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Legal Theory And The Anthropocene Challenge: The Implications Of Law, Science, And Policy For Weapons Of Mass Destruction And Climate Change: The Expanding The Constraining Boundaries Of Legal Space And Time And The Challenge Of The Anthropocene, Winston P. Nagan, Judit K. Otvos

UF Law Faculty Publications

The idea of legal theory as a self-conscious theory for inquiry about law has opened up the framework of observation and participation. It has heightened social responsibility in ways that have been creative and receptive to analogies and metaphors from the developments in modern science. This paper explores some of these dominant borrowed metaphors. It further emphasizes the importance of the wide range of concerns in law technically, as well as the law’s capacity to manage and manipulate space and time implicating such issues as weapons of mass destruction, rights of indigenous people, deforestation, and climate change. By giving the …

Gasoline: The Achilles' Heel Of U. S. Energy Security, Robert W. Weaver

United States Department of Energy: Publications

The United States must balance securing our energy future with protecting our environment from climate change. A holistic approach is required to solve this complex problem. We must reduce demand for petroleum, improve energy efficiency, and develop feasible alternative energy solutions to include emission capture technologies.

The United States remains the largest consumer of energy products in the world and is the second leading producer of green house gas (GHG) emissions. Our dependence on imported petroleum is undermining our control of our national security interests. Petroleum comprises 63% of the United States’ energy consumption, with the transportation sector accounting for …

A Climate Action Plan For Bucknell University, Wendy Chou, Dina El-Mogazi, Dennis Hawley

Technical Reports

The accelerating pace of human-influenced climate change and our growing awareness of its negative public-health, environmental, and economic consequences compel decisive action. In recent years, many institutions of higher education have taken leadership roles to promote sustainability and climate neutrality at the campus level. In January 2008, Bucknell University became a signatory to the American Colleges and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). Under this agreement, Bucknell is required to prepare a comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gas emissions by May 2009, to update the inventory every other year thereafter, and to implement tangible emissions-reducing actions in the short-term (two years). The …

Climate Change And Human Health Consequences, Jennifer Alford

Social Sciences

The intent of this project is to highlight the human health ramifications of climate change and the strategies for coping with this challenge. Possible effects may include reduction in agricultural outputs, dwindling freshwater aquifers, intensification of tropospheric ozone, and expanding areas of disease-carrying vectors. Because humans are closely connected with their environment, we are directly affected by any environmental disturbance. Consequently, human health is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The questions are: what are those consequences, how will we adapt, and what does the future hold?

Colorado River Water: Mexico's Perspective On The Ongoing Negotiations, Mario López Pérez

US-Mexico Negotiations on Improved Colorado River Management: An Update (February 19)

Presenter: Mario López, Engineering and Technical Standards Manager, National Water Commission of México

53 slides

Climate Change, Dead Zones, And Massive Problems In The Administrative State: A Guide For Whittling Away, J.B. Ruhl, James Salzman

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Mandates that agencies solve massive problems such as sprawl and climate change roll easily out of the halls of legislatures, but as a practical matter what can any one agency do about them? Serious policy challenges such as these have dimensions far beyond the capacity of any single agency to manage effectively. Rather, as the Supreme Court recently observed in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, agencies, like legislatures, do not generally resolve massive problems in one fell swoop, but instead whittle away over time, refining their approach as circumstances change and they develop a more nuanced understanding of how best …

World Heritage In A Changing Climate; The Potential For A Global Laboratory, Caithleen Daly

Conference papers

This paper presents ongoing research, partly undertaken on behalf of ICOMOS Ireland’s Sub-Committee on Climate Change and the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government, into the effects of climate change on World Heritage (and proposed World Heritage) in Ireland. World Heritage sites in Ireland have been key to the formation of a cutting edge climate change monitoring project. The outlined monitoring scheme should form a legacy for the future, producing quantifiable data over the coming century, vital in the assessment of climate change impacts on cultural heritage. In turn this will enable the development of appropriate and sustainable management …

2010 State Of The Bay Report, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership

State of the Bay

No abstract provided.

Multiscalar Governance And Climate Change: Reflections On The Role Of States And Cities At Copenhagen, Hari M. Osofsky

Maryland Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Paleo-Environmental Changes In The Uvs Nuur Basin (Northwest-Mongolia), Michael Walther

Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei / Exploration into the Biological Resources of Mongolia, ISSN 0440-1298

Geomorphological, geochemical, sedimentological and palynological results are presented against the background of palaeoclimatic changes during the past 15,000 years, yielding a chrono-, bio- and morphostratigraphical model of landscape evolution in the region of northern Central Asia. Holocene and Late-Glacial climatic fluctuations there are shown to correlate well with conditions in central Europe. Particular attention is given to the importance of the palaeoclimatic interpretation of lake Basin sediments when reconstructing the palaeoenvironment.

Protected Areas And Climate Change In Canada: Challenges And Opportunities For Adaptation, Christopher J. Lemieux, Thomas J. Beechey, Daniel J. Scott, Paul A. Gray

Geography and Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Conservation On The Status Of The World's Vertebrates, Michael Hoffmann, Craig Hilton-Taylor, Ariadne Angulo, Monika Böhm, Thomas M. Brooks, Stuart H. M. Butchart, Kent E. Carpenter, Janice Chanson, Beth A. Polidoro, Jonnell C. Sanciangco

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these. Nonetheless, current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the …

Solar Development In The Mojave Desert, Joseph B. Swartley

CMC Senior Theses

For more than two centuries, humans have been spewing “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and the development of land, causing the planet’s surface temperature to increase at an accelerated rate. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues that the world is facing today, and in order to combat the effects of climate change, it is necessary to adopt the use of more renewable technology, namely solar energy. The United States' best region for solar development is the Mojave Desert, and many large-scale projects are being built or proposed to be built …

August Stream Discharge Trends Portend Impacts Of Climate Change In The Northern Rockies, Jason Christopher Leppi

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis is composed of two potential professional papers written to be independent of each other. Both papers were written to explore changes in late summer discharge patterns across the Northern Rockies (NR). Water in the interior western United States is a vital resource and the demand for this resource has increased. Watersheds in the NR are mainly snowmelt dominated in that they depend on the seasonal flux of snow-melt during dry periods. During the summer months August is a critical time for aquatic ecosystems due to typical low discharge and warm air temperatures. During this period water temperatures can …

A Climatological Analysis Of Soil Frost Depth At Fargo, North Dakota, Usa : 1981-2001, Brian Torborg

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Ways Of Seeing In Environmental Law: How Deforestation Became An Object Of Climate Governance, William Boyd

Publications

Few areas of law are as deeply implicated with science and technology as environmental law, yet we have only a cursory understanding of how science and technology shape the field. Environmental law, it seems, has lost sight of the constitutive role that science and technology play in fashioning the problems that it targets for regulation. Too often, the study and practice of environmental law and governance take the object of governance--be it climate change, water pollution, biodiversity, or deforestation--as self-evident, natural, and fully-formed without recognizing the significant scientific and technological investments that go into making such objects and the manner …

Applied Climate-Change Analysis: The Climate Wizard Tool, Evan H. Girvetz, Chris Zganjar, George T. Raber, Edwin P. Maurer, Peter Kareiva, Joshua J. Lawler

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Background: Although the message of ‘‘global climate change’’ is catalyzing international action, it is local and regional changes that directly affect people and ecosystems and are of immediate concern to scientists, managers, and policy makers. A major barrier preventing informed climate-change adaptation planning is the difficulty accessing, analyzing, and interpreting climate-change information. To address this problem, we developed a powerful, yet easy to use, web-based tool called Climate Wizard (http://ClimateWizard.org) that provides non-climate specialists with simple analyses and innovative graphical depictions for conveying how climate has and is projected to change within specific geographic areas throughout the world. Methodology/Principal Findings: …

Applied Climate-Change Analysis: The Climate Wizard Tool, Evan H. Girvetz, Chris Zganjar, George T. Raber, Edwin P. Maurer, Peter Kareiva, Joshua J. Lawler

Faculty Publications

Background: Although the message of "global climate change'' is catalyzing international action, it is local and regional changes that directly affect people and ecosystems and are of immediate concern to scientists, managers, and policy makers. A major barrier preventing informed climate-change adaptation planning is the difficulty accessing, analyzing, and interpreting climate-change information. To address this problem, we developed a powerful, yet easy to use, web-based tool called Climate Wizard (http://ClimateWizard.org) that provides non-climate specialists with simple analyses and innovative graphical depictions for conveying how climate has and is projected to change within specific geographic areas throughout the world. Methodology/Principal Findings: …

Sensitivity Of The Carbon Cycle In The Arctic To Climate Change, A. David Mcguire, Leif G. Anderson, Torben R. Christensen, Scott Dallimore, Laodong Guo, Daniel J. Hayes, Martin Heimann, Robie W. Macdonald, Nigel Roulet

Faculty Publications

The recent warming in the Arctic is affecting a broad spectrum of physical, ecological, and human/cultural systems that may be irreversible on century time scales and have the potential to cause rapid changes in the earth system. The response of the carbon cycle of the Arctic to changes in climate is a major issue of global concern, yet there has not been a comprehensive review of the status of the contemporary carbon cycle of the Arctic and its response to climate change. This review is designed to clarify key uncertainties and vulnerabilities in the response of the carbon cycle of …

Where Government, Industry And Academia Meet, Andrew Plume

Research Trends

It is becoming increasingly clear that the challenges of climate change cannot be solved without combined effort from government, industry and the academic community. Research Trends reports on the 2009 Times/Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, which provides a forum for these groups to pool their efforts.

Justice And Adaptation To Climate Change In The Asia Pacific Region : Designing International Institutions, Paul G. Harris, Jonathan Symons

CAPS Working Paper Series

Many developing states argue that they should be compensated for the costs of adapting to climate change. They point out that industrialised states are responsible for the bulk of historical greenhouse gas emissions and per capita first world emissions continue to dwarf developing world emissions. Yet, given the substantial internal inequality and rapidly rising emissions within developing states such as China and India, the same arguments that justify international adaptation compensation might equally justify internal redistributive measures. This paper addresses the question of how international institutions that fund adaptation to anthropogenic climate change should be designed. After reviewing both communitarian …

Agenda: Western Water Law, Policy And Management: Ripples, Currents, And New Channels For Inquiry, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, Western Water Policy Program

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

In many pockets of the American West, stresses and demands on water resources are overwhelming our capacity to effectively manage change and accommodate the diversity of interests and values associated with our limited water resources.

This event will offer an opportunity for lawyers, policymakers, and water professionals to engage the experts on the challenges and emerging solutions to the most pressing water policy and management issues of the day.

Weathering The Storm: Climate Change, Vulnerability, And Adaptation In Bangladesh, Justin Guay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world is guaranteed a certain level of climate change due to the emissions already released into the atmosphere. Therefore, adaptation to climate change is necessary. Increases in diarrheal disease and malnutrition due to climate change are analyzed for Bangladesh. Relative risks determined by the World Health Organization, estimates obtained from agricultural models, and migration estimates are utilized to determine the costs associated with each of these diseases, as well as reductions in rice production and increases in urban migration. It is found that climate change will create additional costs for treating each of these diseases that equal .05% of …

Sustainable Portland: Implementation Series 2, New England Environmental Finance Center

Climate Change

The Portland Municipal Climate Change Working Group prepared a report in March 2008 that outlined several recommendations as a commitment by the City to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) produced during daily municipal operations. The Municipal Climate Action Plan was written in partnership with Clean Air – Cool Planet and Portland officials, and acknowledges under Recommendation #2 that an employee energy efficiency program would provide significant positive impact on the City’s reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Best practices from three cities show that focus on the greening of City Hall is critical in developing a program that promotes partnerships, community …

Impacts Of Climate Change On Indirect Human Exposure To Pathogens And Chemicals From Agriculture, Aba Boxall, A Hardy, S Beulke, T Boucard, L Burgin, Pd Falloon, Pm Haygarth, T Hutchinson, Rs Kovats, G Leonardi, Ls Levy, G Nichols, Sa Parsons, L Potts, D Stone, E Topp, Db Turley, K Walsh, Emh Wellington, Rj Williams

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Objective Climate change is likely to affect the nature of pathogens and chemicals in the environment and their fate and transport. Future risks of pathogens and chemicals could therefore be very different from those of today. In this review, we assess the implications of climate change for changes in human exposures to pathogens and chemicals in agricultural systems in the United Kingdom and discuss the subsequent effects on health impacts. Data sources In this review, we used expert input and considered literature on climate change; health effects resulting from exposure to pathogens and chemicals arising from agriculture; inputs of chemicals …

Projected Climate-Induced Faunal Change In The Western Hemisphere, Joshua J. Lawler, Sarah L. Shafer, Denis White, Peter Kareiva, Edwin P. Maurer, Andrew R. Blaustein, Patrick J. Bartlein

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering

Climate change is predicted to be one of the greatest drivers of ecological change in the coming century. Increases in temperature over the last century have clearly been linked to shifts in species distributions. Given the magnitude of projected future climatic changes, we can expect even larger range shifts in the coming century. These changes will, in turn, alter ecological communities and the functioning of ecosystems. Despite the seriousness of predicted climate change, the uncertainty in climate-change projections makes it difficult for conservation managers and planners to proactively respond to climate stresses. To address one aspect of this uncertainty, we …

Water Scarcity, Conflict, And Security In A Climate Change World: Challenges And Opportunities For International Law And Policy, Gabriel Eckstein

Faculty Scholarship

Although climate change is expected to have major consequences that affect the global environment in its broadest sense, one of the earliest and most direct impacts will be on Earth’s fresh water systems. While some regions will experience increased precipitation, others will suffer serious scarcity. Among others, consequences are likely to include severe flooding, extreme droughts, and meandering border-rivers. This, in turn, will affect human migration patterns, population growths, agricultural activities, economic development, and the environment. This article explores the impact that climate change will have on regional and global freshwater resources and the resulting legal and policy implications that …

The George-Anne, Georgia Southern University

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Neoliberal Instrument Choice, David M. Driesen

College of Law - Faculty Scholarship

This book chapter reviews the influence on economic thought about instrument choice and its influence upon United States climate change policy. It shows that the theory of instrument choice made a positive contribution to the United States policy arsenal by emphasizing the cost effectiveness advantages of emissions trading. But because of an ideological climate uncritically supportive of free markets prevailed during the period of U.S. failure to address climate change, the United States favored overly broad trading programs, both in terms of geography and scope. This posture had a large influence on the Kyoto Protocol, leading the world to adopt …

Climate Change And The World’S “Sacred Sea”—Lake Baikal, Siberia, Marianne V. Moore, Stephanie E. Hampton, Lyubov R. Izmest'eva, Eugene A. Silow, Ekaterina V. Peshkova, Boris K. Pavlov

Biological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Lake Baikal—the world's largest, oldest, and most biotically diverse lake—is responding strongly to climate change, according to recent analyses of water temperature and ice cover. By the end of this century, the climate of the Baikal region will be warmer and wetter, particularly in winter. As the climate changes, ice cover and transparency, water temperature, wind dynamics and mixing, and nutrient levels are the key abiotic variables that will shift, thus eliciting many biotic responses. Among the abiotic variables, changes in ice cover will quite likely alter food-web structure and function most because of the diverse ways in which ice …