Resources
Bibliography
Case studies
Currently, studies on all dimensions of global warming and climate change impacts are being conducted most sectors of society and in many regions of the world. The prospects of severe impacts from climate change are forcing governments to pay close attention to scientific research about climate change, and are creating a demand for more research, particularly in the study of adaptations. Mitigation studies concern the reduction and capture and storage of greenhouse gas emissions, and usually concern technological innovations and changes in consumption patterns. Adaptation studies look at responses to climate change impacts, are quite varied in type, and could range from research into drought resistant crops to relocating entire communities. Further research is required, particularly to clarify our understanding of the ethical implications of certain climate change related choices.
Mitigation
Reducing greenhouse gas output is the only long-term solution to slowing and eventually turning back global warming. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) can pull CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it in various forms, sometimes deep underground or mixed with calcium to form a solid stored near the surface. These methods and technologies to implement the are still in early stages of development, and certainly have not withstood the test of long-term stability. There is a limit to how much and how quickly and safely CO2 can be captured and stored. The only means to completely stopping the increase of CO2 levels into the atmosphere is to reduce overall outputs.
In their ongoing role as advisers to the development of state-level climate actions plans, the Center for Climate Strategies has amassed a portfolio of climate mitigation options in the hundreds. These options are categorized by the Center in the following categories:
Energy Efficiency and Conservation: a. Building design and operation; b. Appliance and equipment efficiency; c. Other efficiency options; d. Enabling and incentive policies.
Clean, Advanced, and Renewable Energy: a. Renewable energy; b. Advanced fossil fuel technologies; c. Waste energy recycling (capture/recovery and use); d. Enabling and incentive policies.
Transportation and Land Use Efficiency: a. Transportation system efficiency; b. Location efficiency; c. Alternative fuels; d. Efficient vehicle design; e. Operational efficiency.
Agriculture and Forestry: a. Forest protection; b. Forest establishment and restoration; c. Forest management; d. Agricultural practices; e. Agricultural land use management; f. Bioenergy production.
Waste Management, Industrial Processes, and Other Sources: a. Solid waste and wastewater management; b. High global warming gas management (refrigerant choice, industrial process design). (For further information, see Center for Climate Strategies website. )
As each region has different sources for energy throughout the world, along with other geographic issues such as seasonal temperatures, length of days, etc. different mitigation options that meet the needs of local conditions are required.
The UNFCCC reports on mitigation efforts, from technology transfer to rural development: http://unfccc.int/methods_and_science/mitigation/items/3681.php
Adaptation
Responses to the effects of climate change will come in a variety of forms. Some adaptation will require coastal areas below 5-7 meters above sea level to move towards higher grounds. For some countries, like Bangladesh, this could cover over one-third of the country. Even if all excess greenhouse gas emissions stopped, adaptations would still be required as the current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere will already force a 2-4° C warming by 2100. Adaptation will require governments to act at all scales, from local, regional, national, to global.
National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) are a process by which Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are able to identify priority activities for action and urgent and immediate needs:
http://unfccc.int/adaptation/napas/items/2679.phpThe UNFCCC reports on adaptation efforts, from technology transfer to rural development: http://unfccc.int/methods_and_science/mitigation/items/3681.php
The database on local coping strategies has been developed for the long-term storage and communication of coping strategies and mechanisms and knowledge and experiences:
http://maindb.unfccc.int/public/adaptation/Science for Policy
Our current capacity to address climate change impacts necessitates a better understanding of both mitigation and adaptation options, and as such, more focused research is required. Well executed peer reviewed scientific research is necessary to make key decisions about the best path that serves the various requirements of justice. Decision making about both adaptation and mitigation is improved by knowing not just one path of action based on research, but by having a range of options and actions to work with. The development and implementation of appropriate climate policies requires a close understanding of conditions at various social and ecological scales (local, regional, national, global). The relationship between climate science and climate policy is intensifying and will continue to drive the growth of 'policy relevant science' in the climate advisory process. However, even if good scientific evidence and research are available, there is no guarantee that findings will be properly understood and acted upon in a meaningful way. To improve decision making, further vigilance is required in the interpretation and uptake of scientific research by decision makers. While this applies to most decisions affecting society, it is particularly important in decisions concerning climate change across scope and scale.
Science Policy Assessment and Research on Climate (SPARC) conducts research and assessments, outreach, and education aimed at helping climate science policies better support climate-related decision making in the face of fundamental and often irreducible uncertainties: http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/sparc/research/index.html
The Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy studies how science is used and misused in government decision-making and legal proceedings: http://www.defendingscience.org/case_studies/index-case-studies.cfm
Hurricane Katrina
There is not a consensus, nor does it really make sense to even assert, that Hurricane Katrina was due to climate change. It can be asserted, however, that climate change will tend to increase to frequency and intensity of hurricanes over many seasons, though there is not consensus that this is actually happening. Whether it is a particularly active part of the hurricane cycle or if it is due to global warming, more category five hurricanes are likely to develop in the Atlantic Basic in the coming decade. The tragic situation in New Orleans, however, was a failure of national and local administrations to heed warnings of such possible outcomes. The result was a failure of the administration to adhere to many forms of distributive and procedural justice and a failure to implement the precautionary principle (failure to err on the side of caution) by not evacuating people in time. Hurricane Katrina provides an unfortunate case study in how justice must enter into consideration of any adaptation policies, and for governing bodies to take seriously the threat of drastic climatic events.
For a series of papers on the case of Katrina, please visit the website for the "New Directions Katrina Research Workshop."
"Cities and Rivers II, New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta, and Katrina: Lessons from the Past, Lessons for the Future," focused on the environmental and societal challenges surrounding New Orleans/Mississippi Delta in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The workshop hypothesis is that scientific and technical knowledge can have a more beneficial societal influence when placed in an interdisciplinary context where the ethics and values dimensions of both knowledge and societal/environmental needs are made explicit." http://www.ndsciencehumanitiespolicy.org/katrina/
White Paper on EDCC
In August 2006, the Collaborative Program on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change (EDCC) published the White Paper on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change. This paper describes the relevant facts, ethical questions, and preliminary ethical analyses that will constitute the initial phase of the EDCC. This paper does not seek to deal with these matters exhaustively but rather intends to create a focus for initial inquiry and draw preliminary conclusions about the ethical dimensions of several climate change issues that are possible at this early stage of the work of the EDCC.
Reports & Documents
The Collaborative Program on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change (EDCC) was launched at the 10th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that was held in early December of 2004 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The major outcome of this meeting was the Buenos Aires Declaration on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change: Buenos Aires Declaration on the Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change
The Workshop on Carbon Geological Storage and Ethics, a three-day conference held in Rio de Janeiro on October 30 - November 1, is the latest and one of the strongest indicators that the international community is ready to grapple with ethical issues in responding to the climate change crisis. About 60 delegates from around the world representing more than 20 government agencies, non-governmental organizations, corporations, and universities attended. (Report forthcoming.)
Ethical Dimensions of Climate Change: Looking At the Work of the IPCC. COP 13 side event – Friday, December Bali, Indonesia. This program will review work on the ethical dimensions of climate change including ethical issues that arise in the work of the IPCC. Although IPCC is generally highly respected around the world, the way it synthesizes the scientific and economic literature on which it relies occasionally raises ethical issues. As the world moves into the implementation phase of climate change policies, ethical and justice issues entailed by climate change point to how IPCC might re-organize some of its future work. (Report forthcoming.)
Web resources
The following list of websites is by no means comprehensive. If you would like us to add your link, please email rockethics@psu.edu.
Climate Science:
IPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change http://ipcc.ch
RealClimate - Climate science from climate scientists: http://realclimate.org
Nation Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR):
Hadley Climate Center: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/hadleycentre/index.html
Pew Center on Global Climate Change http://pewclimate.org
Climate Policy:
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int/2860.php
Cities for Climate Change - International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, Cities for Climate Change: http://iclei.org/index.php?id=391
US EPA climate change http://epa.gov/climatechange/index.html
ClimatePolicy - ClimatePolicy is a commentary that explores aspects of climate change that relate to our policy choices. Policy choices will likely serve the interests of society most effectively if they are grounded in the best available knowledge and understanding. http://climatepolicy.org
Union of Concerned Scientists on Climate Change: http://ucsusa.org
Educational:
Frontline and NOVA - What's Up With the Weather, Frontline and NOVA: http://pbs.org/wgbh/warming
lightblueline is a public information project to paint on the streets the message that human induced climate change will impact coastal cities: http://lightblueline.org/
Nation Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR): http://www.ncar.ucar.edu/
