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Showing 1 - 12 of
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Consumption and the Environment - The Human Causes (Paperback)
Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Environmental Change and Society, National Research Council; Edited by James L Sweeney, …
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R1,576
Discovery Miles 15 760
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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There has been much polemic about affluence, consumption, and the
global environment. For some observers, "consumption" is at the
root of global environmental threats: wealthy individuals and
societies use far too much of the earth's resource base and should
scale back their appetites to preserve the environment for future
generations and allow a decent life for the rest of the world.
Other observers see affluence as the way to escape environmental
threats: economic development increases public pressure for
environmental protection and makes capital available for
environmentally benign technologies. The arguments are fed by
conflicting beliefs, values, hopes, and fears--but surprisingly
little scientific analysis. This book demonstrates that the
relationship of consumption to the environment needs careful
analysis by environmental and social scientists and conveys some of
the excitement of treating the issue scientifically. It poses the
key empirical questions: Which kinds of consumption are
environmentally significant? Which actors are responsible for that
consumption? What forces cause or explain environmentally
significant consumption? How can it be changed? The book presents
studies that open up important issues for empirical study: Are
there any signs of saturation in the demand for travel in wealthy
countries? What is the relationship between environmental
consumption and human well-being? To what extent do people in
developing countries emulate American consumption styles? The book
also suggests broad strategies that scientists and research
sponsors can use to better inform future debates about the
environment, development, and consumption.
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Climate and Social Stress - Implications for Security Analysis (Paperback)
National Research Council, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Board on Environmental Change and Society, Committee on Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Social and Political Stresses; Edited by Jo L. Husbands, …
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R1,439
Discovery Miles 14 390
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Ships in 12 - 17 working days
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Climate change can reasonably be expected to increase the frequency
and intensity of a variety of potentially disruptive environmental
events-slowly at first, but then more quickly. It is prudent to
expect to be surprised by the way in which these events may
cascade, or have far-reaching effects. During the coming decade,
certain climate-related events will produce consequences that
exceed the capacity of the affected societies or global systems to
manage; these may have global security implications. Although
focused on events outside the United States, Climate and Social
Stress: Implications for Security Analysis recommends a range of
research and policy actions to create a whole-of-government
approach to increasing understanding of complex and contingent
connections between climate and security, and to inform choices
about adapting to and reducing vulnerability to climate change.
Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Climate Change as a
National Security Concern 2 Climate Change, Vulnerability, and
National Security: A Conceptual Framework 3 Potentially Disruptive
Climate Events 4 How Climate Events Can Lead to Social and
Political Stresses 5 Climate Events and National Security Outcomes
6 Methods for Assessing National Security Threats References
Appendix A: Committee Member and Staff Biographies Appendix B:
Briefings Received by the Committee Appendix C: Method for
Developing Figure 3-1 Appendix D: Statistical Methods for Assessing
Probabilities of Extreme Events Appendix E: Foundations for
Monitoring ClimateSecurity Connections
Decision Making for the Environment recommends new research efforts
involving the non-economic social and behavioural sciences that
could contribute to improved decisions affecting environmental
quality. It also offers a strategy for making environmental
research more decision relevant. It recommends decision science
research to improve analytical tools and deliberative processes
necessary for good environmental decision making, research to
understand and evaluate the social institutions that shape human
use of environmental resources, research to understand the
influence of environmental considerations on business decisions,
and research to understand and inform individuals' environmentally
significant decisions. To increase decision relevance, governments
need to employ a participatory approach that involves both the
producers and users in guiding research. pressures on the
environment, environmental states, and human responses and
consequences; to evaluate environmental policies; to develop better
ways to anticipate environmental futures; and to better assess the
impacts of environmental policies and programmes on different
segments of society. The book includes several papers that expand
on the state of knowledge in the recommended areas.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, understanding the need
for policy makers at the national level to entrain the behavioral
and social sciences in addressing the challenges of global climate
change, called on the National Research Council to organize two
workshops to showcase some of the decision-relevant contributions
that these sciences have already made and can advance with future
efforts. The workshops focused on two broad areas: (1) mitigation
(behavioral elements of a strategy to reduce the net future human
influence on climate) and (2) adaptation (behavioral and social
determinants of societal capacity to minimize the damage from
climate changes that are not avoided). Facilitating Climate Change
Responses documents the information presented in the workshop
presentations and discussions. This material illustrates some of
the ways the behavioral and social sciences can contribute to the
new era of climate research. Table of Contents Front Matter
Introduction Part I: Public Understanding and Mitigation of Climate
Change 1 Public Understanding of Climate Change 2 The Potential for
Limiting Climate Change Through Household Action 3 Public
Acceptance of Energy Technologies 4 Organizational Change and the
Greening of Business Part II: Adapting to Climate Change 5 Climate
Change Adaptation: The State of the Science 6 Federal Climate
Change Adaptation Planning 7 Place-Based Adaptation Cases 8
Adaptation and Natural Resource Management 9 Cross-Cutting Issues
in Adaptation 10 Synthesis of Key Questions for the Workshop
References Appendix A: December 2009 Workshop Agenda and List of
Participants Appendix B: April 2010 Workshop Agenda and List of
Participants Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and
Staff
This study recommends a definition of "decision support" that
emphasizes communication rather than translation and a strategy by
which the small NOAA Sectoral Applications Research program can
advance decision support. The book emphasizes that seasonal climate
forecasts provide fundamentally new kinds of information and that
integrating this information into real-world decisions will require
social innovations that are not easily accomplished. It recommends
that the program invest in (a) research to identify and foster the
innovations needed to make information about climate variability
and change more usable in specific sectors, including research on
the processes that influence success or failure in the creation of
knowledge-action networks for making climate information; (b)
workshops to identify, catalyze, and assess the potential of
knowledge-action networks in particular resource areas or decision
domains; and (c) pilot projects to create or enhance these networks
for supporting decisions in climate-affected sectors. It recommends
that evaluation of the program be addressed with a monitoring
approach. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1
Introduction: The Sectoral Applications Research Program 2 Climate
Forecasts as Innovations and the Concept of Decision Support 3
Use-Inspired Science and Communication 4 Principles for Selecting
Activities and Modes of Support 5 Evaluating SARP References
Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff
The end of the Cold War has changed the shape of organized violence
in the world and the ways in which governments and others try to
set its limits. Even the concept of international conflict is
broadening to include ethnic conflicts and other kinds of violence
within national borders that may affect international peace and
security. What is not yet clear is whether or how these changes
alter the way actors on the world scene should deal with conflict:
Do the old methods still work? Are there new tools that could work
better? How do old and new methods relate to each other?
International Conflict Resolution After the Cold War critically
examines evidence on the effectiveness of a dozen approaches to
managing or resolving conflict in the world to develop insights for
conflict resolution practitioners. It considers recent applications
of familiar conflict management strategies, such as the use of
threats of force, economic sanctions, and negotiation. It presents
the first systematic assessments of the usefulness of some less
familiar approaches to conflict resolution, including truth
commissions, "engineered" electoral systems, autonomy arrangements,
and regional organizations. It also opens up analysis of emerging
issues, such as the dilemmas facing humanitarian organizations in
complex emergencies. This book offers numerous practical insights
and raises key questions for research on conflict resolution in a
transforming world system. Table of Contents Front Matter Conflict
Resolution in a Changing World Evaluating Interventions in History:
The Case of International Conflict Resolution Defining Moment: The
Threat and Use of Force in American Foreign Policy Since 1989
Economic Sanctions and Post-Cold War Conflicts: Challenges for
Theory and Policy Spoiler Problems in Peace Processes Ripeness: The
Hurting Stalemate and Beyond Interactive Conflict Resolution: A
View for Policy Makers on Making and Building Peace Interactive
Conflict Resolution: Issues in Theory, Methodology, and Evaluation
Past Truths, Present Dangers: The Role of Official Truth Seeking in
Conflict Resolution and Prevention New Challenges to Conflict
Resolution: Humanitarian Nongovernmental Organizations in Complex
Emergencies Electoral Systems and Conflict in Divided Societies
Autonomy as a Strategy for Diffusing Conflict Language Conflict and
Violence: The Straw that Strengthens the Camel's Back The
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe: Its
Contribution to Conflict Prevention and Resolution About the
Authors
Many people believe that environmental regulation has passed a
point of diminishing returns: the quick fixes have been achieved
and the main sources of pollution are shifting from large "point
sources" to more diffuse sources that are more difficult and
expensive to regulate. The political climate has also changed in
the United States since the 1970s in ways that provide impetus to
seek alternatives to regulation. This book examines the potential
of some of these "new tools" that emphasize education, information,
and voluntary measures. Contributors summarize what we know about
the effectiveness of these tools, both individually and in
combination with regulatory and economic policy instruments. They
also extract practical lessons from this knowledge and consider
what is needed to make these tools more effective. The book will be
of interest to environmental policy practitioners and to
researchers and students concerned with applying social and
behavioral sciences knowledge to improve environmental quality.
Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Exploring New Tools for
Environmental Protection 2 Changes in Pollution and the
Implications for Policy 3 Marketing Household Energy Conservation:
The Message and the Reality 4 Knowledge, Information, and Household
Recycling: Examining the Knowledge-Deficit Model of Behavior Change
5 Promoting "Green" Consumer Behavior with Eco-Labels 6 The Public
Health Perspective for Communicating Environmental Issues 7
Understanding Individual and Social Characteristics in the
Promotion of Household Disaster Preparedness 8 Lessons from
Analogous Public Education Campaigns 9 Perspectives on
Environmental Education in the United States 10 A Model of
Community-Based Environmental Education 11 Community Environmental
Policy Capacity and Effective Environmental Protection 12 Changing
Behavior in Households and Communities: What Have We Learned? 13
Government-Sponsored Voluntary Programs for Firms: An Initial
Survey 14 Industry Codes of Practice: Emergence and Evolution 15
Harnessing the "Power of Information": Environmental Right to Know
as a Driver of Sound Environmental Policy 16 Challenges in
Evaluating Voluntary Environmental Programs 17 Assessing the
Credibility of Voluntary Codes: A Theoretical Framework 18 Factors
in Firms and Industries Affecting the Outcomes of Voluntary
Measures 19 The Policy Context for Flexible, Negotiated, and
Voluntary Measures 20 Understanding Voluntary Measures 21 New Tools
for Environmental Protection: What We Know and Need to Know ABOUT
THE CONTRIBUTORS
Understanding Risk addresses a central dilemma of risk
decisionmaking in a democracy: detailed scientific and technical
information is essential for making decisions, but the people who
make and live with those decisions are not scientists. The key task
of risk characterization is to provide needed and appropriate
information to decisionmakers and the public. This important new
volume illustrates that making risks understandable to the public
involves much more than translating scientific knowledge. The
volume also draws conclusions about what society should expect from
risk characterization and offers clear guidelines and principles
for informing the wide variety of risk decisions that face our
increasingly technological society. Frames fundamental questions
about what risk characterization means. Reviews traditional
definitions and explores new conceptual and practical approaches.
Explores how risk characterization should inform decisionmakers and
the public. Looks at risk characterization in the context of the
entire decisionmaking process. Understanding Risk discusses how
risk characterization has fallen short in many recent controversial
decisions. Throughout the text, examples and case studies?such as
planning for the long-term ecological health of the Everglades or
deciding on the operation of a waste incinerator?bring key concepts
to life. Understanding Risk will be important to anyone involved in
risk issues: federal, state, and local policymakers and regulators;
risk managers; scientists; industrialists; researchers; and
concerned individuals. Table of Contents FRONT MATTER SUMMARY 1 THE
IDEA OF RISK CHARACTERIZATION 2 JUDGMENT IN THE RISK DECISION
PROCESS 3 DELIBERATION 4 ANALYSIS 5 INTEGRATING ANALYSIS AND
DELIBERATION 6 IMPLEMENTING THE NEW APPROACH 7 PRINCIPLES FOR RISK
CHARACTERIZATION A SIX CASES IN RISK ANALYSES AND CHARACTERIZATION
B COMMON APPROACHES TO DELIBERATION AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION C
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES GLOSSARY REFERENCES INDEX
Natural gas in deep shale formations, which can be developed by
hydraulic fracturing and associated technologies (often
collectively referred to as "fracking") is dramatically increasing
production of natural gas in the United States, where significant
gas deposits exist in formations that underlie many states. Major
deposits of shale gas exist in many other countries as well.
Proponents of shale gas development point to several kinds of
benefits, for instance, to local economies and to national "energy
independence". Shale gas development has also brought increasing
expression of concerns about risks, including to human health,
environmental quality, non-energy economic activities in shale
regions, and community cohesion. Some of these potential risks are
beginning to receive careful evaluation; others are not. Although
the risks have not yet been fully characterized or all of them
carefully analyzed, governments at all levels are making policy
decisions, some of them hard to reverse, about shale gas
development and/or how to manage the risks. Risks and Risk
Governance in Shale Gas Development is the summary of two workshops
convened in May and August 2013 by the National Research Council's
Board on Environmental Change and Society to consider and assess
claims about the levels and types of risk posed by shale gas
development and about the adequacy of existing governance
procedures. Participants from engineering, natural, and social
scientific communities examined the range of risks and of social
and decision-making issues in risk characterization and governance
related to gas shale development. Central themes included risk
governance in the context of (a) risks that emerge as shale gas
development expands, and (b) incomplete or declining regulatory
capacity in an era of budgetary stringency. This report summarizes
the presentations on risk issues raised in the first workshop, the
risk management and governance concepts presented at the second
workshop, and the discussions at both workshops. Table of Contents
Front Matter Introduction Workshop 1: Risks of Unconventional Shale
Gas Development Workshop 2: Governance of Risks of Shale Gas
Development References
We often decide what to believe and what to question on the basis
of a simple rule of thumb like believe the trustworthy source or
trust the expert. Sometimes, however, reliable and well-informed
sources support both sides of the controversy. Whom are we to
trust? How can we make a decision on the issue at hand? The second
edition of Evaluating Social Science Research provides methods for
thinking critically about claims of factual knowledge and drawing
appropriate conclusions.
The authors have added new sections to the book to reflect the new
developments in the field since the appearance of the first edition
sixteen years ago. Included is an expanded discussion of
observational method that addresses the issues of validity that are
now more clearly understood. There is an explicit discussion of
quasi-experimental research design, including an added distinction
between equivalent-group and nonequivalent-group experiments. New
explanations of the logic of multiple regression analysis, casual
modeling, and meta-analysis have been provided as well.
The new edition, while recognizing the limits of each research
method, retains its emphasis on the importance of observations that
may be repeated and checked by other researchers. It treats the
reader as a key actor who can advance knowledge by cross-checking
observations and interpretations.
A Strategy for Assessing Science offers strategic advice on the
perennial issue of assessing rates of progress in different
scientific fields. It considers available knowledge about how
science makes progress and examines a range of decision-making
strategies for addressing key science policy concerns. These
include avoiding undue conservatism that may arise from the
influence of established disciplines; achieving rational,
high-quality, accountable, and transparent decision processes; and
establishing an appropriate balance of influence between scientific
communities and agency science managers. A Strategy for Assessing
Science identifies principles for setting priorities and specific
recommendations for the context of behavioral and social research
on aging. Table of Contents Front Matter Executive Summary 1 The
Purpose of the Study 2 The NIA Behavioral and Social Science
Research Program 3 The Stakes in Research Assessment 4 Progress in
Science 5 Methods of Assessing Science 6 Conclusions and
Recommendations References Appendix: Biographical Sketches of
Committee Members and Staff
Precise, accurate spatial information linked to social and
behavioral data is revolutionizing social science by opening new
questions for investigation and improving understanding of human
behavior in its environmental context. At the same time, precise
spatial data make it more likely that individuals can be
identified, breaching the promise of confidentiality made when the
data were collected. Because norms of science and government
agencies favor open access to all scientific data, the tension
between the benefits of open access and the risks associated with
potential breach of confidentiality pose significant challenges to
researchers, research sponsors, scientific institutions, and data
archivists. Putting People on the Map finds that several technical
approaches for making data available while limiting risk have
potential, but none is adequate on its own or in combination. This
book offers recommendations for education, training, research, and
practice to researchers, professional societies, federal agencies,
institutional review boards, and data stewards. Table of Contents
Front Matter Executive Summary 1 Linked Social-Spatial Data:
Promises and Challenges 2 Legal, Ethical, and Statistical Issues in
Protecting Confidentiality 3 Meeting the Challenges 4 The Tradeoff:
Confidentiality Versus Access References Appendix A: Privacy for
Research Data Appendix B: Ethical Issues Related to Linked
Social-Spatial Data Biographical Sketches for Panel Members and
Staff
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