Articles Comments

Dickinson to Durban » Archive

What got done?

Both the Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreements, products of COP15 and COP16 respectively, are important documents in climate change negotiations.  They are lacking though.  Neither at any point have anything about what countries need to do to keep the global average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius.  Each document, in its own right, provides some good steps in helping the climate change negotiations move forward, providing different mechanisms to allot financial support and information transfer between the Parties to the Conference.  I understand the need for these mechanisms and they are good things to have come out of the past two Conferences.   These financial and other mechanisms can only help the future Conference of the Parties move forward and make some kind of significant move in addressing climate change.  Again, they … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action

The Fight: Development and The Battle That Ensues

When dealing with an issue such as climate change, how do people from different parts of the world, with different views and different needs, come together and find a common ground?  What do they need to do to make a global challenge work for everyone?  These are the things that the students participating in the Climate Change Africa Mosaic and students from a First-year seminar had to address on Thursday, Sept. 15th.  We were placed into a world climate negotiation simulation, where we, the students, represented a country, then the countries were divided into block groups.  Within 3 hours we had to come to an agreement with the other nations which both set forth climate reductions and still benefited our own represented country.  This was a goal tat proved to be rather difficult, but … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, Summer Reading Responses

SHOW ME THE MONEY!!

  As many know, developed countries such as the United States, have been the primary emitters of Greenhouse Gasses (GHG) and are often accused of causing global climate change.  This may be so, but pointing fingers will only get us so far.  What we need to look at going forward is how to mitigate the problem of global climate change and where the future emissions will come from.  With more and more countries trying to make the move from “developing” to “developed”, we are bound to see a slew of industrial revolutions and thus a significant in GHG emission from countries that currently produce the smallest amounts.  How do we prevent these increased emissions while still allowing these developing countries to prosper?  Sustainable development! One problem, sustainable development is expensive, far more so … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action

Global Climate Change, Dealt with Locally

Picture this, you’re driving your car down the road, the musics playing, you’re laughing with your friends, having a great time and you don’t have a care in the world.  You’re not thinking about the fact that as you are driving, you’re emitting a number of different pollutants, many of which are contributing to the Green House Gasses (GHGs) in the atmosphere and that those GHGs are contributing to what we know today as Global Climate Change.  You’re also probably not thinking about the fact that your contribution to Global Climate Change is not only effecting you but everyone on this planet.  Climate Change received the “global” precursor because the effects are not localized and because it it something that everyone one this planet can and have contributed to, whether they are aware or not.  So, the … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action