Further Readings, Useful and Interesting Links, Etc.

Some blogging on Copenhagen at NYT

George Will's skeptical column on prospects for a climate deal at Copenhagen

Here's a link to an independent investigation of New Orleans levees in Hurricane Katrina:

http://www.ce.berkeley.edu/projects/neworleans/

Natural Hazards:

Here's an early (1978) formulation of natural hazards concepts by three geographers, Ian Burton, Robert Kates, and Gilbert White (who taught at CU). Not required reading, but you'll recognize some of the basic ideas used in class Oct. 27 and 29th.

Burton, kates, and White "The Environment as Hazard" Chap. 2: Hazard, response and Choice.

Limits to Earth's Carrying Capacity:

Johan Rockström, et al. "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity". Nature 461, 472-475 (24 September 2009) | doi:10.1038/461472a; Published online 23 September 2009

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v461/n7263/full/461472a.html

or here:

Johan Rockström, et al. "A Safe Operating Space for Humanity". Nature 461 (PDF)

Some items mentioned in class:

Check this ENVS colloquium series out---they serve refreshments!

ENVS Colloquium Series, Fall 2009

Restoring the Earth: No Easy Answers

One scientist, one humanist, one policy expert.

One topic.

Environmental problems are interdisciplinary by nature. They jump fences. They cross boundaries. They don’t respect borders. So what happens when you mix three scholars from different backgrounds and ask them to comment on one topic? Join us and see.

"Bugs and bugaboos: Mountain pine beetles, fire and ecological restoration" Dr. Tania Schoennagel, CU INSTAAR and Geography

Wednesday, September 30, 3:30 - 5:00 pm

Location: Duane G125

Refreshments will be provided, starting at 3:00

The native mountain pine beetle has killed almost 2 million acres of lodgepole pine forests in Colorado since 1996, ushering in significant ecological and aesthetic change to these high mountain forests. For many people, these bugs represent major bugaboos: raising concerns about the role of past forest management, fears about elevated fire risk, and worry about our ability to restore a dying forest landscape. In this talk, I will confront these bugaboos, by exploring our scientific understanding about the ecological causes and consequences of the current mountain pine beetle epidemic. I will also discuss the need for ecological restoration and explore some of the current policy debates about post-beetle management of these forests.

Commentators:

Dr. Dan Sturgis, Philosophy, CU

Eric Gordon, ENVS Graduate Student

… And Save the Date for the next event: 

"Climate Geoengineering: The Governance Dilemma" Prof. Steve Rayner, James Martin Professor of Science and Civilization, University of Oxford

Monday, October 19th, 3:30-5pm, UMC 285 (Aspen Rooms)

Commentators: Ben Hale ENVS/Philosophy CU Boulder and TBD

Here’s another worthwhile seminar series (BYOlunch):

http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/outreach/cstpr_ibs.pdf

Bjorn Lomborg, the “Skeptical Environmentalist” is especially skeptical of “natural limits” and doom and gloom environmentalism:

http://www.lomborg.com/

Models of our Relationship with Environment:

Peak Oil, the neo-neo-environmental determinism:

I mentioned “peak oil” commentator James Howard Kunstler, and suggested that his predictions of imminent collapse of the US and global economy and consumer culture, leading us back to agrarian, local, society, are not unlike the catastrophic predictions by Erhlich et al in the late 1960s.

Read for yourself at (warning, Kunstler uses obscene language):

http://kunstler.com/blog/2008/12/change-you-wont-believe.html#more

You can also hear some of his talks at the KunstlerCast link. Choose a “peak oil” title to hear the diagnosis that we’re about to run out of oil and this will end life as we know it.

I haven’t been able to track down info on any local speaking engagements by Paul Ehrlich (the original “population bomb” author) or Kunstler, but will keep looking. See Ehrlich’s website at:

http://www.stanford.edu/group/CCB/Staff/Ehrlich.html

If you’d like to read more of the debate between pessimistic and optimistic assessment of the relationship between people/population and environment/resources, try these "techno-optimists" and "cornucopian" views, which also point to the basic environmentalist and pessimist view:

http://www.juliansimon.com/

(see especially his essay on “Population growth is not bad for humanity”:

http://www.juliansimon.com/writings/Articles/POPOPED3.txt#

Also see:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/cpr-20n2-1.html

Theme 1: Environmental Perception

For more details about limits on people’s perception of natural events and risk, try Kahneman’s Nobel lecture:

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2002/kahneman-lecture.html