Science and Society 4 - Climate Change Vulnerability

Science & Society 4

Science and Society - Climate Change Vulnerability

An important learning goal for our course is to think critically and ethically about how and by whom science is conducted, and to think about the societal impacts of biological research. To that end, please read the following excerpts and re<lect on the pieces by answering questions provided.

The readings will cover sensitive subjects and the questions may push you outside your comfort zone. That is ok. Research shows that with a little discomfort comes the greatest gains.

Feel free to post about this assignment (as any other) on Piazza, keeping in mind that for everyone to express their opinions and participate in discussions about sensitive subjects, they need to feel safe, their experiences need to feel honored, and they need not fear retaliation. Thus, it is best to establish ground rules for discussions. The University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching offers these rules to establish to foster a more productive discussion:

• Respect one another’s views.

• Criticize ideas, not individuals.

• Commit to learning, not debating.

• Avoid blame and speculation.

• Avoid in<lammatory language.

• Acknowledge that one’s opinions are formed by their unique experiences.

• No hate speech or bullying.

(We added the last two.)

Assigment 3

In the last weeks of the quarter, we will dive deeply into climate change. In Lecture 26 we will explore many examples of the biological impacts of climate change. As a supplement to those activities, we would like you to think about climate change and the impact it is having on humans, and speci<ically the uneven impacts of climate change on human populations. Most of the data you will unpack come from this paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/ srep20281.

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep20281

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep20281

 

Please read the abstract of the paper and the <irst couple of paragraphs of the introduction (or more if you like – it is a great paper!).

Use the <igures provided in this assignment to answer the following questions. Your answers should be clear and concise. We expect you to answer each in 2-3 sentences. You will be graded on your honest and respectful contribution, not your opinions.

This map shows each country’s contribution to climate change (carbon dioxide emissions) and vulnerability to climate change (severity of impacts) in 2010 (top) and the projected values in 2030 (bottom). Countries in cyan (the color on the diagonal) achieve “equity” wherein the economic gain they achieve from emitting CO2 is approximately the same value as the cost to society endured because of climate change. Economic gains speci<ically include the pro<it from industries that emit greenhouse gasses, thus the country’s economic growth as well as the improved human well-being as a result of that economic growth. Economic costs of climate change include the costs from things like environmental disasters (e.g., extreme weather), habitat changes (e.g., as a result of increased heat or extreme events), health impacts (e.g., increased diseases), and industry stressors (e.g., lost jobs).

1. Consider the range of colors among the countries on the map.

a. What does it mean for a country to be colored the darkest blue (labeled “Free Rider” in the upper left of the legend)?

b. What does it mean for a country to be colored the darkest green (labeled “Forced Rider” in the lower right of the legend)?

2. The top ten emitting countries generate >60% of total emissions: China (21.1%), the USA (14.1%), and India (5.2%) are the largest emitters (% of total global emissions shown in parentheses). India is projected to achieve “equity” by 2030: moving from free riding in 2010 (medium blue) to equity in 2030 (cyan). In principle there are two ways for a country to move in this way: reduce emissions or endure larger costs of climate change. The primary reason India is going to change is because the costs of climate change will “catch up” to the gains from economic growth contributing to climate change. In other words, India will get richer but environmental disasters and health are likely to get worse. Comment on the ethics of achieving “equity” in this way as opposed to being achieved by reducing emissions.

3. Countries vary in both wealth—measured in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—and vulnerability to climate change:

Describe the “uneven impact of climate change” shown in this graph.

4. Converting knowledge to action: Efforts such as the Paris Climate Agreement aim to mitigate climate change through collective international action. If you were negotiating an agreement for collective action, how would you decide how much and in what ways each country should contribute and why?