This book addresses environmental changes and how they reconfigure society's relationship to the future. It argues that Man does not build "his" future alone: instead, environmental changes are also proof of the future-making capacity of non-human beings. The author elaborates on the notion of the futures of Nature by drawing on theoretical contributions by recent ground-breaking literature in the field of environmental humanities. The book also builds on a sociological investigation into the practices implemented by environmental scientists, experts and managers confronted with environmental changes. Thinking of nature in terms of its futures requires us to overcome the rooted philosophical tradition that associates nature with permanence and society with creative change. This is a daunting task which can only be successful if we look beyond the long-lasting influence of the human-centered categories of innovation, development and civilization that social sciences have themselves contributed to coining. We need to consider the active capacities of change and transformation of living beings and matter itself. This book is of academic interest, but is also for managers in different fields and areas affected by environmental changes.

This book studies the extent to which nuclear safety issues have contributed towards the stagnation of nuclear power development around the world, and accounts for differences in safety regulations in different countries. In order to understand why nuclear development has not met widespread expectations, this book focusses on six key countries with active nuclear power programmes: the USA, China, France, South Korea, the UK, and Russia. The authors integrate cultural theory and theory of regulation, and examine the links between pressures of cultural bias on regulatory outcomes and political pressures which have led to increased safety requirements and subsequent economic costs. They discover that although nuclear safety is an important upward driver of costs in the nuclear power industry, this is influenced by the inherent need to control potentially dangerous reactions rather than stricter nuclear safety standards. The findings reveal that differences in the strictness of nuclear safety regulations between different countries can be understood by understanding differences in cultural contexts and the changes in this over time. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and policymakers working on energy policy and regulation, environmental politics and policy, and environment and sustainability more generally.

This volume is a comprehensive study of the challenges and opportunities facing the BIMSTEC, The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. BIMSTEC was established to promote economic cooperation among rising economic powers in South and Southeast Asia, but after years of stagnation the need for renewed regional commitment is starker than ever. The book studies the BIMSTEC's present status and highlights the ways in which the organisation can be rejuvenated to forge a stronger Bay of Bengal community. It looks at key themes such as the challenges to regional integration, India's "Look East" and Thailand's "Look West" policies, transport connectivity and tourism within the BIMSTEC and the aspirations of various member countries. It also examines BIMSTEC's approach towards climate change, disaster management and rehabilitation. A timely contribution, this volume will be useful for scholars and researchers of international relations, South Asian studies, foreign policy, diplomacy, Southeast Asian studies, defence and strategic affairs, maritime studies, international trade, regional cooperation and political studies.

This volume is a comprehensive study of the challenges and opportunities facing the BIMSTEC, The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. BIMSTEC was established to promote economic cooperation among rising economic powers in South and Southeast Asia, but after years of stagnation the need for renewed regional commitment is starker than ever. The book studies the BIMSTEC's present status and highlights the ways in which the organisation can be rejuvenated to forge a stronger Bay of Bengal community. It looks at key themes such as the challenges to regional integration, India's "Look East" and Thailand's "Look West" policies, transport connectivity and tourism within the BIMSTEC and the aspirations of various member countries. It also examines BIMSTEC's approach towards climate change, disaster management and rehabilitation. A timely contribution, this volume will be useful for scholars and researchers of international relations, South Asian studies, foreign policy, diplomacy, Southeast Asian studies, defence and strategic affairs, maritime studies, international trade, regional cooperation and political studies.

* Explores everything from self-belief to climate change denial and the anti-Vaxx movement, navigating readers through the functions of doubt, from the everyday to the extreme. * Looks at how doubt is dispelled, how it can be 'weaponised', and how both the proliferation and absence of doubt can lead to harmful belief systems. * Features interviews with Nobel prize winners, former terrorists, world class athletes, famous artists and coaches to explore how doubt functions in the lives of transformational thinkers and figures of popular interest.

Our planet faces a systemic threat from climate change, which the world community of nations is ill-prepared to address, and this book argues that a new form of ecologically conscious capitalism is needed in order to tackle this serious and rising threat. While the Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 has finally implemented a global climate policy regime, its modest means belie its ambitious goals. Our institutional financial organizations are not equipped to deal with the problems that any credible commitment to a low-carbon economy will have to confront. We will have to go beyond cap-and-trade schemes and limited carbon taxes to cut greenhouse gas emissions substantially in due time. This book offers a way forward toward that goal, with a conceptual framework that brings environmental preservation back into our macro-economic growth and forecasting models. This framework obliges firms to consider other goals beyond shareholder value maximization, outlining the principal tenets of a climate-friendly finance and introducing a new type of money linked to climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.

If we were to ask what is the root cause of our current and unprecedented environmental crisis, climate change, many, particularly on the progressive Left, would refer to the excesses of capitalism-and they'd be right. In Eco-Nihilism: The Philosophical Geopolitics of the Climate Change Apocalypse, Wendy Lynne Lee demonstrates that there are no versions of conquest capital compatible with the fact of a finite planet and that a logic whose operating premise is growth is destined to not only exhaust our planetary resources, but also generate profound social injustice and geopolitical violence in its pursuit. Nonetheless, it is clear that the violence and injustice of capital is selective-some benefit greatly while others are subjugated to its pathological drive to profit. Hence, Lee argues that any comprehensive analysis of what Jason Moore has dubbed the Capitalocene must include an equally probing account of human chauvinism, that is, the axes along which capital is supplied with resources and labor. Defined in terms of race, sex, gender, and species, these axes come ready-made to the advantage of capitalist commodification. Without an understanding of how and why, humanity will remain doomed to settling for a sustainably unjust world as opposed to realizing a just and desirable one. Indeed, on our current trajectory, we may not even achieve the sustainable. The introduction of climate change into the mix of environmental deterioration, the ever-widening economic gap between global North and global South, and the accelerating violence of terrorism, civil war, and human slavery make of a warming planet a combustible world. The only way out requires ending the myth of endless resources, a rejection of climate change denial, and a radical re-valuation of human-centeredness, not as a locus of power, but as an opportunity to take moral and epistemic responsibility for a world whose biotic diversity and ecological integrity make the struggle to realize it worthwhile. This solution demands not only an end to capitalism, but the deliberate reclamation of value-aesthetic, moral, and civic-and a radical transformation of both personal and collective conscience. Lee appeals to the experiential aesthetics of John Dewey and the feminist concept of the standpoint of the subjugated. She argues for a version of the precautionary principle informed by an environmentally and socially responsible concept of the desirable future as the clearest path away from the precipice.

Written both for general readers and college students, Dialogues on Climate Justice provides an engaging philosophical introduction to climate justice, and should be of interest to anyone wanting to think seriously about the climate crisis. The story follows the life and conversations of Hope, a fictional protagonist whose life is shaped by a terrifyingly real problem: climate change. From the election of Donald Trump in 2016 until the 2060s, the book documents Hope's discussions with a diverse cast of characters. As she ages, her conversations move from establishing the nature of the problem, to engaging with climate skepticism, to exploring her own climate responsibilities, through managing contentious international negotiations, to considering big technological fixes, and finally, as an older woman, to reflecting with her granddaughter on what one generation owes another. Following a philosophical tradition established by Plato more than two thousand years ago, these dialogues are not only philosophically substantive and carefully argued, but also distinctly human. The differing perspectives on display mirror those involved in real-world climate dialogues going on today. Key Features: Written in an engaging dialogue form, which includes characterization, clear exchanges of ideas, and a compelling story arc Clearly organized to allow readers both in-depth consideration and rapid overviews of various topics Memorable examples that enable and encourage discussion inside and outside the classroom An Introduction to the book aimed at instructors, which includes helpful instructions for teaching the book and engaging student assignments

Hardbound. This volume will include scenarios of geophysical and economic impacts from global warming beyond a doubling of greenhouse gases. Analyses will examine geophysical, ecological, and economic impacts, physical and institutional lags, alternative scenarios with and without policy intervention, institutional change, political-economic barriers to effective policy, and prescriptions for change. Perspectives will include those from physical and biological sciences, as well as economics.

How to progress climate science to be policy-relevant and actionable? This book presents a novel framework to give a positive vision and structuring approach to guide research and practice on transformative climate governance, to shift the narrative from apathy and stalemate to action and transformation. Our vision contrasts existing climate governance and associated lock-ins that signify the institutional resistance to change. To effectively address climate change, climate governance itself needs to be transformed to foster sustainability transitions under climate change. The book brings together a collection of case studies to investigate how capacities for transformative climate governance are developing at multiple scales and how they can be strengthened vis-a-vis existing governance regimes. Specifically, it sheds light on the following questions: What are key overarching conditions, actors and activities that facilitate governance for transformation under climate change? Given persistent climate governance lock-ins, what needs to happen in research and policy to build-up the capacities that transform climate governance and ensure effective climate action?

Eco-friendly and comprehensive strategy for policy makers Accomplished guide for academicians and other stakeholders of environments Sustainable development in carbon sequestration in different vegetation landscapes

delivers a realistic and feasible framework for creating resilient landscapes in an era of anthropogenic climate change. presents fifteen case studies of differing sociocultural, economic, and biophysical backgrounds that showcase opportunities and limitations for creating resilient landscapes throughout the world. provides that much-needed link between theory and practice to deliver forward-thinking, practical solutions. This book will be of great interest to students, researchers, practitioners and policymakers who are interested in the complex relationship between landscapes, climate change, biodiversity loss, and land-based conversion at local, national and global scales.

This collection considers the future of climate innovation after the Paris Agreement. It analyses the debate over intellectual property and climate change in a range of forums - including the climate talks, the World Trade Organization, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, as well as multilateral institutions dealing with food, health, and biodiversity. The book investigates the critical role patent law plays in providing incentives for renewable energy and access to critical inventions for the greater public good, as well as plant breeders' rights and their impact upon food security and climate change. Also considered is how access to genetic resources raises questions about biodiversity and climate change. This collection also explores the significant impact of trademark law in terms of green trademarks, eco labels, and greenwashing. The key role played by copyright law in respect of access to environmental information is also considered. The book also looks at deadlocks in the debate over intellectual property and climate change, and provides theoretical, policy, and practical solutions to overcome such impasses.

The first World Climate Conference, which was sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization in Geneve in 1979, triggered an international dialogue on global warming. From the 1997 United Nations-sponsored conference-during which the Kyoto Protocol was signed-through meetings in Copenhagen, Cancun, Durban, and most recently Doha (2012) and Warsaw (2013), worldwide attention to the issue of global warming and its impact on the world's economy has rapidly increased in intensity. The consensus of these debates and discussions, however, is less than clear. Optimistically, many geoscience researchers and members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) have supported CO2 emission reduction pledges while maintaining that a 2 DegreesC limit in increased temperature by the year 2100 is achievable through international coordination. Other observers postulate that established CO2 reduction commitments such as those agreed to at the Copenhagen United Nations Climate Change Conference (2009) are insufficient and cannot hold the global warming increase below 2 DegreesC. As experts theorize on precisely what impact global warming will have, developing nations have become particularly alarmed. The developed world will use energy to mitigate global warming effects, but developing countries are more exposed by geography and poverty to the most dangerous consequences of a global temperature rise and lack the economic means to adapt. The complex dynamics that result from this confluence of science and geopolitics gives rise to even more complicated issues for economists, financial planners, business leaders, and policy-makers. The Oxford Handbook of the Macroeconomics of Global Warming analyzes the economic impact of issues related to and resulting from global warming, specifically the implications of possible preventative measures, various policy changes, and adaptation efforts as well as the different consequences climate change will have on both developing and developed nations. This multi-disciplinary approach, which touches on issues of growth, employment, and development, elucidates for readers state-of-the-art research on the complex and far-reaching problem of global warming.

Dispelling the myth that people in the Global North share similar experiences of climate change, this book reveals how intersecting social dimensions of climate change-people, processes, and institutions-give rise to different experiences of loss, adaptation, and resilience among those living in rural and resource contexts of the Global North. Bringing together leading feminist researchers and practitioners from three countries-Australia, Canada, and Spain-this collection documents gender relations in fossil fuel, mining, and extractive industries, in land-based livelihoods, in approaches for inclusive environmental policy, and in the lived experience of climate hazards. Uniquely, the book brings together the voices, expertise, and experiences of both academic researchers and women whose views have not been prioritized in formal policies-for example, women in agriculture, Indigenous women, immigrant women, and women in male-dominated professions. Their contributions are insightful and compelling, highlighting the significance of gaining diverse perspectives for a fuller understanding of climate change impacts, more equitable processes and strategies for climate change adaptation, and a more welcoming climate future. This book will be vital reading for students and scholars of gender studies, environmental studies, environmental sociology, geography, and sustainability science. It will provide important insights for planners, decision makers, and community advocates to strengthen their understanding of social dimensions of climate change and to develop more inclusive and equitable adaptation policies, plans, and practices.

First book on the market to look at climate change and coaching. International and diverse case studies and coaching examples. Applies theory and concepts to practice. Additional materials available on the editors' website.

Clouds, convection and precipitation processes are central components of Earth's weather and climate. They are produced by atmospheric motions across a very wide range of space-time scales from local weather to long-term global climate variation. They feedback on these motions by perturbing the heating/cooling that drive the atmospheric circulation. These processes also perturb the oceanic circulation and land surface properties that affect the atmospheric circulation.Because of the coupling of the atmosphere-ocean-land system across all scales by cloud, convection and precipitation processes, studying their behaviors requires measurements in space-time variations across all these scales simultaneously. Satellite constellations with global coverage and high time resolution offer the ideal platforms for such observations. This book summarizes some of the latest research using combinations of various satellite observations to study these processes and to evaluate their representations in global weather and climate models.Included with this publication are downloadable electronic slides and accompanying notes of each lecture for students, teachers, and public speakers around the world to be better able to understand cloud, convection and precipitation processes.

This book explores the role and importance of interdisciplinary research in addressing key issues in climate and energy decision making. For over 30 years, an interdisciplinary team of faculty and students anchored at Carnegie Mellon University, joined by investigators and students from a number of other collaborating institutions across North America, Europe, and Australia, have worked together to better understand the global changes that are being caused by both human activities and natural causes. This book tells the story of their successful interdisciplinary work. With each chapter written in the first person, the authors have three key objectives: (1) to document and provide an accessible account of how they have framed and addressed a range of the key problems that are posed by the human dimensions of global change; (2) to illustrate how investigators and graduate students have worked together productively across different disciplines and locations on common problems; and (3) to encourage funders and scholars across the world to undertake similar large- scale interdisciplinary research activities to meet the world's largest challenges. Exploring topics such as energy efficiency, public health, and climate adaptation, and with a final chapter dedicated to lessons learned, this innovative volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of climate change, energy transitions and environmental studies more broadly.

The ancient Greeks called it Gaia; the Romans Terra. We know it simply as Earth, the planet we call home. And what a planet it is. Formed around 4.6 billion years ago from the debris of the big bang and long-dead stars, at first it was nothing special, but somehow it evolved to become the most amazing place in the known Universe. The only living planet we know of, it also has a very unusual moon, a remarkably dynamic surface, a complex atmosphere and a deeply mysterious interior. This is Planet Earth is dedicated to the wonders of Planet Earth. Its past is long and dramatic and its future shrouded in mystery. Yet despite centuries of research, only now are we starting to understand Earth's complexity. ABOUT THE SERIES New Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.

This book taps into discussions about social vulnerability, empowerment, and resistance in relation to disaster relief and recovery. It disentangles tensions and dilemmas within post-disaster empowerment, through a rich ethnographic narrative of the work of Occupy Sandy in Rockaway, New York City, after Hurricane Sandy in 2012. It details both a remarkable collaborative relief phase, in which marginalized communities were empowered to take active part, as well as a phase of conflict and resistance that came about as relief turned to long-term recovery. This volume particularly aims to understand how community empowerment processes can breach pre-disaster marginalization in the aftermath of disasters. It connects with broader emancipatory literature on dilemmas involved in empowerment 'from the outside'. In a future of potentially harsher climate related disasters and increased social vulnerability for certain communities, this book contributes to a full and nuanced understanding of community empowerment and vulnerability reduction. This book will be of interest to sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, and urban studies researchers, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students interested in disaster management, disaster risk reduction, social vulnerability, community empowerment, development studies, local studies, social work, community-based work, and emancipatory theory.

The City is an Ecosystem maps an interdisciplinary, community-engaged response to the great ecological crises of our time-climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality-which pose particular challenges for cities, where more than half the world's population currently live. Across more than twenty chapters, the three parts of the book cover historical and scientific perspectives on the city as an ecosystem; human rights to the city in relation to urban sustainability; and the city as a sustainability classroom at all educational levels inside and outside formal classroom spaces. It argues that such efforts must be interdisciplinary and widespread to ensure an informed public and educated new generation are equipped to face an uncertain future, particularly relevant in the post-COVID-19 world. Gathering multiple interdisciplinary and community-engaged perspectives on these environmental crises, with contemporary and historical case study discussions, this timely volume cuts across the humanities and social and health sciences, and will be of interest to policymakers, urban ecologists, activists, built environment professionals, educators, and advanced students concerned with the future of our cities.

The City is an Ecosystem maps an interdisciplinary, community-engaged response to the great ecological crises of our time-climate change, biodiversity loss, and social inequality-which pose particular challenges for cities, where more than half the world's population currently live. Across more than twenty chapters, the three parts of the book cover historical and scientific perspectives on the city as an ecosystem; human rights to the city in relation to urban sustainability; and the city as a sustainability classroom at all educational levels inside and outside formal classroom spaces. It argues that such efforts must be interdisciplinary and widespread to ensure an informed public and educated new generation are equipped to face an uncertain future, particularly relevant in the post-COVID-19 world. Gathering multiple interdisciplinary and community-engaged perspectives on these environmental crises, with contemporary and historical case study discussions, this timely volume cuts across the humanities and social and health sciences, and will be of interest to policymakers, urban ecologists, activists, built environment professionals, educators, and advanced students concerned with the future of our cities.

This book focuses on China's efforts to address climate change on both the strategic and practical levels since the Katowice Climate Change Conference. Featured articles provide readers with both an overview and detailed discussions of topics such as assessment of low-carbon city development, building climate resilience, global climate governance, just transition, climate finance, and others. All the contributors are leading experts in the field from Research Institute for Eco-civilization (formerly Institute of Urban and Environmental Studies), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and China Meteorological Administration.

Climate Change, Ecological Catastrophe, and the Contemporary Novel responds to the critical need for transdisciplinary research on the relationship between colonialism and catastrophe. It represents the first sustained analysis of the connection between colonial legacy and present-day ecological catastrophe in postcolonial fiction. Analyzing contemporary South Asian and South Pacific novels that grapple with climate change and catastrophe, environmental exploitation and instability, and human-nonhuman relationships in degraded environments, it offers a much-needed corrective to dominant narratives about climate, crisis, and the everyday. Highlighting the contributions of literary fiction from the postcolonial South to the growing field of the environmental humanities, this book reconsiders the novel's relationship with climate change and the contemporary environmental imaginary. Counter to dominant current theoretical discourses, it demonstrates that the novel form is ideally suited to literary and imaginative engagements with climate change and ecological catastrophe. The six case studies it examines connect contemporary ecological vulnerability to colonial legacies, reveal the critical role animals and the environment play in literary imaginations of post-catastrophe recovery, and together constellate a decolonial perspective on ecological catastrophe in the era of climate change. Drawing on the work of Indigenous authors and scholars who write about and against the Anthropocene, this book displaces conventional ways of thinking about the relationship between the mundane and the catastrophic and promotes greater dialogue between the largely siloed fields of postcolonial, Indigenous, and disaster studies.