against executive decision making. I began my thinking about political dysfunction while immersed in partisan conflict as a Democratic state representative in Indiana.2 Like most candidates for office, I had promised to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle. -
Let Me Just Add That While the Piece in Newsweek Is Extremely Annoying
From: Michael Oppenheimer To: Eric Steig; Stephen H Schneider Cc: Gabi Hegerl; Mark B Boslough; [email protected]; Thomas Crowley; Dr. Krishna AchutaRao; Myles Allen; Natalia Andronova; Tim C Atkinson; Rick Anthes; Caspar Ammann; David C. Bader; Tim Barnett; Eric Barron; Graham" "Bench; Pat Berge; George Boer; Celine J. W. Bonfils; James A." "Bono; James Boyle; Ray Bradley; Robin Bravender; Keith Briffa; Wolfgang Brueggemann; Lisa Butler; Ken Caldeira; Peter Caldwell; Dan Cayan; Peter U. Clark; Amy Clement; Nancy Cole; William Collins; Tina Conrad; Curtis Covey; birte dar; Davies Trevor Prof; Jay Davis; Tomas Diaz De La Rubia; Andrew Dessler; Michael" "Dettinger; Phil Duffy; Paul J." "Ehlenbach; Kerry Emanuel; James Estes; Veronika" "Eyring; David Fahey; Chris Field; Peter Foukal; Melissa Free; Julio Friedmann; Bill Fulkerson; Inez Fung; Jeff Garberson; PETER GENT; Nathan Gillett; peter gleckler; Bill Goldstein; Hal Graboske; Tom Guilderson; Leopold Haimberger; Alex Hall; James Hansen; harvey; Klaus Hasselmann; Susan Joy Hassol; Isaac Held; Bob Hirschfeld; Jeremy Hobbs; Dr. Elisabeth A. Holland; Greg Holland; Brian Hoskins; mhughes; James Hurrell; Ken Jackson; c jakob; Gardar Johannesson; Philip D. Jones; Helen Kang; Thomas R Karl; David Karoly; Jeffrey Kiehl; Steve Klein; Knutti Reto; John Lanzante; [email protected]; Ron Lehman; John lewis; Steven A. "Lloyd (GSFC-610.2)[R S INFORMATION SYSTEMS INC]"; Jane Long; Janice Lough; mann; [email protected]; Linda Mearns; carl mears; Jerry Meehl; Jerry Melillo; George Miller; Norman Miller; Art Mirin; John FB" "Mitchell; Phil Mote; Neville Nicholls; Gerald R. North; Astrid E.J. Ogilvie; Stephanie Ohshita; Tim Osborn; Stu" "Ostro; j palutikof; Joyce Penner; Thomas C Peterson; Tom Phillips; David Pierce; [email protected]; V. -
A Day in the Future Accelerating Solutions to Security Threats
A Day In The Future Accelerating Solutions to Security Threats Leland Russell and Greg Austin FEBRUARY 2008 ACKNOWLEDGMENT The EastWest Institute would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Francis Finlay Foundation for financial support to its work on framing new approaches to global security. We live in a world of new and evolving threats, threats that could not have been anticipated when the UN was founded in 1945 – threats like nuclear terrorism, and State collapse from the witch’s brew of poverty, disease and civil war. Report of the UN Secretary General's High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, December 2004 1 THE THREATS WE FACE The security environment of the future will be shaped by transnational threats evolving from wars, violent extremism, natural disasters, pandemics, and unaddressed systemic problems—including poverty, organized crime, and environmental degradation. Technology will remain a force-multiplier for violent extremists, not only for higher levels of lethality, but for propaganda dissemination. Real-time, global communication will exacerbate the psychological impact of potential threats and the aftermath of incidents. The confluence of these circumstances will cause rising international anxiety and insecurity about physical well-being, prosperity, and even the sustainability of human existence. This will in turn feed an intensifying backlash against “modernity” and the pace of social and technological change, based on fears—both real and imagined. In this environment, the preservation of our common security—whether military, economic, social, or environmental—is becoming increasingly more difficult and complex. Consider, for example, the potential security implications of the energy challenge resulting from the projected one-third increase in the global population over the next 40 years, as portrayed by the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc, Jeroen van der Veer: Energy use in 2050 may be twice as high as it is today or higher still. -
Prep Publi Catio on Cop Py
Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change PREPUBLICATION COPY Committee on Extreme Weather Events and Climate Change Attribution Board on Atmospheric Sciencees and Climate Division on Earth and Life Studies This prepublication version of Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change has been provided to the public to facilitate timely access to the report. Although the substance of the report is final, editorial changes may be made throughout the text and citations will be checked prior to publication. The final report will be available through the National Academies Press in spring 2016. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 This study was supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation under contract number 2015- 63077, the Heising-Simons Foundation under contract number 2015-095, the Litterman Family Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under contract number NNX15AW55G, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under contract number EE- 133E-15-SE-1748, and the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-SC0014256, with additional support from the National Academy of Sciences’ Arthur L. Day Fund. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project. International Standard Book Number-13: International Standard Book Number-10: Digital Object Identifier: 10.17226/21852 Additional copies of this report are available for sale from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu. -
Ecomodernist Mania As Case for Unmanning Anthropocene Discourse Philip Douglas Kupferschmidt
The Trumpeter ISSN 0832-6193 Volume 32, No. 2 (2016) The Bipolarity of Modern ‘Man’ in the Anthropocene: Ecomodernist Mania as Case for Unmanning Anthropocene Discourse Philip Douglas Kupferschmidt §1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 DENIAL IN THE ANTHROPOCENE Efforts to avoid environmental crisis are continually hindered by the common human capacity for denial. Oftentimes, this denial takes the form of optimistic modernists reacting against the catastrophic claims and predictions of apocalyptic rhetoric. In light of the Anthropocene, however, we see that the broader issue of ecocide is not limited to the possibility of a predictable crisis event, nor even to a point of no return. In ecocide, something concrete really is coming to an end, in that much biodiversity already has. However, because apocalyptic rhetoric always coincides with predictions, people in denial of the severity of the ecocide often justify their denial by invoking the inaccuracy of environmentalists’ sometimes pessimistic predictions.1 Meanwhile, the seemingly more optimistic ecomodernist writers can base their ideas upon equally misinformed predictions.2 Both sides’ difficulties with evidence only exacerbate another problem, however. In addition to finding new ways of portraying the apocalypse, we should also investigate into why so many writers seem unable to offer productive perspectives; ones that are neither too optimistic, nor too pessimistic. Therefore, in addition to critiquing papers’ arguments and use of evidence, we must also investigate the political, economic, social and even psychological dynamics behind the denial. In this paper, I approach the problem of denial using relevant notions from psychopathology. Anthropocene discourse proves to be bipolar in its structure, and not simply in the sense of opposing mood states or exaggerations of optimism and pessimism. -
The Moderns' Amnesia
Environmental Humanities, vol. 7, 2015, pp. 227-232 www.environmentalhumanities.org ISSN: 2201-1919 COMMENTARY The Moderns’ Amnesia in Two Registers Rosemary-Claire Collard Department of Geography, Planning & Environment, Concordia University, Canada Jessica Dempsey School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Canada Juanita Sundberg Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Canada “The West is living in a triumphant euphoria.” So wrote the celebrated late Uruguayan writer, Eduardo Galeano.1 This euphoria, he explains, is blind to its foundations: past and ongoing violence, tragedy, poverty, and suffering—inequity that is rife not only elsewhere, but also within the West’s richest countries. In an announcement of Galeano’s death in the Buenos Aires Herald, he is quoted as having described himself as “obsessed with remembering” in a “land condemned to amnesia.” 2 Amnesia. If there is a singular trait to describe An Ecomodernist Manifesto, this is it. Amnesia. In two registers. First, amnesia about the deeply uneven and violent nature of modernization. And second, about the struggles that have underpinned every effort to alleviate inequality and violence. (1) We start with Galeano because he died two days before the manifesto was released. The disjuncture between Galeano’s vision of modernization and that put forward in the manifesto is striking, to say the least. It is hard (impossible?) to reconcile these two visions; it is as if they were written on different planets. For Galeano, underdevelopment is "an integral part of the history of world capitalism’s development. [Latin America’s] defeat was always implicit in the victory of others; our wealth has always generated our poverty by nourishing the prosperity of others—the empires and their native overseers.” 3 In contrast, the ecomodernist manifesto 1 Eduardo Galeano, “To Be Like Them,” in The Post-Development Reader, ed. -
CO2, Hothouse and Snowball Earth
CO2, Hothouse and Snowball Earth Gareth E. Roberts Department of Mathematics and Computer Science College of the Holy Cross Worcester, MA, USA Mathematical Models MATH 303 Fall 2018 November 12 and 14, 2018 Roberts (Holy Cross) CO2, Hothouse and Snowball Earth Mathematical Models 1 / 42 Lecture Outline The Greenhouse Effect The Keeling Curve and the Earth’s climate history Consequences of Global Warming The long- and short-term carbon cycles and silicate weathering The Snowball Earth hypothesis Roberts (Holy Cross) CO2, Hothouse and Snowball Earth Mathematical Models 2 / 42 Chapter 1 Historical Overview of Climate Change Science Frequently Asked Question 1.3 What is the Greenhouse Effect? The Sun powers Earth’s climate, radiating energy at very short Earth’s natural greenhouse effect makes life as we know it pos- wavelengths, predominately in the visible or near-visible (e.g., ul- sible. However, human activities, primarily the burning of fossil traviolet) part of the spectrum. Roughly one-third of the solar fuels and clearing of forests, have greatly intensifi ed the natural energy that reaches the top of Earth’s atmosphere is refl ected di- greenhouse effect, causing global warming. rectly back to space. The remaining two-thirds is absorbed by the The two most abundant gases in the atmosphere, nitrogen surface and, to a lesser extent, by the atmosphere. To balance the (comprising 78% of the dry atmosphere) and oxygen (comprising absorbed incoming energy, the Earth must, on average, radiate the 21%), exert almost no greenhouse effect. Instead, the greenhouse same amount of energy back to space. Because the Earth is much effect comes from molecules that are more complex and much less colder than the Sun, it radiates at much longer wavelengths, pri- common. -
Keeling Curve: Result, Interpretation & Global Monitoring
International Journal for Empirical Education and Research Keeling Curve: Result, Interpretation & Global Monitoring Augustyn Ostrowski Faculty of Geography & Geology Jagiellonian University Email: [email protected] (Author of Correspondence) Poland Abstract The Keeling Curve is a graph of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere based on continuous measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the island of Hawaii from 1958 to the present day. The curve is named for the scientist Charles David Keeling, who started the monitoring program and supervised it until his death in 2005. Keywords: Mauna Loa Measurements; Results and Interpretation; Global Monitoring; Ralph Keeling. ISSN Online: 2616-4833 ISSN Print: 2616-4817 35 1. Introduction Keeling's measurements showed the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. According to Dr Naomi Oreskes, Professor of History of Science at Harvard University, the Keeling curve is one of the most important scientific works of the 20th century. Many scientists credit the Keeling curve with first bringing the world's attention to the current increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Prior to the 1950s, measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations had been taken on an ad hoc basis at a variety of locations. In 1938, engineer and amateur meteorologist Guy Stewart Callendar compared datasets of atmospheric carbon dioxide from Kew in 1898-1901, which averaged 274 parts per million by volume (ppm), and from the eastern United States in 1936-1938, which averaged 310 ppmv, and concluded that carbon dioxide concentrations were rising due to anthropogenic emissions. However, Callendar's findings were not widely accepted by the scientific community due to the patchy nature of the measurements. -
The Land-Grant College Heritage — and Future
2006–2013 The Land-Grant College Heritage — and Future The past seven years have been a time to honor established traditions within The Texas A&M University System and look ahead to the future in a changing world. In January 2008, a new branding campaign incorporated the name AgriLife, chosen to symbolize the idea that “Agriculture Is Life” because of its broad connection with everyday living through food, clothing, countless other products and processes, health care, and even biofuels to provide new energy sources. Texas Cooperative Extension became the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station became Texas AgriLife Research. The statewide centers also changed their names to Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Centers at their city locations. And Texas A&M AgriLife was designated as the administrative umbrella for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (which kept its name) and all four agencies. Another name change in 2012 added “A&M” to the agency names to better communicate our connection to the Texas A&M System. In 2011, as the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences celebrated its 100th year — and in the same decade when Texas AgriLife Extension celebrated the 100th anniversary of the county Extension agent as well as the Texas Extension 4-H Centennial — construction was completed on a new Agriculture and Life Sciences Building and the AgriLife Center, Phase 1 of the new Agriculture Complex being built on Texas A&M University’s West Campus. The AgriLife Services Building was not far behind, ready for move-in in early January 2012.