Climate Change Reading

Further to our Global Warming equation post recently we thought we'd point out that the forthcoming issue of New York Review of Books has a review by Bill McKibben of a slew of new Climate Change books, specifically:

• Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming by the controversial statistician Bjørn Lomborg


• Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility
  by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger


• What We Know About Climate Change by Kerry Emanuel


• Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children, and Our Grandchildren edited by Joseph F.C. DiMento and Pamela Doughman

Also:

"Bill McKibben will be answering questions from readers about his article "Can Anyone Stop It?" and the possibilities for action to stop global warming. Send your question by September 28, 2007" -- Learn how on the NYRB site

You may also be interested to read these recent articles by Bill McKibben, from the Review's archives:

• March 15, 2007: Warning on Warming
• November 16, 2006: How Close to Catastrophe?
• January 12, 2006: The Coming Meltdown.

Our role here at the Wilderness Foundation is to awaken the environmental leaders of the future - we do that primarily in the context of helping people experience Wilderness. We do believe a solid reading list (with a critical mind) goes with any leadership path - hence our gateway to the above.

Also, related items from our archives - Recent literature on Global Warming - New York Review of Books and An exchange on Global Warming.

The New Math Of Global Warming

A descriptive slideshow by Craig Damrauer showing the equations for the new math of global warming from the July/August 2007 Issue of Mother Jones:

More Craig Damrauer in 'New Math: Equations for Living'.

Campfire Questions with Graham Game

We grabbed Graham Game, friend of the foundation and a professional environmentalist, for a quickfire round of questions further to Wednesday night’s ‘Climate Change and Essex - Winner or Loser?’ debate:

• What are the most urgent issues facing Essex?

Essex is on the front line as far as the effects of climate change are concerned, and with our long and incredibly fragile coastline, it's sea level rise and then flooding that I'm probably most concerned about, but the face of agriculture is changing too.

We are facing a 2 - 6 degree celsius rise in temperatures, and an increase of up to 20% in winter rainfall. It's also predicted that water levels in the Thames Estuary could rise as much as 86 cm by the 2080's, while there could be a fall of up to 60% in soil moisture levels during summer.

Our rich biodiversity here in Essex is really taking a hammering as our seasons change their patterns due to climate change.

So what are we doing? Building thousands of new homes on flood plains in the Thames Estuary, turning thousands of acres of arable land over to growing non-food crops & looking to almost double our airport capacity.

• What can our local readers do to make a difference?

Here's where I take many people out of their comfort zones: I passionately believe that far too much emphasis is being placed on mitigation & nowhere near enough action is being taken to prepare & adapt for the inevitable effects of climate change here in Essex & the UK.

There simply isn't the time to play around with greenwash. With 1.32 billion Chinese, 1.12 billion Indians & 300 million Americans all hell-bent at achieving economic growth through polluting technologies, even if every one of us 60 million Brits reduced our carbon footprints it would be merely a drop in the ocean.

Set an example? To who? Yes, let's continue to push for sustainable lifestyles, but the real work to be done is adapt to survive. No more building new homes on flood plains. More coastal realignment schemes, more renewable power schemes, but most importantly we need some strong direction & leadership at the top. Finally, don't get sucked in by the Carbon Offset mindset - if you want to salve your conscience when you take your next cheap flight, give £20.00 to The Wilderness Foundation instead.

• Give us a couple of top autumn reads that’ll broaden our mind

Jay Griffiths' book 'Wild' will transport you up the Amazon for some amazing encounters with indigenous shamen, while my friend Jon Symes' superb little book 'Your Planet Needs You' is just inspirational - even for a seasoned old cynic like me!

Thanks Graham! - Graham's website can be found here: greenfuturesconsultancy.com/

Last but not least, here are a few further resources:

• RSA Ted Happold Memorial Lecture: Adapting to a changing coastline in East Anglia - Full lecture and Q&A session (21MB) / Lecture text (PDF)
• OU OpenLearn Module: Managing coastal environments (U216_1): "Coastal environments are by their nature ever-changing. This unit looks at the example of the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England, describing how the current state of the estuary came to be."
• Notes from the 2006 Chelmsford Challenge: 'Environment vs. Development'

A few external events

Here's a round-up of a few external events we thought our readers might be interested in:

Gaia Foundation

• 15th Sept - The life and vision of Thomas Berry
• 15th-16th Sept - Thames Festival 2007
• 19th Sept - Gaia Evening with Andrew Kimbrell

More detail at http://www.gaiafoundation.org/

Resurgence

Four events on Climate Change:

1. 19 September - The Economics of Climate Change: What is the best economy when the climate is changing?
2. 7 November - The Politics of Climate Change: developing an all party approach to mitigate global warming
3. 16 January 2008 - Food and Climate Change: How food production and consumption needs to change
4. 2 April 2008 - Businesses and Climate Change: how corporations and businesses should adapt to the need for climate stability.

More info at: http://www.resurgence.org/events/

11th Hour Trailer

Here's a preview of what is in the upcoming documentary 11th hour - which will eventually make it to UK screens:



Whilst it is primarily US focused it is, like Gore's effort before it, a welcome addition to the debate around man's impact on the environment.

Climate change threatens UNESCO World Heritage sites

The threats posed by climate change to natural and cultural sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List are outlined in a new UNESCO publication, "Case Studies on Climate Change and World Heritage". The report features 26 examples - including the Tower of London, Kilimanjaro National Park and the Great Barrier Reef - case studies that are representative of the dangers faced by the 830 sites inscribed on the World Heritage List.

"The international community now widely agrees that climate change will constitute one of the major challenges of the 21st century," says the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, in his Foreword to the publication, calling for "an integrated approach to issues of environmental preservation and sustainable development."

The publication, intended to raise awareness and mobilize support for heritage preservation, is divided into five chapters that deal with glaciers, marine biodiversity, terrestrial biodiversity, archaeological sites, and historic cities and settlements.

Biodiversity on land is threatened by climate change, says the report, which features a detailed case study of the Heritage Site of Cape Floral Region Protected Areas, South Africa, where biodiversity is threatened by shrinking bioclimatic habitats - due to warming and changes in precipitation. On the global scale, climate change is expected to lead to changes in the distribution of species, including "invasive species", pathogens and parasites and on the timing of biological events, such as flowering, and the relationships between predator and prey, parasite and host, plant and pollinator, etc. The report recommends several measures to deal with this problem, including the creation of protected areas and relocating particularly endangered species.

The full document can be downloaded from: http://whc.unesco.org/documents/publi_climatechange.pdf

For more on UNESCO and climate change: http://whc.unesco.org/en/climatechange

Source: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/319 (10th April 2007) Author Unknown