This is a firsthand account of how the “white planet” affects global climate—and, in turn, how global warming is shrinking the frozen world of ice and snow. Jouzel, Lorius, and Raynaud chronicle the daunting scientific, technical, and human hurdles that they and other scientists have had to overcome in order to unravel the mysteries of present and past climate change, as revealed by the cryosphere—the dynamic frozen regions of our planet.

(CLIMATE CHANGE * CRYOSPHERE AND CLIMATE CHANGE)

On how to tackle long-term social and ecological problems by using different environmental governance approaches to creating sustainable development. Explores opportunities and requirements for the governance of long-term problems, and examine how to achieve a lasting transformation. When investments are made to mitigate climate change or preserve biodiversity, future generations can reap benefits from the efforts of the present generation. However, long-term social-ecological change towards sustainable development is disrupted by the fact that the costs and benefits of action are seen by different generations. With a global focus that includes case studies from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, this book attempts to address the difficulty of developing and implementing effective long-term governance solutions.

(ECOLOGICAL CHANGE * CLIMATE CHANGE * ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE)

We urgently need to transform to a low carbon society, yet our progress is painfully slow, in part because there is widespread public concern that this will require sacrifice and high costs. But this need not be the case. Many carbon reduction policies provide a range of additional benefits (reduced air pollution, increased energy security, financial savings, healthier lifestyles), that can offset the costs of climate action. Smith shows how low carbon policies can lead to cleaner air and water, conservation of forests, more sustainable agriculture, less waste, safer and more secure energy, cost savings for households and businesses, and a stronger and more stable economy. Offers recommendations for policy-makers and all those with an interest in making a healthier and happier society. Instead of being paralyzed by the threat of climate change, we can use it as a stimulus to escape from our dependence on polluting

(CLIMATE CHANGE * ENERGY * LOW-CARBON SOCIETY: BENEFITS/COSTS)

Coastal communities are in the front line of climate change. Escalating problems created by sea-level rise, more intense coastal storms, ocean acidification and other repercussions of climate change will exacerbate already pervasive impacts resulting from rapid coastal population growth and development intensification. Coastal communities will only survive and prosper in the coming decades if all concerned make a concerted effort to improve their resilience and adaptability. Relevant case studies are drawn from all around the world and from countries with varying levels of development including America’s Gulf of Mexico coast, Australia, Brazil, Britain, China, New Zealand, the Maldives, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Vietnam. Each case study addresses these vital questions: What is unique to this particular place? What makes this place especially vulnerable to climate change and other threats? What can we learn from past experience? What will help or hinder efforts to incorporate climate change adaptation measures into planning and decision making? What practical steps can be taken to build resilience, adaptive capacity and sustainability?

(CLIMATE CHANGE * COASTAL RESILIENCE * CITIES AND CLIMATE CHANGE)

In the Copenhagen Accord of 2009, developed countries jointly committed to mobilize US$100 billion per year to address climate change in developing countries. Climate finance will play an increasingly important role in international efforts to address climate change over the next decade. Haites provides an overview of current international climate finance, estimates of the incremental investment and cost of mitigation measures, estimates of additional funding needed for adaptation, analyses of potential sources of international climate finance, and the institutional and governance arrangements to deliver the funds effectively.

(CLIMATE FINANCE * CLIMATE CHANGE GOVERNANCE)

Human thoughts and actions have contributed to an environment of insecurity. Yet humans also have the capacity to collectively transform the economic, political, social and cultural systems and structures that perpetuate human insecurities. Environmental change presents a new context and new opportunities for transformational change. The text seeks to inspire new ways of understanding the relationship between environmental change and human security. Chapters include critical analyses, case studies, and reflections on contemporary environmental and social challenges, with a strong emphasis on those related to climate change.

(CLIMATE CHANGE * HUMAN SECURITY * ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND TRANSFORATION)

Presents evidence that climate change is moderate and predominantly a natural process, that predictions of destructive warming are unreliable, and that the economic and humanitarian costs of trying to reverse climate change are certain to cause unprecedented human suffering. The book is informed by climatology data and CO2 levels over tens of thousands of years, and includes high-end graphics and relevant links to federal, state, and professional sites.

(CLIMATE CHANGE QUESTIONED)

Humanity is facing an unprecedented global catastrophe as a result of global warming. Weston examines the reasons why international agencies, together with national governments, are seemingly unable to provide real and binding solutions to the problems and points to the global capitalist political economy as essential cause. Chapters discuss inaction on global warming; the state of the planet; evidence, causes and projections of global warming; Kyoto and emissions trading schemes; global political economy and global warming; inequality, ecological debt and global warming; metabolic rift, development, de-peasantisation; Africa, global warming and the future of the continent; South Africa as a microcosm of the global political economy; alternatives; and capitalism vs. the planet.

(CLIMATE CHANGE * ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS * AFRICA * SOUTH AFRICA * CAPITALISM VS. ENVIRONMENT)

Discusses today’s leading topics relating to climate change, including adapting to climate change and geo-engineering to mitigate the effects of change. Engages tough questions of what to do and offers solutions to the practical problems caused by radical changes in the earth’s climate. The new edition explores the concerns such as acidification of the ocean, energy efficiency, transportation, space solar power, and future and emerging possibilities. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions, calculations, and possible research topics.

(CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION * GEO-ENGINEERING * ENERGY * OCEANS)

We can and should think about climate change differently—not as a global issue but as one that varies across time and space. “As sites of rapidly growing population, cities have come to be seen as part of the climate-change problem.” And, due to their historical development, many cities occupy locations in coastal areas and on rivers that are especially vulnerable to climate change. By 2010, over half of the world’s population lived in some form of urban context; by 2030, almost 5 billion of the world’s 8.3 billion people will live in cities. As of 2009, the IEA found that cities and towns consume over two-thirds of annual energy demand, and produce >70% of global energy-related CO2 emissions. Chapters discuss urban vulnerability, urban GHG emissions, emergence of urban climate-change responses (from “municipal voluntarism” to “strategic urbanism,” and from incremental forms of coping and adapting to concerted and comprehensive approaches), climate-change mitigation and low-carbon cities, adaptation toward climate-resilient cities, climate-change experiments and alternatives (novel technologies and eco-city experiments such as Masdar City in the UAE and Bangalore’s Towards Zero Carbon Development project), and climate justice. In sum, “urban futures cannot be divorced from climate futures.”

(CLIMATE CHANGE AND CITIES)