Recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Read the recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Global Warming of 1. C – Summary for Policymakers” http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/sr15/sr15_spm_final.pdf After reading the report, write a brief essay describing some of your thoughts and perspectives on climate change and the challenges it presents. In particular, discuss the following topics in your essay: – Did the report provide you with a new perspective/understanding of the dynamics, challenges, and/or potential solutions associated with climate change? If so, how? If not, why not? – What aspect(s) of the report did you find to be most concerning (if anything)? – What aspect(s) of the report did you find to be the most encouraging (if anything)? – What principles of Earth Systems Engineering and Management (ESEM) and/or Adaptive Management (see below for description of principles) appear to be particularly well-suited for addressing and/or managing the challenges that climate change presents? The assignment is due by 11:59 PM on Sunday, July 21. Your essay should be approximately one page (roughly 375-450 words with 1.5 spacing). Support your responses with citations from the IPCC report (and any other additional articles/material you choose to review). Include proper APA styling for referencing and citing the IPCC Report (and any other material you use).

ESEM Principles: Projects, technologies, and programs are not just technical and scientific in nature Major shifts in technologies and technological systems should be considered before, rather than after, implementation ESEM initiatives should not assume centralized control Governance should be pluralistic, transparent, and accountable ESEM initiatives should not assume complete knowledge of facts is possible ESEM initiatives should be incremental and reversible to the extent possible Policy development and implementation should be a dialog with the relevant systems rather than finding a “solution” to a “problem” Explicit mechanisms for ensuring continual learning should be put in place Adaptive Management Principles: Deploy Integrated policies, not piecemeal ones Use flexible, adaptive policies, not rigid, locked-in ones Emphasize management and planning for learning not simply for economic or social product Monitoring should be designed as a part of active interventions to achieve understanding and to identify need for remedial responses, not monitoring for monitoring’s sake Invest in eclectic science, not just in controlled science Encourage citizen involvement and partnership to build “civic science”, not public information programs to inform passively