Module 2 examines the elephant in the room during discussions of sustainable energy systems, global climate change. Solid evidence suggests that it is our creation and unbridled use of the current conventional energy system that is causing climate change. If we know that, why are we finding it so difficult to talk about, plan for, and actually implement change? What sort of change is needed and how are we doing now?
Module 2 lecture: Global climate change 2.1: The elephant in the room: What is GCC? 2.2: What is the evidence of GCC? 2.3: What are the cause(s) of GCC? 2.4: Paradigms, change, revolutions and transitions 2.5: Decarbonization and the energy trilemma |
Additional resources & links of interest:
Climate change:
> INTERACTIVE: 2C: Beyond the limit - How we know global warming is real (Mooney et al., Washington Post, 19 Jan 2019)
> Climate emergency: world 'may have crossed tipping points' (Carrington, The Guardian, 27 Nov 2019)
> NOAA confirms July was hottest month ever recorded (Fountain, NYTimes, 15 Aug 2019)
> The glaciers of Iceland seemed eternal. Now a country mourns their loss (Magnason, The Guardian, 14 Aug 2019)
> 2C beyond the limit: extreme climate change has arrived in America (Mufson et al., Washington Post, 13 Aug 2019)
> What worries Iceland? A world without ice. It is preparing. (Alderman, NYTImes, 9 Aug 2019)
> Climate change threatens the world's food supply, United Nations warns (Flavelle, NYTimes, 8 Aug 2019)
> VIDEO: Why I became a climate change activist - and why you should too (Luisa Neubauer, TED, July 2019)
> 83 environmental rules being rolled back under Trump (Popovich et al., NYTimes, 7 Jun 2019)
> VIDEO: Climate change comes to Vermont (Roger Hill, Orca Media, 5 Jun 2019)
> Young Republicans and climate change (Garcia-Navarro, NPR, 28 Apr 2019)
> Welcome to climate change... (Litchfield, MIT Technology Review, 23 Apr, 2019)
> How is climate change affecting Vermont right now? (Evancie and Metzger, Brave LIttle State, VPR, 19 Apr 2019)
> Democrats and Republicans divided on climate change (Bowman, Forbes, 19 Apr 2019)
> Cambridge climate lecture series (Cambridge University, Feb - Mar 2019)
> Climate change is complex: we've go answers to your questions. (Gillis, NYTimes, 2019)
> Effects of global warming (National Geographic)
> Global climate change: vital signs of the planet (NASA)
> Climate change FAQs (NASA)
> 9 questions about climate change you were afraid to ask (Plumer et al., Vox, 28 Dec 2018)
> Losing Earth: The decade we almost stopped climate change (Rich, NYTimes, 1 Aug 2018)
> Domino-effect of climate events could move Earth into a 'hothouse' state (Watts, Guardian 7 Aug 2018)
> Opinion: Don't despair - climate change catastrophe can still be averted (Lewis, Guardian, 7 Aug 2018)
> Keep it in the ground (series of articles from the Guardian)
> VISUALIZATIONS & DATA: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (Yale)
> INTERACTIVE: How American's think about climate change, in six maps (Popovich, NYTimes, 21 Mar 2017)
> INTERACTIVE: You fix it: Can you get us within the climate budget? (NYTimes, 28 Aug 2018)
> INTERACTIVE: Bathtub dynamics and climate change simulator (MIT, others)
> Daily update: Earth's CO2 homepage
Climate change:
> INTERACTIVE: 2C: Beyond the limit - How we know global warming is real (Mooney et al., Washington Post, 19 Jan 2019)
> Climate emergency: world 'may have crossed tipping points' (Carrington, The Guardian, 27 Nov 2019)
> NOAA confirms July was hottest month ever recorded (Fountain, NYTimes, 15 Aug 2019)
> The glaciers of Iceland seemed eternal. Now a country mourns their loss (Magnason, The Guardian, 14 Aug 2019)
> 2C beyond the limit: extreme climate change has arrived in America (Mufson et al., Washington Post, 13 Aug 2019)
> What worries Iceland? A world without ice. It is preparing. (Alderman, NYTImes, 9 Aug 2019)
> Climate change threatens the world's food supply, United Nations warns (Flavelle, NYTimes, 8 Aug 2019)
> VIDEO: Why I became a climate change activist - and why you should too (Luisa Neubauer, TED, July 2019)
> 83 environmental rules being rolled back under Trump (Popovich et al., NYTimes, 7 Jun 2019)
> VIDEO: Climate change comes to Vermont (Roger Hill, Orca Media, 5 Jun 2019)
> Young Republicans and climate change (Garcia-Navarro, NPR, 28 Apr 2019)
> Welcome to climate change... (Litchfield, MIT Technology Review, 23 Apr, 2019)
> How is climate change affecting Vermont right now? (Evancie and Metzger, Brave LIttle State, VPR, 19 Apr 2019)
> Democrats and Republicans divided on climate change (Bowman, Forbes, 19 Apr 2019)
> Cambridge climate lecture series (Cambridge University, Feb - Mar 2019)
> Climate change is complex: we've go answers to your questions. (Gillis, NYTimes, 2019)
> Effects of global warming (National Geographic)
> Global climate change: vital signs of the planet (NASA)
> Climate change FAQs (NASA)
> 9 questions about climate change you were afraid to ask (Plumer et al., Vox, 28 Dec 2018)
> Losing Earth: The decade we almost stopped climate change (Rich, NYTimes, 1 Aug 2018)
> Domino-effect of climate events could move Earth into a 'hothouse' state (Watts, Guardian 7 Aug 2018)
> Opinion: Don't despair - climate change catastrophe can still be averted (Lewis, Guardian, 7 Aug 2018)
> Keep it in the ground (series of articles from the Guardian)
> VISUALIZATIONS & DATA: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (Yale)
> INTERACTIVE: How American's think about climate change, in six maps (Popovich, NYTimes, 21 Mar 2017)
> INTERACTIVE: You fix it: Can you get us within the climate budget? (NYTimes, 28 Aug 2018)
> INTERACTIVE: Bathtub dynamics and climate change simulator (MIT, others)
> Daily update: Earth's CO2 homepage
Paradigms, change, revolutions and transitions:
> Caring about tomorrow. Why haven't we stopped climate change? We're just not wired to empathize about our descendants (Zaki, Washington Post, 22 Aug 2019)
> Bloomberg Opinion: A new paradigm must confront the old (Washington Post, 18 Jun 2019)
> Photos: kids in 123 countries went on strike to protect the climate (Barclay and Amara , Vox, 17 Mar 2019)
> VIDEO: The disarming case to act right now on climate change (Thunberg, TED, Nov 2018)
> Innovation and its enemies (Mokyr reviewing Calestus, EH.net, 2017)
> The political economy of technological change: resistance and innovation in economic history (Mokyr, 1997)
> Fridays for the Future
> Caring about tomorrow. Why haven't we stopped climate change? We're just not wired to empathize about our descendants (Zaki, Washington Post, 22 Aug 2019)
> Bloomberg Opinion: A new paradigm must confront the old (Washington Post, 18 Jun 2019)
> Photos: kids in 123 countries went on strike to protect the climate (Barclay and Amara , Vox, 17 Mar 2019)
> VIDEO: The disarming case to act right now on climate change (Thunberg, TED, Nov 2018)
> Innovation and its enemies (Mokyr reviewing Calestus, EH.net, 2017)
> The political economy of technological change: resistance and innovation in economic history (Mokyr, 1997)
> Fridays for the Future
Energy today and comparison of energy system carbon-footprints:
> Solar, wind and nuclear have 'amazingly low' carbon footprints, study finds (Evans, Carbon Brief, 12 Aug 2017)
> Solar, wind and nuclear have 'amazingly low' carbon footprints, study finds (Evans, Carbon Brief, 12 Aug 2017)
Energy trilemma:
> Climate rhetoric: what is an energy trilemma? (Carbon Brief, 23 Dec 2013)
> World energy trilemma (World Energy Council)
> Climate rhetoric: what is an energy trilemma? (Carbon Brief, 23 Dec 2013)
> World energy trilemma (World Energy Council)