So far we have seen that the world has become primarily urban. Therefore, it's important to consider how cities are affected or going to be affected by climate change and how they are adapting to it. Some of the main ways by which cities are affected by climate change is through water: Flooding because river …
Tag: Climate Change
Cities and Climate Change
So, last time we spoke about two ways by which cities around the world are coping with climate change: slum relocation and waste management - with different degrees of success. Today, let's discuss a big one: sea level rise. The sea has been rising faster in the last 25 years than it has in the …
Cities and Climate Change
Coping with climate change - urban edition. More and more people are moving to cities. (www.un.org) They come seeking their fortunes - hoping for better lives - be it better education for their children, higher paying jobs, better healthcare etc. For the first time in history, the world became majority urban. So, its a good …
Daily Reading – 07/10/14
Light reading day. A light way to get to know climate change is to read "eco-fiction" or "cli fi". Some good works on the subject: https://freewordcentre.com/blog/2014/09/12-works-of-climate-fiction-everyone-should-read/ The social and unequal aspects of climate change: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rosaly-byrd/climate-change-is-a-socia_b_5939186.html?utm_hp_ref=tw A possible way forward or a "wedge". Developed nations paying poorer countries with forests to not develop those forests: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/13/climate-trades
Daily Reading – 06/10/14
Taking out an insurance policy The government impact in beginning to cope with climate change is quite low: additional investment in R&D, which, to quote from the article, is "a rounding error", income (that could be selectively ploughed into compensation, research, temporary subsidies) from carbon taxes and different policies. The impact on the players in the private …
Daily Reading: 03/10/2014
Climate Change is a classic case of "Tragedy of the commons". Briefly, when a group of individuals (persons, companies, countries) have shared access to a common resource (think "air"), each person will behave in a manner that maximizes his return at the cost of the groups. In climate change, there's a twist. Developed nations who …
Daily Reading – 30/09/14
Today let's explore what the world thinks of climate change: First, consider who is impacted by climate change: Now, let's look at what they think: In China: broadly believe climate change is ooccurring it is not good and the world as a whole should shoulder the responsibility of mitigation: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2014/09/30/heard-in-the-hutong-global-warming/ In the US: The richer you …
Daily Reading – 29/09/14
Yes, Yes, Yes: This is THE solution. We are all, in essence, subsidizing the carbon consumption of the heavy users. There is NO incentive to build alternative solutions today. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kitconews/2014/09/22/climate-change-is-single-biggest-risk-to-global-economy-paulson-at-cgi2014/?hootPostID=89606d4377cdfd4842e1fbbfcd24a935 When valuing the worth of most assets today, most of the value lies in something called the "terminal value" - which is the value belonging …
Daily Reading – 28/09/2014
Today: all about clouds. Clouds are some of the most important, yet least understood, parts of the feedback mechanism involved in climate change. Do they increase global warming or not? All over the world or not. The short answer is: it depends. The longer answer(s) will follow soon as this is one the most intense …
Daily Reading – 27/09/14
Read this: great interactive map on several issues on climate change: whose affected, who contributed the most to cumulative CO2 emissions, who has the money etc. One thing stands out: the US has one of the highest CO2 emissions (both cumulative and current) and is least vulnerable. So what's the incentive to change? http://interactive.guim.co.uk/embed/kiln/carbonmap/index.html?header=hidden&v=201409230753#Historical Still: …
Climaction 