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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

Varying Approaches

Global climate change is a global problem. It is affecting every area of the planet right now. It is affecting humans, plants, animals, chemical cycles, the atmosphere and ocean composition. Climate change is also a result of actions from every corner of the world, from the smoke stacks of China to the farming of a small village in Kenya to the running water that was left on by a child in Chicago. Climate change is the biggest problem that the human race has ever faced, simply because of its vast variety of causes and effects. So how do we fix it? The concept is simple, if we are all causing the problem and if we are all seeing the effects then we all have a responsibility to fix it. In reality, … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action

Key Contention: North/South Divide

by Claire Tighe Rates of climate change and strategies for mitigation are not the only sources of contention amongst states in the climate change negotiations. One of the largest social justice issues regarding the global governance of climate change is the relationship between states of the” global North,” and the global “South”. What Bulkeley and Newell name in their book Governing Climate Change as the “North-South politics,” regarding the “poverty of climate governance” can be understood as tension between developed countries (“North”) and the developing or least-developed countries (“South”). Contention between these two global groups relies on the assumption that “while climate change has been largely caused by wealthy industrialized parts of the world, it is the least developed areas of the world that will suffer its worst consequences” (Bulkeley & Newell … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues

Global climate change: an international problem?

As climate research improves, the term “global warming” has been scientifically amended to a more general theme of “global climate change.”  While it was determined that a more logical term is climate change, the word “global” has kept through new science, research, and advancements in studies.  This phenomenon has been caused by, and will affect humans, as well as the natural world on a global scale; but, how truly international is this issue?  And, will the effects of climate change be solved through global action? At first, these questions may seem relatively easy to answer.  It is global climate change, after all; however, the states’ role in combating changes in climate is more complex.  Harriet Bulkeley and Peter Newell suggest that the framework of climate change on an international scale should be … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change