Teaching climate science within the transdisciplinary framework of Critical Zone science

Science.gov (United States)

White, T. S.; Wymore, A.; Dere, A. L. D.; Washburne, J. C.; Hoffman, A.; Conklin, M. H.

2017-12-01

During the past decade a new realm of Earth surface and environmental science has evolved, Critical Zone (CZ) science. The CZ is the outermost layer of the continents spanning from the top of the vegetation canopy down to the bottom of the fresh groundwater zone. CZ science integrates across many disciplines and cross cutting concepts, including climate science, and much progress has been made by the CZ community to develop educational curricula - descriptions of the climate science aspects of two of those follows. An interdisciplinary team of CZ scientists developed an undergraduate course entitled "Introduction to CZ science". The semester-long course is modular, has been tested in multiple university settings, and the content is available online. A primary tenet of the course is that to achieve environmental sustainability, society must understand the CZ system, the natural processes and services of the CZ that are of value to society, and how those processes operate with and without the presence of humanity. A fundamental concept in the course is that the fluxes of water, C, energy, reactive gases, particulates and nutrients throughout the CZ are directly and indirectly related to climatic phenomenon and processes. Units on land-atmosphere interactions, weathering, and water budgets highlight the connection between CZ science and climate science, and are augmented by learning activities that consider climate links to soil development and landscape evolution. An online open-source course entitled "Earth 530: Earth Surface Processes in the Critical Zone'" is offered as part of The Pennsylvania State University's Masters of Education in Earth Sciences program. The course is designed to educate teachers interested in incorporating CZ science into their classrooms, though it is usable by anyone with a basic understanding of Earth surface and environmental science. Earth 530 introduces students to knowledge needed to understand the CZ through integration of

Building the Capacity for Climate Services: Thoughts on Training Next Generation Climate Science Integrators

Science.gov (United States)

Garfin, G. M.; Brugger, J.; Gordon, E. S.; Barsugli, J. J.; Rangwala, I.; Travis, W.

2015-12-01

For more than a decade, stakeholder needs assessments and reports, including the recent National Climate Assessment, have pointed out the need for climate "science translators" or "science integrators" who can help bridge the gap between the cultures and contexts of researchers and decision-makers. Integration is important for exchanging and enhancing knowledge, building capacity to use climate information in decision making, and fostering more robust planning for decision-making in the context of climate change. This talk will report on the characteristics of successful climate science integrators, and a variety of models for training the upcoming generation of climate science integrators. Science integration characteristics identified by an experienced vanguard in the U.S. include maintaining credibility in both the scientific and stakeholder communities, a basic respect for stakeholders demonstrated through active listening, and a deep understanding of the decision-making context. Drawing upon the lessons of training programs for Cooperative Extension, public health professionals, and natural resource managers, we offer ideas about training next generation climate science integrators. Our model combines training and development of skills in interpersonal relations, communication of science, project implementation, education techniques and practices - integrated with a strong foundation in disciplinary knowledge.

Climate Science's Globally Distributed Infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, D. N.

2016-12-01

The Earth System Grid Federation (ESGF) is primarily funded by the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Office of Science (the Office of Biological and Environmental Research [BER] Climate Data Informatics Program and the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research Next Generation Network for Science Program), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF), the European Infrastructure for the European Network for Earth System Modeling (IS-ENES), and the Australian National University (ANU). Support also comes from other U.S. federal and international agencies. The federation works across multiple worldwide data centers and spans seven international network organizations to provide users with the ability to access, analyze, and visualize data using a globally federated collection of networks, computers, and software. Its architecture employs a series of geographically distributed peer nodes that are independently administered and united by common federation protocols and application programming interfaces (APIs). The full ESGF infrastructure has now been adopted by multiple Earth science projects and allows access to petabytes of geophysical data, including the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP; output used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports), multiple model intercomparison projects (MIPs; endorsed by the World Climate Research Programme [WCRP]), and the Accelerated Climate Modeling for Energy (ACME; ESGF is included in the overarching ACME workflow process to store model output). ESGF is a successful example of integration of disparate open-source technologies into a cohesive functional system that serves the needs the global climate science community. Data served by ESGF includes not only model output but also observational data from satellites and instruments, reanalysis, and generated images.

Climate state: Science-state struggles and the formation of climate science in the US from the 1930s to 1960s.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, Zeke

2017-12-01

This article has two aims: first, to understand the co-production of climate science and the state, and second, to provide a test case for Pierre Bourdieu's field theory. To these ends, the article reconstructs the historical formation of a US climate science field, with an analytic focus on inter-field dynamics and heterogeneous networking practices. Drawing from primary- and secondary-source materials, the historical analysis focuses on relations between scientists and state actors from the 1930s to the 1960s. The account shows how actors with positions linking scientific and bureaucratic fields constructed critical nodes and 'hinges' that co-produced war-making and state expansion on the one hand, and a relatively autonomous climate science field on the other. The analysis explains the emergence of climate science by focusing on the WWII-era transformation of meteorology and oceanography into distinct disciplines, the emergence of 'basic' research as a central principle of post-war government, and the formation of a climate science field by the 1960s centered on computerized modeling and populated by an interdisciplinary scientific elite. The article concludes by indicating how these processes led to the subsequent development of climate change as a science-state conundrum that has reorganized the climate science field in recent decades.

Climate Science Program at California State University, Northridge

Science.gov (United States)

Steele Cox, H.; Klein, D.; Cadavid, A. C.; Foley, B.

2012-12-01

Due to its interdisciplinary nature, climate science poses wide-ranging challenges for science and mathematics students seeking careers in this field. There is a compelling need for universities to provide coherent programs in climate science in order to train future climate scientists. With funding from NASA Innovations in Climate Education (NICE), California State University, Northridge (CSUN), is creating the CSUN Climate Science Program. An interdisciplinary team of faculty members is working in collaboration with UCLA, Santa Monica College and NASA/JPL partners to create a new curriculum in climate science. The resulting sequence of climate science courses, or Pathway for studying the Mathematics of Climate Change (PMCC), is integrated into a Bachelor of Science degree program in the Applied Mathematical Sciences offered by the Mathematics Department at CSUN. The PMCC consists of courses offered by the departments of Mathematics, Physics, and Geography and is designed to prepare students for Ph.D. programs in technical fields relevant to global climate change and related careers. The students who choose to follow this program will be guided to enroll in the following sequence of courses for their 12 units of upper division electives: 1) A newly created course junior level course, Math 396CL, in applied mathematics which will introduce students to applications of vector calculus and differential equations to the study of thermodynamics and atmospheric dynamics. 2) An already existing course, Math 483, with new content on mathematical modeling specialized for this program; 3) An improved version of Phys 595CL on the mathematics and physics of climate change with emphasis on Radiative Transfer; 4) A choice of Geog 407 on Remote Sensing or Geog 416 on Climate Change with updated content to train the students in the analysis of satellite data obtained with the NASA Earth Observing System and instruction in the analysis of data obtained within a Geographical

Recent Challenges Facing US Government Climate Science Access and Application

Science.gov (United States)

Goldman, G. T.; Carter, J. M.; Licker, R.

2017-12-01

Climate scientists have long faced politicization of their work, especially those working within the US federal government. However, political interference in federal government climate change science has escalated in the current political era with efforts by political actors to undermine and disrupt infrastructure supporting climate science. This has included funding changes, decreased access to climate science information on federal agency websites, restrictions on media access to scientific experts within the government, and rolling back of science-based policies designed to incorporate and respond to climate science findings. What are the impacts of such changes for both the climate science community and the broader public? What can be done to ensure that access to and application of climate change-related research to policy decisions continues? We will summarize and analyze the state of climate change research and application in the US government. The impacts of political interference in climate change science as well as opportunities the scientific community has to support climate science in the US government, will be discussed.

Engaging Students In The Science Of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Rhew, R. C.; Halversen, C.; Weiss, E.; Pedemonte, S.; Weirman, T.

2013-12-01

Climate change is arguably the defining environmental issue of our generation. It is thus increasingly necessary for every member of the global community to understand the basic underlying science of Earth's climate system and how it is changing in order to make informed, evidence-based decisions about how we will respond individually and as a society. Through exploration of the inextricable interconnection between Earth's ocean, atmosphere and climate, we believe students will be better prepared to tackle the complex issues surrounding the causes and effects of climate change and evaluate possible solutions. If students are also given opportunities to gather evidence from real data and use scientific argumentation to make evidence-based explanations about climate change, not only will they gain an increased understanding of the science concepts and science practices, the students will better comprehend the nature of climate change science. Engaging in argument from evidence is a scientific practice not only emphasized in the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), but also emphasized in the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science (CCSS). This significant overlap between NGSS and CCSS has implications for science and language arts classrooms, and should influence how we support and build students' expertise with this practice of sciences. The featured exemplary curricula supports middle school educators as they address climate change in their classrooms. The exemplar we will use is the NOAA-funded Ocean Sciences Sequence (OSS) for Grades 6-8: The ocean-atmosphere connection and climate change, which are curriculum units that deliver rich science content correlated to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Disciplinary Core Ideas and an emphasis on the Practices of Science, as called for in NGSS and the Framework. Designed in accordance with the latest

Cool Science: Engaging Adult and K-16 Audiences in Climate Change Science

Science.gov (United States)

Lustick, D.; Lohmeier, J.; Chen, R. F.

2012-12-01

A team of educators and scientists from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the University of Massachusetts Boston will report on an informal science learning research project using mass transit spaces in Lowell, MA. Cool Science (CS) uses advertising spaces on buses and terminals to engage the public with an Out of Home Multi-Media (OHMM) learning experience. K-16 classrooms throughout Massachusetts will submit original artwork that conveys a scientific concept central to understanding climate change. The best 6 works submitted will be printed and placed on every bus in the city over a 6 month period during the first half of 2013. CS aims to promote and evaluate learning about climate change science among the general adult public and k-16 students/teachers. Cool Science offers teachers an efficient and effective means of seamlessly bringing the study of climate change into classroom learning both within science and across disciplines. The products of this effort are then used to improve public engagement with the science of climate change in mass transit environments. Cool Science is an example of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math education (STEAM). The goals of CS are: 1) Engage professors, teachers, and their respective students in a climate change science communication competition. 2) Run the winning 6 selected placards and posters throughout the LRTA. 3) Identify how different communities of risk among the riding public approach and understand climate change. 4) Identify the advantages and disadvantages of using buses as a context for research on informal science learning. 5) Determine the extent to which student artwork serves as a trusted source of information. As advances in technology allow for more scientific knowledge to be generated, the role of informal education to improve adult understanding of science has never been greater. We see the convergence of circumstances (ISE, climate change, OHMM, mobile technology) as an enormous

The Perceptions of Pre-Service Science Teachers and Science Teachers About Climate Change

OpenAIRE

Meilinda, M; Rustaman, N. Y; Tjasyono, B

2017-01-01

The global climate phenomenon in the context of climate change is the impact of both the dynamic complex climate system and human behaviors that affect environmental sustainability. Human is an important component that should be considered in science teaching that is believed to improve human attitudes towards the environmental sustainability. The research aims to investigate the perceptions of pre-service science teachers and science teachers in South Sumatra who teach climate change and glo...

Monsieur Omar Fassi Fihri Secrétaire perpétuel Académie HASSAN II des Sciences et Techniques Royaume du Maroc

CERN Document Server

Maximilien Brice

2010-01-01

CERN-HI-1007135 01: M. Gouighri, Boursier de l’Académie des Sciences, Université Hassan II; J. Collot, Directeur du Laboratoire international associé; R. Heuer,\tDirecteur général du CERN;O. Fassi Fehri, Secrétaire perpétuel, Académie Hassan II des Sciences et Techniques, Maroc; S. Boutouil, Boursière du Laboratoire international associé; R. Klapisch, Fondation Partager le Savoir, Président et fondateur; G.Carnot, Président de la Fondation Carnot.

Getting The Picture: Our Changing Climate- A new learning tool for climate science

Science.gov (United States)

Yager, K.; Balog, J. D.

2014-12-01

Earth Vision Trust (EVT), founded by James Balog- photographer and scientist, has developed a free, online, multimedia climate science education tool for students and educators. Getting The Picture (GTP) creates a new learning experience, drawing upon powerful archives of Extreme Ice Survey's unique photographs and time-lapse videos of changing glaciers around the world. GTP combines the latest in climate science through interactive tools that make the basic scientific tenets of climate science accessible and easy to understand. The aim is to use a multidisciplinary approach to encourage critical thinking about the way our planet is changing due to anthropogenic activities, and to inspire students to find their own voice regarding our changing climate The essence of this resource is storytelling through the use of inspiring images, field expedition notes and dynamic multimedia tools. EVT presents climate education in a new light, illustrating the complex interaction between humans and nature through their Art + Science approach. The overarching goal is to educate and empower young people to take personal action. GTP is aligned with national educational and science standards (NGSS, CCSS, Climate Literacy) so it may be used in conventional classrooms as well as education centers, museum kiosks or anywhere with Internet access. Getting The Picture extends far beyond traditional learning to provide an engaging experience for students, educators and all those who wish to explore the latest in climate science.

Climate Communication from a Science Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Somerville, R. C.

2012-12-01

Today, the world faces crucial choices in deciding what to do about climate change. Wise policy can be usefully informed by sound science. Scientists who are both climate experts and skilled communicators can provide valuable input into this policy process. They can help the public, media and policymakers learn what science has discovered about climate change. Scientists as a group are widely admired throughout the world. They can often use their prestige as well as their technical knowledge to advantage in publicizing and illuminating the findings of climate science. However, most scientists are unaware of the main obstacles to effective communication, such as the distrust that arises when the scientist and the audience do not have a shared worldview and shared cultural values. Many climate scientists also fail to realize that the jargon they use in their work is a significant barrier to communication, and that their messages requires skilled translation into the everyday language that people understand. Scientists need to recognize that lecturing is almost always poor communication. Speaking in a television interview or a Congressional hearing is completely unlike teaching a class of graduate students. The people whom one is trying to reach are rarely hungry for pure scientific information. Instead, they want to know how climate change will affect them and what can be done about it. Communicating climate science resembles skiing or speaking a foreign language: it is a skill that can be learned, but beginners are well advised to take lessons from expert instructors. Becoming adept at climate communication requires study and practice. Effective professional training in climate communication is available for those scientists who have the time and the willingness to improve as communicators.

When climate science became climate politics: British media representations of climate change in 1988.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaspal, Rusi; Nerlich, Brigitte

2014-02-01

Climate change has become a pressing environmental concern for scientists, social commentators and politicians. Previous social science research has explored media representations of climate change in various temporal and geographical contexts. Through the lens of Social Representations Theory, this article provides a detailed qualitative thematic analysis of media representations of climate change in the 1988 British broadsheet press, given that this year constitutes an important juncture in this transition of climate change from the domain of science to that of the socio-political sphere. The following themes are outlined: (i) "Climate change: a multi-faceted threat"; (ii) "Collectivisation of threat"; (iii) "Climate change and the attribution of blame"; and (iv) "Speculative solutions to a complex socio-environmental problem." The article provides detailed empirical insights into the "starting-point" for present-day disputes concerning climate change and lays the theoretical foundations for tracking the continuities and discontinuities characterising social representations of climate change in the future.

Accroissement de la compétitivité du Kenya dans l'économie du ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

La promulgation par le Kenya du Science, Technology and Innovation Bill, 2012 confirme l'intérêt et la volonté du gouvernement de mettre en oeuvre désormais un programme de développement fondé sur la science. La loi offre aussi au CRDI l'occasion d'appuyer le programme de recherche et de politiques de la nouvelle ...

Mathematical paradigms of climate science

CERN Document Server

Cannarsa, Piermarco; Jones, Christopher; Portaluri, Alessandro

2016-01-01

This book, featuring a truly interdisciplinary approach, provides an overview of cutting-edge mathematical theories and techniques that promise to play a central role in climate science. It brings together some of the most interesting overview lectures given by the invited speakers at an important workshop held in Rome in 2013 as a part of MPE2013 (“Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013”). The aim of the workshop was to foster the interaction between climate scientists and mathematicians active in various fields linked to climate sciences, such as dynamical systems, partial differential equations, control theory, stochastic systems, and numerical analysis. Mathematics and statistics already play a central role in this area. Likewise, computer science must have a say in the efforts to simulate the Earth’s environment on the unprecedented scale of petabytes. In the context of such complexity, new mathematical tools are needed to organize and simplify the approach. The growing importance of data assimilation te...

Room for climate debate : perspectives on the interaction between climate politics, science and the media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sluijs, van der J.P.; Est, van R.; Riphagen, M.

2010-01-01

Room for climate debate: perspectives on the interaction between climate politics, science and the media The present study offers a picture of the complex interaction between climate politics, science and the media. During the 1970s and 1980s, politics and the sciences focused increasingly on the

Public Perception of Uncertainties Within Climate Change Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Visschers, Vivianne H M

2018-01-01

Climate change is a complex, multifaceted problem involving various interacting systems and actors. Therefore, the intensities, locations, and timeframes of the consequences of climate change are hard to predict and cause uncertainties. Relatively little is known about how the public perceives this scientific uncertainty and how this relates to their concern about climate change. In this article, an online survey among 306 Swiss people is reported that investigated whether people differentiate between different types of uncertainty in climate change research. Also examined was the way in which the perception of uncertainty is related to people's concern about climate change, their trust in science, their knowledge about climate change, and their political attitude. The results of a principal component analysis showed that respondents differentiated between perceived ambiguity in climate research, measurement uncertainty, and uncertainty about the future impact of climate change. Using structural equation modeling, it was found that only perceived ambiguity was directly related to concern about climate change, whereas measurement uncertainty and future uncertainty were not. Trust in climate science was strongly associated with each type of uncertainty perception and was indirectly associated with concern about climate change. Also, more knowledge about climate change was related to less strong perceptions of each type of climate science uncertainty. Hence, it is suggested that to increase public concern about climate change, it may be especially important to consider the perceived ambiguity about climate research. Efforts that foster trust in climate science also appear highly worthwhile. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Climate (R)evolution?

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

When it comes down to it, what do we really know about climate change? Where does scientific opinion currently stand? At the 12th Wright Science Colloquium at the University of Geneva from 13 to 17 November, five leading experts in the field will shed light on the issue of climate change, which is currently the subject of extensive debate in the media. The purpose of the Wright Science Colloquia, which are held every two years in Geneva, is to bring the most recent progress in science into the public arena. XII Wright Science Colloquium from 13 to 17 November 2006 Uni Dufour, rue du Général-Dufour 24, Geneva Daily lecture at 6.30 pm, Entrance free. Lectures will be given in English or French, with simultaneous interpretation into the other language. On Wednesday, 15 November from 2pm to 4pm in the Salle Soutter of the TSR building, quai Ernest-Ansermet 20, young people aged between 14 and 20 will have the opportunity to meet the scientists of the Wright Science Colloquia and put any questions they wish...

Our Changing Climate: A Brand New Way to Study Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I.; Nugnes, K. A.; Mills, E. W.

2014-12-01

Earth's climate is inherently variable, but is currently changing at rates unprecedented in recent Earth history. Human activity plays a major role in this change and is projected to do so well into the future. This is the stance taken in Our Changing Climate, the brand new climate science ebook from the American Meteorological Society (AMS). Our Changing Climate investigates Earth's climate system, explores humans' impact on it, and identifies actions needed in response to climate change. Released in August 2014, Our Changing Climate is the result of a year's worth of intensive research and writing, incorporating the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the Third National Climate Assessment. To encourage additional exploration of climate science information, scientific literature, from which chapter content was derived, is cited at the conclusion of each chapter. In addition, Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive information related to various topics. For example, a Topic In Depth in Chapter 11 describes the effect of climate extremes on ranching enterprises in Nebraska. Climate science is multi-disciplinary and therefore Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics. From understanding basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate Earth's climate system to examining the psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial, the AMS believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is the most effective way to increase climate literacy. Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course which is intended for undergraduate-level students. Other course materials include an eInvestigations Manual and access to the RealTime Climate Portal, both of which provide weekly activities corresponding to that week's chapter content. The RealTime Climate Portal also has links to climate data as well as societal interactions and climate policy

An Interface between Law and Science: The Climate Change Regime

Science.gov (United States)

Kuleshov, Y.; Grandbois, M.; Kaniaha, S.

2012-04-01

Law and Science are jointly building the international climate change regime. Up to date, international law and climate science have been unable to take into consideration both regional law and Pacific climate science in this process. Under the International Climate Change Adaptation Initiative (the Australian Government Initiative to assist with high priority climate adaptation needs in vulnerable countries in the Asia-Pacific region) significant efforts were dedicated to improve understanding of climate in the Pacific through the Pacific Climate Change Science Program (PCCSP) and through the Pacific Adaptation Strategy Assistance Program (PASAP). The first comprehensive PCCSP scientific report on the South Pacific climate has been published in 2011. Under the PASAP, web-based information tools for seasonal climate prediction have been developed and now outputs from dynamical climate model are used in 15 countries of the North-West and South Pacific for enhanced prediction of rainfall, air and sea surface temperatures which reduces countries' vulnerability to climate variability in the context of a changing climate. On a regional scale, the Meteorological and Geohazards Department of Vanuatu is preparing a full report on Climate change impacts on the country. These scientific reports and tools could lead to a better understanding of climate change in the South Pacific and to a better understanding of climate change science, for lawyers and policy-makers. The International climate change regime develops itself according to science findings, and at the pace of the four scientific reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In return, Law is a contributing factor to climate change, a structural data in the development and perception of environmental issues and it exerts an influence on Science. Because of the dependency of law on science, the PCCSP and PASAP outcomes will also stimulate and orientate developments in law of the Pacific

Successful Climate Science Communication Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Sinclair, P.

2016-12-01

In the past decade, efforts to communicate the facts of global change have not successfully moved political leaders and the general public to action. In response, a number of collaborative efforts between scientists and professional communicators, writers, journalists, bloggers, filmmakers, artists and others have arisen seeking to bridge that gap. As a result, a new cadre of science-literate communicators, and media-savvy scientists have made themselves visible across diverse mainstream, traditional, and social media outlets. Because of these collaborations, in recent years, misinformation, and disinformation have been successfully met with accurate and credible rebuttals within a single news cycle.Examples of these efforts is the Dark Snow Project, a science/communication collaboration focusing initially on accelerated arctic melt and sea level rise, and the Climate Science Rapid Response team, which matches professional journalists with appropriate science experts in order to respond within a single news cycle to misinformation or misunderstandings about climate science.The session will discuss successful examples and suggest creative approaches for the future.

Revolutionizing Climate Science: Using Teachers as Communicators

Science.gov (United States)

Warburton, J.; Crowley, S.; Wood, J.

2012-12-01

PolarTREC (Teachers and Researchers Exploring and Collaborating) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded program in which K-12 teachers participate in hands-on field research experiences in the Polar Regions. Teachers are the dynamic conduits for communicating climate science. In the PolarTREC final report, researchers found that teachers were vital in refining the language of their science and have shaped the goals of the scientific project. Program data demonstrates that science in classrooms is better understood when teachers have a full-spectrum grasp of project intricacies from defining the project, to field data collection, encountering situations for creativity and critical thinking, as well as participating in data and project analysis. Teachers' translating the authentic scientific process is integral in communicating climate science to the broader public. Teachers playing a major role in polar science revolutionize the old paradigm of "in-school learning". Through daily online journaling and forums, social media communication, live webinars with public, and professional development events, these teachers are moving beyond classrooms to communicate with society. Through teachers, climate policy can be shaped for the future by having scientifically literate students as well as assessable science. New paradigms come as teachers attain proficient levels of scientific understanding paired with the expert abilities for communication with years of experience. PolarTREC teachers are a model for new interactions peer-to-peer learning and mentorship for young scientists. Our programmatic goal is to expand the opportunities for PolarTREC teachers to share their involvement in science with additional formal and informal educators. 'Teaching the teachers' will reach exponential audiences in media, policy, and classrooms. Modeling this program, we designed and conducted a teacher training on climate science in Denali National Park. Utilizing expert university

Understanding and managing trust at the climate science-policy interface

Science.gov (United States)

Lacey, Justine; Howden, Mark; Cvitanovic, Christopher; Colvin, R. M.

2018-01-01

Climate change effects are accelerating, making the need for appropriate actions informed by sound climate knowledge ever more pressing. A strong climate science-policy relationship facilitates the effective integration of climate knowledge into local, national and global policy processes, increases society's responsiveness to a changing climate, and aligns research activity to policy needs. This complex science-policy relationship requires trust between climate science `producers' and `users', but our understanding of trust at this interface remains largely uncritical. To assist climate scientists and policymakers, this Perspective provides insights into how trust develops and operates at the interface of climate science and policy, and examines the extent to which trust can manage — or even create — risk at this interface.

Climate science agenda for Canada 2002-2012

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bruce, J.P.

2002-01-01

The development of this agenda was the result of discussions held at a multi-stakeholder workshop in Ottawa in March 2002, an experts panel meeting of leading scientists and policy makers also in Ottawa in March 2002, and a review of related assessments undertaken on a global scale in the United States and Canada. Policies concerning climate change in Canada must be developed for the long-term, despite critical urgency in the short-term. The author recommended the following timetable for action: (1) decision on the measures required for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to be made in 2002, (2) a suitable carbon trading policy and mechanism to be developed, (3) the extent to which carbon sinks can be claimed by Canada to be decided by 2006, (4) decide on optimum strategies for negotiating emission reductions in second commitment period after 2012, by 2006-2008, (5) start adaptation measures to mitigate adverse climate change impacts on Canadian economy, people, and environment, (6) implement ratified commitments for the 2008-2012 commitment period. It is more effective to respond to seasonal variations in climate in agriculture, water management, energy, transportation and other sectors, based on more reliable science. Research efforts in the field of climate science in Canada must be supported, in order to find answers to seven questions asked in the document. The document was divided into eight sections. Section 1 dealt with the climate: public policy issues, and section 2 looked at climate science: a basic national need. In section 3, the author looked at international comparisons, and the role of climate science in policy development 2002-2012 was discussed in section 4. Interdisciplinary and international dimensions were the topic discussed in section 5, while section 6 dealt with science needs and priorities 2002-2012. Coordination mechanisms were examined in section 7 and communicating climate science was explored in section 8. 5 refs., 1 tab

Science Teachers' Perspectives about Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Vaille

2012-01-01

Climate change and its effects are likely to present challenging problems for future generations of young people. It is important for Australian students to understand the mechanisms and consequences of climate change. If students are to develop a sophisticated understanding, then science teachers need to be well-informed about climate change…

Climate Science: A Journalist's View

Science.gov (United States)

Roosevelt, M.

2011-12-01

U.S. public opinion polls show that concern over global warming has dropped precipitously in the wake of economic turmoil. With a dearth of climate change coverage on network news, and in large newspapers and magazines, the public largely gets its climate news--and science news generally--from local TV weathermen. At the same time, many local weathercasters have little time to educate themselves about climate change--although the National Science Foundation is funding an effort to inform them. The Heartland Institute and other climate-skeptic organizations are reaching out to TV weathermen, and some prominent weathercasters have embraced the skeptics' arguments, but websites such as Climate Central, and blogs such as DotEarth are seeking to fill the void. The innate caution of climate scientists, most of whom are reluctant to extrapolate from a narrow study on, say, carbon flux or sea ice, to talk about why the planet is in danger is another challenge. For the most part, they don't want to stick their necks out for fear of professional retribution. When scientists limit themselves to talking about narrow results, journalists' eyes glaze over and no one connects the dots. Much attention is devoted to whether or not the media is doing a good job in covering climate change, when energy might better be spent on applying pressure to decision makers? The media can't make legislators vote for progressive climate change policies--only constituents can do that.

Using an interdisciplinary MOOC to teach climate science and science communication to a global classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, J.

2016-12-01

MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are a powerful tool, making educational content available to a large and diverse audience. The MOOC "Making Sense of Climate Science Denial" applied science communication principles derived from cognitive psychology and misconception-based learning in the design of video lectures covering many aspects of climate change. As well as teaching fundamental climate science, the course also presented psychological research into climate science denial, teaching students the most effective techniques for responding to misinformation. A number of enrolled students were secondary and tertiary educators, who adopted the course content in their own classes as well as adapted their teaching techniques based on the science communication principles presented in the lectures. I will outline how we integrated cognitive psychology, educational research and climate science in an interdisciplinary online course that has had over 25,000 enrolments from over 160 countries.

Climate Science: An Empirical Example of Postnormal Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Bray, Dennis; von Storch, Hans

1999-03-01

This paper addresses the views regarding the certainty and uncertainty of climate science knowledge held by contemporary climate scientists. More precisely, it addresses the extension of this knowledge into the social and political realms as per the definition of postnormal science. The data for the analysis is drawn from a response rate of approximately 40% from a survey questionnaire mailed to 1000 scientists in Germany, the United States, and Canada, and from a series of in-depth interviews with leading scientists in each country. The international nature of the sample allows for cross-cultural comparisons.With respect to the relative scientific discourse, similar assessments of the current state of knowledge are held by the respondents of each country. Almost all scientists agreed that the skill of contemporary models is limited. Minor differences were notable. Scientists from the United States were less convinced of the skills of the models than their German counterparts and, as would be expected under such circumstances, North American scientists perceived the need for societal and political responses to be less urgent than their German counterparts. The international consensus was, however, apparent regarding the utility of the knowledge to date: climate science has provided enough knowledge so that the initiation of abatement measures is warranted. However, consensus also existed regarding the current inability to explicitly specify detrimental effects that might result from climate change. This incompatibility between the state of knowledge and the calls for action suggests that, to some degree at least, scientific advice is a product of both scientific knowledge and normative judgment, suggesting a socioscientific construction of the climate change issue.

CLIMANDES climate science e-learning course

Science.gov (United States)

Hunziker, Stefan; Giesche, Alena; Jacques-Coper, Martín; Brönnimann, Stefan

2016-04-01

Over the past three years, members of the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research (OCCR) and the Climatology group at the Institute of Geography at the University of Bern, have developed a new climate science e-learning course as part of the CLIMANDES project. This project is a collaboration between Peruvian and Swiss government, research, and education institutions. The aim of this e-learning material is to strengthen education in climate sciences at the higher education and professional level. The course was recently published in 2015 by Geographica Bernensia, and is hosted online by the Peruvian Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología (SENAMHI): http://surmx.com/chamilo/climandes/e-learning/. The course is furthermore available for offline use through USB sticks, and a number of these are currently being distributed to regional training centers around the world by the WMO (World Meteorological Organization). There are eight individual modules of the course that each offer approximately 2 hours of individual learning material, featuring several additional learning activities, such as the online game "The Great Climate Poker" (http://www.climatepoker.unibe.ch/). Overall, over 50 hours of learning material are provided by this course. The modules can be integrated into university lectures, used as single units in workshops, or be combined to serve as a full course. This e-learning course presents a broad spectrum of topics in climate science, including an introduction to climatology, atmospheric and ocean circulation, climate forcings, climate observations and data, working with data products, and climate models. This e-learning course offers a novel approach to teaching climate science to students around the world, particularly through three important features. Firstly, the course is unique in its diverse range of learning strategies, which include individual reading material, video lectures, interactive graphics, responsive quizzes, as well as group

Weather on Steroids: The Art of Climate Change Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Boudrias, M. A.; Gershunov, A.; Sizonenko, T.; Wiese, A.; Fox, H.

2017-12-01

There have been many different kinds of efforts to improve climate change literacy of diverse audiences in the past several years. The challenge has been to balance science content with audience-specific messaging that engages them in both rational and affective ways. In the San Diego Region, Climate Education Partners (CEP) has been working with business leaders, elected officials, tribal leaders, and other community leaders to develop a suite of programs and activities to enhance the channels of communication outside traditional settings. CEP has partnered with the La Jolla Historical Society and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in a unique exhibition of art inspired by climate science, a project blending science and art to communicate the science of climate change in a new way and engage audiences more effectively. Weather on Steroids: the Art of Climate Change Science explores the question of consequences, challenges, and opportunities that arise from the changing climate on our planet. The exhibition merges the artistic and scientific to create a visual dialogue about the vexing problem of climate change, explores how weather variability affects the day-to-day life of local communities, and investigates Southern California vulnerability to climate change. Science serves as the inspiration for the creative responses from visual artists, who merge subjective images with empirical observation to reveal how climate variations upset the planet's balance with extreme weather impacts. Both the scientists and artists created didactic pages to explain their perspectives and each pair worked closely to incorporate the information into the creative piece so that the connection of each of 11 art installations to the science that inspired them is clear. By illuminating the reality of climate change, Weather on Steroids aspires to proactively stimulate public dialogue about one of the most important issues of our time.

Downscaling Climate Science to the Classroom: Diverse Opportunities for Teaching Climate Science in Diverse Ways to Diverse Undergraduate Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, R. M.; Gill, T. E.; Quesada, D.; Hedquist, B. C.

2015-12-01

Climate literacy and climate education are important topics in current socio-political debate. Despite numerous scientific findings supporting global climate changes and accelerated greenhouse warming, there is a social inertia resisting and slowing the rate at which many of our students understand and absorb these facts. A variety of reasons, including: socio-economic interests, political and ideological biases, misinformation from mass media, inappropriate preparation of science teachers, and lack of numancy have created serious challenges for public awareness of such an important issue. Different agencies and organizations (NASA, NOAA, EPA, AGU, APS, AMS and others) have created training programs for educators, not involved directly in climatology research, in order to learn climate science in a consistent way and then communicate it to the public and students. Different approaches on how to deliver such information to undergraduate students in diverse environments is discussed based on the author's experiences working in different minority-serving institutions across the nation and who have attended AMS Weather and Climate Studies training workshops, MSI-REACH, and the School of Ice. Different parameters are included in the analysis: demographics of students, size of the institutions, geographical locations, target audience, programs students are enrolled in, conceptual units covered, and availability of climate-related courses in the curricula. Additionally, the feasibility of incorporating a laboratory and quantitative analysis is analyzed. As a result of these comparisons it seems that downscaling of climate education experiences do not always work as expected in every institution regardless of the student body demographics. Different geographical areas, student body characteristics and type of institution determine the approach to be adopted as well as the feasibility to introduce different components for weather and climate studies. Some ideas are shared

Climate Change: Science, Health and the Environment

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

Climate Change: Science, Health and the Environment Howard Frumkin, MD, DrPH, Director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, discusses the science of climate change, the potential for shifts in the natural world to affect our wellbeing, and the challenges of emerging issues in environmental health.

Climate Change Education in Earth System Science

Science.gov (United States)

Hänsel, Stephanie; Matschullat, Jörg

2013-04-01

The course "Atmospheric Research - Climate Change" is offered to master Earth System Science students within the specialisation "Climate and Environment" at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg. This module takes a comprehensive approach to climate sciences, reaching from the natural sciences background of climate change via the social components of the issue to the statistical analysis of changes in climate parameters. The course aims at qualifying the students to structure the physical and chemical basics of the climate system including relevant feedbacks. The students can evaluate relevant drivers of climate variability and change on various temporal and spatial scales and can transform knowledge from climate history to the present and the future. Special focus is given to the assessment of uncertainties related to climate observations and projections as well as the specific challenges of extreme weather and climate events. At the end of the course the students are able to critically reflect and evaluate climate change related results of scientific studies and related issues in media. The course is divided into two parts - "Climate Change" and "Climate Data Analysis" and encompasses two lectures, one seminar and one exercise. The weekly "Climate change" lecture transmits the physical and chemical background for climate variation and change. (Pre)historical, observed and projected climate changes and their effects on various sectors are being introduced and discussed regarding their implications for society, economics, ecology and politics. The related seminar presents and discusses the multiple reasons for controversy in climate change issues, based on various texts. Students train the presentation of scientific content and the discussion of climate change aspects. The biweekly lecture on "Climate data analysis" introduces the most relevant statistical tools and methods in climate science. Starting with checking data quality via tools of exploratory

Climate science, truth, and democracy.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, Evelyn Fox

2017-08-01

This essay was written almost ten years ago when the urgency of America's failure as a nation to respond to the threats of climate change first came to preoccupy me. Although the essay was never published in full, I circulated it informally in an attempt to provoke a more public engagement among my colleagues in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. In particular, it was written in almost direct response to Philip Kitcher's own book, Science, Truth and Democracy (2001), in an attempt to clarify what was special about Climate Science in its relation to truth and democracy. Kitcher's response was immensely encouraging, and it led to an extended dialogue that resulted, first, in a course we co-taught at Columbia University, and later, to the book The Seasons Alter: How to Save Our Planet in Six Acts (W. W. Norton) published this spring. The book was finished just after the Paris Climate Accord, and it reflects the relative optimism of that moment. Unfortunately events since have begun to evoke, once again, the darker mood of this essay. I am grateful to Greg Radick for suggesting its publication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increasing the usability of climate science in political decision-making

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily R. Newsom

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract As climate-science graduate students at the University of Washington, we had the opportunity to engage in a political process focused on implementing legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Washington State. Our insights gained from this rare, first-hand, experience may be particularly relevant to other climate scientists. We argue that inflexible research goals within the United States climate-science community limit the relevance of the knowledge our community creates. The mismatch between climate-science research and the information needs of policy makers, while widely acknowledged in certain domains, has yet to be fully appreciated within many earth science disciplines. Broadening the climate-science training of graduate students to include education on the uses of climate information outside of academic settings would both inform and motivate new research directions, and engender validation of non-traditional research within disciplinary cultures.

Climate Science in a Postmodern World

Science.gov (United States)

Verosub, Kenneth L.

2010-08-01

Like many readers of Eos, I have found it hard to understand the persistence of climate doubters and climate skeptics. How can they not accept the science? An important clue can be found in an editorial by Daniel Henninger in the Wall Street Journal that made a connection between climate science and postmodernism [Henninger, 2009]. Postmodernism is a concept that permeates the humanities and the social sciences. In its simplest terms, it postulates that truth is a relative concept. Facts exist, but their interpretation is determined as much by society, culture, politics, and economics as by scientific objectivity. From this perspective, any interpretation is as valid as any other. So, for instance, Herman Melville's Moby Dick can be seen as a novel equally about morality, homosexuality, the repression of the masses, the quest for God, or the killing of whales in the nineteenth century. All interpretations are valid, and all truth is relative.

ClimateNet: A Machine Learning dataset for Climate Science Research

Science.gov (United States)

Prabhat, M.; Biard, J.; Ganguly, S.; Ames, S.; Kashinath, K.; Kim, S. K.; Kahou, S.; Maharaj, T.; Beckham, C.; O'Brien, T. A.; Wehner, M. F.; Williams, D. N.; Kunkel, K.; Collins, W. D.

2017-12-01

Deep Learning techniques have revolutionized commercial applications in Computer vision, speech recognition and control systems. The key for all of these developments was the creation of a curated, labeled dataset ImageNet, for enabling multiple research groups around the world to develop methods, benchmark performance and compete with each other. The success of Deep Learning can be largely attributed to the broad availability of this dataset. Our empirical investigations have revealed that Deep Learning is similarly poised to benefit the task of pattern detection in climate science. Unfortunately, labeled datasets, a key pre-requisite for training, are hard to find. Individual research groups are typically interested in specialized weather patterns, making it hard to unify, and share datasets across groups and institutions. In this work, we are proposing ClimateNet: a labeled dataset that provides labeled instances of extreme weather patterns, as well as associated raw fields in model and observational output. We develop a schema in NetCDF to enumerate weather pattern classes/types, store bounding boxes, and pixel-masks. We are also working on a TensorFlow implementation to natively import such NetCDF datasets, and are providing a reference convolutional architecture for binary classification tasks. Our hope is that researchers in Climate Science, as well as ML/DL, will be able to use (and extend) ClimateNet to make rapid progress in the application of Deep Learning for Climate Science research.

Creative Change: Art, Music, and Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlberg, R. A.; Hoffman, J. S.; Maurakis, E. G.

2017-12-01

As part of ongoing climate science education initiatives, the Science Museum of Virginia hosted Creative Change in March 2017. The event featured multidisciplinary programming created by scientists, artists, and students reacting to and interpreting climate change and resiliency through a variety of artistic mediums and informal science education. Creative Change was developed in consideration of studies conducted at Columbia University that indicate traditional educational approaches, which rely heavily on scientific information and data literacy, fail to engage and inspire action in a majority of people. Our informal science education programming developed for Creative Change, by contrast, is inclusive to all ages and backgrounds, integrating scientific data and an artistic human touch. Our goal was to increase public awareness of climate change and resiliency through the humanities in support of the Museum's mission to inspire Virginians to enrich their lives through science. Visitors were invited to attend Coral Reef Fever, a dance performance of coral bleaching; high school and university art exhibitions; climate data performed by a string quartet; poetry, rap, and theater performances; and a panel discussion by artists and scientists on communicating science through the arts and humanities. Based on 26 post- event survey results, we found as a result that visitors enjoyed the event (mean of 9.58 out of 10), learned new information (9.07), and strongly agreed that the arts and humanities should be used more in communicating science concepts (9.77). Funded in part by Bond Bradley Endowment and NOAA ELG Award #NA15SEC0080009.

Tribal engagement strategy of the South Central Climate Science Center, 2014

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, William J.; Taylor, April; Winton, Kimberly T.

2014-01-01

The South Central Climate Science Center was established by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2012 to increase understanding of climate change and coordinate an effective response to climate-change effects on Native American tribes and natural and cultural resources that the Department manages. The eight regional Climate Science Centers of the U.S. Department of the Interior work closely with natural-resource management agencies, university researchers, and others such as tribes and private landowners on climate-change issues. The relatively large number of Native Americans in the south central United States and their special knowledge of changing ecosystems make working with tribes and tribal members on climate-change issues particularly important in this part of the Nation. This circular describes priorities of the South Central Climate Science Center and provides information about resources available from Climate Science Centers and partner agencies regarding climate change. The circular also describes how this Climate Science Center, tribes and tribal members, and others can collaborate to minimize potential harmful effects of climate change on human society and our surrounding ecosystems.

Opinions and knowledge about climate change science in high school students.

Science.gov (United States)

Harker-Schuch, Inez; Bugge-Henriksen, Christian

2013-10-01

This study investigates the influence of knowledge on opinions about climate change in the emerging adults' age group (16-17 years). Furthermore, the effects of a lecture in climate change science on knowledge and opinions were assessed. A survey was conducted in Austria and Denmark on 188 students in national and international schools before and after a lecture in climate change science. The results show that knowledge about climate change science significantly affects opinions about climate change. Students with a higher number of correct answers are more likely to have the opinion that humans are causing climate change and that both individuals and governments are responsible for addressing climate change. The lecture in climate change science significantly improved knowledge development but did not affect opinions. Knowledge was improved by 11 % after the lecture. However, the percentage of correct answers was still below 60 % indicating an urgent need for improving climate change science education.

Collaborative Education in Climate Change Sciences and Adaptation through Interactive Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Ozbay, G.; Sriharan, S.; Fan, C.

2014-12-01

As a result of several funded climate change education grants, collaboration between VSU, DSU, and MSU, was established to provide the innovative and cohesive education and research opportunities to underrepresented groups in the climate related sciences. Prior to offering climate change and adaptation related topics to the students, faculty members of the three collaborating institutions participated at a number of faculty training and preparation workshops for teaching climate change sciences (i.e. AMS Diversity Project Workshop, NCAR Faculty-Student Team on Climate Change, NASA-NICE Program). In order to enhance the teaching and student learning on various issues in the Environmental Sciences Programs, Climatology, Climate Change Sciences and Adaptation or related courses were developed at Delaware State University and its partner institutions (Virginia State University and Morgan State University). These courses were prepared to deliver information on physical basis for the earth's climate system and current climate change instruction modules by AMS and historic climate information (NOAA Climate Services, U.S. and World Weather Data, NCAR and NASA Climate Models). By using Global Seminar as a Model, faculty members worked in teams to engage students in videoconferencing on climate change through Contemporary Global Studies and climate courses including Climate Change and Adaptation Science, Sustainable Agriculture, Introduction to Environmental Sciences, Climatology, and Ecology and Adaptation courses. All climate change courses have extensive hands-on practices and research integrated into the student learning experiences. Some of these students have presented their classroom projects during Earth Day, Student Climate Change Symposium, Undergraduate Summer Symposium, and other national conferences.

A decision science approach for integrating social science in climate and energy solutions

Science.gov (United States)

Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle; Krishnamurti, Tamar; Davis, Alex; Schwartz, Daniel; Fischhoff, Baruch

2016-06-01

The social and behavioural sciences are critical for informing climate- and energy-related policies. We describe a decision science approach to applying those sciences. It has three stages: formal analysis of decisions, characterizing how well-informed actors should view them; descriptive research, examining how people actually behave in such circumstances; and interventions, informed by formal analysis and descriptive research, designed to create attractive options and help decision-makers choose among them. Each stage requires collaboration with technical experts (for example, climate scientists, geologists, power systems engineers and regulatory analysts), as well as continuing engagement with decision-makers. We illustrate the approach with examples from our own research in three domains related to mitigating climate change or adapting to its effects: preparing for sea-level rise, adopting smart grid technologies in homes, and investing in energy efficiency for office buildings. The decision science approach can facilitate creating climate- and energy-related policies that are behaviourally informed, realistic and respectful of the people whom they seek to aid.

Predictors of trust in the general science and climate science research of US federal agencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Teresa A; Kotcher, John; Stenhouse, Neil; Anderson, Ashley A; Maibach, Edward; Beall, Lindsey; Leiserowitz, Anthony

2017-10-01

In this article, we focus on a key strategic objective of scientific organizations: maintaining the trust of the public. Using data from a nationally representative survey of American adults ( n = 1510), we assess the extent to which demographic factors and political ideology are associated with citizens' trust in general science and climate science research conducted by US federal agencies. Finally, we test whether priming individuals to first consider agencies' general science research influences trust in their climate science research, and vice versa. We found that federal agencies' general science research is more trusted than their climate science research-although a large minority of respondents did not have an opinion-and that political ideology has a strong influence on public trust in federal scientific research. We also found that priming participants to consider general scientific research does not increase trust in climate scientific research. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Proudhon, science ou métaphysique du travail

OpenAIRE

Lecerf , Eric

2008-01-01

La philosophie de Proudhon, même si elle trouve son concept essentiel dans la justice, est intégralement une philosophie du travail, non pas que le travail en constitue l'objet unique, mais car c'est en lui que les tensions du réel sont concrètement identifiables. C'est dans sa critique que l'agir humain se donne comme émancipation et/ou aliénation, autrement dit que la dialectique acquiert toute sa justification. La philosophie du travail de Proudhon donnera lieu à deux lectures opposées : c...

Taming Typhon: Advancing Climate Literacy by Coordinating Federal Earth System Science Education Investments Through the U.S. Climate Change Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

Karsten, J. L.; Niepold, F.; Wei, M.; Waple, A. M.

2008-12-01

Thirteen Federal agencies in the United States invest in research, communication, and education activities related to climate and global change. The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) works to integrate the research activities of these different agencies, with oversight from the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Council on Environmental Quality, the National Economic Council and the Office of Management and Budget. The CCSP is the result of a Presidential initative in 2001 to build on the Global Change Research Program, which exists as a result of the Global Change Research Act of 1990. This initiative was to shift the focus of the Program from 'discovery and characterization' to 'differentiation and strategy investigation.' With this shift, CCSP's focus is now on evaluating optimal strategies for addressing climate change risks, improving coordination among the Federal agencies, communicating research results to all stakeholders (including national policy leaders and local resource managers), and improving public debate and decision-making related to global change. Implicit to these activities is the need to educate the general public about the science of climate change and its consequences, as well as coordinate Federal investments related to climate change education. This is no small task, given the variety of missions and approaches of the participating agencies. Recognizing that its Communications Interagency Working Group (CIWG) does not have the expertise or focus to adequately address issues related to science education, the CCSP recently established an ad-hoc Education Interagency Working Group (EIWG), comprising representatives from all 13 agencies, that will work closely with the CIWG to enhance education goals. Its mission is to advance literacy in climate and related sciences and increase informed decision making for the Nation. The EIWG envisions that its primary activities in the near-term will be focused on establishing: (1) a

The Graduate School of Climate Sciences, University of Bern

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, L.

2012-04-01

The Graduate School of Climate Sciences, University of Bern, offers a specialised M.Sc. and a Ph.D. study programme in climate sciences. The graduate school has a highly interdisciplinary profile involving not only natural sciences, but also humanities/history, economics and law. The ten participating institutes with a total of 45 academics provide expertise in long-term climate variability, climate modelling, climate reconstruction, predictability of the future climate and extreme events, the impact of climate change on ecosystems and climate risks for society and economy. The graduate school is fully compliant with the Bologna Accords and collaborates closely with the sister institution C2SM at ETH Zurich by, e.g., jointly organised lectures. There are currently 23 master and 37 doctoral students in the programme. These originate from the University of Bern (28 %), from other Swiss universities (30 %) and from foreign universities (42 %). Comprehensive information about the Graduate School of Climate Sciences is available at http://www.climatestudies.unibe.ch . The M.Sc. in Climate Sciences programme (120 ECTS credits) is designed to attract students from all disciplines in natural sciences and offers them a tailor-made curriculum to reach their career aspirations. The students make their own course selection according to their profile envisaged (specialised versus broad education) and ideally already guided by a job perspective. Selecting the courses and the topic of the master thesis they specialise in one of five fields: climate and earth system science; atmospheric science; economics; economic, social and environmental history; statistics. Several courses are organised jointly with public authorities and the private industry, e.g. from experts working in the insurance business, in weather forecasting or in environmental pollution control. This provides the students hands-on experience and contacts to future employers. The master thesis (60 ECTS) involves the

Constructivist Learning Theory and Climate Science Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Somerville, R. C.

2012-12-01

Communicating climate science is a form of education. A scientist giving a television interview or testifying before Congress is engaged in an educational activity, though one not identical to teaching graduate students. Knowledge, including knowledge about climate science, should never be communicated as a mere catalogue of facts. Science is a process, a way of regarding the natural world, and a fascinating human activity. A great deal is already known about how to do a better job of science communication, but implementing change is not easy. I am confident that improving climate science communication will involve the paradigm of constructivist learning theory, which traces its roots to the 20th-century Swiss epistemologist Jean Piaget, among others. This theory emphasizes the role of the teacher as supportive facilitator rather than didactic lecturer, "a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage." It also stresses the importance of the teacher making a serious effort to understand and appreciate the prior knowledge and viewpoint of the student, recognizing that students' minds are not empty vessels to be filled or blank slates to be written on. Instead, students come to class with a background of life experiences and a body of existing knowledge, of varying degrees of correctness or accuracy, about almost any topic. Effective communication is also usually a conversation rather than a monologue. We know too that for many audiences, the most trusted messengers are those who share the worldview and cultural values of those with whom they are communicating. Constructivist teaching methods stress making use of the parallels between learning and scientific research, such as the analogies between assessing prior knowledge of the audience and surveying scientific literature for a research project. Meanwhile, a well-funded and effective professional disinformation campaign has been successful in sowing confusion, and as a result, many people mistakenly think climate

Climate change studies and the human sciences

Science.gov (United States)

Holm, Poul; Winiwarter, Verena

2017-09-01

Policy makers have made repeated calls for integration of human and natural sciences in the field of climate change. Serious multidisciplinary attempts began already in the 1950s. Progress has certainly been made in understanding the role of humans in the planetary system. New perspectives have clarified policy advice, and three insights are singled out in the paper: the critique of historicism, the distinction between benign and wicked problems, and the cultural critique of the 'myths of nature'. Nevertheless, analysis of the IPCC Assessment Reports indicates that integration is skewed towards a particular dimension of human sciences (economics) and major insights from cultural theory and historical analysis have not made it into climate science. A number of relevant disciplines are almost absent in the composition of authorship. Nevertheless, selective assumptions and arguments are made about e.g. historical findings in key documents. In conclusion, we suggest to seek remedies for the lack of historical scholarship in the IPCC reports. More effort at science-policy exchange is needed, and an Integrated Platform to channel humanities and social science expertise for climate change research might be one promising way.

Opinions and Knowledge About Climate Change Science in High School Students

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harker-Schuch, Inez; Henriksen, Christian Bugge

2013-01-01

in national and international schools before and after a lecture in climate change science. The results show that knowledge about climate change science significantly affects opinions about climate change. Students with a higher number of correct answers are more likely to have the opinion that humans......This study investigates the influence of knowledge on opinions about climate change in the emerging adults' age group (16-17 years). Furthermore, the effects of a lecture in climate change science on knowledge and opinions were assessed. A survey was conducted in Austria and Denmark on 188 students...... are causing climate change and that both individuals and governments are responsible for addressing climate change. The lecture in climate change science significantly improved knowledge development but did not affect opinions. Knowledge was improved by 11 % after the lecture. However, the percentage...

Climate Change: Science, Health and the Environment

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Podcasts

2007-04-10

Climate Change: Science, Health and the Environment Howard Frumkin, MD, DrPH, Director of CDC's National Center for Environmental Health/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, discusses the science of climate change, the potential for shifts in the natural world to affect our wellbeing, and the challenges of emerging issues in environmental health.  Created: 4/10/2007 by CDC National Center for Environmental Health.   Date Released: 4/13/2007.

Threshold concepts as barriers to understanding climate science

Science.gov (United States)

Walton, P.

2013-12-01

Whilst the scientific case for current climate change is compelling, the consequences of climate change have largely failed to permeate through to individuals. This lack of public awareness of the science and the potential impacts could be considered a key obstacle to action. The possible reasons for such limited success centre on the issue that climate change is a complex subject, and that a wide ranging academic, political and social research literature on the science and wider implications of climate change has failed to communicate the key issues in an accessible way. These failures to adequately communicate both the science and the social science of climate change at a number of levels results in ';communication gaps' that act as fundamental barriers to both understanding and engagement with the issue. Meyer and Land (2003) suggest that learners can find certain ideas and concepts within a discipline difficult to understand and these act as a barrier to deeper understanding of a subject. To move beyond these threshold concepts, they suggest that the expert needs to support the learner through a range of learning experiences that allows the development of learning strategies particular to the individual. Meyer and Land's research into these threshold concepts has been situated within Economics, but has been suggested to be more widely applicable though there has been no attempt to either define or evaluate threshold concepts to climate change science. By identifying whether common threshold concepts exist specifically in climate science for cohorts of either formal or informal learners, scientists will be better able to support the public in understanding these concepts by changing how the knowledge is communicated to help overcome these barriers to learning. This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined the role of threshold concepts as barriers to understanding climate science in a UK University and considers its implications for wider

CONTRIBUTION OF SATELLITE-BORN INFORMATION TO CLIMATE SCIENCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIKA J.

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Observed climate processes play important role in understanding the ongoing changes in the climate system. Our paper intends to present this cross-section of climate science illustrated by selected satellite images and diagrams in four parts. (i. Technical possibilities of the observations are briefly surveyed first. Many satellite platforms and devices started working in the 1980 and 1990s, definitely for climate purposes. (ii. Climate forcing factors and their radiation effects are comprehended, including direct observation of solar irradiance and volcanic aerosol concentration allowing us to compare natural factors to the anthropogenic ones. (iii. Detection of changes in the Earth climate system follows next, including the atmosphere, the oceans and the cryosphere, as well. (iv. Finally, satellite-born results in validation of climate models are presented in three aspects: reconstruction of present climate, validation of simulated changes and investigation of feedback mechanisms driving climate sensitivity to the external forcing factors. The above possibilities of using satellite information in climate science are mostly illustrated by key figures of the IPCC AR5 Report (2013.

Climate Change Science,Technology & Policy

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Table of contents. Climate Change Science,Technology & Policy · Slide 2 · Slide 3 · Slide 4 · Slide 5 · Millions at Risk from Parry et al., 2001 · Slide 7 · Slide 8 · Slide 9 · Slide 10 · Climate Change · Is the global warming in the 20th century due to the increase in radiation emitted by the sun? Frohlich C, Lean J. 1998; ...

Cool Science: K-12 Climate Change Art Displayed on Buses

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, R. F.; Lustick, D. S.; Lohmeier, J.; Thompson, S. R.

2015-12-01

Cool science is an art contest where K12 students create placards (7" x 22") to educate the public about climate change. Students are prompted to create their artwork in response to questions such as: What is the evidence for climate change? How does climate change impact your local community? What can you do to reduce the impacts of climate change? In each of three years, 500-600 student entrees have been submitted from more than 12 school districts across Massachusetts. A panel of judges including scientists, artists, rapid transit representatives, and educators chooses elementary, middle, and high school winners. Winners (6), runners-up (6), and honorable mentions (12) and their families and teachers are invited to an annual Cool Science Award Ceremony to be recognized and view winning artwork. All winning artwork is posted on the Cool Science website. The winning artwork (2 per grade band) is converted into placards (11" x 28") and posters (2.5' x 12') that are placed on the inside (placards) and outside (posters) of buses. Posters are displayed for one month. So far, Cool Science was implemented in Lowell, MA where over 5000 public viewers see the posters daily on the sides of Lowell Rapid Transit Authority (LRTA) buses, making approximately 1,000,000 impressions per year. Cool Science acts to increase climate literacy in children as well as the public, and as such promotes intergenerational learning. Using art in conjunction with science learning about climate change appears to be effective at engaging not just traditionally high achieving science students, but also those interested in the creative arts. Hearing winners' stories about how they created their artwork and what this contest meant to them supports the idea that Cool Science attracts a wide diversity of students. Parents discuss climate change with their children. Multiple press releases announcing the winners further promotes the awareness of climate change throughout school districts and their

Climate Change Science Program Collection

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Collection consists of publications and other resources produced between 2007 and 2009 by the CCSP with the intention of...

Climate Change or Climate Variability? History, Science and Politics in the Mesoamerican Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Poleo

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Climate variations in Mesoamerica have influenced the development and decay of populations from the earliest human settlements. The present time is no exception; there is no evidence that global warming will impact rainfall in the region, but rather there are important studies showing a response of rainfall to climate variability in the American tropics. Since our tropical region is vulnerable to climate variability, public policies must be congruent to avoid the mistakes of previous generations and achieve, with the help of science, a real progress in the fight against global warming.

Room for climate debate : perspectives on the interaction between climate politics, science and the media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Sluijs, J.P.; van Est, R.; Riphagen, M.

2010-01-01

The present study offers a picture of the complex interaction between climate politics, science and the media. During the 1970s and 1980s, politics and the sciences focused increasingly on the climate problem, at the time known as the greenhouse effect. Due to a lack of sufficient scientific

78 FR 50085 - Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science

Science.gov (United States)

2013-08-16

... Climate Change and Natural Resource Science AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey, Interior. ACTION: Meeting.... 2, we announce that the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science will hold... Partnership Coordinator, National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201...

National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, Version 2.0

Science.gov (United States)

O'Malley, R.; Fort, E.; Hartke-O'Berg, N.; Varela-Acevedo, E.; Padgett, Holly A.

2013-01-01

The mission of the USGS's National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) is to serve the scientific needs of managers of fish, wildlife, habitats, and ecosystems as they plan for a changing climate. DOI Climate Science Centers (CSCs) are management by NCCWSC and include this mission as a core responsibility, in line with the CSC mission to provide scientific support for climate-adaptation across a full range of natural and cultural resources. NCCWSC is a Science Center application designed in Drupal with the OMEGA theme. As a content management system, Drupal allows the science center to keep their website up-to-date with current publications, news, meetings and projects. OMEGA allows the site to be adaptive at different screen sizes and is developed on the 960 grid.

South Asian Water (SAWA) Leadership Program on Climate Change ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

South Asian Water (SAWA) Leadership Program on Climate Change. Selon le cinquième rapport du Groupe d'experts intergouvernemental sur l'évolution du climat, les principaux risques en Asie du Sud seraient une augmentation du débordement des rivières, des inondations côtières et des inondations en milieu urbain ...

Etude de pratiques d'enseignement relatives a la modelisation en sciences et technologies avec des enseignants du secondaire

Science.gov (United States)

Aurousseau, Emmanuelle

Les modeles sont des outils amplement utilises en sciences et technologies (S&T) afin de representer et d’expliquer un phenomene difficilement accessible, voire abstrait. La demarche de modelisation est presentee de maniere explicite dans le programme de formation de l’ecole quebecoise (PFEQ), notamment au 2eme cycle du secondaire (Quebec. Ministere de l'Education du Loisir et du Sport, 2007a). Elle fait ainsi partie des sept demarches auxquelles eleves et enseignants sont censes recourir. Cependant, de nombreuses recherches mettent en avant la difficulte des enseignants a structurer leurs pratiques d’enseignement autour des modeles et de la demarche de modelisation qui sont pourtant reconnus comme indispensables. En effet, les modeles favorisent la conciliation des champs concrets et abstraits entre lesquels le scientifique, meme en herbe, effectue des allers-retours afin de concilier le champ experimental de reference qu’il manipule et observe au champ theorique relie qu’il construit. L’objectif de cette recherche est donc de comprendre comment les modeles et la demarche de modelisation contribuent a faciliter l’articulation du concret et de l’abstrait dans l’enseignement des sciences et des technologies (S&T) au 2eme cycle du secondaire. Pour repondre a cette question, nous avons travaille avec les enseignants dans une perspective collaborative lors de groupes focalises et d’observation en classe. Ces dispositifs ont permis d’examiner les pratiques d’enseignement que quatre enseignants mettent en oeuvre en utilisant des modeles et des demarches de modelisation. L’analyse des pratiques d’enseignement et des ajustements que les enseignants envisagent dans leur pratique nous permet de degager des connaissances a la fois pour la recherche et pour la pratique des enseignants, au regard de l’utilisation des modeles et de la demarche de modelisation en S&T au secondaire.

Integrating Climate Change Science and Sustainability in Environmental Science, Sociology, Philosophy and Business Courses.

Science.gov (United States)

Boudrias, M. A.; Cantzler, J.; Croom, S.; Huston, C.; Woods, M.

2015-12-01

Courses on sustainability can be taught from multiple perspectives with some focused on specific areas (environmental, socio-cultural, economic, ethics) and others taking a more integrated approach across areas of sustainability and academic disciplines. In conjunction with the Climate Change Education Program efforts to enhance climate change literacy with innovative approaches, resources and communication strategies developed by Climate Education Partners were used in two distinct ways to integrate climate change science and impacts into undergraduate and graduate level courses. At the graduate level, the first lecture in the MBA program in Sustainable Supply Chain Management is entirely dedicated to climate change science, local and global impacts and discussions about key messages to communicate to the business community. Basic science concepts are integrated with discussions about mitigation and adaptation focused on business leaders. The concepts learned are then applied to the semester-long business plan project for the students. At the undergraduate level, a new model of comprehensive integration across disciplines was implemented in Spring 2015 across three courses on Sustainability each with a specific lens: Natural Science, Sociology and Philosophy. All three courses used climate change as the 'big picture' framing concept and had similar learning objectives creating a framework where lens-specific topics, focusing on depth in a discipline, were balanced with integrated exercises across disciplines providing breadth and possibilities for integration. The comprehensive integration project was the creation of the climate action plan for the university with each team focused on key areas of action (water, energy, transportation, etc.) and each team built with at least one member from each class ensuring a natural science, sociological and philosophical perspective. The final project was presented orally to all three classes and an integrated paper included

Improving Climate Science Education by Supporting Faculty: Climate Programs from On the Cutting Edge

Science.gov (United States)

Wiese, K.; Kirk, K. B.; Manduca, C. A.; Shellito, L. J.; Sztein, E.; Bruckner, M. Z.

2011-12-01

Students arrive in our classrooms with a wide range of viewpoints on climate change. Some carry misconceptions resulting from media portrayal of the subject; others have strong feelings about the policy of climate change that overshadow their understanding of the science; while some already grasp the basics of climate science and are thirsty for a more in-depth treatment. In any of these cases, the topic of climate change is likely to be of high interest to students and will challenge faculty to be well-versed in the science, the policy, and in effective pedagogic strategies. The On the Cutting Edge project continues its emphasis on climate science, climate change and energy resources with ongoing professional development events. An underlying theme of all of these events is to help faculty be more effective teachers by providing up-to-date science, examples of promising pedagogies and a forum to network with others who teach similar subjects. A monthly webinar and book club series about teaching climate and energy was offered throughout the 2010-2011 academic year. These one-hour events allowed faculty a convenient way to learn about science topics such as carbon capture and storage, nuclear energy, thermohaline circulation, alternative energy, or the energy-water nexus. Some of the webinars focused on pedagogic approaches, including teaching with climate models, dealing with misconceptions, or using local energy issues for a semester-long jigsaw project. Webinar participants reported that they could expand their teaching to include these topics, they increased their comfort level in presenting those subjects and answering student questions, and they learned where to turn for additional references. An online workshop, Teaching about Earth's Climate Using Data and Numerical Models, was held in October 2010. Participants learned about different types of models, the strategies for teaching with models and how to use online datasets. The workshop also provided

Climate change adaptation and social sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charles, L.

2013-01-01

Climate change subjects societies to a large range of uncertainties concerning the future and their development orientation. It came up as a scientific global problem, extended to political concerns first at a global and then national scales. Though it has long been the object of economic approaches which have notably contributed to its recognition, particularly the Stern Report, social sciences have hardly been mobilized as part of policies to counteract it. Social sciences strongly question the notion of climate change being built as a global scale transcendent phenomenon, analyzed by several authors. With the rise of adaptation policies, the question becomes even more important. Adaptation first comes up as a spontaneous behaviour, independent of policy, in close relationship to social dimensions as a basic way through which climate change is grasped collectively. Thus adaptation policies' social aspects need to be carefully worked in relation with more general goals for adaptation policies to be implemented efficiently, on the basis of wide interactions between local and global scales. (author)

Professional Development in Climate Science Education as a Model for Navigating the Next Generations Science Standards - A High School Science Teacher's Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Manning, C.; Buhr, S. M.

2012-12-01

The Next Generation Science Standards attempt to move the American K12 education system into the 21st century by focusing on science and engineering practice, crosscutting concepts, and the core ideas of the different disciplines. Putting these standards into practice will challenge a deeply entrenched system and science educators will need significant financial support from state and local governments, professional development from colleges and universities, and the creation of collegial academic networks that will help solve the many problems that will arise. While all of this sounds overwhelming, there are proven strategies and mechanisms already in place. Educators who tackle challenging topics like global climate change are turning to scientists and other like-minded teachers. Many of these teachers have never taken a class in atmospheric science but are expected to know the basics of climate and understand the emerging science as well. Teachers need scientists to continue to reach out and provide rigorous and in-depth professional development opportunities that enable them to answer difficult student questions and deal with community misconceptions about climate science. Examples of such programs include Earthworks, ICEE (Inspiring Climate Education Excellence) and ESSEA (Earth System Science Education Alliance). Projects like CLEAN (Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network) provide excellent resources that teachers can integrate into their lessons. All of these benefit from the umbrella of documents like Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science. Support from the aforementioned networks has encouraged the development of effective approaches for teaching climate science. From the perspective of a Geoscience master teacher and instructional coach, this presentation will demonstrate how scientists, researchers, and science education professionals have created models for professional development that create long-term networks supporting

Science of adaptation to climate change and science for adaptation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rob eSwart

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Adaptation to climate change has gained a prominent place next to mitigation on global, national and local policy agendas. However, while an abundance of adaptation strategies, plans and programmes have been developed, progress in turning these into action has been slow. The development of a sound knowledge basis to support adaptation globally is suggested to accelerate progress, but has lagged behind. The emphasis in both current and newly proposed programmes is very much on practice-oriented research with strong stakeholder participation. This paper supports such practice-oriented research, but argues that this is insufficient to support adaptation policy and practice in a productive manner. We argue that there is not only a need for science for adaptation, but also a science of adaptation. The paper argues that participatory, practice-oriented research is indeed essential, but has to be complemented by and connected to more fundamental inquiry and concept development, which takes into account knowledge that has been developed in disciplinary sciences and on issues other than climate change adaptation. At the same time, the level and method of participation in science for adaptation should be determined on the basis of the specific project context and goals. More emphasis on science of adaptation can lead to improved understanding of the conditions for successful science for adaptation.

Framing risk and uncertainty in social science articles on climate change, 1995-2012

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shaw, C.; Hellsten, I.; Nerlich, B.; Crichton, J.; Candlin, C.N.; Firkins, A.S.

2016-01-01

The issue of climate change is intimately linked to notions of risk and uncertainty, concepts that pose challenges to climate science, climate change communication, and science-society interactions. While a large majority of climate scientists are increasingly certain about the causes of climate

Story - Science - Solutions: A new middle school science curriculum that promotes climate-stewardship

Science.gov (United States)

Cordero, E.; Centeno Delgado, D. C.

2017-12-01

Over the last five years, Green Ninja has been developing educational media to help motivate student interest and engagement around climate science and solutions. The adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offers a unique opportunity where schools are changing both what they teach in a science class and how they teach. Inspired by the new emphasis in NGSS on climate change, human impact and engineering design, Green Ninja developed a technology focused, integrative, and yearlong science curriculum (6th, 7th and 8th grade) focused broadly around solutions to environmental problems. The use of technology supports the development of skills valuable for students, while also offering real-time metrics to help measure both student learning and environmental impact of student actions. During the presentation, we will describe the design philosophy around our middle school curriculum and share data from a series of classes that have created environmental benefits that transcend the traditional classroom. The notion that formal education, if done correctly, can be leveraged as a viable climate mitigation strategy will be discussed.

NASA faked the moon landing--therefore, (climate) science is a hoax: an anatomy of the motivated rejection of science.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewandowsky, Stephan; Oberauer, Klaus; Gignac, Gilles E

2013-05-01

Although nearly all domain experts agree that carbon dioxide emissions are altering the world's climate, segments of the public remain unconvinced by the scientific evidence. Internet blogs have become a platform for denial of climate change, and bloggers have taken a prominent role in questioning climate science. We report a survey of climate-blog visitors to identify the variables underlying acceptance and rejection of climate science. Our findings parallel those of previous work and show that endorsement of free-market economics predicted rejection of climate science. Endorsement of free markets also predicted the rejection of other established scientific findings, such as the facts that HIV causes AIDS and that smoking causes lung cancer. We additionally show that, above and beyond endorsement of free markets, endorsement of a cluster of conspiracy theories (e.g., that the Federal Bureau of Investigation killed Martin Luther King, Jr.) predicted rejection of climate science as well as other scientific findings. Our results provide empirical support for previous suggestions that conspiratorial thinking contributes to the rejection of science. Acceptance of science, by contrast, was strongly associated with the perception of a consensus among scientists.

Landry Ebang, La logique de l’enquête en science sociale. Sortir d’une méthodologie du mimétisme expérimental

OpenAIRE

Ogorzelec-Guinchard, Laetitia

2014-01-01

L’auteur présente cet ouvrage comme un « traité de méthodologie » explicitement adossé à une démarche de philosophie des sciences. Il s’agit pour lui de procéder à un examen de l’intégralité du processus de recherche en sciences sociales. La première partie du livre cherche surtout à nous expliquer à quel point la « méthode expérimentale » propre aux sciences « nomologiques » (c’est-à-dire capables de formuler des lois et d’en tirer toutes les conséquences dans leurs démarches de recherche) b...

Infusion of Climate Change and Geospatial Science Concepts into Environmental and Biological Science Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Balaji Bhaskar, M. S.; Rosenzweig, J.; Shishodia, S.

2017-12-01

The objective of our activity is to improve the students understanding and interpretation of geospatial science and climate change concepts and its applications in the field of Environmental and Biological Sciences in the College of Science Engineering and Technology (COEST) at Texas Southern University (TSU) in Houston, TX. The courses of GIS for Environment, Ecology and Microbiology were selected for the curriculum infusion. A total of ten GIS hands-on lab modules, along with two NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) lab modules on climate change were implemented in the "GIS for Environment" course. GIS and Google Earth Labs along with climate change lectures were infused into Microbiology and Ecology courses. Critical thinking and empirical skills of the students were assessed in all the courses. The student learning outcomes of these courses includes the ability of students to interpret the geospatial maps and the student demonstration of knowledge of the basic principles and concepts of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and climate change. At the end of the courses, students developed a comprehensive understanding of the geospatial data, its applications in understanding climate change and its interpretation at the local and regional scales during multiple years.

Informal Education and Climate Change: An Example From The Miami Science Museum

Science.gov (United States)

Delaughter, J.

2007-12-01

The Miami Science Museum recently took part in the National Conversation on Climate Action, held on October 4, 2007. This nationwide event encouraged members of the general public to explore local climate policy options. It provided an opportunity for citizens to discuss the issues and science of climate change with experts and policy makers, as well as neighbors and friends. During the day, the Miami Science Museum hosted a variety of events with something for everyone. Local school groups played DECIDE games and competed to find the most "treasure" in trash. Members and visitors were encouraged to leave their mark by posting comments and ideas about climate change. A "Gates of Change" exhibit provided dramatic visual indication of the effects of climate change and sea level rise. And a special "Meet the scientists" forum allowed the general public to discuss the facts and fictions of climate change with experts from Miami University's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. This activity was part of the Association of Science and Technology Centers' (ASTC) International action on Global Warming (IGLO) program. ASTC is the largest association of public science venues, and has 540 member institutions in 40 countries.

Les femmes dans le secteur du travail domestique et le secteur ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Ce projet vise à rectifier le tir en faisant la lumière sur les caractéristiques ... le secteur du travail domestique et dans le secteur bancaire modifient la nature du travail ... des sciences sociales, des sciences humaines, de la santé publique ou.

Meteorology and Climate Inspire Secondary Science Students

Science.gov (United States)

Charlton-Perez, Andrew; Dacre, Helen; Maskell, Kathy; Reynolds, Ross; South, Rachel; Wood, Curtis

2010-01-01

As part of its National Science and Engineering Week activities in 2009 and 2010, the University of Reading organised two open days for 60 local key stage 4 pupils. The theme of both open days was "How do we predict weather and climate?" Making use of the students' familiarity with weather and climate, several concepts of relevance to secondary…

Histoire d'une cité scientifique le campus du CNRS à Gif-sur-Yvette (1946-2016)

CERN Document Server

2016-01-01

L'histoire du campus de Gif-sur-Yvette, cité scientifique de renommée internationale, commence en 1946, à l'heure de la reconstruction de la recherche française, ajuste après le deuxième conflit mondial. L'histoire du campus de Gif-sur-Yvette, cité scientifique de renommée internationale, commence en 1946, à l'heure de la reconstruction de la recherche française, ajuste après le deuxième conflit mondial. À cette époque, l'on cherche à favoriser l'émergence d'études nouvelles, à soutenir les travaux fondamentaux sans s'interdire de réfléchir à leurs applications, ou encore à stimuler l'interdisciplinarité. L'acquisition du domaine par le CNRS reflète alors l'ambition de son directeur, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, de refonder la Recherche scientifique et de restaurer son rayonnement. Depuis, le campus de Gif-sur-Yvette a connu une formidable aventure, aussi bien humaine que scientifique. Pionnier dans de nombreux domaines, en biologie, en chimie mais aussi en sciences du climat et de l'env...

Climate Change | Page 9 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Transfert de la responsabilité du Programme d'économie environnementale pour l'Asie du Sud-Est (EEPSEA). Language French. Read more about The African Climate Change Fellowship Program Phase III. Language English.

Climate Change: From Science to Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, Nicola; Watts, Nick

2018-03-01

Climate change poses a significant threat to human health. Understanding how climate science can be translated into public health practice is an essential first step in enabling robust adaptation and improving resiliency to climate change. Recent research highlights the importance of iterative approaches to public health adaptation to climate change, enabling uncertainties of health impacts and barriers to adaptation to be accounted for. There are still significant barriers to adaptation, which are context-specific and thus present unique challenges to public health practice. The implementation of flexible adaptation approaches, using frameworks targeted for public health, is key to ensuring robust adaptation to climate change in public health practice. The BRACE framework provides an excellent approach for health adaptation to climate change. Combining this with the insights provided and by the adaptation pathways approach allows for more deliberate accounting of long-term uncertainties. The mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into public health practice and planning is important in facilitating this approach and overcoming the significant barriers to effective adaptation. Yet, the immediate and future limits to adaptation provide clear justification for urgent and accelerated efforts to mitigate climate change.

Exploring Science Teachers' Argumentation and Personal Epistemology About Global Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shiyu; Roehrig, Gillian

2017-06-01

This case study investigated the nature of in-service science teachers' argumentation and personal epistemology about global climate change during a 3-year professional development program on climate change education. Qualitative analysis of data from interviews and written assessments revealed that while these teachers grounded their arguments on climate issues in evidence, the evidence was often insufficient to justify their causal claims. Compared with generating arguments for their own views, teachers had more difficulties in constructing evidence-based arguments for alternative perspectives. Moreover, while these teachers shared some similarities in their epistemology about climate science, they varied in their beliefs about specific aspects such as scientists' expertise and the credibility of scientific evidence. Such similarities and distinctions were shown to relate to how teachers used evidence to justify claims in their arguments. The findings also suggested a mismatch between teachers' personal epistemology about science in general and climate science, which was revealed through their argumentation. This work helps to further the ongoing discussions in environmental education about what knowledge and skills teachers need in order to teach climate issues and prepare students for future decision making. It constitutes first steps to facilitate reasoning and argumentation in climate change education and provides important implications for future design of professional development programs.

Building partnerships to produce actionable science to support climate-informed management decisions: North Central Climate Science Center example

Science.gov (United States)

Lackett, J.; Ojima, D. S.; McNeeley, S.

2017-12-01

As climate change impacts become more apparent in our environment, action is needed to enhance the social-ecological system resilience. Incorporating principles which lead to actionable research and project co-development, when appropriate, will facilitate building linkages between the research and the natural resource management communities. In order to develop strategies to manage for climatic and ecosystem changes, collaborative actions are needed between researchers and resource managers to apply appropriate knowledge of the ecosystem and management environments to enable feasible solutions and management actions to respond to climate change. Our team has been involved in developing and establishing a research and engagement center, the North Central Climate Science Center (NC CSC), for the US Department of Interior, to support the development and translation of pertinent climate science information to natural resource managers in the north central portion of the United States. The NC CSC has implemented a platform to support the Resource for Vulnerability Assessment, Adaptation, and Mitigation Projects (ReVAMP) with research, engagement, and training activities to support resource managers and researchers. These activities are aimed at the co-production of appropriate response strategies to climate change in the region, in particular to drought-related responses. Through this platform we, with other partners in the region, including the Department of Interior and the Department of Agriculture, are bringing various training tools, climate information, and management planning tools to resource managers. The implementation of ReVAMP has led to development of planning efforts which include a more explicit representation of climate change as a driver of drought events in our region. Scenario planning provides a process which integrates management goals with possible outcomes derived from observations and simulations of ecological impacts of climate change. Co

78 FR 79478 - Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-30

... Change and Natural Resource Science AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey, Interior. ACTION: Meeting notice... announce that the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science will hold a meeting..., National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive...

DU weaponry: a view on facts and deceptions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joksimovich, V.

2002-01-01

The paper summarizes the results of literature research conducted by the author on the use of depleted uranium (DU) weaponry. The research was initiated during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 with an objective of searching for facts in the presence of massive deceptions staged by the huge propaganda machinery of DU weaponry use proponents. The U.S. made use of DU penetrators in the Persian Gulf war as well as in the Balkan wars both in Bosnia and Kosovo. Brief science and history backgrounds are provided including overviews of DU uses and abuses in these three wars. The U.S./NATO public pronouncements have been centered around the theme that there has been no proven link between DU and cancers. In the author's view, these types of carefully word engineered statements are motivated by possible compensation and cleanup claims rather than supported by hard data and sound science. Since underlying causes of so called Gulf and Balkan syndromes have not been found despite a decade elapsed since conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, the DU must continue to be a front-line suspect. From the standpoint of public health and safety, it is prudent and responsible to call for a moratorium. DU use in the Kosovo war, which was not sanctioned by the UN Security Council, was reckless in the extreme. (author)

Climate change science education across schools, campuses, and centers: strategies and successes

Science.gov (United States)

Merrill, J.; Harcourt, P.; Rogers, M.; Buttram, J.; Petrone, C.; Veron, D. E.; Sezen-Barrie, A.; Stylinski, C.; Ozbay, G.

2016-02-01

With established partnerships in higher education, K-12, and informal science education communities across Delaware and Maryland, the NSF-funded MADE CLEAR project (Maryland Delaware Climate Change Education, Assessment, and Research) has instituted a suite of professional development strategies to bring climate change science into science education methods courses, K-12 classrooms, university lecture halls, and public park facilities. MADE CLEAR partners have provided consistent climate literacy topics (mechanisms, human contributions, local and global impacts, mitigation and adaptation) while meeting the unique needs of each professional community. In-person topical lectures, hands-on work with classroom materials, seed funding for development of new education kits, and on-line live and recorded sessions are some of the tools employed by the team to meet those needs and build enduring capacity for climate change science education. The scope of expertise of the MADE CLEAR team, with climate scientists, educators, learning scientists, and managers has provided not only PD tailored for each education audience, but has also created, fostered, and strengthened relationships across those audiences for long-term sustainability of the newly-built capacity. Specific examples include new climate change programs planned for implementation across Delaware State Parks that will be consistent with middle school curriculum; integration of climate change topics into science methods classes for pre-service teachers at four universities; and active K-12 and informal science education teams working to cooperatively develop lessons that apply informal science education techniques and formal education pedagogy. Evaluations by participants highlight the utility of personal connections, access to experts, mentoring and models for developing implementation plans.

Combating climate change: How nuclear science and technology are making a difference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amano, Yukiya

2015-01-01

Climate change is the biggest environmental challenge of our time. As governments around the world prepare to negotiate a legally binding, universal agreement on climate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris at the end of the year, it is important that the contributions that nuclear science and technology can make to combating climate change are recognized. Nuclear science, including nuclear power, can play a significant role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Climate change projections: past and future mysteries of climate science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meehl, Gerald A.

2007-01-01

Full text: Full text: The history of climate change has been wrapped in mysteries. Some have been solved, and we await the outcome of others. The major mystery of 20th century climate was why did temperatures rise in the early part of the century, level off, and then rise rapidly again after the 1970s? It has only been in the past seven years that advances in climate modelling have allowed us to deconstruct 20th century climate to pull apart the separate influences of natural and human-caused factors. This has allowed us to understand the subtle interplay between these various influences that produced the temperature time evolution. Another mystery has involved extreme weather and climate events. Again, climate models have allowed us to quantify how the small changes in average climate translate into much larger changes of regional extremes. The biggest remaining mysteries in climate science involve the future, and how the climate will evolve over the coming century. Up until now, various scenarios postulating different possible outcomes for 21st century climate, assuming different types of human activities, have been run in the climate models to provide a wide range of possible futures. However, more recently the outlook for global warming is being framed as a combination of mitigation and adaptation. If policy actions are taken to mitigate part of the problem of global warming, then climate models must be relied on to quantify the time-evolving picture of how much regional climate change we must adapt to. Solving this mystery will be the biggest and most important challenge ever taken on by the climate modelling community

Derivatives Trading, Climate Science and Human Rights

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haigh, Matthew

for capital flows associated with climate management. Media communications and decision making theories are used to interpret data drawn from participant observation and interviews with climate scientists, policy makers and institutional investors. Findings - The framework suggests a digital divide between...... the heaviest polluters as contributing to carbon-minimised investment portfolios. Assets owned by privately managed pension funds have remained materially exposed to risks posed by climate change. In public finance, a narrow range of financial instruments centred on derivatives trading has entrenched global...... between human rights, climate change, and the stability of private pensions provision. Originality/value - Provides policy sciences useful assessments of communication media and financial instruments used in climate management. Establishes bases for theoretical and applied communications research...

Global Climate Change: What Has Science Education Got to Do with It?

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Ajay

2012-01-01

Despite a near universal consensus among scientists regarding the perils of climate change for human civilizations, climate change has not emerged as a key issue among science educators. This position paper advocates for the centrality of climate change in science education. Using Polanyi's critique of market in capitalist societies, it positions…

Regional climate change-Science in the Southeast

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Sonya A.

2010-01-01

Resource managers are at the forefront of a new era of management. They must consider the potential impacts of climate change on the Nation's resources and proactively develop strategies for dealing with those impacts on plants, animals, and ecosystems. This requires rigorous, scientific understanding of environmental change. The role of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in this effort is to analyze climate-change data and develop tools for assessing how changing conditions are likely to impact resources. This information will assist Federal, State, local, and tribal partners manage resources strategically. The 2008 Omnibus Budget Act and Secretarial Order 3289 established a new network of eight Department of Interior Regional Climate Science Centers to provide technical support for resource managers. The Southeast Regional Assessment Project (SERAP) is the first regional assessment to be funded by the USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (http://nccw.usgs.gov/). The USGS is working closely with the developing Department of Interior Landscape Conservation Cooperatives to ensure that the project will meet the needs of resource managers in the Southeast. In addition, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is providing resources to the SERAP to expand the scope of the project.

Celebrity Climate Contrarians: Understanding a keystone species in contemporary climate science-policy-public interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Boykoff, M. T.

2012-12-01

Since the 1980s, a keystone species called 'climate contrarians' has emerged and thrived. Through resistance to dominant interpretations of scientific evidence, and often outlier views on optimal responses to climate threats, contrarians have raised many meta-level questions: for instance, questions involve to what extent have their varied interventions been effective in terms of sparking a new and wise Copernican revolution; or do their amplified voices instead service entrenched carbon-based industry interests while they blend debates over 'climate change' with other culture wars? While the value of their influence has generated numerous debates, there is no doubt that climate contrarians have had significant influence on climate science, policy and public communities in ways that are larger than would be expected from their relative abundance in society. As such, a number of these actors have achieved 'celebrity status' in science-policy circles, and, at times, larger public spaces. This presentation focuses on how - particularly through amplified mass media attention to their movements - various outlier interventions have demonstrated themselves to be (often deliberately) detrimental to efforts that seek to enlarge rather than constrict the spectrum of possibility for mobilizing appropriate responses to ongoing climate challenges. Also, this work analyses the growth pathways of these charismatic megafauna through interview data and participant observations completed by the author at the 2011 Heartland Institute's Sixth International Conference on Climate Change. This provides detail on how outlier perspectives characterized as climate contrarians do work in these spaces under the guise of public intellectualism to achieve intended goals and objectives. The research undertaken and related in the presentation here seeks to better understand motivations that prop up these contrarian stances, such as possible ideological or evidentiary disagreement to the orthodox

Introduction. Progress in Earth science and climate studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, J Michael T

2008-12-28

In this introductory paper, I review the 'visions of the future' articles prepared by top young scientists for the second of the two Christmas 2008 Triennial Issues of Phil. Trans. R. Soc.A, devoted respectively to astronomy and Earth science. Topics covered in the Earth science issue include: trace gases in the atmosphere; dynamics of the Antarctic circumpolar current; a study of the boundary between the Earth's rocky mantle and its iron core; and two studies of volcanoes and their plumes. A final section devoted to ecology and climate covers: the mathematical modelling of plant-soil interactions; the effects of the boreal forests on the Earth's climate; the role of the past palaeoclimate in testing and calibrating today's numerical climate models; and the evaluation of these models including the quantification of their uncertainties.

A Science-Driven Photojournalistic Documentation of Climate Change (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Braasch, G.; Rothlein, J. E.

2013-12-01

World View of Global Warming is an independent photojournalistic documentation of global warming and rapid climate change begun in 1999. The intended outcomes of the work - the photographs, reportage and publications - are based on the principles of scientific accuracy, a journalistic approach, strong photographic skills, long-term observations, science literacy, education, documentation for policy makers and inspiration to others. During the course of this project the team of photojournalist and public health toxicologist visited, interviewed and/or had correspondence with more than 150 scientists in the field on every continent. Hundreds more have influenced and informed the work. World View of Global Warming has tested the idea that climate change can be more easily understood by the public and government officials through photographs which accurately and engagingly depict the locations and the scientists involved in research, communities responding to impacts of climate change and innovations for mitigation. Use of the photographs by scientists to further their own work and outreach was an immediate and continuing result, including use in journals, reports, textbooks and conferences. This presentation will demonstrate the many uses of photography in climate change communications and discuss how scientists and educators can more effectively interact with the public and media and artists. The website for this project was established in 2002 and now has more than 100 pages of photographs and information. It is strictly non-commercial and documented. Wide and repeated publication indicates the value of the project's climate communication: Exhibition at the Boston Museum of Science (2013), the National Academy of Sciences and the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science and other venues; extended use by the United Nations, UNFCCC, World Meteorological Organization, Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive

A Social Science Guide for Communication on Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

St John, C.; Marx, S.; Markowitz, E.

2014-12-01

Researchers from the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions (CRED) published "The Psychology of Climate Change Communication: A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public" in 2009. This landmark guide provided climate change communicators a synthesis of the social science research that was pertinent to understanding how people think about climate change and how the practice could be improved. In the fall of 2014 this guide will be rereleased, with a new title, and in a partnership between CRED and ecoAmerica. The updated guide addresses how and why Americans respond in certain ways to climate change and explains how communicators can apply best practices to their own work. The guide, which includes research from a range of social science fields including psychology, anthropology, communications, and behavioral economics, is designed to be useful for experienced and novice communicators alike. Included in the guide are strategies to boost engagement, common mistakes to avoid, and best practices that organizations around the world have used to meaningfully engage individuals and groups on climate change. The proposed presentation will provide an overview of the main findings and tips from the 2014 climate change communication guide. It will provide a deeper look at a few of the key points that are crucial for increasing audience engagement with climate change including understanding how identity shapes climate change, how to lead with solutions, and how to bring the impacts of climate change close to home. It will highlight tips for motivating positive behavior change that will lead people down the path toward solutions. Finally, it will address the benefits and challenges associated with producing a communication guide and insight into synthesizing social science research findings into a usable format for a variety of audiences.

Interior's Climate Science Centers: Focus or Fail

Science.gov (United States)

Udall, B.

2012-12-01

After a whirlwind two years of impressive and critical infrastructure building, the Department of Interior's Climate Science Centers are now in a position to either succeed or fail. The CSCs have a number of difficult structural problems including too many constituencies relative to the available resources, an uneasy relationship among many of the constituencies including the DOI agencies themselves, a need to do science in a new, difficult and non-traditional way, and a short timeframe to produce useful products. The CSCs have built a broad and impressive network of scientists and stakeholders. These entities include science providers of the universities and the USGS, and decision makers from the states, tribes, DOI land managers and other federal agencies and NGOs. Rather than try to support all of these constituencies the CSCs would be better served by refocusing on a core mission of supporting DOI climate related decision making. The CSCs were designed to service the climate science needs of DOI agencies, many of which lost their scientific capabilities in the 1990s due to a well-intentioned but ultimately harmful re-organization at DOI involving the now defunct National Biological Survey. Many of these agencies would like to have their own scientists, have an uneasy relationship with the nominal DOI science provider, the USGS, and don't communicate effectively among themselves. The CSCs must not succumb to pursuing science in either the traditional mode of the USGS or in the traditional mode of the universities, or worse, both of them. These scientific partners will need to be flexible, learn how to collaborate and should expect to see fewer resources. Useful CSC processes and outputs should start with the recommendations of the 2009 NRC Report Informing Decisions in a Changing Climate: (1) begin with users' needs; (2) give priority to process over products; (3) link information producers and users; (4) build connections across disciplines and organizations

NASA and the National Climate Assessment: Promoting awareness of NASA Earth science

Science.gov (United States)

Leidner, A. K.

2014-12-01

NASA Earth science observations, models, analyses, and applications made significant contributions to numerous aspects of the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) report and are contributing to sustained climate assessment activities. The agency's goal in participating in the NCA was to ensure that NASA scientific resources were made available to understand the current state of climate change science and climate change impacts. By working with federal agency partners and stakeholder communities to develop and write the report, the agency was able to raise awareness of NASA climate science with audiences beyond the traditional NASA community. To support assessment activities within the NASA community, the agency sponsored two competitive programs that not only funded research and tools for current and future assessments, but also increased capacity within our community to conduct assessment-relevant science and to participate in writing assessments. Such activities fostered the ability of graduate students, post-docs, and senior researchers to learn about the science needs of climate assessors and end-users, which can guide future research activities. NASA also contributed to developing the Global Change Information System, which deploys information from the NCA to scientists, decision makers, and the public, and thus contributes to climate literacy. Finally, NASA satellite imagery and animations used in the Third NCA helped the pubic and decision makers visualize climate changes and were frequently used in social media to communicate report key findings. These resources are also key for developing educational materials that help teachers and students explore regional climate change impacts and opportunities for responses.

Progress, decline, and the public uptake of climate science.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudiak-Gould, Peter

2014-02-01

Previous research has sought to explain public perception of climate change science in terms of individuals' "prior commitment" to such ideological stances as just-world belief, system justification, and liberalism/conservatism. One type of prior commitment that has received little formal attention in the literature is narratives of the moral trajectory of society. A theory of climate science uptake based on beliefs in societal progress or decline is more easily portable to non-Western settings; in a case study of global warming attitudes in the Marshall Islands, trajectory narratives indeed account for public belief, concern, blame, and response more aptly than existing theories, and accord well with qualitative analysis of Marshallese climate change discourse. In Western settings, progress/decline narratives may explain much of the variation in climate change attitudes previously accounted for by other ideological variables, promising a more penetrating explanation for the divergence of climate change attitudes within and between societies.

Nouvelle initiative des chaires de recherche Canada-Afrique du Sud ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

8 déc. 2016 ... Elles s'appuient sur le South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChl), ainsi que sur le programme de chaires de recherche industrielle, dont le financement provient en partie du Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada (CRSNG) et du Programme des chaires de recherche ...

Sustained Assessment Metadata as a Pathway to Trustworthiness of Climate Science Information

Science.gov (United States)

Champion, S. M.; Kunkel, K.

2017-12-01

The Sustained Assessment process has produced a suite of climate change reports: The Third National Climate Assessment (NCA3), Regional Surface Climate Conditions in CMIP3 and CMIP5 for the United States: Differences, Similarities, and Implications for the U.S. National Climate Assessment, Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment, The State Climate Summaries, as well as the anticipated Climate Science Special Report and Fourth National Climate Assessment. Not only are these groundbreaking reports of climate change science, they are also the first suite of climate science reports to provide access to complex metadata directly connected to the report figures and graphics products. While the basic metadata documentation requirement is federally mandated through a series of federal guidelines as a part of the Information Quality Act, Sustained Assessment products are also deemed Highly Influential Scientific Assessments, which further requires demonstration of the transparency and reproducibility of the content. To meet these requirements, the Technical Support Unit (TSU) for the Sustained Assessment embarked on building a system for not only collecting and documenting metadata to the required standards, but one that also provides consumers unprecedented access to the underlying data and methods. As our process and documentation have evolved, the value of both continue to grow in parallel with the consumer expectation of quality, accessible climate science information. This presentation will detail the how the TSU accomplishes the mandated requirements with their metadata collection and documentation process, as well as the technical solution designed to demonstrate compliance while also providing access to the content for the general public. We will also illustrate how our accessibility platforms guide consumers through the Assessment science at a level of transparency that builds trust and confidence in the report

BURECS: An Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Climate Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

Dennis, D. P.; Marchant, D. R.; Christ, A. J.; Ehrenfeucht, S.

2017-12-01

The current structure of many undergraduate programs, particularly those at large research universities, requires students to engage with a major or academic emphasis early in their university careers. This oftentimes curbs exploration outside the major and can inhibit interdisciplinary collaboration. The Boston University Research Education and Communication of Science (BURECS) program seeks to bridge this institutional divide by fostering interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaboration on climate change-related issues by students from across Boston University (B.U.). Every year, approximately fifteen first-year students from B.U.'s College of Arts and Sciences, College of Communication, and School of Education are selected to join BURECS, which includes a climate science seminar, a hands-on lab course, a supported summer internship with Boston-area researchers, and the opportunity to participate in Antarctic field work during subsequent B.U. Antarctic Research Group expeditions. Currently in its third year, BURECS is funded through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Professors Program.

Climate change science compendium 2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McMullen, C.P.; Jabbour, J.

2009-09-15

In a matter of a few weeks' time, governments will gather in Copenhagen, Denmark, for a crucial UN climate convention meeting. Many governments and stakeholders have requested an annual snapshot of how the science has been evolving since the publication of the IPCC's landmark fourth assessment in advance of the panel's next one in 2014. This Climate Change Science Compendium, based on the wealth of peerreviewed research published by researchers and institutions since 2006, has been compiled by UNEP in response to that request. The findings indicate that ever more rapid environmental change is underway with the pace and the scale of climate change accelerating, along with the confidence among researchers in their forecasts. The Arctic, with implications for the globe, is emerging as an area of major concern. There is growing evidence that the ice there is melting far faster than had been previously supposed. Mountains glaciers also appear to be retreating faster. Scientists now suggest that the Arctic could be virtually ice free in September of 2037 and that a nearly ice-free September by 2028 is well within the realms of possibility. Recent findings also show that significant warming extends well beyond the Antarctic Peninsula to cover most of West Antarctica, an area of warming much larger than previously reported. The impact on the Earth's multi-trillion dollar ecosystems is also a key area of concern. Under a high emission scenario-the one that most closely matches current trends-12-39 per cent of the planet's terrestrial surface could experience novel climate conditions and 10-48 per cent could suffer disappearing climates by 2100. Rising levels of aridity are also concentrating scientific minds. New research indicates that by the end of the 21st century the Mediterranean region will also experience much more severe increases in aridity than previously estimated rendering the entire region, but particularly the southern Mediterranean

Advances in Cross-Cutting Ideas for Computational Climate Science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ng, Esmond [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Evans, Katherine J. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Caldwell, Peter [Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Hoffman, Forrest M. [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Jackson, Charles [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Kerstin, Van Dam [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Leung, Ruby [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Martin, Daniel F. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Ostrouchov, George [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Tuminaro, Raymond [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Ullrich, Paul [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States); Wild, S. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Williams, Samuel [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

2017-01-01

This report presents results from the DOE-sponsored workshop titled, ``Advancing X-Cutting Ideas for Computational Climate Science Workshop,'' known as AXICCS, held on September 12--13, 2016 in Rockville, MD. The workshop brought together experts in climate science, computational climate science, computer science, and mathematics to discuss interesting but unsolved science questions regarding climate modeling and simulation, promoted collaboration among the diverse scientists in attendance, and brainstormed about possible tools and capabilities that could be developed to help address them. Emerged from discussions at the workshop were several research opportunities that the group felt could advance climate science significantly. These include (1) process-resolving models to provide insight into important processes and features of interest and inform the development of advanced physical parameterizations, (2) a community effort to develop and provide integrated model credibility, (3) including, organizing, and managing increasingly connected model components that increase model fidelity yet complexity, and (4) treating Earth system models as one interconnected organism without numerical or data based boundaries that limit interactions. The group also identified several cross-cutting advances in mathematics, computer science, and computational science that would be needed to enable one or more of these big ideas. It is critical to address the need for organized, verified, and optimized software, which enables the models to grow and continue to provide solutions in which the community can have confidence. Effectively utilizing the newest computer hardware enables simulation efficiency and the ability to handle output from increasingly complex and detailed models. This will be accomplished through hierarchical multiscale algorithms in tandem with new strategies for data handling, analysis, and storage. These big ideas and cross-cutting technologies for

Advances in Cross-Cutting Ideas for Computational Climate Science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ng, E.; Evans, K.; Caldwell, P.; Hoffman, F.; Jackson, C.; Van Dam, K.; Leung, R.; Martin, D.; Ostrouchov, G.; Tuminaro, R.; Ullrich, P.; Wild, S.; Williams, S.

2017-01-01

This report presents results from the DOE-sponsored workshop titled, Advancing X-Cutting Ideas for Computational Climate Science Workshop,'' known as AXICCS, held on September 12--13, 2016 in Rockville, MD. The workshop brought together experts in climate science, computational climate science, computer science, and mathematics to discuss interesting but unsolved science questions regarding climate modeling and simulation, promoted collaboration among the diverse scientists in attendance, and brainstormed about possible tools and capabilities that could be developed to help address them. Emerged from discussions at the workshop were several research opportunities that the group felt could advance climate science significantly. These include (1) process-resolving models to provide insight into important processes and features of interest and inform the development of advanced physical parameterizations, (2) a community effort to develop and provide integrated model credibility, (3) including, organizing, and managing increasingly connected model components that increase model fidelity yet complexity, and (4) treating Earth system models as one interconnected organism without numerical or data based boundaries that limit interactions. The group also identified several cross-cutting advances in mathematics, computer science, and computational science that would be needed to enable one or more of these big ideas. It is critical to address the need for organized, verified, and optimized software, which enables the models to grow and continue to provide solutions in which the community can have confidence. Effectively utilizing the newest computer hardware enables simulation efficiency and the ability to handle output from increasingly complex and detailed models. This will be accomplished through hierarchical multiscale algorithms in tandem with new strategies for data handling, analysis, and storage. These big ideas and cross-cutting technologies for enabling

Optimal climate change: economics and climate science policy histories (from heuristic to normative).

Science.gov (United States)

Randalls, Samuel

2011-01-01

Historical accounts of climate change science and policy have reflected rather infrequently upon the debates, discussions, and policy advice proffered by economists in the 1980s. While there are many forms of economic analysis, this article focuses upon cost-benefit analysis, especially as adopted in the work of William Nordhaus. The article addresses the way in which climate change economics subtly altered debates about climate policy from the late 1970s through the 1990s. These debates are often technical and complex, but the argument in this article is that the development of a philosophy of climate change as an issue for cost-benefit analysis has had consequences for how climate policy is made today.

U.S. Department of the Interior South Central Climate Science Center strategic science plan, 2013--18

Science.gov (United States)

Winton, Kim T.; Dalton, Melinda S.; Shipp, Allison A.

2013-01-01

The Department of the Interior (DOI) recognizes and embraces the unprecedented challenges of maintaining our Nation’s rich natural and cultural resources in the 21st century. The magnitude of these challenges demands that the conservation community work together to develop integrated adaptation and mitigation strategies that collectively address the impacts of climate change and other landscape-scale stressors. On September 14, 2009, DOI Secretary Ken Salazar signed Secretarial Order 3289 (amended February 22, 2010) entitled, “Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on America’s Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources.” The Order establishes the foundation for two partner-based conservation science entities to address these unprecedented challenges: Climate Science Centers (CSCs and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs). CSCs and LCCs are the Department-wide approach for applying scientific tools to increase understanding of climate change and to coordinate an effective response to its impacts on tribes and the land, water, ocean, fish and wildlife, and cultural-heritage resources that DOI manages. Eight CSCs have been established and are managed through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC); each CSC works in close collaboration with their neighboring CSCs, as well as those across the Nation, to ensure the best and most efficient science is produced. The South Central CSC was established in 2012 through a cooperative agreement with the University of Oklahoma, Texas Tech University, Louisiana State University, the Chickasaw Nation, the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, and NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab; hereafter termed the ”Consortium” of the South Central CSC. The Consortium has a broad expertise in the physical, biological, natural, and social sciences to address impacts of climate change on land, water, fish and wildlife, ocean, coastal, and

Games and Simulations for Climate, Weather and Earth Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, R. M.; Clark, S.

2015-12-01

We will demonstrate several interactive, computer-based simulations, games, and other interactive multimedia. These resources were developed for weather, climate, atmospheric science, and related Earth system science education. The materials were created by the UCAR Center for Science Education. These materials have been disseminated via our web site (SciEd.ucar.edu), webinars, online courses, teacher workshops, and large touchscreen displays in weather and Sun-Earth connections exhibits in NCAR's Mesa Lab facility in Boulder, Colorado. Our group has also assembled a web-based list of similar resources, especially simulations and games, from other sources that touch upon weather, climate, and atmospheric science topics. We'll briefly demonstrate this directory.

Promotion de la recherche sur l'entrepreneuriat en Asie du Sud-Est ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... surtout en ce qui concerne les femmes, et de suivre leur évolution en Asie du Sud-Est. ... surveillera le déroulement du projet et veillera au contrôle de la qualité. ... including heat stress, water management, and climate-related migration.

Successfully Engaging Family and Student Audiences in Climate Science Workshops in an Informal Learning Venue

Science.gov (United States)

DeFrancis, G.; Haynes, R.; Schroer, K.

2017-12-01

The Montshire Museum of Science, a regional science center serving families, teachers, and students in rural Vermont and New Hampshire, has been actively engaged in in climate literacy initiatives for over 10 years. The Museum's visitor evaluation data shows that before audiences can be engaged in conversations around climate change, they need to be introduced to the underlying earth processes that drive climate, and to the nature of how climate science is done. Through this work, the Museum has developed a suite of climate science programs that can be incorporated in informal science programming at museums, science centers, and libraries, and in the formal K-8 classroom environment. Front-end and formative evaluation data was used in the program design, and summative evaluation showed an increase in concept understanding in the topic presented. Family science and student workshops developed focused on Albedo and the Earth's energy budget, properties and characteristics of sea ice, sediment cores and ice cores to study changes in the climate over time, and the geography of the polar regions. We found that successful climate literacy learning experiences require meaningful hands-on, inquiry-based activities focused on a single earth process, and leads to an increase in science talk and conversation about climate change between the program instructor and audience members as learners begin to understand how these processes interact in the Earth's climate system.

Challenges and Opportunities for Integrating Social Science Perspectives into Climate and Global Change Assessments

Science.gov (United States)

Larson, E. K.; Li, J.; Zycherman, A.

2017-12-01

Integration of social science into climate and global change assessments is fundamental for improving understanding of the drivers, impacts and vulnerability of climate change, and the social, cultural and behavioral challenges related to climate change responses. This requires disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge as well as integrational and translational tools for linking this knowledge with the natural and physical sciences. The USGCRP's Social Science Coordinating Committee (SSCC) is tasked with this challenge and is working to integrate relevant social, economic and behavioral knowledge into processes like sustained assessments. This presentation will discuss outcomes from a recent SSCC workshop, "Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change" and their applications to sustained assessments. The workshop brought academic social scientists from four disciplines - anthropology, sociology, geography and archaeology - together with federal scientists and program managers to discuss three major research areas relevant to the USGCRP and climate assessments: (1) innovative tools, methods, and analyses to clarify the interactions of human and natural systems under climate change, (2) understanding of factors contributing to differences in social vulnerability between and within communities under climate change, and (3) social science perspectives on drivers of global climate change. These disciplines, collectively, emphasize the need to consider socio-cultural, political, economic, geographic, and historic factors, and their dynamic interactions, to understand climate change drivers, social vulnerability, and mitigation and adaptation responses. They also highlight the importance of mixed quantitative and qualitative methods to explain impacts, vulnerability, and responses at different time and spatial scales. This presentation will focus on major contributions of the social sciences to climate and global change research. We will discuss future directions for

A Path to Actionable Climate Science: Perspectives from the Field

Science.gov (United States)

DeCrappeo, Nicole M.; Bisbal, Gustavo A.; Meadow, Alison M.

2018-02-01

The U.S. Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers (CSCs) work with natural and cultural resource managers and scientists to gather information and build tools needed to help fish, wildlife, and ecosystems adapt to the impacts of climate change. The CSCs prioritize the delivery of actionable science products (e.g., synthesized scientific information, maps, decision support tools, etc.) that are focused on key management priorities and co-produced by teams of scientists and managers. In the specific case of the Northwest CSC, we have been successful at promoting and supporting the co-production of actionable climate science at the individual project level, but it has been more difficult to replicate this success at the regional program level. Here we identify the most significant challenges in satisfying this mandate and propose the creation of a Science Advisory Panel to provide improved interface between resource managers and scientists engaged with the Northwest CSC.

Science Express: Out-of-Home-Media to Communicate Climate Change (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Lustick, D. S.; Lohmeier, J.; Chen, R.

2013-12-01

Science Express is an initiative to explore, develop, and test various approaches to using Out-of-Home-Media (OHM) to engage adults riding mass transit. To date, three projects represent this work: 1) Carbon Smarts Conference, 2) Cool Science, and 3) ScienceToGo.org. While the aim of each project is different, together they serve an immediate need to understand how OHM can be leveraged as an informal science learning medium. Using Climate Change as the content focus, each project is a variation on the theme of understanding mass transit as a form of mobile classroom for riders. The basic idea behind these initiatives is to engage individuals who do not necessarily read the science magazines, listen to science radio shows, or watch science programming on television. Science Express is about bringing the science learning opportunity to the audience during their daily routines. Mass Transit provides an ideal opportunity for engaging the disengaged in science learning since they represent a ';captive' audience while waiting at the bus stop, standing on the platform, riding inside the bus or train. These ';downtimes' present informal science educators with the opportunity to foster some science learning. With the advent of smartphone technology and its explosion in popularity among consumers, OHM is poised to offer riders a new kind of real time learning experience. The Science Express projects aim to understand the strengths and weaknesses of this new model for informal science learning so as to refine and improve its effectiveness at achieving desired goals. While the Science Express model for informal science learning could be used to foster understanding about any relevant scientific content, the research team chose to use Climate Change as the focus. Climate Change seemed like an obvious because of its timeliness, complexity, robust scientific foundation, and presence in popular media. Nearly all our riders have heard of 'Climate Change' or 'Global Warming', but a

Lignes directrices du CRDI pour la préparation du rapport technique

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

fdieudonne

l'accord de subvention et doivent faire partie de tout rapport hébergé dans la ... questions de nature délicate ou confidentielle doivent être traitées par un échange .... les innovations relevant des sciences, de la recherche ou du savoir;.

Climate policy under sustainable discounted utilitarianism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dietz, Simon [London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (United Kingdom); Asheim, Geir B. [Oslo Univ. (Norway). Dept. of Economics

2011-08-15

Empirical evaluation of policies to mitigate climate change has been largely confined to the application of discounted utilitarianism (DU). DU is controversial, both due to the conditions through which it is justified and due to its consequences for climate policies, where the discounting of future utility gains from present abatement efforts makes it harder for such measures to justify their present costs. In this paper, we propose sustainable discounted utilitarianism (SDU) as an alternative principle for evaluation of climate policy. Unlike undiscounted utilitarianism, which always assigns zero relative weight to present utility, SDU is an axiomatically based criterion, which departs from DU by assigning zero weight to present utility if and only if the present is better off than the future. Using the DICE integrated assessment model to run risk analysis, we show that it is possible for the future to be worse off than the present along a 'business as usual' development path. Consequently SDU and DU differ, and willingness to pay for emissions reductions is (sometimes significantly) higher under SDU than under DU. Under SDU, stringent schedules of emissions reductions increase social welfare, even for a relatively high utility discount rate. (orig.)

Sud du Sahara | Page 59 | CRDI - Centre de recherches pour le ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Sud du Sahara. Sud du Sahara. Read more about Health Financing and Benefit Incidence Analysis in Uganda and Zambia. Langue English. Read more about Le Centre d'innovation pour la résilience de l'Afrique de l'Est. Langue French. Read more about Climate Change and Water Adaptation Options. Langue English.

The Iowa K-12 Climate Science Education Initiative: a comprehensive approach to meeting in-service teachers' stated needs for teaching climate literacy with NGSS

Science.gov (United States)

Stanier, C. O.; Spak, S.; Neal, T. A.; Herder, S.; Malek, A.; Miller, Z.

2017-12-01

The Iowa Board of Education voted unanimously in 2015 to adopt NGSS performance standards. The CGRER - College of Education Iowa K-12 Climate Science Education Initiative was established in 2016 to work directly with Iowa inservice teachers to provide what teachers need most to teach climate literacy and climate science content through investigational learning aligned with NGSS. Here we present teachers' requests for teaching climate with NGSS, and an approach to provide resources for place-based authentic inquiry on climate, developed, tested, and refined in partnership with inservice and preservice teachers. A survey of inservice middle school and high school science teachers was conducted at the 2016 Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics/Iowa Academy of Sciences - Iowa Science Teaching Section Fall Conference and online in fall 2016. Participants (n=383) were asked about their prior experience and education, the resources they use and need, their level of comfort in teaching climate science, perceived barriers, and how they address potential controversy. Teachers indicated preference for professional development on climate content and complete curricula packaged with lessons and interactive models aligned to Iowa standards, as well as training on instructional strategies to enhance students' ability to interpret scientific evidence. We identify trends in responses by teaching experience, climate content knowledge and its source, grade level, and urban and rural districts. Less than 20% of respondents reported controversy or negativity in teaching climate to date, and a majority were comfortable teaching climate science and climate change, with equal confidence in teaching climate and other STEM content through investigational activities. We present an approach and materials to meet these stated needs, created and tested in collaboration with Iowa teachers. We combine professional development and modular curricula with bundled standards, concepts, models, data

Engaging Youth in Climate Change Issues with Family Science Day Activities

Science.gov (United States)

Brevik, Corinne E.; Brevik, Eric C.; Steffan, Joshua J.

2016-04-01

Dickinson State University organizes four Family Science Day events each fall during the months of September, October, November, and December. Activities are geared toward elementary-aged children to increase student engagement in the sciences. Offered on Saturday afternoons, each event focuses on a different science-related theme. Families can attend these events free of charge, and the kids participate in a large variety of hands-on activities that center around the event's theme. This year, the November event focused on climate change, including an emphasis on the roles soil plays in the climate system. The timing of this topic was carefully chosen. 2015 has been declared the International Year of Soil by the United Nations, and the Soil Science Society of America theme for the month of November was Soils and Climate. This public outreach event was an amazing opportunity to help the youth in our community learn about climate change in a fun, interactive environment. Climate changes in the past, present, and future were emphasized. Activities including the Farming Game, painting with soils, taking Jello "cores", creating a cloud in a jar, and making a glacier in a bag helped children learn how science is a process of discovery that allows them to better understand the world they live in. In addition to the hands-on activities, a planetarium show focused on climate change was also offered during the event, surrounding the kids and their parents in a fully immersive, 360-degree show that allowed them to personally observe phenomena that are otherwise difficult to visualize. All of the activities at the Family Science Day event were staffed by university students, and this proved to be a very valuable experience for them as well. Some of the students who helped are majoring in a science field, and for them, the experience taught public communication. They learned to break complicated concepts down into simpler terms that young kids could understand. Education

Violence et dire, pour une rhétorique du soin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

André Quaderi

Full Text Available Par une approche plurielle (psychopathologie du travail, sciences du langage et psychanalyse et au travers d’une clinique de type groupe de parole en institution gériatrique, il est abordé les phénomènes de violences. Les effets du dire, au niveau du clinicien, induisent des changements de comportements des soignants dont les causes sont abordées. Ainsi, la taylorisation de l’organisation inhibe la relation du soignant à l’autre et fige le travail dans une exécution de tâche. Ces effets délétères sont à rapporter au Thanatos tout comme les effets du dire (interprété comme une rhétorique du soin sont à comprendre du côté de l’Eros.

U.S. Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers and U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center—Annual report for 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Weiskopf, Sarah R.; Varela Minder, Elda; Padgett, Holly A.

2017-05-19

Introduction2016 was an exciting year for the Department of the Interior (DOI) Climate Science Centers (CSCs) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC). In recognition of our ongoing efforts to raise awareness and provide the scientific data and tools needed to address the impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, ecosystems, and people, NCCWSC and the CSCs received an honorable mention in the first ever Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for Natural Resources sponsored by the National Fish, Wildlife, and Plant Climate Adaptation Strategy’s Joint Implementation Working Group. The recognition is a reflection of our contribution to numerous scientific workshops and publications, provision of training for students and early career professionals, and work with Tribes and indigenous communities to improve climate change resilience across the Nation. In this report, we highlight some of the activities that took place throughout the NCCWSC and CSC network in 2016.

Effective and responsible teaching of climate change in Earth Science-related disciplines

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Z. P.; Greenhough, B. J.

2009-04-01

Climate change is a core topic within Earth Science-related courses. This vast topic covers a wide array of different aspects that could be covered, from past climatic change across a vast range of scales to environmental (and social and economic) impacts of future climatic change and strategies for reducing anthropogenic climate change. The Earth Science disciplines play a crucial role in our understanding of past, present and future climate change and the Earth system in addition to understanding leading to development of strategies and technological solutions to achieve sustainability. However, an increased knowledge of the occurrence and causes of past (natural) climate changes can lead to a lessened concern and sense of urgency and responsibility amongst students in relation to anthropogenic causes of climatic change. Two concepts integral to the teaching of climate change are those of scientific uncertainty and complexity, yet an emphasis on these concepts can lead to scepticism about future predictions and a further loss of sense of urgency. The requirement to understand the nature of scientific uncertainty and think and move between different scales in particular relating an increased knowledge of longer timescale climatic change to recent (industrialised) climate change, are clearly areas of troublesome knowledge that affect students' sense of responsibility towards their role in achieving a sustainable society. Study of the attitudes of university students in a UK HE institution on a range of Earth Science-related programmes highlights a range of different attitudes in the student body towards the subject of climate change. Students express varied amounts of ‘climate change saturation' resulting from both media and curriculum coverage, a range of views relating to the significance of humans to the global climate and a range of opinions about the relevance of environmental citizenship to their degree programme. Climate change is therefore a challenging

Computational data sciences for assessment and prediction of climate extremes

Science.gov (United States)

Ganguly, A. R.

2011-12-01

Climate extremes may be defined inclusively as severe weather events or large shifts in global or regional weather patterns which may be caused or exacerbated by natural climate variability or climate change. This area of research arguably represents one of the largest knowledge-gaps in climate science which is relevant for informing resource managers and policy makers. While physics-based climate models are essential in view of non-stationary and nonlinear dynamical processes, their current pace of uncertainty reduction may not be adequate for urgent stakeholder needs. The structure of the models may in some cases preclude reduction of uncertainty for critical processes at scales or for the extremes of interest. On the other hand, methods based on complex networks, extreme value statistics, machine learning, and space-time data mining, have demonstrated significant promise to improve scientific understanding and generate enhanced predictions. When combined with conceptual process understanding at multiple spatiotemporal scales and designed to handle massive data, interdisciplinary data science methods and algorithms may complement or supplement physics-based models. Specific examples from the prior literature and our ongoing work suggests how data-guided improvements may be possible, for example, in the context of ocean meteorology, climate oscillators, teleconnections, and atmospheric process understanding, which in turn can improve projections of regional climate, precipitation extremes and tropical cyclones in an useful and interpretable fashion. A community-wide effort is motivated to develop and adapt computational data science tools for translating climate model simulations to information relevant for adaptation and policy, as well as for improving our scientific understanding of climate extremes from both observed and model-simulated data.

Climate Odyssey: Resources for Understanding Coastal Change through Art, Science, and Sail

Science.gov (United States)

Klos, P. Z.; Holtsnider, L.

2017-12-01

Climate Odyssey (climateodyssey.org) is a year-long sailing expedition and continuing collaboration aimed at using overlaps in science and visual art to communicate coastal climate change impacts and solutions. We, visual artist Lucy Holtsnider and climate scientist Zion Klos, are using our complimentary skills in art, science and communication to engage audiences both intuitively and cognitively regarding the urgency of climate change through story and visualization. Over the 2015 - 2016 academic year, we embarked on the sailing portion of Climate Odyssey, beginning in Lake Michigan, continuing along the Eastern Seaboard, and concluding in the tropics. Along the way we photographed climate change impacts and adaptation strategies, interviewed stakeholders, scientists, and artists. We are now sharing our photographs and documented encounters through a tangible artist's book, interactive digital map, blog, and series of K16 lesson plans. Each of our images added to the artist's book and digital map are linked to relevant blog entries and other external scientific resources, making the map both a piece of art and an engaging education tool for sharing the science of climate change impacts and solutions. After completing the sailing component of the project, we have now finalized our multi-media resources and are working to share these with the public via libraries, galleries, and K16 classrooms in coastal communities. At AGU, we will share with our peers the completed version of the series of K16 lesson plans that provide educators an easy-to-use way to introduce and utilize the material in the artist's book, digital map, and online blog. Through this, we hope to both discuss climate-focused education and engagement strategies, as well as showcase this example of art-science outreach with the broader science education and communication community that is focused on climate literacy in the U.S. and beyond.

Conceptualizing In-service Secondary School Science Teachers' Knowledge Base for Promoting Understanding about the Science of Global Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, Devarati

Efforts to adapt and mitigate the effects of global climate change (GCC) have been ongoing for the past two decades and have become a major global concern. However, research and practice for promoting climate literacy and understanding about GCC have only recently become a national priority. The National Research Council (NRC), has recently emphasized upon the importance of developing learners' capacity of reasoning, their argumentation skills and understanding of GCC (Framework for K-12 Science Education, National Research Council, 2012). This framework focuses on fostering conceptual clarity about GCC to promote innovation, resilience, and readiness in students as a response towards the threat of a changing environment. Previous research about teacher understanding of GCC describes that in spite of the prevalent frameworks like the AAAS Science Literacy Atlas (AAAS, 2007) and the Essential Principles for Climate Literacy (United States Global Climate Research Program, 2009; Bardsley, 2007), most learners are challenged in understanding the science of GCC (Michail et al., 2007) and misinformed perceptions about basic climate science content and the role of human activities in changing climate remain persistent (Reibich and Gautier, 2006). Our teacher participants had a rather simplistic knowledge structure. While aware of climate change, teacher participants lacked in depth understanding of how change in climate can impact various ecosystems on the Earth. Furthermore, they felt overwhelmed with the extensive amount of information needed to comprehend the complexity in GCC. Hence, extensive efforts not only focused on assessing conceptual understanding of GCC but also for teaching complex science topics like GCC are essential. This dissertation explains concept mapping, and the photo elicitation method for assessing teachers' understanding of GCC and the use of metacognitive scaffolding in instruction of GCC for developing competence of learners in this complex

Climate Change: Issues in the Science and Its Use

Science.gov (United States)

2009-07-01

Thomas Lovejoy , Mr. Stuart Eizenstat, and Ms. Stephanie Meeks. Hearing...I N S T I T U T E F O R D E F E N S E A N A LY S E S IDA Document D-3904 Log: H 09-000863 July 2009 Climate Change: Issues in the Science and...challenges. I N S T I T U T E F O R D E F E N S E A N A LY S E S IDA Document D-3904 Climate Change: Issues in the Science and Its Use

Framing risk and uncertainty in social science articles on climate change, 1995–2012

OpenAIRE

Shaw, Chris; Hellsten, Iina; Nerlich, Brigitte

2016-01-01

The issue of climate change is intimately linked to notions of risk and uncertainty, concepts that pose challenges to climate science, climate change communication, and science-society interactions. While a large majority of climate scientists are increasingly certain about the causes of climate change and the risks posed by its impacts (see IPCC, 2013 and 2014), public perception of climate change is still largely framed by uncertainty, especially regarding impacts (Poortinga et al., 2011). ...

Semaine du Cerveau 2018 : le CSGA mobilisé : Actualité du CSGA relative à l'experimentarium spécial cerveau, publiée le 5 mars 2018 par Ludovic Piquemal dans la newsletter du Centre INRA de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté sur inra.fr

OpenAIRE

2018-01-01

Pour la 20éme édition de la Semaine du Cerveau, les chercheurs du Centre des Science du Goût et de l'Alimentation se mobilisent auprès du public dijonnais à travers une conférence à Clénay sur les maladies neurodégénératives (samedi 17 mars) et en accueillant un Expérimentarium spécial cerveau (dimanche 18 mars).

Useful and Usable Climate Science: Frameworks for Bridging the Social and Physical domains.

Science.gov (United States)

Buja, L.

2016-12-01

Society is transforming the Earth's system in unprecedented ways, often with significant variations across space and time. In turn, the impacts of climate change on the human system vary dramatically due to differences in cultural, socioeconomic, institutional, and physical processes at the local level. The Climate Science and Applications Program (CSAP) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder Colorado addresses societal vulnerability, impacts and adaptation to climate change through the development of frameworks and methods for analyzing current and future vulnerability, and integrated analyses of climate impacts and adaptation at local, regional and global scales. CSAP relies heavily on GIS-based scientific data and knowledge systems to bridge social and physical science approaches in its five focus areas: Governance of inter-linked natural and managed resource systems. The role of urban areas in driving emissions of climate change Weather, climate and global human health, GIS-based science data & knowledge systems. Regional Climate Science and Services for Adaptation Advanced methodologies and frameworks for assessing current and future risks to environmental hazards through the integration of physical and social science models, research results, and remote sensing data are presented in the context of recent national and international projects on climate change and food/water security, urban carbon emissions, metropolitan extreme heat and global health. In addition, innovative CSAP international capacity building programs teaching interdisciplinary approaches for using geospatial technologies to integrate multi-scale spatial information of weather, climate change into important sectors such as disaster reduction, agriculture, tourism and society for decision-making are discussed.

Big Data Challenges in Climate Science: Improving the Next-Generation Cyberinfrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

Schnase, John L.; Lee, Tsengdar J.; Mattmann, Chris A.; Lynnes, Christopher S.; Cinquini, Luca; Ramirez, Paul M.; Hart, Andre F.; Williams, Dean N.; Waliser, Duane; Rinsland, Pamela;

Communicating Climate Science to Kids and Adults Through Citizen Science, Hands-On Demonstrations, and a Personal Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Cherry, L.; Braasch, G.

2008-12-01

There is a demonstrated need to increase the amount of formal and non-formal science education and to raise the level of climate literacy for children and adults. Scientists and technical leaders are more and more being called on to speak in non-academic settings ranging from grade schools to assemblies and seminars for the general public. This abstract describes some effective ways to teach and talk about climate change science in a way that engenders hope and empowerment while explaining scientific facts and research methods to non-scientists. Citizen participation in Science People's interest and learning increases when offered chances to do what scientists do. Relating science to their daily lives and showing the adventure of science can greatly increase communication. Citizen participation in science works because data collection stimulates experiential and cognitive ways of learning. Learn what programs for citizen science are available in your area. For instance, GLOBE and Budburst tie into the research of Smithsonian scientists who determined that the cherry blossoms and 40 other species of plants were blooming earlier due to climate warming. Hands-on Outdoor Activities Information enters the human brain through many different neural pathways and the more avenues that information comes in on, the more likely people are to retain that knowledge for their lifetimes. For instance, kids knowledge of how ice cores tell us about the earth's ancient history will be reinforced through making ice cores in the classroom. Gary Braasch's photographs from the children's book How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming and from his adult book Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World will illustrate the presentation. . Making the Message Personal to the Audience. Reaching people through things they care about, their family lives, work or school and telling personal stories helps reach people. The videos

News coverage of climate change in Nature News and ScienceNOW during 2007

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Kristian Hvidtfelt; Kjærgaard, Rikke Schmidt

2011-01-01

of appreciating climate change, its severe consequences, and its anthropogenic causes. During that year the two journals’ online news services Nature News and ScienceNOW framed climate change to fit particular agendas resulting in markedly different narratives. This article demonstrates that Nature News reported...... more critically on political decisions, scientific results, and social matters of climate change compared to ScienceNOW. Operating under different institutional constraints ScienceNOW generally took a more cautious line. The evidence drawn from both textual and visual analyses shows that news sections...

Using Data from Climate Science to Teach Introductory Statistics

Science.gov (United States)

Witt, Gary

2013-01-01

This paper shows how the application of simple statistical methods can reveal to students important insights from climate data. While the popular press is filled with contradictory opinions about climate science, teachers can encourage students to use introductory-level statistics to analyze data for themselves on this important issue in public…

Climate Change Education Today in K-12: What's Happening in the Earth and Space Science Classroom?

Science.gov (United States)

Holzer, M. A.; National Earth Science Teachers Association

2011-12-01

Climate change is a highly interdisciplinary topic, involving not only multiple fields of science, but also social science and the humanities. There are many aspects of climate change science that make it particularly well-suited for exploration in the K-12 setting, including opportunities to explore the unifying processes of science such as complex systems, models, observations, change and evolution. Furthermore, this field of science offers the opportunity to observe the nature of science in action - including how scientists develop and improve their understanding through research and debate. Finally, climate change is inherently highly relevant to students - indeed, students today will need to deal with the consequences of the climate change. The science of climate change is clearly present in current science education standards, both at the National level as well as in the majority of states. Nonetheless, a significant number of teachers across the country report difficulties addressing climate change in the classroom. The National Earth Science Teachers Association has conducted several surveys of Earth and space science educators across the country over the past several years on a number of issues, including their needs and concerns, including their experience of external influences on what they teach. While the number of teachers that report external pressures to not teach climate change science are in the minority (and less than the pressure to not teach evolution and related topics), our results suggest that this pressure against climate change science in the K-12 classroom has grown over the past several years. Some teachers report being threatened by parents, being encouraged by administrators to not teach the subject, and a belief that the "two sides" of climate change should be taught. Survey results indicate that teachers in religious or politically-conservative districts are more likely to report difficulties in teaching about climate change than in

The Science of Climate Responsibility

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, D.; Frumhoff, P. C.; Sparrow, S.; Allen, M. R.

2015-12-01

Extreme events linked with human induced climate change have now been reported around the globe. Among the most troublesome impacts are increased wild fires, failed crop yields, extreme flooding and increase human mortality (Hansen and Cramer, 2015). Many of these impacts are predicted to increase into the future. Non-industrialised communities around the world will be the least capable of adapting, while the industrial communities, who are often responsible for historical carbon emissions, will find adaptation easier. Such a situation lends itself to the issue of responsibility. In order to assess responsibility, it must first be established where the major carbon and methane emissions are originating. It must then be estimated how these emissions project onto localised climate, which is often the primary indicator behind impacts on society. In this study, we address this question using a 25 km regional climate model capable of simulating climate thousands of times under the Weather@home citizen science project. The use of this framework allows us to generate huge data sample sizes, which can be put in the context of very low sample sizes of observational data. We concentrate on the 2003 heat wave over Europe, but show how this method could be applied to less data rich regions, including the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.

Implementation of an Online Climate Science Course at San Antonio College

Science.gov (United States)

Reyes, R.; Strybos, J.

2016-12-01

San Antonio College (SAC) plans to incorporate an online climate science class into the curriculum with a focus on local weather conditions and data. SAC is part of a network of five community colleges based around San Antonio, Texas, has over 20,000 students enrolled, and its student population reflects the diversity in ethnicity, age and gender of the San Antonio community. The college understands the importance of educating San Antonio residents on climate science and its complexities. San Antonio residents are familiar with weather changes and extreme conditions. The region has experienced an extreme drought, including water rationing in the city. Then, this year's El Niño intensified expected annual rainfalls and flash floods. The proposed climate science course will uniquely prepare students to understand weather data and the evidence of climate change impacting San Antonio at a local level. This paper will discuss the importance and challenges of introducing the new climate science course into the curriculum, and the desired class format that will increase the course's success. Two of the most significant challenges are informing students about the value of this class and identifying the best teaching format. Additionally, measuring and monitoring enrollment will be essential to determine the course performance and success. At the same time, Alamo Colleges is modifying the process of teaching online classes and is officially working to establish an online college. Around 23% of students enrolled in SAC offered courses are currently enrolled in online courses only, representing an opportunity to incorporate the climate science class as an online course. Since the proposed course will be using electronic textbooks and online applications to access hyperlocal weather data, the class is uniquely suited for online students.

Climate Analytics-As-a-Service (CAaas), Advanced Information Systems, and Services to Accelerate the Climate Sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

McInerney, M.; Schnase, J. L.; Duffy, D.; Tamkin, G.; Nadeau, D.; Strong, S.; Thompson, J. H.; Sinno, S.; Lazar, D.

2014-12-01

The climate sciences represent a big data domain that is experiencing unprecedented growth. In our efforts to address the big data challenges of climate science, we are moving toward a notion of Climate Analytics-as-a-Service (CAaaS). We focus on analytics, because it is the knowledge gained from our interactions with big data that ultimately product societal benefits. We focus on CAaaS because we believe it provides a useful way of thinking about the problem: a specialization of the concept of business process-as-a-service, which is an evolving extension of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS enabled by cloud computing. Within this framework, cloud computing plays an important role; however, we see it as only one element in a constellation of capabilities that are essential to delivering climate analytics-as-a-service. These elements are essential because in the aggregate they lead to generativity, a capacity for self-assembly that we feel is the key to solving many of the big data challenges in this domain. This poster will highlight specific examples of CAaaS using climate reanalysis data, high-performance cloud computing, map reduce, and the Climate Data Services API.

Sud du Sahara | Page 207 | CRDI - Centre de recherches pour le ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Read more about Variabilité du climat et conditions d'accès aux ressources en eau et de leur utilisation dans les quartiers informels de Ouagadougou, au Burkina Faso. Langue French. Read more about Crise du virus Ebola : Améliorer la communication scientifique et le journalisme local en période d'urgence et après une ...

A Big Data Guide to Understanding Climate Change: The Case for Theory-Guided Data Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Faghmous, James H; Kumar, Vipin

2014-09-01

Global climate change and its impact on human life has become one of our era's greatest challenges. Despite the urgency, data science has had little impact on furthering our understanding of our planet in spite of the abundance of climate data. This is a stark contrast from other fields such as advertising or electronic commerce where big data has been a great success story. This discrepancy stems from the complex nature of climate data as well as the scientific questions climate science brings forth. This article introduces a data science audience to the challenges and opportunities to mine large climate datasets, with an emphasis on the nuanced difference between mining climate data and traditional big data approaches. We focus on data, methods, and application challenges that must be addressed in order for big data to fulfill their promise with regard to climate science applications. More importantly, we highlight research showing that solely relying on traditional big data techniques results in dubious findings, and we instead propose a theory-guided data science paradigm that uses scientific theory to constrain both the big data techniques as well as the results-interpretation process to extract accurate insight from large climate data .

The National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center annual report for 2013

Science.gov (United States)

Varela-Acevedo, Elda

2014-01-01

In 2008, Congress created the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The center was formed to respond to the demands of natural resource managers for rigorous scientific information and effective tools for assessing and responding to climate change. Located at the USGS National Headquarters in Reston, Va., the NCCWSC has invested more than $93 million (through FY13) in cutting-edge climate change research and, in response to Secretarial Order No. 3289, established and is managing eight regional Department of Interior (DOI) Climate Science Centers (CSCs). In 2013:

A Program to Prepare Graduate Students for Careers in Climate Adaptation Science

Science.gov (United States)

Huntly, N.; Belmont, P.; Flint, C.; Gordillo, L.; Howe, P. D.; Lutz, J. A.; Null, S. E.; Reed, S.; Rosenberg, D. E.; Wang, S. Y.

2017-12-01

We describe our experiences creating a graduate program that addresses the need for a next generation of scientists who can produce, communicate, and help implement actionable science. The Climate Adaptation Science (CAS) graduate program, funded by the National Science Foundation Research Traineeship (NRT) program, prepares graduate students for careers at the interfaces of science with policy and management in the field of climate adaptation, which is a major 21st-century challenge for science and society. The program is interdisciplinary, with students and faculty from natural, social, and physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics, and is based around interdisciplinary team research in collaboration with partners from outside of academia who have climate adaptation science needs. The program embeds students in a cycle of creating and implementing actionable science through a two-part internship, with partners from government, non-governmental organizations, and industry, that brackets and informs a year of interdisciplinary team research. The program is communication-rich, with events that foster information exchange and understanding across disciplines and workplaces. We describe the CAS program, our experiences in developing it, the research and internship experiences of students in the program, and initial metrics and feedback on the effectiveness of the program.

Evolution of climate

CERN Multimedia

Lorius,C

1979-01-01

Le Dr.Lorius est née en 1932, il est docteur en Physique et travaille au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; il a participé à 11 missions polaires en Antarctique et du Groenland. Il parlera de l'évolution du climat, de la pollution de notre atmosphère qui sont parmi les grands soucis de notre époque.

Bilan du programme autrichien de recherche sur les paysages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karolina Begusch-Pfefferkorn

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Austrian Landscape Research, a programme of the Austrian Ministry of Science, has created scientific foundations for the sustainable development of Austrian landscapes and regions (plus bordering regions. Landscapes and regions were to be explored from different angles; implementing the research findings was to be part of the research work. The programme was designed to make room for science open to society, for unconventional ideas, methods, and courses of action. Programmatic targets and research principles supported this intent. The results of the programme met with national and international approval. The ALR knowledge balance is an attempt at presenting and assessing the achievements of this comprehensive contract research programme.Le programme du Ministère autrichien des Sciences, intitulé « Recherche sur le paysage autrichien », visait à construire les fondements scientifiques d’un développement durable des paysages et des régions de l’Autriche et des territoires limitrophes. Les paysages et les régions ont été étudiés selon différentes approches disciplinaires et la mise en pratique des résultats de cette étude était partie prenante du programme de recherche. La vocation de ce programme était de faire la place à une science ouverte sur la société, à des idées, méthodes et pratiques non conventionnelles. Les objectifs du programme et les principes de recherche vont dans le sens de ces exigences. Les résultats du programme ont été reconnus sur le plan national et international. Le bilan des connaissances du programme de recherche sur le paysage autrichien (KLF a pour but de présenter et d’évaluer les performances de ce vaste programme de recherche.

Climate change as seen by science and scientific dissemination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bueno, Lilian de Oliveira

2010-01-01

The climate change approach by two daily newspapers and two weekly magazines in 2006 and 2007, and this theme perception by opinion-makers, constitute the major target of this work. A survey was conducted with subscribers to Folha de S. Paulo and O Estado de S. Paulo newspapers, Veja and Epoca magazines, with their journalists, as well as with climate change scientists. The survey showed that is equally high the public interest in general science subjects and in specific environmental themes. In the analyzed periodicals, some incorrect technical concepts were detected and the press coverage focused, mainly, on research into climate change impacts. Energy security, another factor strongly related to climate, was explored by the research to evaluate public view of a relation between climate change and nuclear energy. A parallel may be made between climate change and nuclear catastrophe, present in the popular imaginary, since the atomic bomb explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Considering the science role in general, it is essential to highlight the fact that the state of the art research should not be dissociated from efficient and effective communication, able to mobilize citizens and touch decision-makers. Although the dialogue between scientists and the public was considered, traditionally, as related to separated fields of awareness, it may be achieved and the media has a fundamental role in this process. (author)

The Economic Value of Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Wielicki, B. A.; Cooke, R.; Young, D. F.; Mlynczak, M. G.

2012-12-01

While demonstrating the economic value of science is challenging, it can be more direct for some Earth observations. For example, suppose a climate science mission can yield decisive information on climate change within a shortened time frame. How much should society be willing to pay for this knowledge today? The US interagency memo on the social cost of carbon (SCC) provides a standard for valuing damages from carbon emissions. We illustrate how value of information (VOI) calculations can be used to monetize the relative value of different climate observations. We follow the SCC, stipulating uncertainty in climate sensitivity, using discount rates of 2.5%, 3% and 5%, and using one of the Integrated Assessment Models sanctioned in SCC (DICE, Nordhaus 2008). We consider three mitigation scenarios: Business as Usual (BAU), a moderate response (DICE Optimal), and a strong response (Stern). To illustrate results, suppose that we would switch from BAU to the Stern emissions path if we learn with 90% confidence that the decadal rate of temperature change reaches or exceeds 0.2 C/decade. Under the SCC assumptions, the year in which this happens, if it happens, depends on uncertain climate sensitivity and on the emissions path. The year in which we become 90% certain also depends on our Earth observations, their accuracy, and their completeness. The resolving power of a climate observing system cannot exceed climate system natural variability. All climate observations add noise to natural variability caused by observing limitations, including calibration errors and space/time sampling uncertainty. The basic concept is that more accurate observations can advance the time for societal decisions. The economic value of the resulting averted damages depends on the discount rate, and the years in which the damages occur. A new climate observation would be economically justified if the net present value (NPV) of the difference in averted damages, relative to the existing systems

Using "Making Sense of Climate Science Denial" MOOC videos in a college course

Science.gov (United States)

Schuenemann, K. C.; Cook, J.

2015-12-01

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) "Denial101x: Making Sense of Climate Science Denial" teaches students to make sense of the science and respond to climate change denial. The course is made up of a series of short, myth-debunking lecture videos that can be strategically used in college courses. The videos and the visuals within have proven a great resource for an introductory college level climate change course. Methods for using the videos in both online and in-classroom courses will be presented, as well as student reactions and learning from the videos. The videos introduce and explain a climate science topic, then paraphrase a common climate change myth, explain why the myth is wrong by identifying the characteristic of climate denial used, and concludes by reinforcing the correct science. By focusing on common myths, the MOOC has made an archive of videos that can be used by anyone in need of a 5-minute response to debunk a myth. By also highlighting five characteristics of climate denial: fake experts, logical fallacies, impossible expectations, cherry picking, and conspiracy theories (FLICC), the videos also teach the viewer the skills they need to critically examine myths they may encounter in the real world on a variety of topics. The videos also include a series of expert scientist interviews that can be used to drive home points, as well as put some faces to the science. These videos are freely available outside of the MOOC and can be found under the relevant "Most used climate myths" section on the skepticalscience.com webpage, as well as directly on YouTube. Discover ideas for using videos in future courses, regardless of discipline.

Emotional climate of a pre-service science teacher education class in Bhutan

Science.gov (United States)

Rinchen, Sonam; Ritchie, Stephen M.; Bellocchi, Alberto

2016-09-01

This study explored pre-service secondary science teachers' perceptions of classroom emotional climate in the context of the Bhutanese macro-social policy of Gross National Happiness. Drawing upon sociological perspectives of human emotions and using Interaction Ritual Theory this study investigated how pre-service science teachers may be supported in their professional development. It was a multi-method study involving video and audio recordings of teaching episodes supported by interviews and the researcher's diary. Students also registered their perceptions of the emotional climate of their classroom at 3-minute intervals using audience response technology. In this way, emotional events were identified for video analysis. The findings of this study highlighted that the activities pre-service teachers engaged in matter to them. Positive emotional climate was identified in activities involving students' presentations using video clips and models, coteaching, and interactive whole class discussions. Decreases in emotional climate were identified during formal lectures and when unprepared presenters led presentations. Emotions such as frustration and disappointment characterized classes with negative emotional climate. The enabling conditions to sustain a positive emotional climate are identified. Implications for sustaining macro-social policy about Gross National Happiness are considered in light of the climate that develops in science teacher education classes.

Getting Beyond First Base: Science-Society Communication for Climate Adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Garfin, G. M.

2010-12-01

At a 2009 international workshop on transboundary climate and water issues, a former World Bank official and current academic mentioned that “crisis, risk and uncertainty” are the three words that motivate decision-makers to act. However, decade-scale climate variability and trend-driven climate changes are phenomena characterized by creeping onset, diffuse and non-synchronous impacts, and complexity. Thus, there is a balancing act to addressing the complexity of uncertainties, while adequately assessing risk, and keeping the potential for crisis in focus without creating a “Chicken Little” situation. This presentation examines translational science approaches to three stages in the continuum from initial communication to societal action: raising awareness, building capacity, and making progress toward action. We examine the roles of scientists, knowledge brokers, decision makers, and the general public in the context of climate services. Although there is no “one size fits all” science communication method, we argue that best practices require that scientists pay particular attention to cultural and political sensitivities associated with decision contexts. We give examples from seasonal forecast communication, drought planning, climate literacy and education needs assessments, and the nexus of climate adaptation planning and uncertainty. In general, we find that constructive approaches make use of alliances with early adopters and opinion leaders, and make strong links between (a) predictions, impacts and solutions and (b) global to regional to local spatial scales. Often building partnerships for moving science information from observations to knowledge to decisions requires discussion support, a concept borrowed from Australian colleagues, which describes a multi-faceted and undervalued aspect of moving forward in adaptation planning: clarifying plausible cascades of interactions leading to potential impacts. Discussion support also fosters

Climate Change: Science and Policy in the Arctic Climate Change: Science and Policy in the Arctic

Science.gov (United States)

Bigras, S. C.

2009-12-01

It is an accepted fact that the Earth’s climate is warming. Recent research has demonstrated the direct links between the Arctic regions and the rest of the planet. We have become more aware that these regions are feeling the effects of global climate change more intensely than anywhere else on Earth -- and that they are fast becoming the new frontiers for resources and political disputes. This paper examines some of the potential climate change impacts in the Arctic and how the science of climate change can be used to develop policies that will help mitigate some of these impacts. Despite the growing body of research we do not yet completely understand the potential consequences of climate change in the Arctic. Climate models predict significant changes and impacts on the northern physical environment and renewable resources, and on the communities and societies that depend on them. Policies developed and implemented as a result of the research findings will be designed to help mitigate some of the more serious consequences. Given the importance of cost in making policy decisions, the financial implications of different scenarios will need to be considered. The Arctic Ocean Basin is a complex and diverse environment shared by five Arctic states. Cooperation among the states surrounding the Arctic Ocean is often difficult, as each country has its own political and social agenda. Northerners and indigenous peoples should be engaged and able to influence the direction of northern adaptation policies. Along with climate change, the Arctic environment and Arctic residents face many other challenges, among them safe resource development. Resource development in the Arctic has always been a controversial issue, seen by some as a solution to high unemployment and by others as an unacceptably disruptive and destructive force. Its inherent risks need to be considered: there are needs for adaptation, for management frameworks, for addressing cumulative effects, and for

The PICS Climate Insights 101 Courses: A Visual Approach to Learning About Climate Science, Mitigation and Adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Pedersen, T. F.; Zwiers, F. W.; Breen, C.; Murdock, T. Q.

2014-12-01

The Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) has now made available online three free, peer-reviewed, unique animated short courses in a series entitled "Climate Insights 101" that respectively address basic climate science, carbon-emissions mitigation approaches and opportunities, and adaptation. The courses are suitable for students of all ages, and use professionally narrated animations designed to hold a viewer's attention. Multiple issues are covered, including complex concerns like the construction of general circulation models, carbon pricing schemes in various countries, and adaptation approaches in the face of extreme weather events. Clips will be shown in the presentation. The first course (Climate Science Basics) has now been seen by over two hundred thousand individuals in over 80 countries, despite being offered in English only. Each course takes about two hours to work through, and in recognizing that that duration might pose an attention barrier to some students, PICS selected a number of short clips from the climate-science course and posted them as independent snippets on YouTube. A companion series of YouTube videos entitled, "Clear The Air", was created to confront the major global-warming denier myths. But a major challenge remains: despite numerous efforts to promote the availability of the free courses and the shorter YouTube pieces, they have yet to become widely known. Strategies to overcome that constraint will be discussed.

Sample classroom activities based on climate science

Science.gov (United States)

Miler, T.

2009-09-01

We present several activities developed for the middle school education based on a climate science. The first activity was designed to teach about the ocean acidification. A simple experiment can prove that absorption of CO2 in water increases its acidity. A liquid pH indicator is suitable for the demonstration in a classroom. The second activity uses data containing coordinates of a hurricane position. Pupils draw a path of a hurricane eye in a tracking chart (map of the Atlantic ocean). They calculate an average speed of the hurricane, investigate its direction and intensity development. The third activity uses pictures of the Arctic ocean on September when ice extend is usually the lowest. Students measure the ice extend for several years using a square grid printed on a plastic foil. Then they plot a graph and discuss the results. All these activities can be used to improve the natural science education and increase the climate change literacy.

Climate change, uncertainty, and resilient fisheries: Institutional responses through integrative science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Miller, K.; Charles, A.; Barange, M.

2010-01-01

This paper explores the importance of a focus on the fundamental goals of resilience and adaptive capacity in the governance of uncertain fishery systems, particularly in the context of climate change. Climate change interacts strongly with fishery systems, and adds to the inherent uncertainty...... that understanding these aspects of fishery systems and fishery governance is valuable even in the absence of climate-induced processes of change, but that attention to climate change both reinforces the need for, and facilitates the move toward, implementation of integrative science for improved fishery governance....... and processes – to support suitable institutional responses, a broader planning perspective, and development of suitable resilience-building strategies. The paper explores how synergies between institutional change and integrative science can facilitate the development of more effective fisheries policy...

Climate Science - getting the world to understand, and to care

Science.gov (United States)

Jasmin, T.; Ackerman, S. A.; Whittaker, T. M.

2012-12-01

Effectively teaching and conveying climate science has become one of Earth Science's greatest challenges. Existing barriers are many and varied, from political, ideological, and religious, to purely economic. Additionally, studies show the general public at present has a surprising number of basic misconceptions regarding the Earth system, and Earth-Sun relationships. Addressing these misconceptions is the first hurdle to overcome for properly teaching climate science. This talk will discuss ways to address the various barriers. Strategies are being employed to arm teachers with new tools leveraging the move to online, interactive learning. Content can be tailored particular audiences. For any individual, learning will be most effective if there is an understood significance, the information is presented clearly and at an appropriate education level, and when possible some personal relevance can be inferred. People need a reason to care. Examples and approaches for several common education scenarios will be given. A simple "Climate Change 101" outline will be given, a blueprint that could be used to educate most of the general public. Freely available online resources to address Earth System misconceptions will be referenced. Finally, a case will be made that a dramatic improvement in climate literacy worldwide may be the only viable means to successfully tackling global warming.

Preservice Teachers' Perspectives on 'Appropriate' K-8 Climate Change and Environmental Science Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, D. J.

2013-12-01

With the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NRC, 2013), climate change and related environmental sciences will now receive greater emphasis within science curricula at all grade levels. In grades K-8, preparation in foundational content (e.g., weather and climate, natural resources, and human impacts on the environment) and the nature of scientific inquiry will set the groundwork for later learning of climate change in upper middle and high school. These rigorous standards increase pressure on elementary and middle school teachers to possess strong science content knowledge, as well as experience supporting children to develop scientific ideas through the practices of science. It also requires a set of beliefs - about children and the science that is appropriate for them - that is compatible with the goals set out in the standards. Elementary teachers in particular, who often have minimal preparation in the earth sciences (NSF, 2007), and entrenched beliefs about how particular topics ought to be taught (Holt- Reynolds, 1992; Pajares, 1992), including climate change (Bryce & Day, 2013; Lambert & Bleicher, 2013), may face unique challenges in adjusting to the new standards. If teachers hold beliefs about climate change as controversial, for example, they may not consider it an appropriate topic for children, despite its inclusion in the standards. On the other hand, those who see a role for children in efforts to mitigate human impacts on the environment may be more enthusiastic about the new standards. We report on a survey of preservice K-8 teachers' beliefs about the earth and environmental science topics that they consider to be appropriate and inappropriate for children in grades K-3, 4-5, and 6-8. Participants were surveyed on a variety of standards-based topics using terminology that signals publicly and scientifically neutral (e.g. weather, ecosystems) to overtly controversial (evolution, global warming) science. Results from pilot data

Using a Family Science Day Event to Engage Youth in Climate Change Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Brevik, C.; Brevik, E. C.

2015-12-01

Each fall, Dickinson State University organizes four Family Science Day events for elementary-aged children to increase their engagement in the sciences. Offered on Saturday afternoons, each event focuses on a different science-related theme. Families can attend these events free of charge, and the kids participate in a large variety of hands-on activities which center around the event's theme. This year, the November event focused on climate change and the roles soil plays in the climate system. The timing of this topic was carefully chosen. 2015 has been declared the International Year of Soil by the United Nations, and the Soil Science Society of America theme for the month of November was Soils and Climate. This public outreach event was an amazing opportunity to help the youth in our community learn about climate change and soil in a fun, interactive environment. The activities also helped the children learn how science is a process of discovery that allows them to better understand the world they live in. In addition to the hands-on activities, a planetarium show focusing on climate change was also offered during the event. The fully immersive, 360-degree show allowed the kids and their parents to personally observe phenomena that are otherwise difficult to visualize. All of the activities at the Family Science Day event were staffed by university students, and this proved to be a very valuable experience for them as well. Some of the students who helped are majoring in a science field, and for them, the experience taught public communication. They learned to break complicated concepts down into simpler terms that young kids can understand. Education majors who participated practiced communicating science concepts to children, and students in other majors who helped with this event gained experiences that reinforced various concepts they had learned in their general education science courses.

Faire nombre de la démocratie: la perspective du Sud | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Le projet évaluera les expressions du mécontentement des citoyens envers l'élite politique en Amérique latine depuis 2000 en déterminant les causes du désintérêt, de la méfiance et de ... IDRC invites applications for the IDRC Doctoral Research Awards ... New funding opportunity for gender equality and climate change.

Empowering America's Communities to Prepare for the Effects of Climate Change: Developing Actionable Climate Science Under the President's Climate Action Plan

Science.gov (United States)

Duffy, P. B.; Colohan, P.; Driggers, R.; Herring, D.; Laurier, F.; Petes, L.; Ruffo, S.; Tilmes, C.; Venkataraman, B.; Weaver, C. P.

2014-12-01

Effective adaptation to impacts of climate change requires best-available information. To be most useful, this information should be easily found, well-documented, and translated into tools that decision-makers use and trust. To meet these needs, the President's Climate Action Plan includes efforts to develop "actionable climate science". The Climate Data Initiative (CDI) leverages the Federal Government's extensive, open data resources to stimulate innovation and private-sector entrepreneurship in support of actions to prepare for climate change. The Initiative forges commitments and partnerships from the private, NGO, academic, and public sectors to create data-driven tools. Open data from Federal agencies to support this innovation is available on Climate.Data.gov, initially focusing on coastal flooding but soon to expand to topics including food, energy, water, energy, transportation, and health. The Climate Resilience Toolkit (CRT) will facilitate access to data-driven resilience tools, services, and best practices, including those accessible through the CDI. The CRT will also include access to training and tutorials, case studies, engagement forums, and other information sources. The Climate Action Plan also calls for a public-private partnership on extreme weather risk, with the goal of generating improved assessments of risk from different types of extreme weather events, using methods and data that are transparent and accessible. Finally, the U.S. Global Change Research Program and associated agencies work to advance the science necessary to inform decisions and sustain assessments. Collectively, these efforts represent increased emphasis across the Federal Government on the importance of information to support climate resilience.

weaving together climate science and chemistry education

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Preferred Customer

... students, educators, and the general public, designed to help bridge the gap ... Design Principles of Visualizing and Understanding the Science of Climate ... The user is also able to examine simple models for these predictions ... Figure 6 illustrates the fluctuations in mean global temperature over an 800 ka span and.

Framing the challenge of climate change in Nature and Science editorials

Science.gov (United States)

Hulme, Mike; Obermeister, Noam; Randalls, Samuel; Borie, Maud

2018-06-01

Through their editorializing practices, leading international science journals such as Nature and Science interpret the changing roles of science in society and exert considerable influence on scientific priorities and practices. Here we examine nearly 500 editorials published in these two journals between 1966 and 2016 that deal with climate change, thereby constructing a lens through which to view the changing engagement of science and scientists with the issue. A systematic longitudinal frame analysis reveals broad similarities between Nature and Science in the waxing and waning of editorializing attention given to the topic, but, although both journals have diversified how they frame the challenges of climate change, they have done so in different ways. We attribute these differences to three influences: the different political and epistemic cultures into which they publish; their different institutional histories; and their different editors and editorial authorship practices.

Promoting Climate Literacy and Conceptual Understanding among In-service Secondary Science Teachers requires an Epistemological Perspective

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, D.; Forbes, C.; Roehrig, G.; Chandler, M. A.

2017-12-01

Promoting climate literacy among in-service science teachers necessitates an understanding of fundamental concepts about the Earth's climate System (USGCRP, 2009). Very few teachers report having any formal instruction in climate science (Plutzer et al., 2016), therefore, rather simple conceptions of climate systems and their variability exist, which has implications for students' science learning (Francies et al., 1993; Libarkin, 2005; Rebich, 2005). This study uses the inferences from a NASA Innovations in Climate Education (NICE) teacher professional development program (CYCLES) to establish the necessity for developing an epistemological perspective among teachers. In CYCLES, 19 middle and high school (male=8, female=11) teachers were assessed for their understanding of global climate change (GCC). A qualitative analysis of their concept maps and an alignment of their conceptions with the Essential Principles of Climate Literacy (NOAA, 2009) demonstrated that participants emphasized on EPCL 1, 3, 6, 7 focusing on the Earth system, atmospheric, social and ecological impacts of GCC. However, EPCL 4 (variability in climate) and 5 (data-based observations and modeling) were least represented and emphasized upon. Thus, participants' descriptions about global climatic patterns were often factual rather than incorporating causation (why the temperatures are increasing) and/or correlation (describing what other factors might influence global temperatures). Therefore, engaging with epistemic dimensions of climate science to understand the processes, tools, and norms through which climate scientists study the Earth's climate system (Huxter et al., 2013) is critical for developing an in-depth conceptual understanding of climate. CLiMES (Climate Modeling and Epistemology of Science), a NSF initiative proposes to use EzGCM (EzGlobal Climate Model) to engage students and teachers in designing and running simulations, performing data processing activities, and analyzing

Bridging the Gap Between Climate Science and Water-resource Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, J. R.; Clark, M. P.; Wood, A.; Gutmann, E. D.; Nijssen, B.; Brekke, L. D.

2015-12-01

Since 2010, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Climate Preparedness and Resilience Program has supported development of a coordinated system of products and tools to improve use of climate information in water-resource planning and management. The key products include: 1) a new understanding of the limitations of methods used to quantify impacts of climate change on water resources; 2) development and evaluation of national-domain climate downscaling and hydrologic simulation capabilities to provide information from climate model output relevant to the multiple scales of water resources decision-making with a spatially consistent assessment of the impacts of climate change on hydrologic conditions; and 3) development and evaluation of advanced streamflow forecasting methods. This will support USACE Districts and their stakeholders and partners with new data, new and newly evaluated model output, and specific tools in a framework to help with routine applications for managing water resources throughout the U.S., and to enhance considerations of climate preparedness and resilience in that work. This presentation will summarize the collaborative development of some of those products; describe current and planned future USACE capabilities for incorporating advanced climate information at multiple scales of analysis and decision; discuss uses of climate information in water-resources planning and management; and outline key unanswered science questions being addressed to increase utility and use of information in short- and longer-term planning. Specifically, we will describe the current suite and planned trajectory of new products, moving from capability development through to testing in limited pilot domains, on to product applications throughout the U.S., and, ultimately, into actual implementation at the level of USACE Districts to address climate change issues. Two key foci of this talk will be: 1) where climatological and hydrologic science is currently

77 FR 60717 - Establishment of the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science

Science.gov (United States)

2012-10-04

... engagement of key partners at the regional Climate Science Center level. Advise on the nature and... Change and Natural Resource Science AGENCY: U.S. Geological Survey, Interior. ACTION: Notice of... seeking nominations for the Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science (Committee...

L'aventure du grand collisionneur LHC du big bang au boson de Higgs

CERN Document Server

Denegri, Daniel; Hoecker, Andreas; Roos, Lydia; Rubbia, Carlo

2014-01-01

Qu'est-ce que la physique des particules élémentaires, le LHC, et le boson de Higgs ? Ce livre présente de manière simple le monde des quarks, des leptons et de leurs interactions, gouvernées par des symétries fondamentales de la nature, ainsi que le lien entre ce monde de l'infiniment petit et celui de l'infiniment grand. Cette conjonction entre la physique des particules élémentaires et l'évolution de la matière dans les premiers instants de l Univers qui ont suivi le Big-Bang est un des plus beaux acquis de la science de ces cinquante dernières années. Après une description du cadre théorique, le modèle standard, et de son élaboration durant la deuxième moitié du XXe siècle, l'accent est mis sur ses grands succès expérimentaux, mais aussi sur ses faiblesses ou insuffisances telles que nous les percevons aujourd'hui. La passionnante histoire du grand collisionneur de hadrons du CERN, le LHC, le plus grand projet purement scientifique jamais réalisé, est présentée à la fois sous ses...

Une brève histoire du temps du Big Bang aux trous noirs

CERN Document Server

Hawking, Stephen

2017-01-01

Stephen Hawking est universellement reconnu comme l'un des plus grands cosmologistes de notre époque et l'un des plus brillants physiciens depuis Einstein. Successeur de Newton, il occupe à l'université de Cambridge la chaire de Mathématiques, et s'est rendu célèbre pour ses travaux sur les origines de l'Univers. Une brève histoire du temps est le premier livre qu'il ait décidé d'écrire pour le non-spécialiste. Il y expose, dans un langage simple et accessible, les plus récents développements de l'astrophysique concernant la nature du temps et du monde. Retraçant les grandes théories du cosmos, de Galilée et Newton à Einstein et Poincaré, racontant les ultimes découvertes de l'espace, expliquant la nature des trous noirs, il propose ensuite de relever le plus grand défi de la science moderne : la recherche d'une théorie unitaire combinant et unifiant la relativité générale et la mécanique quantique. On sait que Stephen Hawking lutte depuis plus de trente ans contre une maladie neurolo...

Agriculture et forêts au secours du climat

OpenAIRE

Locatelli , Bruno

2010-01-01

National audience; L‘agriculture et la forêt doivent s‘adapter au changement climatique. Mais l‘une et l‘autre permettent d’atténuer ce changement. Pour conjuguer efficacement adaptation et atténuation, il faut savoir concilier la réponse aux enjeux globaux et la prise en compte des contraintes du développement local. Les défis sont autant politiques que scientifiques.

Teaching Climate Change Science to Undergradutes with Diverse & Digital Pedagogical Techniquees

Science.gov (United States)

Kauffman, C.; Brey, J. A.; Nugnes, K. A.; Weinbeck, R. S.; Geer, I. W.

2015-12-01

California University of Pennsylvania (CalUPA) is unique relative to other undergraduate geoscience programs in that their climate science offerings are varied and inter-woven into an existing meteorology degree program, which aligns with the guidelines established by the American Meteorological Society (AMS). In addition to the rigorous meteorological requirements, the program strives to increase students' climate literacy. At the introductory course level, students are required to use the educational resources offered by the AMS—specifically their weather and climate studies materials, which have recently transitioned to a digital format. The Earth Sciences Program at CalUPA recently incorporated these new digital resources into a climatology course with novel pedagogical variants. These teaching strategies were well received by students and may benefit other climatology courses at similar institutions. For example, students were tasked with expounding upon textbook content from 'Topic In Depth' segments; they were required to present tangential climate topics in a digital presentation. Moreover, students mined the scientific literature listed at the end of each chapter in the text to identify climate scientists immersed in social media. Students were then required to follow these scientists and engage each other within a social media platform. Finally, as a culminating experience, students were required to create digital portfolios (e.g., infographic) related to climate science and the AMS materials. This presentation will further detail CalUPA's climatological course offerings and detail how the AMS resources were connected to course requirements listed herein.

COMPLEX NETWORKS IN CLIMATE SCIENCE: PROGRESS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — COMPLEX NETWORKS IN CLIMATE SCIENCE: PROGRESS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES KARSTEN STEINHAEUSER, NITESH V. CHAWLA, AND AUROOP R. GANGULY Abstract. Networks have...

Sud du Sahara | Page 200 | CRDI - Centre de recherches pour le ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Sud du Sahara. Sud du Sahara. Read more about TTI Phase 2 Institutional Support: Economic Policy Research Centre. Langue English. Read more about TTI Phase 2 Institutional Support: Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Research Organization. Langue English. Read more about Relations entre les think tanks ...

Climate change science: The literacy of Geography teachers in the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This response requires, among other things, teachers who are fully literate about climate change science, so that they can explain the concepts underlying the causes, impacts and solutions of climate change as accurately as possible to learners. The main intention of this study was to understand high school Geography ...

Le monstre du Loch Ness : entre science et folklore

OpenAIRE

Fairise, Nicolas

2002-01-01

Depuis sa première véritable observation alléguée en 1933 jusqu'à nos jours, le monstre du loch Ness n'a cessé de défrayer la chronique. Cette fameuse créature est ainsi devenue l'un des rares mythes zoologiques modernes. Dans un premier temps, la présente étude s'intéresse au lac lui-même, notamment sur les plans géophysique et biologique, afin de donner des éléments de description concernant le cadre souvent méconnu d'une des énigmes les plus médiatisées du siècle dernier. Tantôt anecdotiqu...

Speaking truth to power revisited: science, policy and climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bray, D. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH, Magdeburg (Germany). Inst. fuer Gewaesserforschung; Krueck, C. [VDI-Technologiezentrum Physikalische Technologien, Duesseldorf (Germany). Abt. Zukuenftige Technologien

2000-07-01

The issue of climate change from the perspectives of climate change scientists and climate policy makers is discussed using results from two survey questionnaires. Emphasis is given to the German context. Included is the self assessment of the state of the art of the climate sciences and the importance assigned to different sources of information by policy makers. Conclusions indicate that policy makers rely on a number of sources other than the direct results of science, and have assigned a greater sense of urgency to the issue of climate change than have scientists. (orig.) [German] Auf Grundlage der Ergebnisse zweier Fragebogenaktionen wird diskutiert, wie sich die Problematik von Klimaveraenderungen aus der Perspektive von Klimaforschern und aus der Perspektive von mit Klimapolitik befassten Entscheidungstraegern darstellt. Die Betonung liegt auf den Verhaeltnissen in Deutschland. Eingeschlossen ist eine Einschaetzung des aktuellen Standes der Klimaforschung durch die Wissenschaftler selbst sowie der Bedeutung, welche von politischen Entscheidungstraegern verschiedenen Informationsquellen beigemessen wird. Es zeigt sich, dass sich politische Entscheidungstraeger auf zahlreiche Informationsquellen verlassen, die nur indirekt die Resultate der Klimaforschung wiedergeben und, dass dieser Personenkreis das Problem der Klimaveraenderungen als draengender ansieht als die Wissenschaftler selbst. (orig.)

Appel à propositions pour le concours de 2018 du Programme ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

23 nov. 2017 ... Zipline uses drone technology to save lives. Sarah Farhat / Banque mondiale. Le CRDI, l'Israel Science Foundation, la Fondation Azrieli et les Instituts de recherche en santé du Canada annoncent l'appel de propositions pour la quatrième ronde du Programme conjoint canado-israélien de recherche en ...

Linking Student Achievement and Teacher Science Content Knowledge about Climate Change: Ensuring the Nations 3 Million Teachers Understand the Science through an Electronic Professional Development System

Science.gov (United States)

Niepold, F.; Byers, A.

2009-12-01

The scientific complexities of global climate change, with wide-ranging economic and social significance, create an intellectual challenge that mandates greater public understanding of climate change research and the concurrent ability to make informed decisions. The critical need for an engaged, science literate public has been repeatedly emphasized by multi-disciplinary entities like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academies (Rising Above the Gathering Storm report), and the interagency group responsible for the recently updated Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science. There is a clear need for an American public that is climate literate and for K-12 teachers confident in teaching relevant science content. A key goal in the creation of a climate literate society is to enhance teachers’ knowledge of global climate change through a national, scalable, and sustainable professional development system, using compelling climate science data and resources to stimulate inquiry-based student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This session will explore innovative e-learning technologies to address the limitations of one-time, face-to-face workshops, thereby adding significant sustainability and scalability. The resources developed will help teachers sift through the vast volume of global climate change information and provide research-based, high-quality science content and pedagogical information to help teachers effectively teach their students about the complex issues surrounding global climate change. The Learning Center is NSTA's e-professional development portal to help the nations teachers and informal educators learn about the scientific complexities of global climate change through research-based techniques and is proven to significantly improve teacher science content knowledge.

Communicating climate science to a suspicious public: How best to explain what we know?

Science.gov (United States)

Conway, E. M.; Jackson, R.

2014-12-01

In 2007, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory decided to establish a climate science website aimed at explaining what scientists know about climate science, and what they don't, to the English-speaking public. Because of my prior work in the history of atmospheric and climate sciences, I was asked to help choose the data that would be displayed on the site and to write the basic text. Our site went "live" in 2008, and quickly attracted both widespread media attention and sponsorship from NASA, which funded us to expand it into the NASA Climate Change website, climate.nasa.gov. It's now generally the 3rd or 4th ranked climate change website in Google rankings. A perusal of the NASA Climate Change website will reveal that the word "uncertainty" does not appear in its explanatory essays. "Uncertainty," in science, is a calculated quantity. To calculate it, one must know quite a bit about the phenomenon in question. In vernacular use, "uncertainty" means something like "stuff we don't know." These are radically different meanings, and yet scientists and their institutions routinely use both meanings without clarification. Even without the deliberate disinformation campaigns that Oreskes and Conway have documented in Merchants of Doubt, scientists' own misuse of this one word would produce public confusion. We chose to use other words to overcome this one communications problem. But other aspects of the climate communications problem cannot be so easily overcome in a context of Federal agency communications. In this paper, we'll review recent research on ways to improve public understanding of science, and set it against the restrictions that exist on Federal agency communications—avoidance of political statements and interpretation, focusing on fact over storytelling, narrowness of context—to help illuminate the difficulty of improving public understanding of complex, policy-relevant phenomenon like climate change.

GLOBE Observer and the Association of Science & Technology Centers: Leveraging Citizen Science and Partnerships for an International Science Experiment to Build Climate Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Riebeek Kohl, H.; Chambers, L. H.; Murphy, T.

2016-12-01

For more that 20 years, the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program has sought to increase environment literacy in students by involving them in the process of data collection and scientific research. In 2016, the program expanded to accept observations from citizen scientists of all ages through a relatively simple app. Called GLOBE Observer, the new program aims to help participants feel connected to a global community focused on advancing the scientific understanding of Earth system science while building climate literacy among participants and increasing valuable environmental data points to expand both student and scientific research. In October 2016, GLOBE Observer partnered with the Association of Science & Technology Centers (ASTC) in an international science experiment in which museums and patrons around the world collected cloud observations through GLOBE Observer to create a global cloud map in support of NASA satellite science. The experiment was an element of the International Science Center and Science Museum Day, an event planned in partnership with UNESCO and ASTC. Museums and science centers provided the climate context for the observations, while GLOBE Observer offered a uniform experience and a digital platform to build a connected global community. This talk will introduce GLOBE Observer and will present the results of the experiment, including evaluation feedback on gains in climate literacy through the event.

NGSS-Aligned, K-12 Climate Science Curricula, taught with citizen science and teacher-led inquiry methods

Science.gov (United States)

Zainfeld, S.

2017-12-01

Teacher-led inquiry into student learning is a promising method of formative assessment to gain insight into student achievement. NGSS-aligned K-12 Climate Science curricula taught with citizen science and teacher-led inquiry methods are described, along with results from a scientist-teacher collaboration survey.

Improving together: collaborative learning in science communication, ClimateSnack case study

Science.gov (United States)

Heuzé, C.; Reeve, M. A.

2016-02-01

Most scientists today recognize that science communication is an important part of the scientific process, yet science writing and communication are often taught outside the normal academic schedule. If universities offer such courses, they are generally intensive but short-term: the participants rarely complete a science communication course with an immediate and pressing need to apply these skills. So the skills fade, stalling real progress in science communication. Continuity is key to success! Whilst waiting for the academic system to truly integrate science communication, other methods can be tested. ClimateSnack / SciSnack is a new approach that aims to motivate scientists to develop their communication skills. It adopts a collaborative learning framework where scientists voluntarily form writing groups that meet regularly at different institutes around the world. The members of the groups learn, discuss and improve together. The participants produce short posts, which are published online, where they are further discussed and improved by the global ClimateSnack community. This way, the participants learn and cement basic science communication skills. These skills are transferrable, and can be applied both to scientific articles and broader science media. Some writing groups are highly productive, while others exist no more. The reasons for success are here investigated with respect to issues both internal and external to the different groups, in particular leadership strategies. Possible further development, in particular using the online community, is suggested. ClimateSnack is one solution to fill the critical gap left by a lack of adequate teaching in early-career scientists' curriculum.

Boundary organizations to boundary chains: Prospects for advancing climate science application

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine J. Kirchhoff

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Adapting to climate change requires the production and use of climate information to inform adaptation decisions. By facilitating sustained interaction between science producers, boundary organizations narrow the gap between science and decision-making and foster the co-production of actionable knowledge. While traditional boundary organization approaches focused on intense one-on-one interactions between producers and users increases usability, this approach requires significant time and resources. Forming “boundary chains”, linking complimentary boundary organizations together, may reduce those costs. In this paper, we use longitudinal observations of a boundary chain, interviews and surveys to explore: (1 how producer-user interactions increase understanding and information usability and (2 if and how efficiencies in climate information production, dissemination and use arise as a result of the boundary chain. We find that forming and sustaining an effective boundary chain requires not only interest, commitment and investment from every link in the chain but also a level of non-overlapping mutual dependency and complementary skill sets. In this case, GLISA’s strength in producing scientific information and their credibility as climate scientists and HRWC’s strengths in facilitation, connection with potential information users, and their recognition and reputation in the watershed add value to the boundary chain enabling the boundary chain to accomplish more with greater efficiency than if each organization in the chain tried to work independently. Finally, data show how the boundary chain increased efficiencies in educating potential users about the strengths and limitations of climate science and improving the production, dissemination, and use of climate information.

Managing for climate change on federal lands of the western United States: perceived usefulness of climate science, effectiveness of adaptation strategies, and barriers to implementation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kerry B. Kemp

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Recent mandates in the United States require federal agencies to incorporate climate change science into land management planning efforts. These mandates target possible adaptation and mitigation strategies. However, the degree to which climate change is actively being considered in agency planning and management decisions is largely unknown. We explored the usefulness of climate change science for federal resource managers, focusing on the efficacy of potential adaptation strategies and barriers limiting the use of climate change science in adaptation efforts. Our study was conducted in the northern Rocky Mountains region of the western United States, where we interacted with 77 U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management personnel through surveys, semistructured interviews, and four collaborative workshops at locations across Idaho and Montana. We used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate managers' perceptions about adapting to and mitigating for climate change. Although resource managers incorporate general language about climate change in regional and landscape-level planning documents, they are currently not planning on-the-ground adaptation or mitigation projects. However, managers felt that their organizations were most likely to adapt to climate change through use of existing management strategies that are already widely implemented for other non climate-related management goals. These existing strategies, (e.g., thinning and prescribed burning are perceived as more feasible than new climate-specific methods (e.g., assisted migration because they already have public and agency support, accomplish multiple goals, and require less anticipation of the future timing and probability of climate change impacts. Participants reported that the most common barriers to using climate change information included a lack of management-relevant climate change science, inconsistent agency guidance, and insufficient time and resources to access

Inspiring Climate Education Excellence(ICEE): Developing Elearning professional development modules - secondary science teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Kellagher, E.; Buhr, S. M.; Lynds, S. E.; McCaffrey, M. S.; Cires Education Outreach

2011-12-01

Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE) is a NASA-funded project to develop content knowledge and knowledge of effective teaching strategies in climate education among secondary science teachers. ICEE resources are aligned with the Essential Principles of Climate Science. Building upon a needs assessment and face to face workshop, ICEE resources include iTunesU videos, an ICEE 101 resource site with videos and peer-reviewed learning activities, and a moderated online forum. Self-directed modules and an online course are being developed around concepts and topics in which teachers express the most interest and need for instruction. ICEE resources include attention to effective teaching strategies, such as awareness of student misconceptions, strategies for forestalling controversy and advice from master teachers on implementation and curriculum development. The resources are being developed in partnership with GLOBE, and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and are informed by the work of the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) project. ICEE will help to meet the professional development needs of teachers, including those participating in the GLOBE Student Climate Research Campaign.

Biological and Environmental Research: Climate and Environmental Sciences Division: U.S./European Workshop on Climate Change Challenges and Observations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mather, James [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; McCord, Raymond [Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Sisterson, Doug [Argonne National Laboratory; Voyles, Jimmy [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

2012-11-08

The workshop aimed to identify outstanding climate change science questions and the observational strategies for addressing them. The scientific focus was clouds, aerosols, and precipitation, and the required ground- and aerial-based observations. The workshop findings will be useful input for setting priorities within the Department of Energy (DOE) and the participating European centers. This joint workshop was envisioned as the first step in enhancing the collaboration among these climate research activities needed to better serve the science community.

Collaborative Science with Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Solutions: Why, How, and with Whom?

Science.gov (United States)

Maldonado, J.; Lazrus, H.; Gough, B.

2017-12-01

The inherent complexity of climate change requires diverse perspectives to understand and respond to its impacts. The Rising Voices: Collaborative Science with Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Solutions (Rising Voices) program represents a growing network of engaged Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists committed to cross-cultural and collaborative research and activities to understand and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather and climate change. Five annual Rising Voices workshops have occurred since 2013, engaging hundreds of participants from across Tribal communities, the United States, and internationally over the years. Housed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Rising Voices aims to expand how diversity is understood in atmospheric science, to include intellectual diversity stemming from distinct cultural backgrounds. It envisions collaborative research that brings together Indigenous knowledges and science with Western climate and weather sciences in a respectful and inclusive manner to achieve culturally relevant and scientifically robust climate and weather adaptation solutions. The premise of the program and the research and collaborations it produces is that there is an opportunity cost to not involving diverse knowledge systems and observations from varied cultural backgrounds in addressing climate change. We cannot afford that cost given the challenges ahead. This poster presents some of the protocols, methods, challenges, and outcomes of cross-cultural research between Western and Indigenous scientists and communities from across the United States. It also presents some of the recommendations that have emerged from Rising Voices workshops over the past five years.

Geloof en wete(-nskap In gesprek met Ben du Toit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.H. van Wyk

2001-08-01

Full Text Available Faith and science. Discussion with Ben du Toit The Dutch Reformed minister Ben du Toit published a very challenging book in which he wrestles with the old dilemma regarding the relation between faith and science/reason. The author investigates the question of how to integrate premodern theological thought into a postmodern world context. Accordingly he (re-interprets many teachings of the Bible (a premodern book from a postmodern perspective, although he refuses to do so with the substitutionary work of Christ and his resurrection – a fortunate exception. The review closes with a few critical remarks.

Summoned by Science. Reporting Climate Change at Copenhagen and Beyond

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Painter, J.

2010-11-15

The December 2009 summit on climate change in Copenhagen was remarkable not because it ended in an ambitious deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions but because of the unprecedented number of journalists, delegates, NGOs and scientists present. In this wide-ranging study, the author has produced a detailed analysis of the coverage of the summit across the globe through studying more than 400 articles published in two print media in 12 countries.The analysis reveals that articles written principally about the science of climate change represented less than 10 per cent of all those surveyed. The study makes extensive use of official UN figures to produce the first detailed assessment of who actually attended Copenhagen. It also includes a survey of over 50 environmental journalists and scientists across the 12 target countries post-Copenhagen to ascertain how they think climate change science might be best communicated.

Summoned by Science. Reporting Climate Change at Copenhagen and Beyond

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Painter, J.

2010-11-01

The December 2009 summit on climate change in Copenhagen was remarkable not because it ended in an ambitious deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions but because of the unprecedented number of journalists, delegates, NGOs and scientists present. In this wide-ranging study, the author has produced a detailed analysis of the coverage of the summit across the globe through studying more than 400 articles published in two print media in 12 countries.The analysis reveals that articles written principally about the science of climate change represented less than 10 per cent of all those surveyed. The study makes extensive use of official UN figures to produce the first detailed assessment of who actually attended Copenhagen. It also includes a survey of over 50 environmental journalists and scientists across the 12 target countries post-Copenhagen to ascertain how they think climate change science might be best communicated.

Cool Science: Year 2 of Using Children's Artwork about Climate Change to Engage Riders on Mass Transit

Science.gov (United States)

Lustick, D. S.; Lohmeier, J.; Chen, R. F.

2014-12-01

A team of educators and scientists from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the University of Massachusetts Boston will report on the second year of an informal science learning research project using mass transit spaces in Lowell, MA. Cool Science (CS) conducts a statewide art competition for K-12 students in the fall challenging them to express climate science understanding through the visual arts. An inter-disciplinary panel of judges evaluates entries and identifies the top 24 works of art. The best six student works of art are then put on public display throughout the spring on the Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA). Displaying student artwork in Out of Home Multi-Media (OHMM) such as bus placards and posters is intended to engage riders with opportunities to learn informally. CS aims to promote and evaluate learning about climate change science among the general public and k-12 students/teachers. The goals of CS are: 1) Engage teachers, students, and parents in a climate change science communication competition. 2) Display the winning 6 artworks from K-12 students throughout the LRTA. 3) Assess the impact of Cool Science on the teaching and learning of climate science in K-12 formal education. 4) Assess the impact of Cool Science artwork on attitudes, awareness, and understanding of climate change among adult bus riders. A naturalistic inquiry employing a mixed methodology approach best describes our research design. The evaluation focuses on providing feedback regarding the potential learning outcomes for the K-12 students who create the media for the project and the general riding public who engage with the student artwork. To identify possible outcomes, data was collected in the several forms: survey, interviews, and online analytics. We see an urgent need to improve both the public's engagement with climate change science and to the profile of climate change science in formal education settings. The Cool Science (CS) project is an opportunity

Predicting phenology by integrating ecology, evolution and climate science

Science.gov (United States)

Pau, Stephanie; Wolkovich, Elizabeth M.; Cook, Benjamin I.; Davies, T. Jonathan; Kraft, Nathan J.B.; Bolmgren, Kjell; Betancourt, Julio L.; Cleland, Elsa E.

2011-01-01

Forecasting how species and ecosystems will respond to climate change has been a major aim of ecology in recent years. Much of this research has focused on phenology — the timing of life-history events. Phenology has well-demonstrated links to climate, from genetic to landscape scales; yet our ability to explain and predict variation in phenology across species, habitats and time remains poor. Here, we outline how merging approaches from ecology, climate science and evolutionary biology can advance research on phenological responses to climate variability. Using insight into seasonal and interannual climate variability combined with niche theory and community phylogenetics, we develop a predictive approach for species' reponses to changing climate. Our approach predicts that species occupying higher latitudes or the early growing season should be most sensitive to climate and have the most phylogenetically conserved phenologies. We further predict that temperate species will respond to climate change by shifting in time, while tropical species will respond by shifting space, or by evolving. Although we focus here on plant phenology, our approach is broadly applicable to ecological research of plant responses to climate variability.

Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6-8: Climate Change Curriculum Developed Through a Collaboration Between Scientists and Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Halversen, C.; Weiss, E. L.; Pedemonte, S.

2016-02-01

Today's youth have been tasked with the overwhelming job of addressing the world's climate future. The students who will become the scientists, policy makers, and citizens of tomorrow must gain a robust understanding of the causes and effects of climate change, as well as possible adaptation strategies. Currently, few high quality curriculum materials exist that address climate change in a developmentally appropriate manner. The NOAA-funded Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6-8: The Ocean-Atmosphere Connection and Climate Change (OSS) addresses this gap by providing teachers with scientifically accurate climate change curriculum that hits on some of the most salient points in climate science, while simultaneously developing students' science process skills. OSS was developed through a collaboration between some of the nation's leading ocean and climate scientists and the Lawrence Hall of Science's highly qualified curriculum development team. Scientists were active partners throughout the entire development process, from initial brainstorming of key concepts and creating the conceptual storyline for the curriculum to final review of the content and activities. The goal was to focus strategically and effectively on core concepts within ocean and climate sciences that students should understand. OSS was designed in accordance with the latest research from the learning sciences and provides numerous opportunities for students to develop facility with science practices by "doing" science.Through hands-on activities, technology, informational readings, and embedded assessments, OSS deeply addresses a significant number of standards from the Next Generation Science Standards and is being used by many teachers as they explore the shifts required by NGSS. It also aligns with the Ocean Literacy and Climate Literacy Frameworks. OSS comprises 33 45-minute sessions organized into three thematic units, each driven by an exploratory question: (1) How do the ocean and atmosphere

An Agenda for Climate Impacts Science

Science.gov (United States)

Kaye, J. A.

2009-12-01

The report Global Change Impacts in the United States released by the US Global Change Research Program in June 2009 identifies a number of areas in which inadequate information or understanding hampers our ability to estimate likely future climate change and its impacts. In this section of the report, the focus is on those areas of climate science that could contribute most towards advancing our knowledge of climate change impacts and those aspects of climate change responsible for these impacts in order to continue to guide decision making. The Report identifies the six most important gaps in knowledge and offers some thoughts on how to address those gaps: 1. Expand our understanding of climate change impacts. There is a clear need to increase understanding of how ecosystems, social and economic systems, human health, and the built environment will be affected by climate change in the context of other stresses. 2. Refine ability to project climate change, including extreme events, at local scales. While climate change is a global issue, it has a great deal of regional variability. There is an indisputable need to improve understanding of climate system effects at these smaller scales, because these are often the scales of decision-making in society. This includes advances in modeling capability and observations needed to address local scales and high-impact extreme events. 3. Expand capacity to provide decision makers and the public with relevant information on climate change and its impacts. Significant potential exists in the US to create more comprehensive measurement, archive, and data-access systems that could provide great benefit to society, which requires defining needed information, gathering it, expanding capacity to deliver it, and improving tools by which decision makers use it to best advantage. 4. Improve understanding of thresholds likely to lead to abrupt changes in climate or ecosystems. Potential areas of research include thresholds that could

The adventures of climate science in the sweet land of idle arguments

Science.gov (United States)

Winsberg, Eric; Goodwin, William Mark

2016-05-01

In a recent series of papers Roman Frigg, Leonard Smith, and several coauthors have developed a general epistemological argument designed to cast doubt on the capacity of a broad range of mathematical models to generate "decision relevant predictions." The presumptive targets of their argument are at least some of the modeling projects undertaken in contemporary climate science. In this paper, we trace and contrast two very different readings of the scope of their argument. We do this by considering the very different implications for climate science that these interpretations would have. Then, we lay out the structure of their argument-an argument by analogy-with an eye to identifying points at which certain epistemically significant distinctions might limit the force of the analogy. Finally, some of these epistemically significant distinctions are introduced and defended as relevant to a great many of the predictive mathematical modeling projects employed in contemporary climate science.

410 Contamination métallique de Gambusia holbrooki au niveau du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

youness

Contamination métallique de Gambusia holbrooki au niveau du lac Fouarat et de l'estuaire Sebou dans la région du. Gharb (Maroc). Bachir EL BOUHALI1, Laila BENNASSER1*, Issad NASRI2,. Vincent GLOAGUEN3 et Aziza MOURADI1. 1 Université Ibn Tofail, Faculté des Sciences, Laboratoire de Biochimie et.

Climate change: Conflict of observational science, theory, and politics

Science.gov (United States)

Gerhard, L.C.

2004-01-01

Debate over whether human activity causes Earth climate change obscures the immensity of the dynamic systems that create and maintain climate on the planet. Anthropocentric debate leads people to believe that they can alter these planetary dynamic systems to prevent that they perceive as negative climate impacts on human civilization. Although politicians offer simplistic remedies, such as the Kyoto Protocol, global climate continues to change naturally. Better planning for the inevitable dislocations that have followed natural global climate changes throughout human history requires us to accept the fact that climate will change, and that human society must adapt to the changes. Over the last decade, the scientific literature reported a shift in emphasis from attempting to build theoretical models of putative human impacts on climate to understanding the planetwide dynamic processes that are the natural climate drivers. The current scientific literature is beginning to report the history of past climate change, the extent of natural climate variability, natural system drivers, and the episodicity of many climate changes. The scientific arguments have broadened from focus upon human effects on climate to include the array of natural phenomena that have driven global climate change for eons. However, significant political issues with long-term social consequences continue their advance. This paper summarizes recent scientific progress in climate science and arguments about human influence on climate. ?? 2004. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.

Introducing Enabling Computational Tools to the Climate Sciences: Multi-Resolution Climate Modeling with Adaptive Cubed-Sphere Grids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jablonowski, Christiane [Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)

2015-07-14

The research investigates and advances strategies how to bridge the scale discrepancies between local, regional and global phenomena in climate models without the prohibitive computational costs of global cloud-resolving simulations. In particular, the research explores new frontiers in computational geoscience by introducing high-order Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) techniques into climate research. AMR and statically-adapted variable-resolution approaches represent an emerging trend for atmospheric models and are likely to become the new norm in future-generation weather and climate models. The research advances the understanding of multi-scale interactions in the climate system and showcases a pathway how to model these interactions effectively with advanced computational tools, like the Chombo AMR library developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The research is interdisciplinary and combines applied mathematics, scientific computing and the atmospheric sciences. In this research project, a hierarchy of high-order atmospheric models on cubed-sphere computational grids have been developed that serve as an algorithmic prototype for the finite-volume solution-adaptive Chombo-AMR approach. The foci of the investigations have lied on the characteristics of both static mesh adaptations and dynamically-adaptive grids that can capture flow fields of interest like tropical cyclones. Six research themes have been chosen. These are (1) the introduction of adaptive mesh refinement techniques into the climate sciences, (2) advanced algorithms for nonhydrostatic atmospheric dynamical cores, (3) an assessment of the interplay between resolved-scale dynamical motions and subgrid-scale physical parameterizations, (4) evaluation techniques for atmospheric model hierarchies, (5) the comparison of AMR refinement strategies and (6) tropical cyclone studies with a focus on multi-scale interactions and variable-resolution modeling. The results of this research project

Informing climate change adaptation in the Northeast and Midwest United States: The role of Climate Science Centers

Science.gov (United States)

Bryan, A. M.; Morelli, T. L.

2015-12-01

The Department of Interior Northeast Climate Science Center (NE CSC) is part of a federal network of eight Climate Science Centers created to provide scientific information and tools that managers and other parties interested in land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources can use to anticipate, monitor, and adapt to climate change. The NE CSC partners with other federal agencies, universities, and NGOs to facilitate stakeholder interaction and delivery of scientific products. For example, NE CSC researchers have partnered with the National Park Service to help managers at Acadia National Park adapt their infrastructure, operations, and ecosystems to rising seas and more extreme events. In collaboration with the tribal College of Menominee Nation and Michigan State University, the NE CSC is working with indigenous communities in Michigan and Wisconsin to co-develop knowledge of how to preserve their natural and cultural values in the face of climate change. Recently, in its largest collaborative initiative to date, the NE CSC led a cross-institutional effort to produce a comprehensive synthesis of climate change, its impacts on wildlife and their habitats, and available adaptation strategies across the entire Northeast and Midwest region; the resulting document was used by wildlife managers in 22 states to revise their Wildlife Action Plans (WAPs). Additionally, the NE CSC is working with the Wildlife Conservation Society to help inform moose conservation management. Other research efforts include hydrological modeling to inform culvert sizing under greater rainfall intensity, forest and landscape modeling to inform tree planting that mitigates the spread of invasive species, species and habitat modeling to help identify suitable locations for wildlife refugia. In addition, experimental research is being conducted to improve our understanding of how species such as brook trout are responding to climate change. Interacting with stakeholders during all phases of

Why 'Science + Solutions' Is An Effective & Essential Climate Communications Strategy (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Haines-Stiles, G.; Alley, R. B.; Akuginow, E.

2013-12-01

Success in the Second World War was enabled in large part through advances in science and technology such as radar and the Manhattan Project, and the subsequent growth of the US economy endowed scientists with unrivaled influence in society and policy-making. But climate science has not been immune to criticism, and attacks on what 97% of expert climate scientists regard as well-established have continued. However, as shown in Leiserowitz et al's series of SIX AMERICAS studies, the vast majority of citizens are neither firmly committed against accepting the reality of human-caused climate change, nor 100% certain of the cause. The question, then, is how to reach 'the movable middle.' Richard Alley's 'Earth: The Operators' Manual'-a 3-part series aired nationally on PBS, and supported by the National Science Foundation-was an attempt to improve the understanding of consensus climate science, and showcase examples of clean energy innovations in the United States and worldwide. A fundamental design principle for the series, derived from close reading of social science studies, was to include solutions along with solid science. In addition, the producers enlisted a diverse cast of on-camera personalities alongside Alley: Texas ranchers, Republican senators and Kansan bankers, CEOs and academics, a Navy rear admiral in dress whites, and 'energy captains' in inner city Baltimore. An NSF-mandated Summative Evaluation documented the success of these approaches, and the first two programs reached some 3.6 million viewers on PBS. However, the rapidly-evolving media landscape has meant that national primetime exposure is only part of how climate information is 'sent' and 'received' today. ETOM structured its Facebook page to embody the same solutions-oriented philosophy, and has secured an 'Engagement Index' higher than Buzzfeed, and more than most other environment- and climate-oriented pages. ETOM programs can be downloaded in HD for watch parties, and many schools

Anthropogenic Climate Change in Undergraduate Marine and Environmental Science Programs in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Vlietstra, Lucy S.; Mrakovcich, Karina L.; Futch, Victoria C.; Stutzman, Brooke S.

2016-01-01

To develop a context for program-level design decisions pertaining to anthropogenic climate change, the authors studied the prevalence of courses focused on human-induced climate change in undergraduate marine science and environmental science degree programs in the United States. Of the 86 institutions and 125 programs the authors examined, 37%…

Reconstruction of the boundary between climate science and politics: the IPCC in the Japanese mass media, 1988-2007.

Science.gov (United States)

Asayama, Shinichiro; Ishii, Atsushi

2014-02-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) plays a significant role in bridging the boundary between climate science and politics. Media coverage is crucial for understanding how climate science is communicated and embedded in society. This study analyzes the discursive construction of the IPCC in three Japanese newspapers from 1988 to 2007 in terms of the science-politics boundary. The results show media discourses engaged in boundary-work which rhetorically separated science and politics, and constructed the iconic image of the IPCC as a pure scientific authority. In the linkages between the global and national arenas of climate change, the media "domesticate" the issue, translating the global nature of climate change into a discourse that suits the national context. We argue that the Japanese media's boundary-work is part of the media domestication that reconstructed the boundary between climate science and politics reflecting the Japanese context.

Progrès de la connaissance du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi de 1993 à 2008

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henri Nicolaï

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Cette chronique, la vingt et unième d’une série qui a commencé avec l’année 1949, couvre la période 1993-2008 et a pour objectif de faire le point sur les progrès réalisés sur la connaissance du Congo (République démocratique du Congo, du Rwanda et du Burundi, dans le domaine de la géographie mais aussi dans les domaines des sciences naturelles et des sciences humaines qui peuvent fournir des données utiles ou indispensables aux géographes. Chaque référence bibliographique, livre ou article, est accompagnée d’un bref commentaire qui en retient les éléments principaux et surtout les faits ou les idées qui intéressent particulièrement les géographes. L’article comporte onze chapitres dont les plus importants concernent le milieu naturel, la géographie de la santé, la démographie, l’histoire (y compris l’histoire récente, la vie sociale et économique des campagnes traditionnelles et modernes, le secteur informel, les aspects de la vie urbaine. Les événements dramatiques qui se sont produits dans ces territoires africains au cours des quinze dernières années ont rendu la recherche sur le terrain particulièrement difficile tant pour les chercheurs nationaux que pour les chercheurs étrangers, ce qui se traduit notamment par une part de plus en plus importante des recherches menées en milieu urbain.This paper, the 21st issue of an edition of books and paper reviews on the knowledge of three countries of former Belgian Africa (DR Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, covers the period 1993-2008. A short text for each reference points out the facts or ideas that are useful for geographers. The paper is composed of eleven sections. The most important are coping with the natural environment, health geography, population geography, history (including recent events, social and economic life in traditional and modern rural areas, informal economy, and urban geography. During the last sixteen years, conditions for field

A Case Study of Teaching Social Responsibility to Doctoral Students in the Climate Sciences

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Børsen, Tom; Antia, Avan N.; Glessmer, Mirjam Sophia

2013-01-01

climate science meets the public sphere (e.g., to identify and balance legitimate perspectives on particular types of geo-engineering), and is an example of how to include social responsibility in doctoral education. The paper describes the workshop from the three different perspectives of the authors......: the course teacher, the head of the graduate school, and a graduate student. The elements that contributed to the success of the workshop, and thus make it an example to follow, are (1) the involvement of participating students, (2) the introduction of external expertise and role models in climate science......, and (3) a workshop design that focused on ethical analyses of examples from the climate sciences....

EarthLabs Climate Detectives: Using the Science, Data, and Technology of IODP Expedition 341 to Investigate the Earth's Past Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Mote, A. S.; Lockwood, J.; Ellins, K. K.; Haddad, N.; Ledley, T. S.; Lynds, S. E.; McNeal, K.; Libarkin, J. C.

2014-12-01

EarthLabs, an exemplary series of lab-based climate science learning modules, is a model for high school Earth Science lab courses. Each module includes a variety of learning activities that allow students to explore the Earth's complex and dynamic climate history. The most recent module, Climate Detectives, uses data from IODP Expedition 341, which traveled to the Gulf of Alaska during the summer of 2013 to study past climate, sedimentation, and tectonics along the continental margin. At the onset of Climate Detectives, students are presented with a challenge engaging them to investigate how the Earth's climate has changed since the Miocene in southern Alaska. To complete this challenge, students join Exp. 341 to collect and examine sediments collected from beneath the seafloor. The two-week module consists of six labs that provide students with the content and skills needed to solve this climate mystery. Students discover how an international team collaborates to examine a scientific problem with the IODP, compete in an engineering design challenge to learn about scientific ocean drilling, and learn about how different types of proxy data are used to detect changes in Earth's climate. The NGSS Science and Engineering Practices are woven into the culminating activity, giving students the opportunity to think and act like scientists as they investigate the following questions: 1) How have environmental conditions in in the Gulf of Alaska changed during the time when the sediments in core U1417 were deposited? (2) What does the occurrence of different types of diatoms and their abundance reveal about the timing of the cycles of glacial advance and retreat? (3) What timeline is represented by the section of core? (4) How do results from the Gulf of Alaska compare with the global record of glaciations during this period based on oxygen isotopes proxies? Developed by educators in collaboration with Expedition 341 scientists, Climate Detectives is a strong example of

Communicating Climate Science: A Historic Look to the Future

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, James; Andronova, Natasha; Rasch, Philip

2014-06-01

The June 2013 Chapman Conference brought together a diverse group of researchers, educators, and media for 5 days in Colorado to explore how to better communicate climate science. Multidisciplinary thinking was a key theme of the meeting. Participant expertise included urban planning, science, psychology, philosophy, history, film and documentary production, communications, journalism, public relations, and business. All helped to create a stimulating and inspirational atmosphere. The meeting program accommodated almost 100 submitted abstracts.

ClimateInterpreter.org: an online sharing platform with best practices and resources on effective climate change communication, climate change exhibits, and sustainability efforts at aquariums, zoos, and science museums

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, M. K.; MacKenzie, S.

2011-12-01

Many aquariums, zoos, museums, and other informal science education (ISE) centers across the country want to connect their visitors with the important issue of climate change. Communicating climate change and the science it embodies is no easy task though, and ISE institutions are seeking creative and collaborative ways to best interpret the issue with their audiences. Some of these institutions, particularly aquariums and zoos, have live specimens on exhibit that stand to be severely impacted by climate change. Others see it as an educational and moral imperative to address such an important issue affecting the world today, especially one so close to the core mission of their institution. Regardless, informal science educators have noticed that the public is increasingly coming to them with questions related to climate change, and they want to be able to respond as effectively as they can. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is one partner in a coalition of aquariums, zoos, museums and informal science education institutions that are working together to present climate change to its visitors. These institutions hold enormous public trust as sources of sound scientific information. Whether it is through exhibitions like the Aquarium's Hot Pink Flamingos: Stories of Hope in a Changing Sea, interpretive and communication techniques to navigate challenging climate change discussions, or with sustainability planning and operational greening efforts, there is a concerted movement to improve the capacity of these institutions to respond to the issue. Ultimately, their goal is to inspire visitors in a way that positively impacts the country's discourse surrounding climate change, and helps steer our dialog toward a focus on solutions. In addition to the Hot Pink Flamingos exhibit, the Aquarium is also working with the coalition to build a website, www.climateinterpreter.org, that can serve as an online platform for sharing the experiences of what different partners have learned at

Integrating economic analysis and the science of climate instability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, Darwin C.; Behl, Richard J.

2006-01-01

Scientific understanding of climate change and climate instability has undergone a revolution in the past decade with the discovery of numerous past climate transitions so rapid, and so unlike the expectation of smooth climate changes, that they would have previously been unbelievable to the scientific community. Models commonly used by economists to assess the wisdom of adapting to human-induced climate change, rather than averting it, lack the ability to incorporate this new scientific knowledge. Here, we identify and explain the nature of recent scientific advances, and describe the key ways in which failure to reflect new knowledge in economic analysis skews the results of that analysis. This includes the understanding that economic optimization models reliant on convexity are inherently unable to determine an 'optimal' policy solution. It is incumbent on economists to understand and to incorporate the new science in their models, and on climatologists and other scientists to understand the basis of economic models so that they can assist in this essential effort. (author)

A Scalable and Extensible Earth System Model for Climate Change Science

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gent, Peter; Lamarque, Jean-Francois; Conley, Andrew; Vertenstein, Mariana; Craig, Anthony

2013-02-13

The objective of this award was to build a scalable and extensible Earth System Model that can be used to study climate change science. That objective has been achieved with the public release of the Community Earth System Model, version 1 (CESM1). In particular, the development of the CESM1 atmospheric chemistry component was substantially funded by this award, as was the development of the significantly improved coupler component. The CESM1 allows new climate change science in areas such as future air quality in very large cities, the effects of recovery of the southern hemisphere ozone hole, and effects of runoff from ice melt in the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Results from a whole series of future climate projections using the CESM1 are also freely available via the web from the CMIP5 archive at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Many research papers using these results have now been published, and will form part of the 5th Assessment Report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is to be published late in 2013.

Climate science informs participatory scenario development and applications to decision making in Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Welling, L. A.; Winfree, R.; Mow, J.

2012-12-01

Climate change presents unprecedented challenges for managing natural and cultural resources into the future. Impacts are expected to be highly consequential but specific effects are difficult to predict, requiring a flexible process for adaptation planning that is tightly coupled to climate science delivery systems. Scenario planning offers a tool for making science-based decisions under uncertainty. The National Park Service (NPS) is working with the Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers (CSCs), the NOAA Regional Integrated Science and Assessment teams (RISAs), and other academic, government, non-profit, and private partners to develop and apply scenarios to long-range planning and decision frameworks. In April 2012, Alaska became the first region of the NPS to complete climate change scenario planning for every national park, preserve, and monument. These areas, which collectively make up two-thirds of the total area of the NPS, are experiencing visible and measurable effects attributable to climate change. For example, thawing sea ice, glaciers and permafrost have resulted in coastal erosion, loss of irreplaceable cultural sites, slope failures, flooding of visitor access routes, and infrastructure damage. With higher temperatures and changed weather patterns, woody vegetation has expanded into northern tundra, spruce and cedar diebacks have occurred in southern Alaska, and wildland fire severity has increased. Working with partners at the Alaska Climate Science Center and the Scenario Network for Alaska Planning the NPS integrates quantitative, model-driven data with qualitative, participatory techniques to scenario creation. The approach enables managers to access and understand current climate change science in a form that is relevant for their decision making. Collaborative workshops conducted over the past two years grouped parks from Alaska's southwest, northwest, southeast, interior and central areas. The emphasis was to identify and connect

Memoirs of law, sciences and technologies - Law and climate thematic issue; Cahiers droit, sciences et technologies - Dossier thematique droit et climat

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Torre-Schaub, M. [CNRS, IDHE ENS-Cachan (France); Jouzel, J. [IPSL-LSCE, CEA-CNRS, UVSQ, CE Saclay 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France); Boisson de Chazournes, L. [Faculte de droit, Geneve Univ. (Switzerland); Sadeleer, N. de; Denis, B. [Saint-Louis Univ., Brussels (Belgium); Godard, O. [CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique, Dep. Humanites et Sciences Sociales (France); Le Prestre, P. [Laval univ. (Canada); Maljean-Dubois, S. [CNRS, CERIC, Paul Cezanne Univ., Aix-en-Provence (France); Wemaere, M. [IDDRI, Dep. Climat et Energie (France); Rousseaux, S. [CNRS, Droit et Changement Social, Association Climaterre (France); Louchard, O. [Reseau Action Climat (France)

2009-07-01

This dossier is organized around two essential points: 1 - climate is a scientific question which combines science and governance. In this context, the last IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report gives an essential place to uncertainties with claiming that 'it is more probable than improbable that we may be in an irreversible process of global warming'. Therefore, it has become necessary to think about the management of uncertainties using law and to a massive mobilization of the precaution principle. The essential economical aspects to the implementation of a significant abatement of greenhouse gases cannot be passed over in silence as well. Finally, the civil society occupies a more and more important place, not only in international negotiations, but inside the countries as well. 2 - Global warming is thinkable at a World scale only. This implies that some kind of a climate geopolitics is emerging in the World, considering the existence at the same time of different sources and different problems to deal with (technical, economical) depending on the regions of the world. From the strictly legal point of view, the scenarios presented at Bali consider the World by 2012 onward. In this context, the fight against global warming mobilizes several legal instruments, some being new and the others being not. We assist to a real law genesis. The emissions trading markets, for instance, and other financial mechanisms, belong to these new instruments. However, using old legal means to solve new problems is another way to create law. It is also important to stress on the fact that the international law is not the only possible legal mean to square the fight against global warming. The liability right for the violation of a public property, i.e. the atmosphere, remains an instrument combining experience and novelty and has proved itself in several countries. Finally, in France, the 'Grenelle de l'Environnement' policy has led to an

Development and Validation of the ACSI: Measuring Students' Science Attitudes, Pro-Environmental Behaviour, Climate Change Attitudes and Knowledge

Science.gov (United States)

Dijkstra, E. M.; Goedhart, M. J.

2012-01-01

This article describes the development and validation of the Attitudes towards Climate Change and Science Instrument. This 63-item questionnaire measures students' pro-environmental behaviour, their climate change knowledge and their attitudes towards school science, societal implications of science, scientists, a career in science and the urgency…

Does the public deserve free access to climate system science?

Science.gov (United States)

Grigorov, Ivo

2010-05-01

Some time ago it was the lack of public access to medical research data that really stirred the issue and gave inertia for legislation and a new publishing model that puts tax payer-funded medical research in the hands of those who fund it. In today's age global climate change has become the biggest socio-economic challenge, and the same argument resonates: climate affects us all and the publicly-funded science quantifying it should be freely accessible to all stakeholders beyond academic research. Over the last few years the ‘Open Access' movement to remove as much as possible subscription, and other on-campus barriers to academic research has rapidly gathered pace, but despite significant progress, the climate system sciences are not among the leaders in providing full access to their publications and data. Beyond the ethical argument, there are proven and tangible benefits for the next generation of climate researchers to adapt the way their output is published. Through the means provided by ‘open access', both data and ideas can gain more visibility, use and citations for the authors, but also result in a more rapid exchange of knowledge and ideas, and ultimately progress towards a sought solution. The presentation will aim to stimulate discussion and seek progress on the following questions: Should free access to climate research (& data) be mandatory? What are the career benefits of using ‘open access' for young scientists? What means and methods should, or could, be incorporated into current European graduate training programmes in climate research, and possible ways forward?

Contextualizing Next Generation Science Standards to Guide Climate Education in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI)

Science.gov (United States)

Sussman, A.; Fletcher, C. H.; Sachs, J. P.

2012-12-01

The USAPI has a population of about 1,800,000 people spread across 4.9 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Islands are characterized by a multitude of indigenous cultures and languages. Many USAPI students live considerably below the poverty line. The Pacific Island region is projected to experience some of the most profound negative impacts of climate change considerably sooner than other regions. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Pacific Islands Climate Education Partnership (PCEP) has developed a detailed strategic plan to collaboratively improve climate knowledge among the region's students and citizens in ways that exemplify modern science and indigenous environmental knowledge, address the urgency of climate change impacts, and honor indigenous cultures. Students and citizens within the region will have the knowledge and skills to advance understanding of climate change, and to adapt to its impacts. Core PCEP partners contribute expertise in climate science, the science of learning, the region's education infrastructure, and the region's cultures and indigenous knowledge and practices. PCEP's strategic education plan is guided by a general, multidisciplinary K-14 Climate Education Framework (CEF) that organizes fundamental science concepts and practices within appropriate grade-span progressions. This CEF is based largely upon the National Research Council's "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas" and the emerging Next Generation Science Standards. While the CEF is based upon these national Next Generation documents, it is also informed and strongly influenced by the region's geographic, climatic, cultural and socioeconomic contexts, notably indigenous knowledge and practices. Guided by the CEF, the PCEP in its initial development/planning phase has prototyped regional approaches to professional development, contextualizing curricula, and supporting community

The Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) Program, Climate Services, and Meeting the National Climate Change Adaptation Challenge

Science.gov (United States)

Overpeck, J. T.; Udall, B.; Miles, E.; Dow, K.; Anderson, C.; Cayan, D.; Dettinger, M.; Hartmann, H.; Jones, J.; Mote, P.; Ray, A.; Shafer, M.; White, D.

2008-12-01

The NOAA-led RISA Program has grown steadily to nine regions and a focus that includes both natural climate variability and human-driven climate change. The RISAs are, at their core, university-based and heavily invested in partnerships, particularly with stakeholders, NOAA, and other federal agencies. RISA research, assessment and partnerships have led to new operational climate services within NOAA and other agencies, and have become important foundations in the development of local, state and regional climate change adaptation initiatives. The RISA experience indicates that a national climate service is needed, and must include: (1) services prioritized based on stakeholder needs; (2) sustained, ongoing regional interactions with users, (3) a commitment to improve climate literacy; (4) support for assessment as an ongoing, iterative process; (5) full recognition that stakeholder decisions are seldom made using climate information alone; (6) strong interagency partnership; (7) national implementation and regional in focus; (8) capability spanning local, state, tribal, regional, national and international space scales, and weeks to millennia time scales; and (9) institutional design and scientific support flexible enough to assure the effort is nimble enough to respond to rapidly-changing stakeholder needs. The RISA experience also highlights the central role that universities must play in national climate change adaptation programs. Universities have a tradition of trusted regional stakeholder partnerships, as well as the interdisciplinary expertise - including social science, ecosystem science, law, and economics - required to meet stakeholder climate-related needs; project workforce can also shift rapidly in universities. Universities have a proven ability to build and sustain interagency partnerships. Universities excel in most forms of education and training. And universities often have proven entrepreneurship, technology transfer and private sector

Reliance, liance et alliance : opérationnalité des concepts dans l'analyse du climat socio-relationnel de groupes restreints d'apprentissage en ligne

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean-Jacques Quintin

2010-10-01

Full Text Available La recherche que nous présentons ici se donne pour but de mesurer le lien entre le "climat socio-relationnel" d'un groupe restreint engagé dans un travail collaboratif en ligne et la qualité des travaux collectifs produits. La démarche méthodologique adoptée, basée sur une analyse des échanges asynchrones entre les membres d'un groupe, nous permet d'aboutir à un modèle opératoire qui fait état des composantes du "climat socio-relationnel" susceptibles d'expliquer les résultats d'apprentissage obtenus. Deux notions – dérivées du concept sociologique de reliance – seront mobilisées : la liance et l'alliance. La première rend compte de la qualité de la relation (la chaleur, l'intimité, les émotions… qui se crée entre les interlocuteurs au cours de leurs échanges asynchrones. La seconde traduit la manière dont les participants confortent leur contrat d'association en vue de la réalisation du travail commun, afin de répondre aux exigences pédagogiques fixées. Les résultats de cette recherche montrent que, dans notre situation d'étude, le modèle de la reliance explique une part substantielle de la qualité moyenne des produits de l'apprentissage collectif et possède une homogénéité interne non négligeable. Ces éléments concourent à étayer l'assise conceptuelle et le caractère opératoire du modèle présenté.The aim of the research we are presenting here is to measure the link between the "socio-relational climate" of a small group in a collaborative work environment and the quality of the collective work they provide. The methodological approach adopted, based on an analysis of the asynchronous exchanges between members of a group, allows us to find a procedure that takes stock of some components of "socio-relational climate" that could account for the results in terms of learning. Two notions – derivatives of the sociological concept "reliance" – will be called upon: "liance" and "alliance". The

Emotional Climate and High Quality Learning Experiences in Science Teacher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Bellocchi, Alberto; Ritchie, Stephen M.; Tobin, Kenneth; King, Donna; Sandhu, Maryam; Henderson, Senka

2014-01-01

The role of emotion during learning encounters in science teacher education is under-researched and under-theorized. In this case study, we explore the emotional climates (ECs), that is, the collective states of emotional arousal, of a preservice secondary science education class to illuminate practice for producing and reproducing high quality…

Assessing Student Knowledge of Chemistry and Climate Science Concepts Associated with Climate Change: Resources to Inform Teaching and Learning

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Versprille, Ashley; Zabih, Adam; Holme, Thomas A.; McKenzie, Lallie; Mahaffy, Peter; Martin, Brian; Towns, Marcy

2017-01-01

Climate change is one of the most critical problems facing citizens today. Chemistry faculty are presented with the problem of making general chemistry content simultaneously relevant and interesting. Using climate science to teach chemistry allows faculty to help students learn chemistry content in a rich context. Concepts related to…

The predictive state: Science, territory and the future of the Indian climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahony, Martin

2014-02-01

Acts of scientific calculation have long been considered central to the formation of the modern nation state, yet the transnational spaces of knowledge generation and political action associated with climate change seem to challenge territorial modes of political order. This article explores the changing geographies of climate prediction through a study of the ways in which climate change is rendered knowable at the national scale in India. The recent controversy surrounding an erroneous prediction of melting Himalayan glaciers by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides a window onto the complex and, at times, antagonistic relationship between the Panel and Indian political and scientific communities. The Indian reaction to the error, made public in 2009, drew upon a national history of contestation around climate change science and corresponded with the establishment of a scientific assessment network, the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment, which has given the state a new platform on which to bring together knowledge about the future climate. I argue that the Indian Network for Climate Change Assessment is indicative of the growing use of regional climate models within longer traditions of national territorial knowledge-making, allowing a rescaling of climate change according to local norms and practices of linking scientific knowledge to political action. I illustrate the complex co-production of the epistemic and the normative in climate politics, but also seek to show how co-productionist understandings of science and politics can function as strategic resources in the ongoing negotiation of social order. In this case, scientific rationalities and modes of environmental governance contribute to the contested epistemic construction of territory and the evolving spatiality of the modern nation state under a changing climate.

Personal, Informal and Relatable: Engaging Wide Audiences in Climate Science with Nasa's Earth Right Now Blog

Science.gov (United States)

Tenenbaum, L. F.; Shaftel, H.; Jackson, R.

2014-12-01

There is no such thing as a non-scientist, but there are some who have yet to acknowledge their inner science spark. Aiming to ignite and fan the flame of curiosity, promote dialogue and attempt to make climate science personal and relevant to everyday life, NASA's Global Climate Change website http://climate.nasa.gov/ and Earth Right Now campaign http://www.nasa.gov/content/earth-right-now/ partnered together this year to launch the Earth Right Now blog http://climate.nasa.gov/blog. It quickly became one of the most popular blogs in all of NASA social media, receiving thousands of likes per week, and frequent comments as well as thoughtful and respectful discussions about climate change. Social media platforms such as blogs have become popular vehicles for engaging large swaths of the public in new exciting ways. NASA's Earth Right Now blog has become a powerful platform for engaging both scientists and the science-curious in constructive, fruitful conversations about the complex topic of climate science. We continue to interact and have ongoing dialogue with our readers by making the scientific content both accessible and engaging for diverse populations.

Using Local Climate Science to Educate "Key Influentials" and their Communities in the San Diego Region

Science.gov (United States)

Boudrias, M. A.; Estrada, M.; Anders, S.; Silva-Send, N. J.; Yin, Z.; Schultz, P.; Young, E.

2012-12-01

The San Diego Regional Climate Education Partnership has formed an innovative and collaborative team whose mission is to implement a research-based climate science education and communications program to increase knowledge about climate science among highly-influential leaders and their communities and foster informed decision making based on climate science and impacts. The team includes climate scientists, behavioral psychologists, formal and informal educators and communication specialists. The Partnership's strategic plan has three major goals: (1) raise public understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change; (2) identify the most effective educational methods to educate non-traditional audiences (Key Influentials) about the causes and consequences of climate change; and (3) develop and implement a replicable model for regional climate change education. To implement this strategic plan, we have anchored our project on three major pillars: (1) Local climate science (causes, impacts and long-term consequences); (2) theoretical, research-based evaluation framework (TIMSI); and (3) Key! Influentials (KI) as primary audience for messages (working w! ith and through them). During CCEP-I, the Partnership formed and convened an advisory board of Key Influentials, completed interviews with a sample of Key Influentials, conducted a public opinion survey, developed a website (www.sandiego.edu/climate) , compiled inventories on literature of climate science education resources and climate change community groups and local activities, hosted stakeholder forums, and completed the first phase of on an experiment to test the effects of different messengers delivering the same local climate change message via video. Results of 38 KI Interviews provided evidence of local climate knowledge, strong concern about climate change, and deeply held values related to climate change education and regional leadership. The most intriguing result was that while 90% of Key

Enhanced science-stakeholder communication to improve ecosystem model performances for climate change impact assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Jönsson, Anna Maria; Anderbrant, Olle; Holmér, Jennie; Johansson, Jacob; Schurgers, Guy; Svensson, Glenn P; Smith, Henrik G

2015-04-01

In recent years, climate impact assessments of relevance to the agricultural and forestry sectors have received considerable attention. Current ecosystem models commonly capture the effect of a warmer climate on biomass production, but they rarely sufficiently capture potential losses caused by pests, pathogens and extreme weather events. In addition, alternative management regimes may not be integrated in the models. A way to improve the quality of climate impact assessments is to increase the science-stakeholder collaboration, and in a two-way dialog link empirical experience and impact modelling with policy and strategies for sustainable management. In this paper we give a brief overview of different ecosystem modelling methods, discuss how to include ecological and management aspects, and highlight the importance of science-stakeholder communication. By this, we hope to stimulate a discussion among the science-stakeholder communities on how to quantify the potential for climate change adaptation by improving the realism in the models.

Climate Change Science Teaching through Integration of Technology in Instruction and Research

Science.gov (United States)

Sriharan, S.; Ozbay, G.; Robinson, L.; Klimkowski, V.

2015-12-01

This presentation demonstrates the importance of collaborations between the institutions with common focus on offering the academic program on climate change science. Virginia State University (VSU) developed and established the course on climate change and adaptation, AGRI 350 for undergraduates, in cooperation with two HBCUs, Delaware State University (DSU) and Morgan State University (MSU). This program was developed to enhance the science curriculum with funding from the USDA NIFA. The hands-on research opportunities for students were supported by the NSF HBCU UP Supplement Grant at VSU. The technical guidance and lesson plans were available through the courtesy of the AMS and faculty/student team training at the NCAR. In the initial stages, the faculty members participated in faculty development workshops hosted by the AMS and NCAR. This contributed to trained faculty members developing the courses on Climate Change at VSU, DSU, and MSU. To create awareness of global climate change and exposure of students to international programs, seven students from VSU, MSU, and DSU participated in the Climate Change course (ENS 320) at the University of Sunshine Coast (USC), Australia. This international experience included faculty members in using SimCLIM for climate change data into decision-making with regard to potential changes to cropping systems and tree growth. The Climate Change program at VSU, DSU, and MSU is emerging into comprehensive academic program which includes use of case studies and exchange of students' reflections with their peers through discussion board and videoconferencing, hands-on research on water quality monitoring and mapping the study sites, and integration of geospatial technologies and i-Tree. In addition, the students' engagement in intensive research was conducted through hands-on experience with Scanning Electron Microscopy in the Marine Science Department, University of Hawaii at Hilo in summer 2015.

Science blogging: RealClimate.org and the Global Warming debate

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, G. A.

2006-12-01

The media and public policy debate suffer from an extreme form of Attention Deficit Disorder. Compared to the daily news cycle, the progress of scientific debate within the peer-reviewed literature is extremely slow. This puts serious scientists who work in relatively politicised fields (global warming, evolution, stem cell research and the like) at a huge disadvantage when it comes to having their voices heard above the noise. Since Dec 2004, RealClimate.org has been operating as a group blog (a web-based journal) run by climate scientists for interested members of the public and the media. The aim has been to provide the context for climate-related news stories that is often missing in the mainstream media and to explain the basics of our field to the often confused, but curious, members of the public. In particular, it has provided rapid reaction to mis-uses and abuses of scientific results by policy advocates across the spectrum. Reactions to the blog have been overwhelmingly (but not uniformly) positive from both professionals in the media, the scientific community and the public. It has been described as the 'go-to site' for climate science in the New York Times, and received a Scientific American Science and Technology Web award in 2005. I will discuss what impacts RealClimate may have had and the pluses and minuses of trying to reach the public through this kind of outlet.

Teaching Climate Science in Non-traditional Classrooms

Science.gov (United States)

Strybos, J.

2015-12-01

San Antonio College is the oldest, largest and centrally-located campus of Alamo Colleges, a network of five community colleges based around San Antonio, Texas with a headcount enrollment of approximately 20,000 students. The student population is diverse in ethnicity, age and income; and the Colleges understand that they play a salient role in educating its students on the foreseen impacts of climate change. This presentation will discuss the key investment Alamo Colleges has adopted to incorporate sustainability and climate science into non-traditional classrooms. The established courses that cover climate-related course material have historically had low enrollments. One of the most significant challenges is informing the student population of the value of this class both in their academic career and in their personal lives. By hosting these lessons in hands-on simulations and demonstrations that are accessible and understandable to students of any age, and pursuing any major, we have found an exciting way to teach all students about climate change and identify solutions. San Antonio College (SAC) hosts the Bill R. Sinkin Eco Centro Community Center, completed in early 2014, that serves as an environmental hub for Alamo Colleges' staff and students as well as the San Antonio community. The center actively engages staff and faculty during training days in sustainability by presenting information on Eco Centro, personal sustainability habits, and inviting faculty to bring their classes for a tour and sustainability primer for students. The Centro has hosted professors from diverse disciplines that include Architecture, Psychology, Engineering, Science, English, Fine Arts, and International Studies to bring their classes to center to learn about energy, water conservation, landscaping, and green building. Additionally, Eco Centro encourages and assists students with research projects, including a solar-hydroponic project currently under development with the support

Improving the effectiveness of communication about climate science: Insights from the "Global Warming's Six Americas" audience segmentation research project

Science.gov (United States)

Maibach, E.; Roser-Renouf, C.

2011-12-01

That the climate science community has not been entirely effective in sharing what it knows about climate change with the broader public - and with policy makers and organizations that should be considering climate change when making decisions - is obvious. Our research shows that a large majority of the American public trusts scientists (76%) and science-based agencies (e.g., 76% trust NOAA) as sources of information about climate change. Yet, despite the widespread agreement in the climate science community that the climate is changing as a result of human activity, only 64% of the public understand that the world's average temperature has been increasing (and only about half of them are sure), less than half (47%) understand that the warming is caused mostly by human activity, and only 39% understand that most scientists think global warming is happening (in fact, only 13% understand that the large majority of climate scientists think global warming is happening). Less obvious is what the climate science community should do to become more effective in sharing what it knows. In this paper, we will use evidence from our "Global Warming's Six Americas" audience segmentation research project to suggest ways that individual climate scientists -- and perhaps more importantly, ways in which climate science agencies and professional societies -- can enhance the effectiveness of their communication efforts. We will conclude by challenging members of the climate science community to identify and convey "simple, clear messages, repeated often, by a variety of trusted sources" - an approach to communication repeatedly shown to be effective by the public health community.

Artificial climate experiment facility in Institute for Environmental Sciences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hisamatsu, Shunichi [Department of Radioecology, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Rokkasho, Aomori (Japan)

1999-03-01

The Institute for Environmental Sciences is now constructing the artificial climate experiment facility (ACEF) to research the effect of climate on movement of elements in the various environments. The ACEF will have one large, and five small artificial climate experiment chambers. The large chamber is designed to simulate climate conditions in all Japan. It will equip systems to simulate sunshine, rainfall (including acid rain), snowfall and fog (including acid fog). `Yamase` condition will also be reproduced in it. Yamase is a Japanese term describing the characteristic weather condition occurring mainly on the Pacific Ocean side at the northern Japan. While the small chamber will not have rainfall, snowfall and fog systems, radioisotopes will be used in the two small chambers which will be set up in a radioisotope facility. We describe here the outline of the ACEF and the preliminary research programs being undertaken using both kinds of chambers. (author)

Artificial climate experiment facility in Institute for Environmental Sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hisamatsu, Shunichi

1999-01-01

The Institute for Environmental Sciences is now constructing the artificial climate experiment facility (ACEF) to research the effect of climate on movement of elements in the various environments. The ACEF will have one large, and five small artificial climate experiment chambers. The large chamber is designed to simulate climate conditions in all Japan. It will equip systems to simulate sunshine, rainfall (including acid rain), snowfall and fog (including acid fog). 'Yamase' condition will also be reproduced in it. Yamase is a Japanese term describing the characteristic weather condition occurring mainly on the Pacific Ocean side at the northern Japan. While the small chamber will not have rainfall, snowfall and fog systems, radioisotopes will be used in the two small chambers which will be set up in a radioisotope facility. We describe here the outline of the ACEF and the preliminary research programs being undertaken using both kinds of chambers. (author)

Climate sciences, observation and modelling: an historical perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morel, P.; Le Treut, H.; Charles, L.

2013-01-01

At a time when the public perception of climate change is recovering from the controversies and vocal dissent aired during the recent years, we thought it would be interesting to begin this special issue with an interview of Pierre Morel. As the originator of physical climate studies in France, he established and led (until 1975) the Dynamic Meteorology Laboratory of CNRS, a component of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute (IPSL), which has become the focus of climate research in France. However his professional activities were pursued largely in an international context. Alumnus of Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris, physicist, first director of scientific research and advanced technology programs in the French space agency CNES from 1962 to 1964 and then Professor at the University of Paris, he specialized in the field of geophysical fluid dynamics. In 1967, he became a member of the international Joint Organizing Committee for the Global Atmospheric Research Programme (GARP) and eventually vice-chairman of the Committee until 1982. He conceived and promoted a number of satellite projects, in particular the operational ARGOS navigation and data collection System on NOAA polar-orbiting meteorological satellites and the European geostationary meteorological satellite Meteosat. In 1982, he became the first director of the international World Climate Research Programme that followed upon GARP and continued in this function until 1994. He then joined NASA Headquarters in the capacity as Senior Visiting Scientist in the Office of Mission to Planet Earth. This unorthodox professional career gave Pierre Morel an exceptionally broad, possibly unmatched, view of all facets of climate science and global observations. Herve Le Treut, with whom this interview was prepared and conducted, is the current director of IPSL, a member of the French Academy of Sciences, and professor at Ecole Polytechnique and University Pierre and Marie Curie of Paris. We are grateful to both for

New Water Management Institutions in Mexico’s ‘New Culture of Water’: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges for Effective Use of Climate Knowledge and Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Wilder, M.; Varady, R. G.; Pineda Pablos, N.; Browning-Aiken, A.; Diaz Caravantes, R.; Garfin, G.

2007-05-01

Since 1992, Mexico has developed a new set of water management institutions to usher in a ‘new culture of water’ that focuses on decentralized governance and formalized participation of local water users. Reforms to the national water legislation in April 2004 regionalized the governance of water and highlighted the importance of river basin councils as a mechanism for integrated management of major watersheds across Mexico. As a result of the dramatic national water policy reforms, water service delivery in Mexico has been decentralized to the state and municipal level, resulting in a critical new role for municipal governments charged with this important function. A network of river basin councils accompanied and sub-basin councils has been developed to undertake watershed planning. Decentralization and local participation policies embody numerous significant goals and promises, including greater efficiency, more financial accountability, fostering the beginnings of a sense of local stewardship of precious resources, and enhanced environmental sustainability. This paper examines the implications of municipalized water services and emerging river basin councils for utilization of climate knowledge and climate science. We analyze whether these changes open new windows of opportunity for meaningful use of climate science (e.g., forecasts; models). How effectively are municipal water managers and river basin councils utilizing climate knowledge and climate science, and for what purposes? Are there ways to improve the fit between the needs of water managers and river basin councils and the science that is currently available? What is the role of local participation in water policy making in urban settings and river basin councils? The study found overall that the promises and potential for effective utilization of climate science/knowledge to enhance sustainability exists, but is not yet being adequately realized. Binational efforts to develop climate science and

Wetlands in a changing climate: Science, policy and management

Science.gov (United States)

Moomaw, William R.; Chmura, G.L.; Davies, Gillian T.; Finlayson, Max; Middleton, Beth A.; Natali, Sue M.; Perry, James; Roulet, Nigel; Sutton-Grier, Ariana

2018-01-01

Part 1 of this review synthesizes recent research on status and climate vulnerability of freshwater and saltwater wetlands, and their contribution to addressing climate change (carbon cycle, adaptation, resilience). Peatlands and vegetated coastal wetlands are among the most carbon rich sinks on the planet sequestering approximately as much carbon as do global forest ecosystems. Estimates of the consequences of rising temperature on current wetland carbon storage and future carbon sequestration potential are summarized. We also demonstrate the need to prevent drying of wetlands and thawing of permafrost by disturbances and rising temperatures to protect wetland carbon stores and climate adaptation/resiliency ecosystem services. Preventing further wetland loss is found to be important in limiting future emissions to meet climate goals, but is seldom considered. In Part 2, the paper explores the policy and management realm from international to national, subnational and local levels to identify strategies and policies reflecting an integrated understanding of both wetland and climate change science. Specific recommendations are made to capture synergies between wetlands and carbon cycle management, adaptation and resiliency to further enable researchers, policy makers and practitioners to protect wetland carbon and climate adaptation/resiliency ecosystem services.

9 décembre 2016 - Visite du hall d'assemblage des aimants supraconducteurs du LHC par le Prof. D. Le Bihan, Directeur, NeuroSpin; membre de l’Académie des Sciences, République française avec le Directeur des accélérateurs et de la technologie F. Bordry et le chef de groupe L. Bottura.

CERN Multimedia

Bennett, Sophia Elizabeth

2016-01-01

9 décembre 2016 - Visite du hall d'assemblage des aimants supraconducteurs du LHC par le Prof. D. Le Bihan, Directeur, NeuroSpin; membre de l’Académie des Sciences, République française avec le Directeur des accélérateurs et de la technologie F. Bordry et le chef de groupe L. Bottura.

Climate change science - beyond IPCC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicholls, N.

2007-01-01

Full text: Full text: The main conclusions of the IPCC Working Group I assessment of the physical science of climate change, from the Fourth IPCC Assessment, will be presented, along with the evidence supporting these conclusions. These conclusions include: Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice cores spanning many thousands of years. The global increases in carbon dioxide concentration are due primarily to fossil fuel use and land use change, while those of methane and nitrous oxide are primarily due to agriculture; The understanding of anthropogenic warming and cooling influences on climate has improved since the Third Assessment Report, leading to very high confidence that the global average net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming, with a radiative forcing of +1.6 [+0.6 to +2.4] Wm-2; Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level; At continental, regional and ocean basin scales, numerous long-term changes in climate have been observed. These include changes in arctic temperatures and ice, widespread changes in precipitation amounts, ocean salinity, wind patterns and aspects of extreme weather including droughts, heavy precipitation, heat waves and the intensity of tropical cyclones. Palaeo-climatic information supports the interpretation that the warmth of the last half-century is unusual in at least the previous 1,300 years; Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations; Discernible human influences now extend to other aspects of climate, including ocean warming, continental

U.S. National forests adapt to climate change through science-management partnerships

Science.gov (United States)

Jeremy S. Littell; David L. Peterson; Constance I. Millar; Kathy A. O' Halloran

2011-01-01

Developing appropriate management options for adapting to climate change is a new challenge for land managers, and integration of climate change concepts into operational management and planning on United States national forests is just starting. We established science-management partnerships on the Olympic National Forest (Washington) and Tahoe National Forest (...

Cognitive and psychological science insights to improve climate change data visualization

Science.gov (United States)

Harold, Jordan; Lorenzoni, Irene; Shipley, Thomas F.; Coventry, Kenny R.

2016-12-01

Visualization of climate data plays an integral role in the communication of climate change findings to both expert and non-expert audiences. The cognitive and psychological sciences can provide valuable insights into how to improve visualization of climate data based on knowledge of how the human brain processes visual and linguistic information. We review four key research areas to demonstrate their potential to make data more accessible to diverse audiences: directing visual attention, visual complexity, making inferences from visuals, and the mapping between visuals and language. We present evidence-informed guidelines to help climate scientists increase the accessibility of graphics to non-experts, and illustrate how the guidelines can work in practice in the context of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change graphics.

The Future of Climate Science (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, R.

2010-12-01

High Performance Computing is currently deployed in several centers for climate research, but not at the levels needed to achieve substantial success on a global basis, given the complexity of the problem. A quantum leap in capabilities will be necessary to handle next-generation climate models that integrate newly emerging sciences, high-resolution grids, and voluminous observational data from satellites and sophisticated ground devices. Dr. Bishop will discuss efforts to build an International Centre for Earth Simulation (ICES) based in Switzerland that takes an holistic systems approach, and that has the competence and resources to achieve new insights in this new decade, and is capable to globally influence public policy with respect to weather, climate, environment, disaster risk reduction and socio-economic development. On this progressively crowded and fragile planet, such a capability will be invaluable, Bishop believes, if not imperative, for our long-term survival. ICES could serve as a test-bed for large scale public and private development planning. Decision makers could ask ‘what if’ questions for major construction projects (such as China’s Three Gorges Dam), and then interactively evaluate alternative scenarios. Likewise, ICES could help uncover the possible unintended consequences of climate remediation and adaptation strategies, geo-engineering ideas, CO2 sequestration, deep sea drilling, etc. ICES would be a resource for building more resilient societies in an era of rapid climate change and frequent natural disasters (such as flooding, extreme weather events and volcanic ash clouds), and therefore of great consequence to our future well-being. It would ultimately play a major role in the education and training of policy-makers, the public, and future Earth Scientists - in conjunction with the current national and regional centers.

Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6-8: Climate Change Curriculum Developed Through a Collaboration Between Scientists and Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, E.; Skene, J.; Tran, L.

2011-12-01

Today's youth have been tasked with the overwhelming job of addressing the world's climate future. The students who will become the scientists, policy makers, and citizens of tomorrow must gain a robust understanding of the causes and effects of climate change, as well as possible adaptation strategies. Currently, there are few high quality curricula available to teachers that address these topics in a developmentally appropriate manner. The NOAA-funded Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6-8 aims to address this gap by providing teachers with scientifically accurate climate change curriculum that hits on some of the most salient points in climate science, while simultaneously developing students' science process skills. The Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6-8 is developed through a collaboration between some of the nation's leading ocean and climate scientists and the Lawrence Hall of Science's highly qualified GEMS (Great Explorations in Math & Science) curriculum development team. Scientists are active partners throughout the whole development process, from initial brainstorming of key concepts and creating the conceptual storyline for the curriculum to final review of the content and activities. As with all GEMS Sequences, the Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6-8 is designed to provide significant scientific and educational depth, systematic assessments and informational readings, and incorporate new learning technologies. The goal is to focus strategically and effectively on the core concepts within ocean and climate sciences that students need to understand. This curriculum is designed in accordance with the latest research from the learning sciences, and provides numerous opportunities for students to develop inquiry skills and abilities as they learn about the practice of science through hands-on activities. The Ocean Sciences Sequence for Grades 6-8 addresses in depth a significant number of national, state, and district standards and benchmarks. It

Local climate activities in co-operation between municipality, civil society and science shop

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

The Science Shop at DTU co-operates with the local municipal administration and the local branch of an environmental NGO about climate change. The co-operation was initiated by a proposal to the Science Shop from the municipal administration. Since the Science Shop requests civil society...... involvement in projects it was proposed to involve the local branch of the environmental NGO. The starting point was topics developed by the administration and the NGO together and announced to students as part of the Science Shop project supply. The focus is climate impact of local activities and strategies...... are initiated and co-ordinated by a group with members from municipal administration, the local NGO and the Science Shop. All projects have involved student projects, but most projects have also contributed to ongoing research activities. The projects up till now have focused on the municipal food supply...

What’s Needed from Climate Modeling to Advance Actionable Science for Water Utilities?

Science.gov (United States)

Barsugli, J. J.; Anderson, C. J.; Smith, J. B.; Vogel, J. M.

2009-12-01

“…perfect information on climate change is neither available today nor likely to be available in the future, but … over time, as the threats climate change poses to our systems grow more real, predicting those effects with greater certainty is non-discretionary. We’re not yet at a level at which climate change projections can drive climate change adaptation.” (Testimony of WUCA Staff Chair David Behar to the House Committee on Science and Technology, May 5, 2009) To respond to this challenge, the Water Utility Climate Alliance (WUCA) has sponsored a white paper titled “Options for Improving Climate Modeling to Assist Water Utility Planning for Climate Change. ” This report concerns how investments in the science of climate change, and in particular climate modeling and downscaling, can best be directed to help make climate projections more actionable. The meaning of “model improvement” can be very different depending on whether one is talking to a climate model developer or to a water manager trying to incorporate climate projections in to planning. We first surveyed the WUCA members on present and potential uses of climate model projections and on climate inputs to their various system models. Based on those surveys and on subsequent discussions, we identified four dimensions along which improvement in modeling would make the science more “actionable”: improved model agreement on change in key parameters; narrowing the range of model projections; providing projections at spatial and temporal scales that match water utilities system models; providing projections that water utility planning horizons. With these goals in mind we developed four options for improving global-scale climate modeling and three options for improving downscaling that will be discussed. However, there does not seem to be a single investment - the proverbial “magic bullet” -- which will substantially reduce the range of model projections at the scales at which utility

Climate science and the transfer of knowledge to public and political realms

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bray, D. [GKSS-Forschungszentrum Geesthacht GmbH (Germany). Inst. fuer Hydrophysik; Storch, H. von

1999-11-01

This paper presents the results of a survey of the perspectives of climate scientists on the topic of global warming. It addresses both internal and external elements of the science. A total of 412 responses from climate scientists in Canada. USA and Germany are analyzed. Differences among those groups with higher levels of involvement with policy makers, with the media, and the less vocal members of the scientific community are the focus of this paper. Statistically significant differences were found among these three groups on a number of pertinent issues. These differences were more often among those areas which were beyond the areas of the scientists` areas of expertise. More precisely differences were found in: The assessment that global warming is a process already underway, the nature of the impacts of climate change, the knowledge transfer process, and the conduct of the climate sciences. These perspectives are of considerable importance for they relate to the transfer of scientific knowledge to the public and political realms. In short, this paper contributes to the discussion of the socio-scientific construction of the climate change issue. (orig.) 11 refs.

Turkish Pre-Service Science Teachers' Awareness, Beliefs, Values, and Behaviours Pertinent to Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Higde, Emrah; Oztekin, Ceren; Sahin, Elvan

2017-01-01

This study examined Turkish pre-service science teachers' awareness, uncertainty beliefs, values, and behaviours pertinent to climate change. It aimed to determine significant predictors of climate change-related behaviours and uncertainty beliefs about the reality of climate change. A Turkish-adapted survey was administered to 1277 pre-service…

Influence of the anisotropy of expansion coefficients on the elastic properties of uranium of zirconium and of zinc; Influence de l'anisotropie des coefficients de dilatation sur les proprietes elastiques de l'uranium du zirconium et du zinc

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Calais, Daniel; Saada, Georges; Simenel, Nicole [Commissariat a l' energie atomique et aux energies alternatives - CEA (France)

1959-07-01

The anisotropy of the expansion coefficients of uranium, zirconium and zinc provoke internal tensions in the course of cooling these metals. These tensions are eliminated in the case of zinc by restoration to room temperature, but persist in uranium and zirconium and are responsible for the absence of an elastic limit in these two metals. Reprint of a paper published in Comptes rendus des seances de l'Academie des Sciences, t. 249, p. 1225-1227, sitting of 5 October 1959 [French] L'anisotropie des coefficients de dilatation de l'uranium, du zirconium et du zinc provoque au cours du refroidissement de ces metaux des tensions internes. Eliminees par restauration a la temperature ambiante dans le cas du zinc, ces tensions persistent pour l'uranium et le zirconium et sont responsable de l'absence de limite elastique dans ces deux metaux. Reproduction d'un article publie dans les Comptes rendus des seances de l'Academie des Sciences, t. 249, p. 1225-1227, seance du 5 octobre 1959.

Experts' workshop on critical issues in the science of global climate change. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

A summary is given of the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association's Workshop on 'Critical issues in the science of global climate change' held in 1994. The topics of the panel sessions were (1) modelling global climate change: capabilities and limitations; (2)the physics and chemistry of greenhouse gas concentrations; (3) other factors in predicting climate change; and (4) ecosystem response. (UK)

A case study of teaching social responsibility to doctoral students in the climate sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Børsen, Tom; Antia, Avan N; Glessmer, Mirjam Sophia

2013-12-01

The need to make young scientists aware of their social responsibilities is widely acknowledged, although the question of how to actually do it has so far gained limited attention. A 2-day workshop entitled "Prepared for social responsibility?" attended by doctoral students from multiple disciplines in climate science, was targeted at the perceived needs of the participants and employed a format that took them through three stages of ethics education: sensitization, information and empowerment. The workshop aimed at preparing doctoral students to manage ethical dilemmas that emerge when climate science meets the public sphere (e.g., to identify and balance legitimate perspectives on particular types of geo-engineering), and is an example of how to include social responsibility in doctoral education. The paper describes the workshop from the three different perspectives of the authors: the course teacher, the head of the graduate school, and a graduate student. The elements that contributed to the success of the workshop, and thus make it an example to follow, are (1) the involvement of participating students, (2) the introduction of external expertise and role models in climate science, and (3) a workshop design that focused on ethical analyses of examples from the climate sciences.

The National Climate Assessment as a Resource for Science Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Somerville, R. C. J.

2014-12-01

The 2014 Third National Climate Assessment (NCA3) is scientifically authoritative and features major advances, relative to other assessments produced by several organizations. NCA3 is a valuable resource for communicating climate science to a wide variety of audiences. Other assessments were often overly detailed and laden with scientific jargon that made them appear too complex and technical to many in their intended audiences, especially policymakers, the media, and the broad public. Some other assessments emphasized extensive scientific caveats, quantitative uncertainty estimates and broad consensus support. All these attributes, while valuable in research, carry the risk of impeding science communication to non-specialists. Without compromising scientific accuracy and integrity, NCA3 is written in exceptionally clear and vivid English. It includes outstanding graphics and employs powerful techniques aimed at conveying key results unambiguously to a wide range of audiences. I have used NCA3 as a resource in speaking about climate change in three very different settings: classroom teaching for undergraduate university students, presenting in academia to historians and other non-scientists, and briefing corporate executives working on renewable energy. NCA3 proved the value of developing a climate assessment with communication goals and strategies given a high priority throughout the process, not added on as an afterthought. I draw several lessons. First, producing an outstanding scientific assessment is too complex and demanding a task to be carried out by scientists alone. Many types of specialized expertise are also needed. Second, speaking about science to a variety of audiences requires an assortment of communication skills and tools, all tailored to specific groups of listeners. Third, NCA3 is scientifically impeccable and is also an outstanding example of effective communication as well as a valuable resource for communicators.

Climate Change Science: The Literacy of Geography Teachers in the Western Cape Province, South Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Anyanwu, Raymond; Le Grange, Lesley; Beets, Peter

2015-01-01

One of the universal responses to tackling global climate change is teaching climate change concepts at all levels of formal education. This response requires, among other things, teachers who are fully literate about climate change science, so that they can explain the concepts underlying the causes, impacts and solutions of climate change as…

Successful Coproduction in Water Management and Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Kaatz, L.

2017-12-01

Frequently described as the "canary in the coal mine," the water sector has been one of the first to experience and begin preparing for the impacts of climate change. Water utilities have lead the way in developing and testing climate information in practice with the end goal of building resiliency and avoiding catastrophic disasters. A key aspect of this leadership is strong, collaborative partnerships resulting in the coproduction of knowledge and actionable science. In this session we will hear from the decision-maker perspective regarding what effective partnerships in real-world applications look like using examples from the Water Utility Climate Alliances (WUCA), and the experience and outcomes of a unique decade-long partnership between Denver Water and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The lessons learned and challenges encountered in these examples of coproduction are not unique to WUCA, Denver Water nor the water sector, rather they are applicable across sectors and may inform future coproduction efforts.

Communicating Climate Change: Sometimes It's Not about the Science

Science.gov (United States)

Mandia, S. A.

2014-12-01

Although there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that humans are driving modern day climate change, a significant portion of Americans are not convinced. This gap in understanding challenges both instructors and students who wish to effectively communicate climate change science. Individuals subconsciously resist factual information that threatens their worldview. Their misperceptions are reinforced by journalistic false balance, coordinated misinformation campaigns, and incorrect or misleading information that is easily accessible via social media. Here the author presents effective refutation strategies that avoid the most common backfire effects while also offering strategies to properly frame the discussion to audiences holding diverse worldviews.

Collaboration for Actionable Climate Science in Hawaii and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Keener, V. W.; Grecni, Z. N.; Helweg, D. A.

2016-12-01

Hawaii and the US-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) encompass more than 2000 islands spread across millions of square miles of ocean. Islands can be high volcanic or low atolls, and vary widely in terms of geography, climate, ecology, language, culture, economies, government, and vulnerability to climate change impacts. For these reasons, meaningful collaboration across research groups and climate organizations is not only helpful, it is mandatory. No single group can address all the needs of every island, stakeholder, or sector, which has led to close collaboration and leveraging of research in the region to fill different niches. The NOAA-funded Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences & Assessments (RISA) program, DOI Pacific Islands Climate Science Center (PICSC), and the DOI LCC the Pacific Islands Climate Change Cooperative (PICCC) all take a stakeholder oriented approach to climate research, and have successfully collaborated on both specific projects and larger initiatives. Examples of these collaborations include comprising the core team of the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA), the regional arm of the US National Climate Assessment, co-sponsoring a workshop on regional downscaling for scientists and managers, leveraging research projects across multiple sectors on a single island, collaborating on communication products such as handouts and websites to ensure a consistent message, and in the case of the Pacific RISA and the PICSC, jointly funding a PIRCA Sustained Assessment Specialist position. Barriers to collaboration have been around topics such as roles of research versus granting groups, perceived research overlap, and funding uncertainties. However, collaborations have been overwhelming positive in the Pacific Islands region due to communication, recognition of partners' strengths and expertise, and especially because of the "umbrella" organization and purpose provided by the PIRCA structure, which provides a shared platform for all

The North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership: A Science-Management Collaboration for Responding to Climate Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Crystal L. Raymond

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The U.S. Forest Service (USFS and National Park Service (NPS have highlighted climate change as an agency priority and issued direction to administrative units for responding to climate change. In response, the USFS and NPS initiated the North Cascadia Adaptation Partnership (NCAP in 2010. The goals of the NCAP were to build an inclusive partnership, increase climate change awareness, assess vulnerability, and develop science-based adaptation strategies to reduce these vulnerabilities. The NCAP expanded previous science-management partnerships on federal lands to a larger, more ecologically and geographically complex region and extended the approach to a broader range of stakeholders. The NCAP focused on two national forests and two national parks in the North Cascades Range, Washington (USA, a total land area of 2.4 million ha, making it the largest science-management partnership of its kind. The NCAP assessed climate change vulnerability for four resource sectors (hydrology and access; vegetation and ecological disturbance; wildlife; and fish and developed adaptation options for each sector. The NCAP process has proven to be a successful approach for implementing climate change adaptation across a region and can be emulated by other land management agencies in North America and beyond.

Leveraging federal science data and tools to help communities & business build climate resilience

Science.gov (United States)

Herring, D.

2016-12-01

Decision-makers in every sector and region of the United States are seeking actionable science-based information to help them understand and manage their climate-related risks. Translating data, tools and information from the domain of climate science to the domains of municipal, social, and economic decision-making raises complex questions—e.g., how to communicate causes and impacts of climate variability and change; how to show projections of plausible future climate scenarios; how to characterize and quantify vulnerabilities, risks, and opportunities facing communities and businesses; and how to make and implement "win-win" adaptation plans. These are the types of challenges being addressed by a public-private partnership of federal agencies, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and private businesses that are contributing to the development of the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit (toolkit.climate.gov), a new website designed to help people build resilience to extreme events caused by both natural climate variability and long-term climate change. The site's Climate Explorer is designed to help people understand potential climate conditions over the course of this century. It offers easy access to downloadable maps, graphs, and data tables of observed and projected temperature, precipitation and other decision-relevant climate variables dating back to 1950 and out to 2100. Of course, climate change is only one of many variables affecting decisions about the future so the Toolkit also ties climate information to a wide range of other relevant tools and information to help users to explore their vulnerabilities and risks. In this session, we will describe recent enhancements to the Toolkit, lessons learned from user engagements, and evidence that our approach of coupling scientific information with actionable decision-making processes is helping Americans build resilience to climate-related impacts.

The CLEAN Workshop Series: Promoting Effective Pedagogy for Teaching Undergraduate Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Kirk, K. B.; Bruckner, M. Z.; Manduca, C. A.; Buhr, S. M.

2012-12-01

To prepare students to understand a changing climate, it is imperative that we equip educators with the best possible tools and methods for reaching their audience. As part of the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) professional development efforts, two workshops for undergraduate faculty were held in 2012. These workshops used a variety of activities to help faculty learn about recent climate research, take part in demonstrations of successful activities for teaching climate topics, and collaborate to create new teaching materials. The workshops also facilitated professional networking among participants. Both workshops were held online, eliminating the need for travel, encouraging participants without travel funds to attend, and allowing international collaborations and presentations. To create an authentic experience, the workshop used several technologies such as the Blackboard Collaborate web conferencing platform, SERC's web-based collaboration tools and online discussion threads, and conference calls. The workshop Communicating Climate Science in the Classroom, held in April 2012, explored practices for communicating climate science and policy in the classroom and provided strategies to improve student understanding of this complex and sensitive topic. Workshop presentations featured public opinion research on Americans' perceptions of climate change, tactics for identifying and resolving student misconceptions, and methods to address various "backfire effects" that can result from attempts to correct misinformation. Demonstrations of teaching approaches included a role-playing simulation of emissions negotiations, Princeton's climate stabilization wedges game, and an activity that allows students to use scientific principles to tackle misinformation. The workshop Teaching Climate Complexity was held in May 2012. Teaching the complexities of climate science requires an understanding of many facets of the Earth system and a robust pedagogic

Learning and Teaching Climate Science: The Perils of Consensus Knowledge Using Agnotology

Science.gov (United States)

Legates, David R.; Soon, Willie; Briggs, William M.

2013-08-01

Agnotology has been defined in a variety of ways including "the study of ignorance and its cultural production" and "the study of how and why ignorance or misunderstanding exists." More recently, however, it has been posited that agnotology should be used in the teaching of climate change science. But rather than use agnotology to enhance an understanding of the complicated nature of the complex Earth's climate, the particular aim is to dispel alternative viewpoints to the so-called consensus science. One-sided presentations of controversial topics have little place in the classroom as they serve only to stifle debate and do not further knowledge and enhance critical thinking. Students must understand not just what is known and why it is known to be true but also what remains unknown and where the limitations on scientific understanding lie. Fact recitation coupled with demonizing any position or person who disagrees with a singularly-derived conclusion has no place in education. Instead, all sides must be covered in highly debatable and important topics such as climate change, because authoritarian science never will have all the answers to such complex problems.

Analyse, Modélisation et Simulation du Mouvement Humain

OpenAIRE

Multon , Franck

2006-01-01

Comprendre le mouvement humain mobilise des chercheurs de nombreuses disciplines scientifiques : physiologie, biomécanique, neurosciences comportementales, anatomie fonctionnelle, les sciences du sport... Mes travaux s'inscrivent donc dans une démarche pluridisciplinaire d'analyse/synthèse du mouvement humain. Pour mener à bien cette démarche, une première tâche consiste à modéliser et à simuler le système moteur ainsi qu'un ensemble d'hypothèses. L'objectif est de disposer d'une représentati...

Climate populism: Claude Allegre and Co., investigation on science enemies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foucart, St.

2010-01-01

Todays, there is no serious uncertainty about the fact that climate is warming up and that human activities are the main contribution to this global warming. However, in France, some learned scientists in connivance with influent think tanks have mounted a campaign against science with or without the tacit support of institutions. All along this book, the author dissects the 'arguments' (errors and lies) and the manipulations of climate-skeptics and explains how this disinformation can propagates and can be taken over by intellectuals who become in turn the spokesmen of climate-skeptics. The result is frightening: a whole domain of study is becoming discredited, the public opinion is demobilized, and the political inaction is encouraged. (J.S.)

Relations between science and politics in the climate regime: In search of a new model of expertise?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dahan, Amy; Guillemot, Helene

2015-01-01

Over the past 25 years, anthropogenic climate change has been addressed as a global environmental problem, which must be resolved by reducing human greenhouse gas emissions through a global agreement negotiated under the auspices of the UN. The role of sciences in the construction of the problem is essential and is aptly summarized by the claim that 'science speaks truth to power', with science and politics assumed to be hermetically separated. Although this 'linear model' is in fact largely inadequate to account for the much more complex links between climate science and politics, notably within the IPCC, it has long been hegemonic, leading to debates focused on science rather than political responses. This dominant approach has been undermined by the failure of international negotiations: it is now clear that scientific consensus does not suffice to produce significant global political decisions. It is now evident that climate change is a geopolitical, economic, and development problem as much as an environmental one. As the Paris CoP approaches, in a phase of political uncertainties and discussions around the need for a change of paradigm in negotiations, our paper examines critically the evolving relationship between science and politics in the climate regime, revisiting the role of science and discussing emerging critiques, proposals, and perspectives on models of expertise

Enhancing climate governance through indigenous knowledge: Case in sustainability science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson Chanza

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The current tempo of climate change strategies puts the notion of sustainability in question. In this philosophy, mitigation and adaptation strategies ought to be appropriate to the sectors and communities that are targeted. There is a growing realisation that the effectiveness of both strategies hinges on climate governance, which also informs their sustainability. The application of the climate governance concept by the technocratic divide (policymakers and climate practitioners to communities facing climate change impacts, however, is still a poorly developed field, despite extensive treatment by academia. By drawing heavily from conceptual and analytical review of scholarship on the utility of indigenous knowledge (IK in climate science, these authors argue that IK can be deployed in the practice of climate governance. It reveals that the merits of such a deployment lie in the understanding that the tenets of IK and climate governance overlap and are complementary. This is exhibited by examining the conceptual, empirical and sustainability strands of the climate governance-IK nexus. In the milieu of climate change problems, it is argued that the basic elements of climate governance, where actions are informed by the principles of decentralisation and autonomy; accountability and transparency; responsiveness and flexibility; and participation and inclusion, can be pragmatic particularly to communities who have been religiously observing changes in their environment. Therefore, it becomes necessary to invigorate the participation of communities, with their IK, in designing climate change interventions, which in this view can be a means to attain the objectives of climate governance.

Joint Applications Pilot of the National Climate Predictions and Projections Platform and the North Central Climate Science Center: Delivering climate projections on regional scales to support adaptation planning

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, A. J.; Ojima, D. S.; Morisette, J. T.

2012-12-01

The DOI North Central Climate Science Center (NC CSC) and the NOAA/NCAR National Climate Predictions and Projections (NCPP) Platform and have initiated a joint pilot study to collaboratively explore the "best available climate information" to support key land management questions and how to provide this information. NCPP's mission is to support state of the art approaches to develop and deliver comprehensive regional climate information and facilitate its use in decision making and adaptation planning. This presentation will describe the evolving joint pilot as a tangible, real-world demonstration of linkages between climate science, ecosystem science and resource management. Our joint pilot is developing a deliberate, ongoing interaction to prototype how NCPP will work with CSCs to develop and deliver needed climate information products, including translational information to support climate data understanding and use. This pilot also will build capacity in the North Central CSC by working with NCPP to use climate information used as input to ecological modeling. We will discuss lessons to date on developing and delivering needed climate information products based on this strategic partnership. Four projects have been funded to collaborate to incorporate climate information as part of an ecological modeling project, which in turn will address key DOI stakeholder priorities in the region: Riparian Corridors: Projecting climate change effects on cottonwood and willow seed dispersal phenology, flood timing, and seedling recruitment in western riparian forests. Sage Grouse & Habitats: Integrating climate and biological data into land management decision models to assess species and habitat vulnerability Grasslands & Forests: Projecting future effects of land management, natural disturbance, and CO2 on woody encroachment in the Northern Great Plains The value of climate information: Supporting management decisions in the Plains and Prairie Potholes LCC. NCCSC's role in

The Department of the Interior Southeast Climate Science Center synthesis report 2011–15—Projects, products, and science priorities

Science.gov (United States)

Varela Minder, Elda; Lascurain, Aranzazu R.; McMahon, Gerard

2016-09-28

IntroductionIn 2009, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar established a network of eight regional Climate Science Centers (CSCs) that, along with the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs), would help define and implement the Department's climate adaptation response. The Southeast Climate Science Center (SE CSC) was established at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2010, under a 5-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), to identify and address the regional challenges presented by climate change and variability in the Southeastern United States. All eight regional CSC hosts, including NCSU, were selected through a competitive process.Since its opening, the focus of the SE CSC has been on working with partners in the identification and development of research-based information that can assist managers, including cultural and natural resource managers, in adapting to global change processes, such as climate and land use change, that operate at local to global scales and affect resources important to the DOI mission. The SE CSC was organized to accomplish three goals:Provide co-produced, researched based, actionable science that supports transparent global change adaptation decisions.Convene conversations among decision makers, scientists, and managers to identify key ecosystem adaptation decisions driven by climate and land use change, the values and objectives that will be used to make decisions, and the research-based information needed to assess adaptation options.Build the capacity of natural resource professionals, university faculty, and students to understand and frame natural resource adaptation decisions and develop and use research-based information to make adaptation decisions.This report provides an overview of the SE CSC and the projects developed by the SE CSC since its inception. An important goal of this report is to provide a framework for understanding the

World climate research: an (un)comfortable coexistence among science and scientists' opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henderson-Sellers, A.

2007-01-01

Full text: Full text: My hypothesis is that the effective global governance so urgently needed in relation to greenhouse climate change is not developing, in part, because climate research scientists are failing to communicate well. This is, I believe, because traditionally science has informed society through a sequence of steps moving from facts, through assessment, projection, risk evaluation to policy for changed governance. Any prioritisation, facilitation, and co-ordination activity (such as the World Climate Research Programme) has to be concerned about the way in which science participates in policy. The range of options encompasses: Hands off: it is the job of policy, not science to make decisions; Recognise risk: provide credible and defensible information to help deal with risk; Inform people: because the ultimate policy-maker is the public. Good global governance of common resource, the climate, uses risk management to avoid free riding. History teaches that international cooperation can be successful, e.g. protection of the ozone layer. Some international collective moves towards global carbon governance are occurring: multilateral frameworks such as the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and its follow-up (endorsed by the G8 in June) and domestic mandatory goals set by the EU, UK, China, California and other US states. It is very clear that the world must move from actuarial style climate risk management strategy (history as a good predictor of future) to a dynamically-based prediction and management regime. The urgency of this includes that while mitigation costs are high, delaying action increases them (e.g. Stern 2006; IPCC 2007); that atmospheric concentration of C02 is 380 ppmv (up from the pre-industrial 270 ppmv); current emissions are already higher than the 1990s IPCC scenarios; positive feedbacks seem to predominate; and finally social and climate systems inertias of decades mean that the world is already committed to unrealised warming. Stronger and

How much can disaster and climate science contribute to loss and damage mechanisms in international climate policy?

Science.gov (United States)

Huggel, Christian; Allen, Simon; Eicken, Hajo; Hansen, Gerrit; Stone, Dáithí

2015-04-01

proposals for mechanisms of financing suggested a role of causation and thus attribution of L&D to (anthropogenic) climate change. Yet, causation mechanisms are particularly delicate in terms of climate justice, development and implications of legal liabilities. Here, we outline potential contributions of science to L&D mechanisms in greater specificity, in particular for (i) threshold based mechanisms, and (ii) causation related mechanisms. We draw on recent concepts of L&D attribution suggesting a more comprehensive attribution framework based on risk concepts. We present a first-order proof-of-concept for the above mechanisms (i) and (ii), using case studies of recent disasters (both related to extreme events and gradual climate change) in the Indian Himalayas, Colombia, Alaska and Australia. We analyze whether science is in a position to substantially contribute to the different L&D policy proposals, including the question whether currently available data and datasets on climate and hazards, exposure and vulnerability are in line with such support, in particular with regards to developing country contexts. We conclude with a perspective on critical research and data needs to further strengthen L&D science and policy.

La chimie du XVIIe siècle : une question de principes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rémi Franckowiak

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Le tournant du XVIIe au XVIIIe siècle est une période décisive pour l’histoire de la chimie qui passe de la reconnaissance institutionnelle à la contestation de son fondement théorique, pour apparaître au final comme la seule partie de la Physique à pouvoir prétendre atteindre la « vérité certaine ». Ce qui se joue alors n’est rien de moins que la redéfinition de ses principes, à savoir son socle de vérités sur lequel s’appuie la science chimique. Cette période est en fait la dernière étape de l’évolution du rapport entre les deux dimensions – théorique et pratique – dans lesquelles se déploie la chimie, qui a vu, par le développement de l’usage des principes dits seconds, l’ensemble des principes chimiques entrainé vers un réalisme empirique, ayant pour effet d’ôter de la chimie toute cohérence théorique. Aussi l’apparition du mécanisme – pas plus celui de Boyle – n’est-il en réalité responsable du bouleversement que connaît la chimie ; elle n’est pas davantage responsable de sa régénération au tout début du XVIIIe siècle. La conscience de la faiblesse théorique de la chimie va devenir pour elle promesse de vigueur théorique sur la base de ce qui représente sa force : l’expérience. À la suite de la perte de ce qui fut certitude, le chimiste devient un être à ré-instruire. Un chimiste tel que Samuel Cottereau Du Clos illustre parfaitement le passage d’une science chimique comme connaissance des principes à une chimie comme science cette fois du vraisemblable.The last decades of 17th century represent a decisive period for the history of Chemistry which switched from institutional recognition to dispute of its theoretical basis, to seem finally, during the very first years of the next century, the only part of Physics being able to claim reaching the “unquestionable truth”. What did happen then is nothing less than the redefinition of principles of Chemistry

Affordances and Challenges of Using Argument as a Connective Discourse for Scientific Practices to Teach Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Sezen-Barrie, A.; Wolfson, J.

2015-12-01

An important goal of science education is to support development of citizens to participate in public debate and make informed decisions relevant to their lives and their worlds. The NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) suggest engaging students in science classrooms in argumentation as a practice to help enhance the quality of evidence based decision making. In this multi-case study, we explored the use of written argumentation in eight secondary school science classrooms during a lesson on the relationship between ocean temperature and its CO2 holding capacity. All teachers of these classrooms were trained during a day long NSF funded Climate Literacy Workshop on the basic concepts of climate science, scientific practices and implementation of an activity called "It's a Gassy World". The data of the current study involved students' written arguments, teachers' written reflections on the implementation of the activity as well as field notes from the Climate Literacy Workshop. A qualitative discourse analysis of the data was used to find common themes around affordances and challenges of argument as a connective discourse for scientific practices to teach climate change. The findings show that participating in written argumentation process encouraged students to discuss their experimental design and use data interpretation for their evidences. However, the results also indicated the following challenges: a) teachers themselves need support in connecting their evidence to their claims, b) arguing a socioscientific issue creates a sensitive environment c) conceptual quality of an argument needs to be strengthen through background in courses other than science, and d) graphing skills (or lack of) can interfere with constructing scientifically accurate claims. This study has implications in effectively teaching climate change through argumentation, and thus creating opportunities for practicing authentic climate science research in K-12 classrooms.

Effets de la microdose sur la production du niébé, du mil et du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Effets de la microdose sur la production du niébé, du mil et du sorgho en fonction la toposéquence. Fatimata Saba, Sibiri Jean Baptiste Taonda, Idriss Serme, Alimata A. Bandaogo, Augustin P. Sourwema, Adama Kabre ...

Science, Technology, and Innovation in Chile | CRDI - Centre de ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Science, Technology, and Innovation in Chile présente les résultats de cette étude. Les lecteurs y trouveront une analyse détaillée des politiques sur les sciences et la technologie du Chili qui part du « système d'innovation national ». On y propose des moyens d'améliorer la coordination du secteur public, des réformes ...

Effective Use of Social Media in Communicating Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Sinclair, P. W.

2012-12-01

The internet and social media have been a critical vector for misinformation on climate change. Scientists have not always been proactive or effective in utilizing the medium to bring attention to the best science, to correct misinformation and overcome urban myths. Similarly, mainstream journalists have been handicapped in dealing with the wide open nature of the medium, and often muted by editorial concerns or budget restrictions. Independent communicators who are highly motivated can make inroads in this area by using the internet's immediacy and connectivity to consistently connect viewers and readers to reliable information. Over the last 4 years, I have developed a series of you tube videos, made deliberately provocative to engage the internet's confrontational culture, but carefully crafted to bring the best science into the freewheeling community. In doing so, I have won the confidence of leading climate scientists, and in some cases assisted them in clarifying their message. This presentation will share simple tips, useful practices, and effective strategies for making complex material more clear and user friendly, and help scientists better convey the stories hidden in their data.

Development and validation of the ACSI : measuring students' science attitudes, pro-environmental behaviour, climate change attitudes and knowledge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, E. M.; Goedhart, M. J.

2012-01-01

This article describes the development and validation of the Attitudes towards Climate Change and Science Instrument. This 63-item questionnaire measures students' pro-environmental behaviour, their climate change knowledge and their attitudes towards school science, societal implications of

Online Matchmaking: It's Not Just for Dating Sites Anymore! Connecting the Climate Voices Science Speakers Network to Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Wegner, Kristin; Herrin, Sara; Schmidt, Cynthia

2015-01-01

Scientists play an integral role in the development of climate literacy skills - for both teachers and students alike. By partnering with local scientists, teachers can gain valuable insights into the science practices highlighted by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), as well as a deeper understanding of cutting-edge scientific discoveries and local impacts of climate change. For students, connecting to local scientists can provide a relevant connection to climate science and STEM skills. Over the past two years, the Climate Voices Science Speakers Network (climatevoices.org) has grown to a robust network of nearly 400 climate science speakers across the United States. Formal and informal educators, K-12 students, and community groups connect with our speakers through our interactive map-based website and invite them to meet through face-to-face and virtual presentations, such as webinars and podcasts. But creating a common language between scientists and educators requires coaching on both sides. In this presentation, we will present the "nitty-gritty" of setting up scientist-educator collaborations, as well as the challenges and opportunities that arise from these partnerships. We will share the impact of these collaborations through case studies, including anecdotal feedback and metrics.

The Machinery Of Climate Anti-Science, Its Efforts Against Education, Top To Bottom

Science.gov (United States)

Mashey, J. R.

2014-12-01

"There's always one every year" a fine local science teacher said after once again being hassled by a vocal parent for teaching appropriate climate science in school. How does that happen? The machinery of climate anti-science starts from the top with funders working through a maze of money paths, think tanks and front groups, employing spokespeople who can be portrayed as experts. While much of the money flows are still dark, some have been exposed over the last few years, and the effects finally filter down to the state and local levels of education. Among others, the Heartland Institute has a long history of trying to inject anti-science into K-12 and college education, having sent books, DVDs or brochures to teachers or school boards, as well as monthly newsletters to state legislators. Such are aimed at the top of the state or local organizations that affect education. For a vocal subset of the citizenry, a constant flow of misinformation from books, blogs, newsletters and some newspapers and magazines stirs action such as writing letters to editors, complaining to schools, calling on pseudo-experts and demanding equal time for pseudoscience. As the teacher said, it only takes one person to cause trouble at the local level. After a brief review of the overall machinery, this focuses on examples of anti-education tactics seen already, with some brief advice for climate scientists and educators who need to understand the machinery that supports such tactics. Some earlier history is included in http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/10/23/fakery-2-more-funny-finances-free-tax, but other attempts have surfaced in last few years, including state-wide efforts to reject Common Core Educational standard to avoid teaching climate science. Fortunately, school boards sometimes respond quite well, including one just recently in Pennsylvania.

U.S. Department of the Interior Climate Science Centers and U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center—Annual report for 2017

Science.gov (United States)

Varela Minder, Elda

2018-04-19

IntroductionThe year 2017 was a year of review and renewal for the Department of the Interior (DOI) Climate Science Centers (CSCs) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC). The Southeast, Northwest, Alaska, Southwest, and North Central CSCs’ 5-year summary review reports were released in 2017 and contain the findings of the external review teams led by the Cornell University Human Dimensions Research Unit in conjunction with the American Fisheries Society. The reports for the Pacific Islands, South Central, and Northeast CSCs are planned for release in 2018. The reviews provide an opportunity to evaluate aspects of the cooperative agreement, such as the effectiveness of the CSC in meeting project goals and assessment of the level of scientific contribution and achievement. These reviews serve as a way for the CSCs and NCCWSC to look for ways to recognize and enhance our network’s strengths and identify areas for improvement. The reviews were followed by the CSC recompetition, which led to new hosting agreements at the Northwest, Alaska, and Southeast CSCs. Learn more about the excellent science and activities conducted by the network centers in the 2017 annual report.

25 years of the Conseil du Léman

CERN Multimedia

2012-01-01

On 30 June, the Conseil du Léman will celebrate its 25th anniversary. The Conseil, which comprises representatives of the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie and the Swiss cantons of Geneva, Vaud and Valais, was set up to promote cross-border cooperation in the Lake Geneva region.   To celebrate its quarter centenary, the Conseil will be holding a day of discussions and activities, including a round-table discussion in CERN’s Globe of Science and Innovation. You are cordially invited to participate in the round-table discussion, which will be led by prominent representatives of each of the Conseil’s five constituent authorities: Round-Table Discussion The Challenges of Cross-border Cooperation: A look back at the role of the Conseil du Léman over the past 25 years. Saturday, 30 June 9.30 am - 12.30 pm Globe of Science and Innovation During the afternoon, activities for the general public will be organised in the park of the Château de ...

The energy-climate continuum lessons from basic science and history

CERN Document Server

Bret, Antoine

2014-01-01

An entertaining, highly informative introduction to the intimate linkage between the energy and climate debates Illustrates the basic science behind energy and climate with back-of-the-envelope calculations, that even non-experts can easily follow without a calculator Thus provides an access to getting an accurate feeling for orders of magnitudes from simple estimations A conversation starter for some of the most debated topics of today Compares the actual situation with historic cases of societies at a turning point and finds warning as well as encouraging examples For everyone, who wan

Earth Science Week 2009, "Understanding Climate", Highlights and News Clippings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robeck, Edward C. [American Geological Inst., Alexandria, VA (United States)

2010-01-05

The American Geological Institute (AGI) proposes to expand its influential Earth Science Week Program in 2009, with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy, to disseminate DOE's key messages, information, and resources on climate education and to include new program components. These components, ranging from online resources to live events and professional networks, would significantly increase the reach and impact of AGI's already successful geoscience education and public awareness effort in the United States and abroad in 2009, when the campaign's theme will be "Understanding Climate."

L'administration du travail et la production du droit du travail (1906-1960). : Note de synthèse du rapport de recherche

OpenAIRE

Le Crom , Jean-Pierre

2007-01-01

Synthèse d'un rapport de recherche dont l'objectif est d'appréhender le rôle de l'administration centrale du travail dans la production du droit du travail. Deux dimensions sont explorées : le profil des rédacteurs et l'organisation des structures.

Improving Public Engagement With Climate Change: Five "Best Practice" Insights From Psychological Science.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Linden, Sander; Maibach, Edward; Leiserowitz, Anthony

2015-11-01

Despite being one of the most important societal challenges of the 21st century, public engagement with climate change currently remains low in the United States. Mounting evidence from across the behavioral sciences has found that most people regard climate change as a nonurgent and psychologically distant risk-spatially, temporally, and socially-which has led to deferred public decision making about mitigation and adaptation responses. In this article, we advance five simple but important "best practice" insights from psychological science that can help governments improve public policymaking about climate change. Particularly, instead of a future, distant, global, nonpersonal, and analytical risk that is often framed as an overt loss for society, we argue that policymakers should (a) emphasize climate change as a present, local, and personal risk; (b) facilitate more affective and experiential engagement; (c) leverage relevant social group norms; (d) frame policy solutions in terms of what can be gained from immediate action; and (e) appeal to intrinsically valued long-term environmental goals and outcomes. With practical examples we illustrate how these key psychological principles can be applied to support societal engagement and climate change policymaking. © The Author(s) 2015.

Climate Change | Page 17 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Adaptation aux changements climatiques grâce à une gestion améliorée des bassins versants dans le bassin du Tensift, au Maroc. Language French. Read more about Climate Change and Water Adaptation Options. Language ...

Advancing Climate Literacy through Investment in Science Education Faculty, and Future and Current Science Teachers: Providing Professional Learning, Instructional Materials, and a Model for Locally-Relevant and Culturally-Responsive Content

Science.gov (United States)

Halversen, C.; Apple, J. K.; McDonnell, J. D.; Weiss, E.

2014-12-01

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) call for 5th grade students to "obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect Earth's resources and environment". Achieving this, and other objectives in NGSS, will require changes in the educational system for both students and teachers. Teachers need access to high quality instructional materials and continuous professional learning opportunities starting in pre-service education. Students need highly engaging and authentic learning experiences focused on content that is strategically interwoven with science practices. Pre-service and early career teachers, even at the secondary level, often have relatively weak understandings of the complex Earth systems science required for understanding climate change and hold alternative ideas and naïve beliefs about the nature of science. These naïve understandings cause difficulties in portraying and teaching science, especially considering what is being called for in NGSS. The ACLIPSE program focuses on middle school pre-service science teachers and education faculty because: (1) the concepts that underlie climate change align well with the disciplinary core ideas and practices in NGSS for middle grades; and (2) middle school is a critical time for capturing students interest in science as student engagement by eighth grade is the most effective predictor of student pursuit of science in high school and college. Capturing student attention at this age is critical for recruitment to STEM careers and lifelong climate literacy. THE ACLIPSE program uses cutting edge research and technology in ocean observing systems to provide educators with new tools to engage students that will lead to deeper understanding of the interactions between the ocean and climate systems. Establishing authentic, meaningful connections between indigenous and place-based, and technological climate observations will help generate a more holistic perspective

Assessing the Credibility of Climate Science Information: A Roadmap for Educators

Science.gov (United States)

Mandia, S. A.

2017-12-01

Although there is an overwhelming scientific consensus that humans are driving modern day climate change, a significant portion of Americans are still not convinced. One reason for this gap in understanding results from a large body of misinformation that is easily accessible by students and educators. Here the author presents an effective teaching model to allow students to assess the credibility of organizations and their authors who publish climate science information aimed toward the general public.

The Climate Science Special Report: Detection and Attribution

Science.gov (United States)

Wehner, M. F.

2017-12-01

The Climate Science Special Report reiterates previous findings about the human influence on global mean surface air temperature with the statement "…it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid 20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence." This is a statement made with high confidence and supported by multiple lines of evidence. The report also assesses the latest developments in the field of probabilistic extreme event attribution—the quantification of the influence of anthropogenic climate change on individual extreme weather events—with a focus on those recent events within the United States that have been analyzed. Thirty different events within the US are reported on including heat waves, cold snaps, wet seasons, individual storms and droughts. Most but not all of the individual US events studied revealed an influence from human induced changes to the climate system.

A Citizen Empowered Online Platform for Communicating Climate Science to the General Public

Science.gov (United States)

Bourqui, Michel

2014-05-01

This presentation introduces a project, currently in development, of a new online platform for the interaction between climate scientists and citizen. It consists of an open-access, multi-lingual, and peer-reviewed journal publishing climate articles in non-scientific language. It follows three main long-term objectives. The first objective is to establish an ever-growing, multi-lingual library of climate articles providing a knowledge base on climate sciences accessible for free to everyone. The targeted public includes journalists, teachers, students, local actors (e.g. in politics, economy, agriculture), and any other citizen from around the world with an interest in climate sciences. The second goal is to offer a simple and direct channel for scientists wishing to disseminate their research to the general public. A high standard of climate articles is enforced through: a) requiring that the main author is an active climate scientist, and b) an innovative peer-review process involving scientific and non-scientific referees with distinct roles. The third objective is to engage citizen into the climate science. To this aim, the journal proposes three channels. Firstly, citizens are invited to contribute to the dissemination of climate knowledge to the general public by co-authoring, peer-reviewing or translating articles. Secondly, they are offered the capacity to stimulate scientific enquiry by posting invitations for manuscripts to be written on a citizen-inspired topic. Thirdly, a match-up tool is being developed for scientists to gather non-scientists teams for conducting citizen-involving research projects. This platform is scientist-initiated and is meant to be ruled and managed by the participating individuals themselves (scientists and non-scientists) as an international association. It will be financed through country-varying flat memberships. The project is now starting. The basic ideas are drawn; a prototype internet platform has been developed and is

Effet du Pediococcus acidilactici sur le bilan lipidique sanguin du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Les résultats relatifs aux performances zootechniques ont montré que l'addition du probiotique a amélioré significativement le gain de poids pendant la phase de croissance se traduisant par un indice de consommation meilleur. Les dosages du cholestérol total, des triglycérides, du HDL et du LDL ont été déterminés à la ...

Exposure science in an age of rapidly changing climate: challenges and opportunities

Science.gov (United States)

LaKind, Judy S; Overpeck, Jonathan; Breysse, Patrick N; Backer, Lorrie; Richardson, Susan D; Sobus, Jon; Sapkota, Amir; Upperman, Crystal R; Jiang, Chengsheng; Beard, C Ben; Brunkard, J M; Bell, Jesse E; Harris, Ryan; Chretien, Jean-Paul; Peltier, Richard E; Chew, Ginger L; Blount, Benjamin C

2016-01-01

Climate change is anticipated to alter the production, use, release, and fate of environmental chemicals, likely leading to increased uncertainty in exposure and human health risk predictions. Exposure science provides a key connection between changes in climate and associated health outcomes. The theme of the 2015 Annual Meeting of the International Society of Exposure Science—Exposures in an Evolving Environment—brought this issue to the fore. By directing attention to questions that may affect society in profound ways, exposure scientists have an opportunity to conduct “consequential science”—doing science that matters, using our tools for the greater good and to answer key policy questions, and identifying causes leading to implementation of solutions. Understanding the implications of changing exposures on public health may be one of the most consequential areas of study in which exposure scientists could currently be engaged. In this paper, we use a series of case studies to identify exposure data gaps and research paths that will enable us to capture the information necessary for understanding climate change-related human exposures and consequent health impacts. We hope that paper will focus attention on under-developed areas of exposure science that will likely have broad implications for public health. PMID:27485992

GCMs and MDGs: can climate science reduce poverty?

Science.gov (United States)

Thomson, M. C.; Connor, S. J.

2004-12-01

Sub-Saharan Africa, the birthplace of humankind, is seen by many, both as the least developed region of the world, and the region where the processes of globalization and sustainable development are most difficult to set in motion. Sub-Saharan African countries invariably appear en masse at the bottom of the annual UNDP Human Development Report rankings with development indicators such as life expectancy and basic nutrition levels in decline. The poorer communities are most vulnerable to adverse impacts of climate fluctuations and seen as the least able to cope with current climate variability. Sub-Saharan Africa has a population of approximately 625 million, with more than two thirds of the people dependant on rain-fed agriculture. The vast majority of the population lack access to clean water and sanitation and sub-Saharan Africa currently bears the highest burden of infectious diseases such as HIV-AIDS, TB and Malaria to be found anywhere in the world. With almost half of the region's population living on less than US$1 per day, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for one quarter of the world's poor. The rural poor are often considered to have no voice and therefore form a very weak political constituency. International development targets such as the recently articulated UN Millennium Development Goals are seen as one means of giving voice to this large but disenfranchised population. Improved management of climate sensitive sectors is essential to achieving a number of the MDgs: Poverty-Hunger, Disease, Water and sanitation. Climate information is also essential to measuring that achievement, as climate often acts as a confounder in any analysis of interventions. Here we present work on how climate science, including state of the art - multi-model ensemble seasonal climate forecasting models, are being used in support of achieving the MDGs in Africa.

Original Paper Efficience des stratégies endogènes d'adaptation du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

10 août 2017 ... Intergouvernemental pour l'évolution du climat (GIEC, 2007), l'amélioration ... improving agricultural practices (management of livestock and agricultural effluents, nitrogen fertilization, ...... qualité, la vétusté et la difficulté de.

Climatic shocks associate with innovation in science and technology.

Science.gov (United States)

De Dreu, Carsten K W; van Dijk, Mathijs A

2018-01-01

Human history is shaped by landmark discoveries in science and technology. However, across both time and space the rate of innovation is erratic: Periods of relative inertia alternate with bursts of creative science and rapid cascades of technological innovations. While the origins of the rise and fall in rates of discovery and innovation remain poorly understood, they may reflect adaptive responses to exogenously emerging threats and pressures. Here we examined this possibility by fitting annual rates of scientific discovery and technological innovation to climatic variability and its associated economic pressures and resource scarcity. In time-series data from Europe (1500-1900CE), we indeed found that rates of innovation are higher during prolonged periods of cold (versus warm) surface temperature and during the presence (versus absence) of volcanic dust veils. This negative temperature-innovation link was confirmed in annual time-series for France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (1901-1965CE). Combined, across almost 500 years and over 5,000 documented innovations and discoveries, a 0.5°C increase in temperature associates with a sizable 0.30-0.60 standard deviation decrease in innovation. Results were robust to controlling for fluctuations in population size. Furthermore, and consistent with economic theory and micro-level data on group innovation, path analyses revealed that the relation between harsher climatic conditions between 1500-1900CE and more innovation is mediated by climate-induced economic pressures and resource scarcity.

Climate adaptation policy, science and practice - Lessons for communication

Science.gov (United States)

Wolf, Johanna

2017-04-01

In climate change adaptation research, policy, and practice, institutional culture produces distinct conceptualizations of adaptation, which in turn affect how adaptation work is undertaken. This study examines institutional culture as the four domains of norms, values, knowledge, and beliefs that are held by adaptation scientists, policy- and decision-makers, and practitioners in Western Canada. Based on 31 semi-structured interviews, this article traces the ways in which these four domains interact, intersect, converge, and diverge among scientists, policy- and decision-makers, and practitioners. By exploring the knowledge, backgrounds, goals, approaches, assumptions, and behaviours of people working in adaptation, these interviews map the ways in which institutional culture shapes adaptation work being carried out by local, provincial, and federal governments, nongovernmental organizations, and an international community of scientists (including Canadian scientists). Findings suggest that institutional culture both limits and enables adaptation actions for these actors in important ways, significantly influencing how climate change adaptation is being planned for, and carried out on the ground. As a result, this paper asserts that there is an urgent need to better understand the role that institutional culture plays in order to advance climate change adaptation, both now and in the future. Important lessons for communicating about climate science, climate impacts and adaptation will be presented.

Alimentation du nouveau-ne et du nourrisson dans la region ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Alimentation du nouveau-ne et du nourrisson dans la region centrale du togo : pratiques familiales et communautaires avant la mise en oeuvre de la strategie « prise en charge integree des maladies de l'enfant »

Les oiseaux chanteurs. Sciences, pratiques sociales et représentations en Europe du Moyen Âge à nos jours

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corinne Beck et Martine Clouzot

2011-08-01

Full Text Available « Les oiseaux chanteurs » est un projet pluridisciplinaire, transversal et international, initié et porté par l’UMR 5594 ARTeHIS de l’université de Bourgogne et l’UMR Calhiste de l’université de Valenciennes. Ce projet consiste à élargir une thématique déjà étudiée par les ornithologues, les éthologues, les littéraires et les musicologues, à d’autres disciplines a priori éloignées, dont les problématiques centrales touchent essentiellement aux domaines des sciences du vivant, de l’environneme...

Discussing Climate Change with the Public: Presenting the Science is Necessary but Insufficient

Science.gov (United States)

Vincelli, P.; Humble, J.

2012-12-01

Social science literature shows that the topic of climate change is imbued with cultural meaning for most Americans, such that sound scientific information alone is likely to be unpersuasive to people already doubtful about climate change. A current educational program on climate change emphasizes the following: *Less reliance on geophysical data *Positive messages as frequently as possible *Making the subject personal and concrete *Focusing on scientific aspects of climate change while refraining from promotion of particular policy solutions *Seeking ways to speak to core identities of diverse audiences *Assuring that communication efforts on this highly divisive topic are based on sensitivity to, and respect for, the diversity of worldviews present in citizens *To the extent possible, emphasizing optimism as well as our personal and collective capability to solve the problem of climate change. While this may seem self-evident, we also remind ourselves of the importance of avoiding criticism, blame, demonization, or arrogance in building a more inclusive community of public leaders on climate literacy.; Citing the recognition of climate-change science by trusted organizations is probably more convincing than showing reams of geophysical data. In particular, citing the Department of Defense may speak to the values of many who remain skeptical. ; This image is intended to speak to people that deeply value passing on a way of life to their descendants. Although nationalism can be carried to an extreme, this imagery can convey the notion that protecting our world from climate change is actually patriotic, something few Americans may realize.

What is motivating middle-school science teachers to teach climate change?

Science.gov (United States)

McNeal, Peggy; Petcovic, Heather; Reeves, Patricia

2017-05-01

Adoption of science content standards that include anthropogenic climate change has prompted widespread instruction in climate change for the first time. However, the controversial nature of the topic can be daunting and many teachers share misconceptions that lead to weak treatment of climate change in classrooms. Nevertheless, numerous teachers have embraced the topic and are providing illustrations of deliberate climate change education. In this study we investigated teacher motivation using focus groups with middle school teachers who currently teach climate change. Qualitative analysis of the collective teacher voices yielded underlying motivations. Our findings suggest that these teachers' interest in environmentalism naturally translates to climate change advocacy and motivates teaching the topic. Their knowledge and expertise gives them confidence to teach it. These teachers see themselves as scientists, therefore their views align with the scientific consensus. They practice authentic scientific research with their students, thus confirming valued characteristics of their scientist identity. Finally, our findings suggest that teaching climate change gives these teachers a sense of hope as they impact the future through their students. This study contrasts with skepticism over the state of climate change education and contributes to an understanding of how climate change education is motivated in teachers.

Controversy in Biology Classrooms—Citizen Science Approaches to Evolution and Applications to Climate Change Discussions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel A. Yoho

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The biological sciences encompass topics considered controversial by the American public, such as evolution and climate change. We believe that the development of climate change education in the biology classroom is better informed by an understanding of the history of the teaching of evolution. A common goal for science educators should be to engender a greater respect for and appreciation of science among students while teaching specific content knowledge. Citizen science has emerged as a viable yet underdeveloped method for engaging students of all ages in key scientific issues that impact society through authentic data-driven scientific research. Where successful, citizen science may open avenues of communication and engagement with the scientific process that would otherwise be more difficult to achieve. Citizen science projects demonstrate versatility in education and the ability to test hypotheses by collecting large amounts of often publishable data. We find a great possibility for science education research in the incorporation of citizen science projects in curriculum, especially with respect to “hot topics” of socioscientific debate based on our review of the findings of other authors.

Climate Engineering: A Nexus of Ethics, Science and Governance

Science.gov (United States)

Ackerman, T. P.

2015-12-01

Climate engineering (or geoengineering) has emerged as a possible component of a strategy to mitigate global warming. This emergence has produced a novel intersection of atmospheric science, environmental ethics and global governance. The scientific questions of climate engineering, while difficult to answer in their own right, are compounded by ethical considerations regarding whether these questions should be addressed and governance questions of how research and deployment could be managed. In an effort to address this intersection of ideas and provide our students with a rich interdisciplinary experience, we (T. Ackerman and S. Gardiner, both senior professors at the University of Washington) taught a cross-listed course in the Atmospheric Sciences and Philosophy departments. The course attracted 12 students (mostly graduate students but with two upper level undergraduates), with roughly equal representation from environmental sciences, ethics, and public policy disciplines, as well as two post-docs. Our primary goal for the course was to develop a functioning research community to address the core issues at the intersection of science and ethics. In this presentation, we discuss the course structure, identify strategies that were successful (or less so), and describe outcomes. We consider this course to be primarily pedagogical in nature, but we also recognize that many of the students in the class, perhaps even a majority, are intending to pursue careers outside academia in areas of public policy, environmental consulting, etc., which added an extra dimension to our class. Here, we also discuss the possibility of developing and teaching such courses in an academic environment that is stressed financially and increasingly dependent on metrics related to class size and student credit hours.

Portage vaginal du streptocoque du groupe B chez la femme ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Introduction: le streptocoque du groupe B est le principal agent impliqué dans les infections materno-fœtales, les septicémies et les méningites du nouveau-né à terme. L'objectif est de déterminer le taux de portage maternel du streptocoque du groupe B (SGB) à terme. Méthodes: un prélèvement vaginal a été réalisé de ...

Meeting the Next Generation Science Standards Through "Rediscovered" Climate Model Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Sohl, L. E.; Chandler, M. A.; Zhou, J.

2013-12-01

Since the Educational Global Climate Model (EdGCM) Project made its debut in January 2005, over 150 institutions have employed EdGCM software for a variety of uses ranging from short lab exercises to semester-long and year-long thesis projects. The vast majority of these EdGCM adoptees have been at the undergraduate and graduate levels, with few users at the K-12 level. The K-12 instructors who have worked with EdGCM in professional development settings have commented that, although EdGCM can be used to illustrate a number of the Disciplinary Core Ideas and connects to many of the Common Core State Standards across subjects and grade levels, significant hurdles preclude easy integration of EdGCM into their curricula. Time constraints, a scarcity of curriculum materials, and classroom technology are often mentioned as obstacles in providing experiences to younger grade levels in realistic climate modeling research. Given that the NGSS incorporates student performance expectations relating to Earth System Science, and to climate science and the human dimension in particular, we feel that a streamlined version of EdGCM -- one that eliminates the need to run the climate model on limited computing resources, and provides a more guided climate modeling experience -- would be highly beneficial for the K-12 community. This new tool currently under development, called EzGCM, functions through a browser interface, and presents "rediscovery experiments" that allow students to do their own exploration of model output from published climate experiments, or from sensitivity experiments designed to illustrate how climate models as well as the climate system work. The experiments include background information and sample questions, with more extensive notes for instructors so that the instructors can design their own reflection questions or follow-on activities relating to physical or human impacts, as they choose. An added benefit of the EzGCM tool is that, like EdGCM, it helps

Identifying Crucial Issues in Climate Science

Science.gov (United States)

Ikeda, Motoyoshi; Greve, Ralf; Hara, Toshika; Watanabe, Yutaka W.; Ohmura, Atsumu; Ito, Akihiko; Kawamiya, Michio

2009-01-01

Drastic Change in the Earth System During Global Warming; Sapporo, Japan, 24 June 2008; The Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former U.S. vice president Al Gore indicates that global warming is recognized as a real phenomenon critical to human beings. However, humanity's knowledge concerning global warming is based on an uncertainty larger than 50% in the warming rate during the past century. Therefore, scientific clarification is needed to understand important mechanisms that potentially produce positive feedbacks in the Earth system-such mechanisms must be better understood before scientists can develop more reliable predictions. To plan for the future, a symposium was organized at Japan's Hokkaido University in association with the G8 Summit, where the most recent updates on the five urgent issues in climate science were discussed. These issues, considered to be crucial as severe impacts on human society continue to rise, included (1) causes and magnitude of sea level rise; (2) decay of glaciers and the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets; (3) disappearance of the summer Arctic sea ice; (4) carbon uptake or emission by the terrestrial ecosystem; and (5) marine ecosystem change resulting in carbon emissions.

Exploitation du savoir autochtone afin de créer des emplois pour les ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

la pollution ou la détérioration des terres. ... pas exercer leurs droits juridiques à cause des coûts, du dysfonctionnement, de la corruption ou de l'abus de pouvoir. ... IDRC evidence and innovation supports India's adaptation to climate change.

Mobilisation du financement privé aux fins de l'adaptation | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Le Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) de la Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) réalisera la recherche en collaboration avec la Frankfurt Business School et le réseau actuel du PFAN de la CTI dans les pays d'Afrique subsaharienne ciblés. Les équipes ... International Center for Environmental Technology Transfer.

Irrigation and climate information in Burkina Faso (AARC) | Page 6 ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Researchers will assess farmers' vulnerability to climate change, and the adaptation strategies that they currently employ. Then, they will develop and ... Gestion des forêts et des ressources hydriques pour l'atténuation des effets des changements climatiques dans les collines du centre du Népal. Les collines de la région ...

INCORPORATION DU COPRAH ET DES CUTICULES DE CACAO ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1Laboratoire d'Environnement et de Biologie Aquatique (LEBA), UFR des Sciences et Gestion del'Environnement,. Université ... with exogenous diet were used as control group to assess the impact of the natural food. The used ... sur les performances zootechniques et la .... ont fait l'objet de mesure du poids individuel au.

The use of the Climate-science Computational End Station (CCES) development and grand challenge team for the next IPCC assessment: an operational plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Washington, W M; Buja, L; Gent, P; Drake, J; Erickson, D; Anderson, D; Bader, D; Dickinson, R; Ghan, S; Jones, P; Jacob, R

2008-01-01

The grand challenge of climate change science is to predict future climates based on scenarios of anthropogenic emissions and other changes resulting from options in energy and development policies. Addressing this challenge requires a Climate Science Computational End Station consisting of a sustained climate model research, development, and application program combined with world-class DOE leadership computing resources to enable advanced computational simulation of the Earth system. This project provides the primary computer allocations for the DOE SciDAC and Climate Change Prediction Program. It builds on the successful interagency collaboration of the National Science and the U.S. Department of Energy in developing and applying the Community Climate System Model (CCSM) for climate change science. It also includes collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in carbon data assimilation and university partners with expertise in high-end computational climate research

Preparing Middle School Teachers to Use Science Models Effectively when Teaching about Weather and Climate Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Yarker, M. B.; Stanier, C. O.; Forbes, C.; Park, S.

2012-12-01

According to the National Science Education Standards (NSES), teachers are encouraged to use science models in the classroom as a way to aid in the understanding of the nature of the scientific process. This is of particular importance to the atmospheric science community because climate and weather models are very important when it comes to understanding current and future behaviors of our atmosphere. Although familiar with weather forecasts on television and the Internet, most people do not understand the process of using computer models to generate weather and climate forecasts. As a result, the public often misunderstands claims scientists make about their daily weather as well as the state of climate change. Therefore, it makes sense that recent research in science education indicates that scientific models and modeling should be a topic covered in K-12 classrooms as part of a comprehensive science curriculum. The purpose of this research study is to describe how three middle school teachers use science models to teach about topics in climate and weather, as well as the challenges they face incorporating models effectively into the classroom. Participants in this study took part in a week long professional development designed to orient them towards appropriate use of science models for a unit on weather, climate, and energy concepts. The course design was based on empirically tested features of effective professional development for science teachers and was aimed at teaching content to the teachers while simultaneously orienting them towards effective use of science models in the classroom in a way that both aids in learning about the content knowledge as well as how models are used in scientific inquiry. Results indicate that teachers perceive models to be physical representations that can be used as evidence to convince students that the teacher's conception of the concept is correct. Additionally, teachers tended to use them as ways to explain an idea to

Science, Practitioners and Faith Communities: using TEK and Faith Knowledge to address climate issues.

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, K.

2017-12-01

Worldview, Lifeway and Science - Communities that are tied to the land or water for their livelihood, and for whom subsistence guides their cultural lifeway, have knowledges that inform their interactions with the environment. These frameworks, sometimes called Traditional Ecological Knowledges (TEK), are based on generations of observations made and shared within lived life-environmental systems, and are tied to practitioners' broader worldviews. Subsistence communities, including Native American tribes, are well aware of the crises caused by climate change impacts. These communities are working on ways to integrate knowledge from their ancient ways with current observations and methods from Western science to implement appropriate adaptation and resilience measures. In the delta region of south Louisiana, the communities hold worldviews that blend TEK, climate science and faith-derived concepts. It is not incongruent for the communities to intertwine conversations from complex and diverse sources, including the academy, to inform their adaptation measures and their imagined solutions. Drawing on over twenty years of work with local communities, science organizations and faith institutions of the lower bayou region of Louisiana, the presenter will address the complexity of traditional communities' work with diverse sources of knowledge to guide local decision-making and to assist outside partners to more effectively address challenges associated with climate change.

Using the Socioscientific Context of Climate Change to Teach Chemical Content and the Nature of Science

Science.gov (United States)

Flener-Lovitt, Charity

2014-01-01

A thematic course called "Climate Change: Chemistry and Controversy" was developed for upper-level non-STEM students. This course used the socioscientific context of climate change to teach chemical principles and the nature of science. Students used principles of agnotology (direct study of misinformation) to debunk climate change…

Novel Tools for Climate Change Learning and Responding in Earth Science Education

Science.gov (United States)

Sparrow, Elena; Brunacini, Jessica; Pfirman, Stephanie

2015-04-01

Several innovative, polar focused activities and tools including a polar hub website (http://thepolarhub.org) have been developed for use in formal and informal earth science or STEM education by the Polar Learning and Responding (PoLAR) Climate Change Education Partnership (consisting of climate scientists, experts in the learning sciences and education practitioners). In seeking to inform understanding of and response to climate change, these tools and activities range from increasing awareness to informing decisions about climate change, from being used in classrooms (by undergraduate students as well as by pre-college students or by teachers taking online climate graduate courses) to being used in the public arena (by stakeholders, community members and the general public), and from using low technology (card games such as EcoChains- Arctic Crisis, a food web game or SMARTIC - Strategic Management of Resources in Times of Change, an Arctic marine spatial planning game) to high technology (Greenify Network - a mobile real world action game that fosters sustainability and allows players to meaningfully address climate change in their daily lives, or the Polar Explorer Data Visualization Tablet App that allows individuals to explore data collected by scientists and presented for the everyday user through interactive maps and visualizations, to ask questions and go on an individualized tour of polar regions and their connections to the rest of the world). Games are useful tools in integrative and applied learning, in gaining practical and intellectual skills, and in systems thinking. Also, as part of the PoLAR Partnership, a Signs of the Land Climate Change Camp was collaboratively developed and conducted, that can be used as a model for engaging and representing indigenous communities in the co-production of climate change knowledge, communication tools and solutions building. Future camps are planned with Alaska Native Elders, educators including classroom

Programme d'immersion du Sustainable Development Policy ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Grâce à cette subvention, le Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SPDI) sera en mesure de former un groupe de diplômés et de jeunes professionnels afin qu'ils puissent réaliser des recherches en sciences sociales au Pakistan et en Asie du Sud. Le programme comportera un volet théorique et des travaux pratiques ...

Le ministre du Commerce international du Canada rencontre des ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

17 juil. 2017 ... La promotion de l'entrepreneuriat, la façon dont le commerce peut profiter aux femmes et à leur famille, et la création d'emplois pour les plus vulnérables étaient au coeur de la discussion en table ronde du ministre du Commerce international du Canada, l'honorable François-Philippe Champagne, et des ...

MERRA Analytic Services: Meeting the Big Data Challenges of Climate Science through Cloud-Enabled Climate Analytics-as-a-Service

Science.gov (United States)

Schnase, J. L.; Duffy, D.; Tamkin, G. S.; Nadeau, D.; Thompson, J. H.; Grieg, C. M.; McInerney, M.; Webster, W. P.

2013-12-01

Climate science is a Big Data domain that is experiencing unprecedented growth. In our efforts to address the Big Data challenges of climate science, we are moving toward a notion of Climate Analytics-as-a-Service (CAaaS). We focus on analytics, because it is the knowledge gained from our interactions with Big Data that ultimately produce societal benefits. We focus on CAaaS because we believe it provides a useful way of thinking about the problem: a specialization of the concept of business process-as-a-service, which is an evolving extension of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS enabled by Cloud Computing. Within this framework, Cloud Computing plays an important role; however, we see it as only one element in a constellation of capabilities that are essential to delivering climate analytics as a service. These elements are essential because in the aggregate they lead to generativity, a capacity for self-assembly that we feel is the key to solving many of the Big Data challenges in this domain. MERRA Analytic Services (MERRA/AS) is an example of cloud-enabled CAaaS built on this principle. MERRA/AS enables MapReduce analytics over NASA's Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data collection. The MERRA reanalysis integrates observational data with numerical models to produce a global temporally and spatially consistent synthesis of 26 key climate variables. It represents a type of data product that is of growing importance to scientists doing climate change research and a wide range of decision support applications. MERRA/AS brings together the following generative elements in a full, end-to-end demonstration of CAaaS capabilities: (1) high-performance, data proximal analytics, (2) scalable data management, (3) software appliance virtualization, (4) adaptive analytics, and (5) a domain-harmonized API. The effectiveness of MERRA/AS has been demonstrated in several applications. In our experience, Cloud Computing lowers the barriers and risk to

MERRA Analytic Services: Meeting the Big Data Challenges of Climate Science Through Cloud-enabled Climate Analytics-as-a-service

Science.gov (United States)

Schnase, John L.; Duffy, Daniel Quinn; Tamkin, Glenn S.; Nadeau, Denis; Thompson, John H.; Grieg, Christina M.; McInerney, Mark A.; Webster, William P.

2014-01-01

Climate science is a Big Data domain that is experiencing unprecedented growth. In our efforts to address the Big Data challenges of climate science, we are moving toward a notion of Climate Analytics-as-a-Service (CAaaS). We focus on analytics, because it is the knowledge gained from our interactions with Big Data that ultimately produce societal benefits. We focus on CAaaS because we believe it provides a useful way of thinking about the problem: a specialization of the concept of business process-as-a-service, which is an evolving extension of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS enabled by Cloud Computing. Within this framework, Cloud Computing plays an important role; however, we it see it as only one element in a constellation of capabilities that are essential to delivering climate analytics as a service. These elements are essential because in the aggregate they lead to generativity, a capacity for self-assembly that we feel is the key to solving many of the Big Data challenges in this domain. MERRA Analytic Services (MERRAAS) is an example of cloud-enabled CAaaS built on this principle. MERRAAS enables MapReduce analytics over NASAs Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) data collection. The MERRA reanalysis integrates observational data with numerical models to produce a global temporally and spatially consistent synthesis of 26 key climate variables. It represents a type of data product that is of growing importance to scientists doing climate change research and a wide range of decision support applications. MERRAAS brings together the following generative elements in a full, end-to-end demonstration of CAaaS capabilities: (1) high-performance, data proximal analytics, (2) scalable data management, (3) software appliance virtualization, (4) adaptive analytics, and (5) a domain-harmonized API. The effectiveness of MERRAAS has been demonstrated in several applications. In our experience, Cloud Computing lowers the barriers and risk to

Comparaison du filtre adaptatif RIF et du filtre a base de reseau de ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Comparaison du filtre adaptatif RIF et du filtre a base de reseau de neurones pour le filtrage du courant de reference pour la commande du filtre actif parallele. C Benachaiba, A Bassou, B Mazari ...

Etat Du Magnesium Dans Quelques Sols Sales Du Sud Et Du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

étude a été réalisée sur 86 échantillons de sols provenant du Centre et du Sud de l´Irak. L\\'expérimentation a consisté, d´une part, à calculer les différents sels dominants dans les sols salés par la méthode de combinaison hypothétique et, ...

Conceptualizing the Science-Practice Interface: Lessons from a Collaborative Network on the Front-Line of Climate Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nathan P. Kettle

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The gap between science and practice is widely recognized as a major concern in the production and application of decision-relevant science. This research analyzed the roles and network connections of scientists, service providers, and decision makers engaged in climate science and adaptation practice in Alaska, where rapid climate change is already apparent. Our findings identify key actors as well as significant differences in the level of bonding ties between network members who perceive similarity in their social identities, bridging ties between network members across different social groups, and control of information across roles—all of which inform recommendations for adaptive capacity and the co-production of usable knowledge. We also find that some individuals engage in multiple roles in the network suggesting that conceptualizing science policy interactions with the traditional categories of science producers and consumers oversimplifies how experts engage with climate science, services, and decision making. Our research reinforces the notion that the development and application of knowledge is a networked phenomenon and highlights the importance of centralized individuals capable of playing multiple roles in their networks for effective translation of knowledge into action.

Journal of Chemical Sciences | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Journal of Chemical Sciences. Yuanming Zhang. Articles written in Journal of Chemical Sciences. Volume 118 Issue 3 May 2006 pp 281-285. Temperature effects on surface activity and application in oxidation of toluene derivatives of CTAB-SDS with KMnO4 · Yu Tang Biying Du Jun Yang Yuanming ...

Graduate training in Earth science across borders and disciplines: ArcTrain -"Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic"

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Rüdiger; Kucera, Michal; Walter, Maren; de Vernal, Anne

2015-04-01

Due to a complex set of feedback processes collectively known as "polar amplification", the Arctic realm is expected to experience a greater-than-average response to global climate forcing. The cascades of feedback processes that connect the Arctic cryosphere, ocean and atmosphere remain incompletely constrained by observations and theory and are difficult to simulate in climate models. Our capacity to predict the future of the region and assess the impacts of Arctic change processes on global and regional environments hinges on the availability of interdisciplinary experts with strong international experience and understanding of the science/society interface. This is the basis of the International Research Training Group "Processes and impacts of climate change in the North Atlantic Ocean and the Canadian Arctic - ArcTrain", which was initiated in 2013. ArcTrain aims to educate PhD students in an interdisciplinary environment that combines paleoclimatology, physical oceanography, remote sensing and glaciology with comprehensive Earth system modelling, including sea-ice and ice-sheet components. The qualification program for the PhD students includes joint supervision, mandatory research residences at partner institutions, field courses on land and on sea (Floating University), annual meetings and training workshops and a challenging structured training in expert skills and transferrable skills. Its aim is to enhance the career prospects and employability of the graduates in a challenging international job market across academic and applied sectors. ArcTrain is a collaborative project at the University of Bremen and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven. The German part of the project is designed to continue for nine years and educate three cohorts of twelve PhD students each. The Canadian partners comprise a consortium of eight universities led by the GEOTOP cluster at the Université du Québec à Montréal and including

Investigating Climate Science Misconceptions Using a Teacher Professional Development Workshop Registration Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Lynds, S. E.; Gold, A. U.; McNeal, K.; Libarkin, J. C.; Buhr Sullivan, S. M.; Ledley, T. S.; Haddad, N.; Ellins, K. K.

2013-12-01

The EarthLabs Climate project, an NSF-Discovery Research K12 program, has developed a suite of three online classroom-ready modules: Climate and the Cryosphere; Climate and the Carbon Cycle; and Climate and the Biosphere. The EarthLabs Climate project included week-long professional development workshops during June of 2012 and 2013 in Texas and Mississippi. Evaluation of the 2012 and 2013 workshops included participant self-reported learning levels in many areas of climate science. Teachers' answers indicated they had increased their understanding of the topics addressed in the workshops. However, the project team was interested in refining the evaluation process to determine exactly those areas of climate science in which participants increased content knowledge and ameliorated misconceptions. Therefore, to enhance the investigation into what teachers got out of the workshop, a pre-test/post-test design was implemented for 2013. In particular, the evaluation team was interested in discovering the degree to which participants held misconceptions and whether those beliefs were modified by attendance at the workshops. For the 2013 workshops, a registration survey was implemented that included the Climate Concept Inventory (a climate content knowledge quiz developed by the education research team for the project). The multiple-choice questions are also part of the pre/post student quiz used in classrooms in which the EarthLabs Climate curriculum was implemented. Many of the questions in this instrument assess common misconceptions by using them as distractors in the multiple choice options. The registration survey also asked respondents to indicate their confidence in their answer to each question, because, in addition to knowledge limitations, lack of confidence also can be a barrier to effective teaching. Data from the registration survey informed workshop managers of the topic content knowledge of participants, allowing fine-tuning of the professional development

How to build confidence in climate science and politics? Return on an international conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aykut, Stefan C.

2015-01-01

Taking as a starting point the communications at an international conference held in Paris in 2014, the article analyzes the construction of confidence in climate sciences and politics. How, by which methods and procedures, do climate modeling communities establish the validity of their models? What link can be established between the confidence in numerical simulations of global warming and in the capacity of the international system to successfully tackle the climate issue? The article shows that the existence of a close link between these different forms of confidence questions common belief that expertise should be completely separated from the political process. More generally, it examines the necessity of a 'constitution' for the science-policy relationship at the global level at a time where new paradigms for research and for policy converge toward increasing importance of regional and local levels

Climats, territoires, environnements

OpenAIRE

Cohen, Marianne; Desruelles, Stéphane; Giusti, Christian; Gramond, Delphine; Mercier, Denis

2018-01-01

Du 30 novembre au 12 décembre 2015 s’est tenue au Bourget la Conférence de Paris sur le climat, 21e conférence des parties (COP 21) à la Convention-cadre des Nations unies sur les changements climatiques (CCNUCC). Chaque année, les participants de cette conférence se réunissent pour décider des mesures destinées à limiter le réchauffement climatique : la COP 20 s’était réunie en décembre 2014 à Lima (Pérou), la COP 22 se déroulera à Marrakech (Maroc) à partir du 7 novembre 2016. L’accord de P...

Teaching to the Next Generation Science Standards with Energy, Climate, and Water Focused Games

Science.gov (United States)

Mayhew, M. A.; Hall, M.; Civjan, N.

2015-12-01

We produced two fun-to-play card games with the theme, The Nexus of Energy, Water, and Climate, that directly support teaching to the NGSS. In the games, players come to understand how demand for energy, water use, and climate change are tightly intertwined. Analysis by scientists from the national laboratories ensured that the games are reflect current data and research. The games have been tested with high school and informal science educators and their students and have received a formal evaluation. The games website http://isenm.org/games-for-learning shows how the games align with the NGSS, the Common Core, and the NRC's Strands of Science Learning. It also contains an extensive collection of accessible articles on the nexus to support use of the games in instruction. Thirst for Power is a challenging resource management game. Players, acting as governors of regions, compete to be the first to meet their citizens' energy needs. A governor can choose from a variety of carbon-based or renewable energy sources, but each source uses water and has an environmental—including climate change—impact. Energy needs must be met using only the water resources allocated to the region and without exceeding the environmental impact limit. "ACTION" cards alter game play and increase competition. Challenge and Persuade is a game of scientific argumentation, using evidence on nexus-related fact cards. Players must evaluate information, develop fact-based arguments, and communicate their findings. One card deck contains a set of adjectives, a second a series of fact cards. Players use their fact cards to make the best argument that aligns with an adjective selected by the "Judge". Players take turns being the "Judge," who determines who made the best argument. The games particularly align with NGSS elements: Connections to Engineering, Technology, and Application of Science. Players come to understand the science and engineering behind many energy sources and their impacts

Beyond Climate and Weather Science: Expanding the Forecasting Family to Serve Societal Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Barron, E. J.

2009-05-01

The ability to "anticipate" the future is what makes information from the Earth sciences valuable to society - whether it is the prediction of severe weather or the future availability of water resources in response to climate change. An improved ability to anticipate or forecast has the potential to serve society by simultaneously improving our ability to (1) promote economic vitality, (2) enable environmental stewardship, (3) protect life and property, as well as (4) improve our fundamental knowledge of the earth system. The potential is enormous, yet many appear ready to move quickly toward specific mitigation and adaptation strategies assuming that the science is settled. Five important weakness must be addressed first: (1) the formation of a true "climate services" function and capability, (2) the deliberate investment in expanding the family of forecasting elements to incorporate a broader array of environmental factors and impacts, (3) the investment in the sciences that connect climate to society, (4) a deliberate focus on the problems associated with scale, in particular the difference between the scale of predictive models and the scale associated with societal decisions, and (5) the evolution from climate services and model predictions to the equivalent of "environmental intelligence centers." The objective is to bring the discipline of forecasting to a broader array of environmental challenges. Assessments of the potential impacts of global climate change on societal sectors such as water, human health, and agriculture provide good examples of this challenge. We have the potential to move from a largely reactive mode in addressing adverse health outcomes, for example, to one in which the ties between climate, land cover, infectious disease vectors, and human health are used to forecast and predict adverse human health conditions. The potential exists for a revolution in forecasting, that entrains a much broader set of societal needs and solutions. The

Joint sciences academies statement: global response to climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-06-01

Taking into account that there is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring, the Joint Science Academies, urge, by this statement, all nations in the line with the UNFCCC principles, to take prompt action to reduce the causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts and ensure that the issue is included in all relevant national and international strategies. Some recommendations are also given. (A.L.B.)

Build a Catastrophe: Using Digital World and Policy Models to Engage Political Science Students with Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Horodyskyj, L.; Lennon, T.; Mead, C.; Anbar, A. D.

2017-12-01

Climate change is a problem that involves science, economics, and politics. Particularly in the United States, political resistance to addressing climate change has been exacerbated by a concerted misinformation campaign against the basic science, a negative response to how the proposed solutions to climate change intersect with values. Scientists often propose more climate science education as a solution to the problem, but preliminary studies indicate that more science education does not necessarily reduce polarization on the topic (Kahan et al. 2012). Is there a way that we can better engage non-science students in topics related to climate change that improve their comprehension of the problem and its implications, overcoming polarization? In an existing political science course, "Do You Want to Build a Nation?", we are testing a new digital world-building model based on resource development and consequent environmental and societal impacts. Students spend half the class building their nations based on their assigned ideology (i.e., socialist, absolute monarchy, libertarian) and the second half of the class negotiating with other nations to resolve global issues while remaining true to their ideologies. The course instructor, co-author Lennon, and ASU's Center for Education Through eXploration have collaborated to design a digital world model based on resources linked to an adaptive decision-making environment that translates student policies into modifications to the digital world. The model tracks students' exploration and justification of their nation's policy choices. In the Fall 2017 offering of the course, we will investigate how this digital world model and scenarios built around it affect student learning outcomes. Specifically, we anticipate improved understanding of the policy trade-offs related to energy development, better understanding of the ways that different ideologies approach solutions to climate change, and that both will result in more

Fighting A Strong Headwind: Challenges in Communicating The Science of Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, M. E.

2008-12-01

Communicating science to the public is an intrinsic challenge to begin with. An effective communicator must find ways to translate often technical and complex scientific findings for consumption by an audience unfamiliar with the basic tools and lexicon that scientists themselves take for granted. The challenge is made all the more difficult still when the science has implications for public policy, and the scientists face attack by institutions who judge themselves to be at threat by the implications of scientific findings. Such areas of science include (but certainly are not limited to) evolution, stem cell research, environmental health, and the subject of this talk--climate change. In each of these areas, a highly organized, well funded effort has been mounted to attack the science and the scientists themselves. These attacks are rarely fought in legitimate scientific circles such as the peer-reviewed scientific literature or other scholarly venues, but rather through rhetorically-aimed efforts delivered by media outlets aligned with the views of the attackers, and by politicians and groups closely aligned with special interests. I will discuss various approaches to combating such attacks, drawing upon my own experiences in the public arena with regard to the scientific discourse on climate change.

Réseau de recherche économique du Mékong | Page 3 | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

... le marché du travail (tant structuré que non structuré) et renforcer les systèmes de protection sociale. ... primary and lower secondary schools : a survey of program interventions; final draft ... IDRC panel tackles early marriage at UN Status of Women forum ... New funding opportunity for gender equality and climate change.

Enfants du soleil histoire de nos origines

CERN Document Server

Brahic, André

1999-01-01

D'où venons-nous ? Comment le Soleil et la Terre sont-ils apparus ? Nous avons enfin atteint le moment où la science peut apporter des réponses de plus en plus précises, de plus en plus étonnantes. La Nature a décidément plus d'imagination que les hommes ! Depuis l'exploration spatiale, nous en avons plus appris sur notre système solaire et son origine en une génération qu'en quarante siècles. Là où l'on attendait l'uniformité, on a trouvé la plus grande diversité. André Brahic, qui a découvert les anneaux de Neptune, nous présente les multiples facettes du système solaire et nous raconte quatre milliards et demi d'années de son histoire. Les planètes sont les soeurs du Soleil. Nous sommes les enfants du temps et des étoiles. Sommes-nous seuls dans l'Univers ? Les astronomes commencent à apercevoir d'autres planètes autour de quelques soleils proches, Ils espèrent bientôt trouver d'autres Terres...

Climate Literacy: Progress in Climate and Global Change Undergraduate Courses in Meteorology and Earth System Science Programs at Jackson State University

Science.gov (United States)

Reddy, S. R.; Tuluri, F.; Fadavi, M.

2017-12-01

JSU Meteorology Program will be offering AMS Climate Studies undergraduate course under MET 210: Climatology in spring 2013. AMS Climate Studies is offered as a 3 credit hour laboratory course with 2 lectures and 1 lab sessions per week. Although this course places strong intellectual demands upon each student, the instructors' objective is to help each student to pass the course with an adequate understanding of the fundamentals and advanced and advanced courses. AMS Climate Studies is an introductory college-level course developed by the American Meteorological Society for implementation at undergraduate institutions nationwide. The course places students in a dynamic and highly motivational educational environment where they investigate Earth's climate system using real-world environmental data. The AMS Climate Studies course package consists of a textbook, investigations manual, course website, and course management system-compatible files. Instructors can use these resources in combinations that make for an exciting learning experience for their students. This is a content course in Earth Science. It introduces a new concept that views Earth as a synergistic physical system applied concepts of climatology, for him/her to understand basic atmospheric/climate processes, physical and dynamical climatology, regional climatology, past and future climates and statistical analysis using climate data and to be prepared to profit from studying more of interrelated phenomenon governed by complex processes involving the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, the biosphere, and the solid Earth. The course emphasizes that the events that shape the physical, chemical, and biological processes of the Earth do not occur in isolation. Rather, there is a delicate relationship between the events that occur in the ocean, atmosphere, and the solid Earth. The course provides a multidimensional approach in solving scientific issues related to Earth-related sciences,

Sud du Sahara | Page 144 | CRDI - Centre de recherches pour le ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2015-03-31

flexible layoutflexible layoutflexible layoutflexible layoutflexible layoutflexible layoutflexible layoutflexible layout. Sud du Sahara. The Kenya National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), in collaboration with IDRC, launched Kenya's first Research Chair on March 31, 2015 in Nairobi. Professor ...

Strategies for Effective Implementation of Science Models into 6-9 Grade Classrooms on Climate, Weather, and Energy Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Yarker, M. B.; Stanier, C. O.; Forbes, C.; Park, S.

2011-12-01

As atmospheric scientists, we depend on Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. We use them to predict weather patterns, to understand external forcing on the atmosphere, and as evidence to make claims about atmospheric phenomenon. Therefore, it is important that we adequately prepare atmospheric science students to use computer models. However, the public should also be aware of what models are in order to understand scientific claims about atmospheric issues, such as climate change. Although familiar with weather forecasts on television and the Internet, the general public does not understand the process of using computer models to generate a weather and climate forecasts. As a result, the public often misunderstands claims scientists make about their daily weather as well as the state of climate change. Since computer models are the best method we have to forecast the future of our climate, scientific models and modeling should be a topic covered in K-12 classrooms as part of a comprehensive science curriculum. According to the National Science Education Standards, teachers are encouraged to science models into the classroom as a way to aid in the understanding of the nature of science. However, there is very little description of what constitutes a science model, so the term is often associated with scale models. Therefore, teachers often use drawings or scale representations of physical entities, such as DNA, the solar system, or bacteria. In other words, models used in classrooms are often used as visual representations, but the purpose of science models is often overlooked. The implementation of a model-based curriculum in the science classroom can be an effective way to prepare students to think critically, problem solve, and make informed decisions as a contributing member of society. However, there are few resources available to help teachers implement science models into the science curriculum effectively. Therefore, this research project looks at

Water Security in Periurban South Asia : Adapting to Climate ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Adapting to climate change and water security in Asia : proceedings from the Regional Meeting for IDRC-funded partners in Asia working on climate change ... L'honorable Chrystia Freeland, ministre du Commerce international, a annoncé le lancement d'un nouveau projet financé par le Centre de recherches pour le ...

La grammaticalisation du monde.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Etienne Pingaud

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Ouvrage atypique par le fond comme par la forme, Le devoir et la grâce rend compte du minutieux travail d’élaboration théorique auquel s’attelle Cyril Lemieux depuis plusieurs années. Et le résultat final se veut pour le moins ambitieux : l’auteur propose un système total supposé dépasser d’un même élan le relativisme, le mentalisme, l’universalisme ethnocentrique, l’historicisme, le naturalisme et l’herméneutisme, tout en réconciliant les sciences sociales avec le ...

NASA's Global Change Master Directory: Discover and Access Earth Science Data Sets, Related Data Services, and Climate Diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Aleman, Alicia; Olsen, Lola; Ritz, Scott; Morahan, Michael; Cepero, Laurel; Stevens, Tyler

2011-01-01

NASA's Global Change Master Directory provides the scientific community with the ability to discover, access, and use Earth science data, data-related services, and climate diagnostics worldwide. The GCMD offers descriptions of Earth science data sets using the Directory Interchange Format (DIF) metadata standard; Earth science related data services are described using the Service Entry Resource Format (SERF); and climate visualizations are described using the Climate Diagnostic (CD) standard. The DIF, SERF and CD standards each capture data attributes used to determine whether a data set, service, or climate visualization is relevant to a user's needs. Metadata fields include: title, summary, science keywords, service keywords, data center, data set citation, personnel, instrument, platform, quality, related URL, temporal and spatial coverage, data resolution and distribution information. In addition, nine valuable sets of controlled vocabularies have been developed to assist users in normalizing the search for data descriptions. An update to the GCMD's search functionality is planned to further capitalize on the controlled vocabularies during database queries. By implementing a dynamic keyword "tree", users will have the ability to search for data sets by combining keywords in new ways. This will allow users to conduct more relevant and efficient database searches to support the free exchange and re-use of Earth science data. http://gcmd.nasa.gov/

PBS Plus Facebook: The Old And New Communication Of Climate Science (Please "Like" And "Share" This Abstract)

Science.gov (United States)

Alley, R. B.; Haines-Stiles, G.; Akuginow, E.

2012-12-01

Traditional and innovative communications strategies were combined in "Earth: The Operators' Manual" (ETOM; writer & director Geoff Haines-Stiles, producer Erna Akuginow, presenter Richard Alley). We attempted both a clear and accessible presentation of some key essentials of current climate science and an experiment in new messaging and new media for outreach and education. ETOM is a 3-part TV series broadcast by PBS ("…one of the more interesting documentary series to come along in years", said the New York Times) and a 320 plus page tradebook, with 110 pages of footnotes referencing peer-reviewed science, published by Norton. But it's also a lively and growing Facebook page with a clear voice sharing positive examples of how renewable energy can reduce polluting emissions here in the US and worldwide, alongside headlines of climate science, and a website—relaunched for the 2012 Earth Day PBS broadcasts—where all three programs can be streamed, and teachers can register to download HD segments for classroom use. The TV programs were designed to offer a highly accessible statement of core climate science, literally explaining how ice cores show us today's climate is changing in ways not seen in the last 800,000 thousand years and why physics and chemistry let us know "It's Us" who are changing CO2 levels in the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels. But the project's outreach components also includes a "Science Pub" in a converted theater in Portland, where the audience consumes food, drink and climate science, and "Adventures of a Climate Scientist in the Age of Politics and Punditry," a dynamic live performance recorded for TV and the web. Messaging includes a Navy Rear Admiral in dress whites explaining why the Pentagon believes climate change is real, and scenes showing Marines and Army implementing solar technologies to enhance mission security and reduce their carbon bootprint. Similarly, outreach events at the North Carolina Museum of Natural

Unquestioned answers or unanswered questions: beliefs about science guide responses to uncertainty in climate change risk communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabinovich, Anna; Morton, Thomas A

2012-06-01

In two experimental studies we investigated the effect of beliefs about the nature and purpose of science (classical vs. Kuhnian models of science) on responses to uncertainty in scientific messages about climate change risk. The results revealed a significant interaction between both measured (Study 1) and manipulated (Study 2) beliefs about science and the level of communicated uncertainty on willingness to act in line with the message. Specifically, messages that communicated high uncertainty were more persuasive for participants who shared an understanding of science as debate than for those who believed that science is a search for absolute truth. In addition, participants who had a concept of science as debate were more motivated by higher (rather than lower) uncertainty in climate change messages. The results suggest that achieving alignment between the general public's beliefs about science and the style of the scientific messages is crucial for successful risk communication in science. Accordingly, rather than uncertainty always undermining the effectiveness of science communication, uncertainty can enhance message effects when it fits the audience's understanding of what science is. © 2012 Society for Risk Analysis.

In a Time of Change: Integrating the Arts and Humanities with Climate Change Science in Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Leigh, M.; Golux, S.; Franzen, K.

2011-12-01

The arts and humanities have a powerful capacity to create lines of communication between the public, policy and scientific spheres. A growing network of visual and performing artists, writers and scientists has been actively working together since 2007 to integrate scientific and artistic perspectives on climate change in interior Alaska. These efforts have involved field workshops and collaborative creative processes culminating in public performances and a visual art exhibit. The most recent multimedia event was entitled In a Time of Change: Envisioning the Future, and challenged artists and scientists to consider future scenarios of climate change. This event included a public performance featuring original theatre, modern dance, Alaska Native Dance, poetry and music that was presented concurrently with an art exhibit featuring original works by 24 Alaskan visual artists. A related effort targeted K12 students, through an early college course entitled Climate Change and Creative Expression, which was offered to high school students at a predominantly Alaska Native charter school and integrated climate change science, creative writing, theatre and dance. Our program at Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) site is just one of many successful efforts to integrate arts and humanities with science within and beyond the NSF LTER Program. The efforts of various LTER sites to engage the arts and humanities with science, the public and policymakers have successfully generated excitement, facilitated mutual understanding, and promoted meaningful dialogue on issues facing science and society. The future outlook for integration of arts and humanities with science appears promising, with increasing interest from artists, scientists and scientific funding agencies.

IPCC. 4. climate assessment report, 2007; GIEC. 4. rapport d'evaluation du climat, 2007

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2007-07-01

The mission and challenge of the Intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC, GIEC in French) is to evaluate, synthesize and make available the sum of scientific and economic information of the complex domain of climatic change, and in addition to make the results of these works accepted by government representatives of 192 states. This document makes a brief synthesis in three parts of the 4. assessment report of the IPCC: 1 - physical scientific bases of climatic change: characteristic of the phenomenon, greenhouse gas emissions trend, already observed effects, forecasts of climate models; 2 - impacts, adaptations and vulnerabilities of climatic change: types of future impacts, impacts per sector, regional impacts, limits of ecosystems adaptation; 3 - mitigation of climatic changes: past emissions and future trends, possible mitigation actions and cost, possible political levers for emissions abatement. A last part introduces the French researchers involved in IPCC's works. (J.S.)

Réflexion sur l’origine du processus de segmentation du marche du travail

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Attia Nicole

2006-01-01

Full Text Available (francuski Ce travail propose une réflexion sur l'origine du processus de segmentation du marché du travail par rapport à l'entreprise. Se situe-t-elle au sein même de l'entreprise ou en amont, c'est à dire entre les entreprises? Cela revient à se demander si on peut avoir une approche microéconomique ou macroéconomique de la segmentation et, à s'interroger sur le rôle réel tenu par les firmes dans le processus. Déterminant pour la théorie, ce rôle est à repenser selon la réponse apportée à notre question.

Généalogie du concept d’assimilation. Une comparaison franco-britannique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdellali Hajjat

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Malgré la popularité du concept d’assimilation en sciences sociales, on connaît finalement peu de chose sur son origine intellectuelle. Cet article vise à faire la généalogie de ce concept dans une perspective franco-britannique. Sa traduction du latin vers le français et l’anglais conserve la signification de « similitude » mais le concept se sécularise, d’une part, à travers le langage des sciences naturelles dont l’influence favorise une réappropriation pour décrire les relations humaines et, d’autre part, le discours historique anglais et le discours politique colonial français. Dans le contexte britannique, l’assimilation devient une qualité collective attribuée à tout un peuple, puis utilisée en naturalisant les différences entre les peuples pour les rendre irréductibles et enfin s’enrichit d’une acception administrative. En France, la politisation du concept d’assimilation dans les discours et réglementations coloniaux provoque un bouleversement sémantique qui l’associe au concept d’égalité.

Climate Change Adaptation Act : report of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on S. 2355

Science.gov (United States)

2008-06-05

The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, to which was referred the bill (S. 2355) to amend the National Climate Program Act to enhance the ability of the United States to : develop and implement climate change adaptation programs and p...

In Brief: Science academies' statement on climate change

Science.gov (United States)

Showstack, Randy

2009-06-01

“It is essential that world leaders agree on emissions reductions needed to combat negative consequences of anthropogenic climate change,” national science academies from 13 countries declared in a joint statement issued on 11 June. The statement, issued by the academies of the G8 countries—including England, France, Russia, and the United States—and five other countries (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa), came in advance of a G8 meeting in Italy in July and prior to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations in Denmark in December. “The G8+5 should lead the transition to an energy-efficient and low-carbon world economy, and foster innovation and research and development for both mitigation and adaptation technologies,” the statement noted. The academies urged governments to agree at the UNFCCC negotiations to adopt a long-term global goal and short-term emissions reduction targets so that by 2050 global emissions would be reduced by about 50% from 1990 levels.

Climate for women in climate science: Women scientists and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Gay-Antaki, Miriam; Liverman, Diana

2018-02-27

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an authoritative and influential source of reports on climate change. The lead authors of IPCC reports include scientists from around the world, but questions have been raised about the dominance of specific disciplines in the report and the disproportionate number of scholars from the Global North. In this paper, we analyze the as-yet-unexamined issue of gender and IPCC authorship, looking at changes in gender balance over time and analyzing women's views about their experience and barriers to full participation, not only as women but also at the intersection of nationality, race, command of English, and discipline. Over time, we show that the proportion of female IPCC authors has seen a modest increase from less than 5% in 1990 to more than 20% in the most recent assessment reports. Based on responses from over 100 women IPCC authors, we find that many women report a positive experience in the way in which they are treated and in their ability to influence the report, although others report that some women were poorly represented and heard. We suggest that an intersectional lens is important: not all women experience the same obstacles: they face multiple and diverse barriers associated with social identifiers such as race, nationality, command of English, and disciplinary affiliation. The scientific community benefits from including all scientists, including women and those from the Global South. This paper documents barriers to participation and identifies opportunities to diversify climate science. Copyright © 2018 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.

Climate change in the classroom: Reaching out to middle school students through science and math suitcase lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobo, A. C.; Collay, R.; Harris, R. N.; de Silva, L.

2011-12-01

We have formed a link between the Increasing Diversity in Earth Sciences (IDES) program with the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) program, both at Oregon State University. The IDES mission is to strengthen the understanding of Earth Sciences and their relevance to society among broad and diverse segments of the population and the SMILE mission is to provide science and math enrichment for underrepresented and other educationally underserved students in grades 4-12. Traditionally, underserved schools do not have enough time or resources to spend on science and mathematics. Furthermore, numerous budget cuts in many Oregon school districts have negatively impacted math and science cirriculum. To combat this trend we have designed suitcase lessons in climate change that can be carried to a number of classrooms. These lesson plans are scientifically rich and economically attractive. These lessons are designed to engage students in math and science through climate change presentations, group discussions, and hands-on activities. Over the past year we have familiarized ourselves with the academic ability of sixth and seventh graders through in-class observation in Salem Oregon. One of the suit case lessons we developed focuses on climate change by exploring the plight of polar bears in the face of diminishing sea ice. Our presentation will report the results of this activity.

Memoirs of law, sciences and technologies - Law and climate thematic issue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Torre-Schaub, M.; Jouzel, J.; Boisson de Chazournes, L.; Sadeleer, N. de; Denis, B.; Godard, O.; Le Prestre, P.; Maljean-Dubois, S.; Wemaere, M.; Rousseaux, S.; Louchard, O.

2009-01-01

This dossier is organized around two essential points: 1 - climate is a scientific question which combines science and governance. In this context, the last IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report gives an essential place to uncertainties with claiming that 'it is more probable than improbable that we may be in an irreversible process of global warming'. Therefore, it has become necessary to think about the management of uncertainties using law and to a massive mobilization of the precaution principle. The essential economical aspects to the implementation of a significant abatement of greenhouse gases cannot be passed over in silence as well. Finally, the civil society occupies a more and more important place, not only in international negotiations, but inside the countries as well. 2 - Global warming is thinkable at a World scale only. This implies that some kind of a climate geopolitics is emerging in the World, considering the existence at the same time of different sources and different problems to deal with (technical, economical) depending on the regions of the world. From the strictly legal point of view, the scenarios presented at Bali consider the World by 2012 onward. In this context, the fight against global warming mobilizes several legal instruments, some being new and the others being not. We assist to a real law genesis. The emissions trading markets, for instance, and other financial mechanisms, belong to these new instruments. However, using old legal means to solve new problems is another way to create law. It is also important to stress on the fact that the international law is not the only possible legal mean to square the fight against global warming. The liability right for the violation of a public property, i.e. the atmosphere, remains an instrument combining experience and novelty and has proved itself in several countries. Finally, in France, the 'Grenelle de l'Environnement' policy has led to an extraordinary process of

Original Paper Performances comparées du HDL-cholestérol et du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

CT/HDL-C) et du HDL-Cholestérol est le meilleur prédicteur du SMet chez les adultes béninois. .... (Canada) et du. Ministère de la Santé du Bénin. Le consentement éclairé écrit a été obtenu de chaque participant avant leur recrutement dans.

Régionalisation du recrutement du personnel de santé au Burkina ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Régionalisation du recrutement du personnel de santé au Burkina Faso ... le ministère a adopté une politique de recrutement régionalisé de certaines catégories du ... de comprendre le contexte dans lequel une telle stratégie a été formulée, ...

Éditorial du numéro spécial Tidilem

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne-Laure Foucher

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Vous trouverez, dans ce n° 1 du volume 10 d'Alsic, une sélection d'articles du colloque international Tidilem (Tice et Didactique des Langues Étrangère et Maternelle, organisé par le Laboratoire de Recherche sur le Langage (LRL, qui s’est déroulé les 14 et 15 septembre 2006 à la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, université Blaise Pascal (UBP, Clermont-Ferrand et qui a accueilli plus de cent participants. La thématique choisie pour cette première édition de Tidilem, la problématique des aides...

35 Typologie des eaux de surface du bassin du Sebou par multi ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PR BOKO

2Service de protection de la qualité de l'eau, Agence du Bassin Hydraulique du ... pour montrer l'évolution de la qualité biologique des eaux de surface du ..... Biological Indicators of Freshwater Pollution and Environmental Management,.

A history of the science and politics of climate change: the role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bolin, B. [University of Stockholm, Stockholm (Sweden)

2007-11-15

In response to growing concern about human-induced global climate change, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988. Written by its first Chairman, this book is a unique overview of the history of the IPCC. It describes and evaluates the intricate interplay between key factors in the science and politics of climate change, the strategy that has been followed, and the regretfully slow pace in getting to grips with the uncertainties that have prevented earlier action being taken. The book also highlights the emerging conflict between establishing a sustainable global energy system and preventing a serious change in global climate. Contents are: Part I. The Early History of the Climate Change Issue: 1. Nineteenth century discoveries; 2. The natural carbon cycle and life on earth; 3. Global research initiatives in meteorology and climatology; 4. Early international assessments of climate change; Part II. The Climate Change Issue Becomes One of Global Concern: 5. Setting the stage; 6. The scientific basis for a climate convention; 7. Serving the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee; 8. The Second IPP Assessment Report; 9. In the aftermath of the IPCC Second Assessment; 10. The Kyoto Protocol is agreed and a third assessment begun; 11. A decade of hesitance and slow progress; Part III. A Turning Point in Addressing Climate Change?: 12. Key scientific finding of prime political relevance; 13. Climate change and the future global energy supply system; Concluding remarks. 9 figs.

The DuPont Conference: Implications for the Chemical Technology Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Kenkel, John; Rutledge, Sue; Kelter, Paul B.

1998-05-01

Southeast Community College (SCC) hosted the first DuPont Conference for Chemical Technology Education at its Lincoln, Nebraska campus October 4-6, 1997. The conference brought together fourteen practicing chemists and chemistry technicians and five college and university faculty members for the express purpose of suggesting new laboratory activities that would help relate the real world of work to the education of chemical laboratory technicians in community colleges. Participants included seven men and seven women from DuPont, Procter & Gamble, Eastman Chemical, Eastman Kodak, Dow Chemical, Air Products and Chemicals, Monsanto, Union Carbide, the Nebraska Agriculture Laboratory, and the University of Nebraska Biological Process Development Facility, Department of Food Science. The conference, sponsored by the E. I. DuPont DeNemours & Company through a grant awarded to SCC in June 1997, was intended to help further the goals of the two major projects underway at SCC, funded by the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education Program. These projects, dubbed "Assignment: Chemical Technology I and II", or ACT-I and ACT-II, are curriculum and materials development projects. The invited scientists had between 2 and 32 years of experience that ranged from bench work to management levels. Many are or have been active on the national scene as members and officers of the American Chemical Society's Division of Chemical Technicians and the ACS Committee on Technician Activities.

Caractérisation des sables et morphologie du fond du lac du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Une analyse sédimentologique et minéralogique réalisée sur un cycle hydrologique entre octobre 2004 et août 2005 a permis d\\'évaluer les charges solides en suspension et de caractériser les sédiments du lac du barrage de Taabo. La concentration moyenne en matières en suspension (12 mg.L-1) et la turbidité ...

Caractérisation des sables et morphologie du fond du lac du ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrateur

Une analyse sédimentologique et minéralogique réalisée sur un cycle hydrologique entre octobre 2004 et août 2005 a permis d'évaluer les charges solides en suspension et de caractériser les sédiments du lac du barrage de Taabo. La concentration moyenne en matières en suspension (12 mg.L-1) et la turbidité ...

Engagez-vous, devenez délégué(e) du personnel du CERN

CERN Multimedia

Staff Association

2017-01-01

Dans notre ECHO N° 275, nous avons annoncé les élections à venir au Conseil du personnel du CERN. Dans le présent ECHO, nous vous informons du lancement du processus des élections qui débute par le dépôt des candidatures. Tous les titulaires, boursiers et associés, qui sont aussi membres de l’Association du personnel, peuvent s’engager et déposer leur candidature entre le 11 septembre à 08 h 00 et le 13 octobre 2017 à 17 h 00. N’hésitez plus, remplissez le formulaire de candidature, présentez-vous aux élections au Conseil du personnel afin de pouvoir représenter et défendre vos collègues du personnel du CERN. ÊTRE DÉLÉGUÉ(E), C’EST QUOI ? Poser la question à plusieurs d...

An Inquiry-Based Science Activity Centred on the Effects of Climate Change on Ocean Ecosystems

Science.gov (United States)

Boaventura, Diana; Guilherme, Elsa; Faria, Cláudia

2016-01-01

We propose an inquiry-based science activity centred on the effects of climate change on ocean ecosystems. This activity can be used to improve acquisition of knowledge on the effects of climate change and to promote inquiry skills, such as researching, reading and selecting relevant information, identifying a problem, focusing on a research…

The climate regime before and after Copenhagen: science, policy, and the two-degrees target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aykut, S.C.; Dahan, A.

2011-01-01

The article discusses the political results of the Copenhagen Conference and evolutions in the international climate arena including geopolitical shifts, new issues on the agenda and a changing cartography of the main actors. As recent attacks on the climate regime concern both its political governance and the peculiar relationship between science and politics that developed through its main institutions (IPCC and the Conference of the Parties), we retrace in a first part the construction of the climate arena and in a second part the framing of the problem between climate science, expertise, and politics. Drawing on this historical sketch, we suggest the years 2000 were characterized by a convergence of top-down approaches in climate expertise and policies, structuring action and discourse around quantified reduction targets, temperature and concentration thresholds, and carbon budgets. The bottom-up character of the voluntary reduction commitments in the Copenhagen Accord is a serious setback to this approach. A central figure in this context is the threshold of 'dangerous warming' of two degrees. The Copenhagen Accord - endorsed in the Cancun compromise - elevates this figure to an official target of the U.N. negotiation process, thereby accentuating the tension between a newly assumed 'Real politic' and an alarming expertise. The article analyzes the construction of the two-degrees target and the role it plays in the climate regime. We conclude by discussing several contributions to the Post-Copenhagen debate. (authors)

Society Influencing Science: The role of the Transdisciplinary Advisory Board (TAB) of the European Joint Programming Initiative on Climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Noone, K. J.; Manderscheid, P.; Monfray, P.

2017-12-01

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the separation between science and the rest of society is not helping us find solutions to "wicked" problems like climate change or achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It is clear that a broader approach to research is necessary - one that includes stakeholders in the research process itself. What is unclear is how best to do this. The Transdisciplinary Advisory Board (TAB) of the European Joint Programming Initiative on Climate (JPI Climate) is an example of scientists and stakeholders working together to frame climate research and move the results of scientific research into decision support. JPI Climate is a consortium of 12 European countries (with partners from nine more countries) and is a major funding channel and forum for climate research in Europe. The TAB has an equal number of stakeholders and researchers from 10 different European countries, has an even gender balance, and its members have widely differing backgrounds. The TAB provides input and advice to the governing board of JPI Climate, and influences both the strategic planning for this funding initiative as well as specific calls for proposals issued through the consortium. In addition to its advisory role, the TAB explores the transdisciplinary process itself, expanding the boundaries of how stakeholders and science can interact positively. The TAB is a two-way mechanism through which stakeholders can help improve research and science can help improve society. We will give examples of the spectrum of how the TAB provides mutual influence between stakeholders and science - from helping to draft 10-year research strategies to helping advance the uptake of climate research into the private and policy sectors.

Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program

Science.gov (United States)

2003-07-01

Program objectives. Source: Chris Sabine , NOAA-PMEL. Chapter 15. International Research and CooperationClimate Change Science Program Strategic Plan...Laboratory Mary C. Erickson National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Jaime Esper National Aeronautics and Space Administration 181 Robert Etkins...Sweeney, C., Poison, A., Metzl, N., Tilbrook, B., Bates, N.,Wanninkhof, R., Feely, R.A., Sabine , C., Olafsson, J., and Nojiri,Y., 2002: Global sea-air

Ecologie du phytoplancton du lac Kivu

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarmento, H.

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Speciation within the African Coffee Pathogen. Cet article analyse s'il est avantageux d'utiliser le compost au lieu de l'engrais minéral pour produire la laitue dans la zone urbaine et péri-urbaine de Yaoundé. Les résultats de terrain montrent l'obtention de rendements et profits plus élevés lorsqu'on utilise le compost. Les résultats de la fonction de production Cobb-Douglas prouvent que l'utilisation du compost est statistiquement significative pour expliquer la variation de rendement de la laitue et que le compost est l'intrant le plus productif. D'autres résultats montrent que le compost fournit la matière organique utile au sol et que les besoins d'irrigation en eau de la culture sont réduits grâce à l'utilisation du compost. Par conséquent, malgré le fait que l'application du compost demande une main-d'oeuvre beaucoup plus élevée, son utilisation est généralement bénéfique pour les agriculteurs vivant aux alentours de Yaoundé. Les programmes de vulgarisation de cet intrant pour encourager son adoption devraient donc figurer parmi les points prioritaires dans la politique agricole du gouvernement camerounais.

Don't shoot the messenger: re-framing climate policy to respond to evolving science (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, M. R.; Otto, F. E.; Otto, A.; Rayner, S.

2013-12-01

Lack of progress in mitigation policy, as atmospheric CO2 concentrations climb apparently inexorably past 400ppm, is often blamed on a failure to 'communicate the climate change message' effectively. A small but increasing number of commentators is arguing that the problem is not communication, but the way in which climate policy choices are framed. In particular, the overt politicization of climate science, with so-called 'belief in climate change' being invoked as automatically implying support for a global carbon price or cap-and-trade regime, or even as an argument for voting for specific parties, makes it increasingly difficult to discuss policy options in the light of evolving science. At the heart of the problem is the interpretation of the 'precautionary principle', which is widely invoked in climate policy as a response to scientific uncertainty: policies, it is argued, should be designed to be robust to the range of possible future climates, or to deliver the ';best' possible probability-weighted outcome. The problem with this approach is that it very often makes policy contingent on worst-case scenarios - such as the risk of high climate sensitivity or rapid non-linear climate change - which are often the most uncertain aspects of climate science and hence subject to frequent revision. To be relevant to policies that are based on mitigating worst-case risks, the scientific community is also required to focus on establishing what these risks are, leaving it open, unjustly but understandably, to the accusation of alarmism. Focusing on worst-case scenarios can also give the impression that the mitigation problem is unachievable, and the only option is short-term adaptation followed by geo-engineering. One way of reducing the politicization of climate science is to make policy explicitly contingent on the climate response, such that a high (or low) rate of anthropogenic warming over the coming decades is automatically met with an aggressive (or moderate

Chapitre 6: Le cas de l'Afrique du Sud

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

pwust

examiné un paiement fait par Sports and Recreation South Africa au tournoi de football de la Coupe d'Afrique des. Nations 2002, au ..... pays africains portent sur de l'aide relative aux technologies en place plutôt que sur la recherche .... en Afrique du Science and Technology Europe Africa Project (ST-EAP) qui favorise la.

Collaborative Projects Weaving Indigenous and Western Science, Knowledge and Perspectives in Climate Change Education

Science.gov (United States)

Sparrow, E. B.; Chase, M.; Brunacini, J.; Spellman, K.

2017-12-01

The "Reaching Arctic Communities Facing Climate Change" and "Feedbacks and Impacts of A Warming Arctic: Engaging Learners in STEM Using GLOBE and NASA Assets" projects are examples of Indigenous and western science communities' collaborative efforts in braiding multiple perspectives and methods in climate change education. Lessons being learned and applied in these projects include the need to invite and engage members of the indigenous and scientific communities in the beginning as a project is being proposed or formulated; the need for negotiated space in the project and activities where opportunity to present and access both knowledge systems is equitable, recognizes and validates each knowledge and method, and considers the use of pedagogical practices including pace/rhythm and instructional approach most suitable to the target audience. For example with Indigenous audiences/participants, it is important to follow local Indigenous protocol to start an event and/or use a resource that highlights the current experience or voices of Indigenous people with climate change. For mixed audience groups, it is critical to have personal introductions at the beginning of an event so that each participant is given an opportunity and encouraged to voice their ideas and opinions starting with how they want to introduce themselves and thus begin to establish a welcoming and collegial atmosphere for dialog. It is also important to communicate climate science in humanistic terms, that people and communities are affected not just the environment or economies. These collaborative partnerships produce mutual benefits including increased awareness and understanding of personal connections to climate change impacts; opportunities for cultural enrichment; opportunities for accessing elder knowledge which is highly valued as well as science, education and communication tools that are needed in working together in addressing issues and making communities resilient and adaptive.

Climate Change 2013. The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - Abstract for decision-makers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stocker, Thomas F.; Qin, Dahe; Plattner, Gian-Kasper; Tignor, Melinda M.B.; Allen, Simon K.; Boschung, Judith; Nauels, Alexander; Xia, Yu; Bex, Vincent; Midgley, Pauline M.; Alexander, Lisa V.; Allen, Simon K.; Bindoff, Nathaniel L.; Breon, Francois-Marie; Church, John A.; Cubasch, Ulrich; Emori, Seita; Forster, Piers; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Gillett, Nathan; Gregory, Jonathan M.; Hartmann, Dennis L.; Jansen, Eystein; Kirtman, Ben; Knutti, Reto; Kumar Kanikicharla, Krishna; Lemke, Peter; Marotzke, Jochem; Masson-Delmotte, Valerie; Meehl, Gerald A.; Mokhov, Igor I.; Piao, Shilong; Plattner, Gian-Kasper; Dahe, Qin; Ramaswamy, Venkatachalam; Randall, David; Rhein, Monika; Rojas, Maisa; Sabine, Christopher; Shindell, Drew; Stocker, Thomas F.; Talley, Lynne D.; Vaughan, David G.; Xie, Shang-Ping; Allen, Myles R.; Boucher, Olivier; Chambers, Don; Hesselbjerg Christensen, Jens; Ciais, Philippe; Clark, Peter U.; Collins, Matthew; Comiso, Josefino C.; Vasconcellos de Menezes, Viviane; Feely, Richard A.; Fichefet, Thierry; Fiore, Arlene M.; Flato, Gregory; Fuglestvedt, Jan; Hegerl, Gabriele; Hezel, Paul J.; Johnson, Gregory C.; Kaser, Georg; Kattsov, Vladimir; Kennedy, John; Klein Tank, Albert M.G.; Le Quere, Corinne; Myhre, Gunnar; Osborn, Timothy; Payne, Antony J.; Perlwitz, Judith; Power, Scott; Prather, Michael; Rintoul, Stephen R.; Rogelj, Joeri; Rusticucci, Matilde; Schulz, Michael; Sedlacek, Jan; Stott, Peter A.; Sutton, Rowan; Thorne, Peter W.; Wuebbles, Donald

2013-10-01

The Working Group I contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides a comprehensive assessment of the physical science basis of climate change. It builds upon the Working Group I contribution to the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report in 2007 and incorporates subsequent new findings from the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation, as well as from research published in the extensive scientific and technical literature. The assessment considers new evidence of past, present and projected future climate change based on many independent scientific analyses from observations of the climate system, paleo-climate archives, theoretical studies of climate processes and simulations using climate models. During the process of scoping and approving the outline of its Fifth Assessment Report, the IPCC focussed on those aspects of the current understanding of the science of climate change that were judged to be most relevant to policy-makers. In this report, Working Group I has extended coverage of future climate change compared to earlier reports by assessing near-term projections and predictability as well as long-term projections and irreversibility in two separate chapters. Following the decisions made by the Panel during the scoping and outline approval, a set of new scenarios, the Representative Concentration Pathways, are used across all three Working Groups for projections of climate change over the 21. century. The coverage of regional information in the Working Group I report is expanded by specifically assessing climate phenomena such as monsoon systems and their relevance to future climate change in the regions. The Working Group I Report is an assessment, not a review or a text book of climate science, and is based on the published scientific and technical literature available up to 15 March 2013. Underlying all aspects of the report is a

Le sacre du printemps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denise Pumain

2002-03-01

Full Text Available Cybergeo aura six ans en avril : dans la réalité du virtuel, dans l'univers récent et fluctuant de la publication en ligne, cela fait de nous, tout à la fois, des pionniers et des vétérans. De façon plus surprenante, il se trouve que nous sommes aussi uniques : parmi toutes les revues électroniques de sciences sociales, aucune ne combine comme Cybergeo ancienneté, publication exclusivement électronique, liberté d'accès au texte intégral, édition et gestion par des chercheurs, et comité de lec...

La science voilée science et islam

CERN Document Server

Charfi, Faouzia Farida

2013-01-01

Physicienne reconnue et personnalité politique de premier plan en Tunisie, Faouzia Farida Charfi offre avec ce livre un vibrant plaidoyer pour la science et l’autonomie de la pensée. Puisant dans l’actualité récente mais aussi dans l’histoire, elle retrace ici les relations entretenues par l’islam et la science. Des relations qui, après un véritable âge d’or des sciences arabes et la période réformiste du XIXe siècle, sont désormais marquées du sceau de l’ambiguïté : oscillant entre le rejet et la fascination, les islamistes se livrent aujourd’hui à des tentatives pour concilier les théories scientifiques et le Coran, dénaturant ainsi et la science et l’islam sous prétexte de modernité. Faouzia Farida Charfi analyse aussi le créationnisme pour dénoncer l’alliance objective des fondamentalismes – anglo-saxons ou musulmans – et le sort qu’ils réservent aux femmes. Elle rappelle enfin qu’on peut les combattre et ouvre quelques pistes en ce sens. Un appel pour qu...

Climate Informatics: Accelerating Discovering in Climate Science with Machine Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Monteleoni, Claire; Schmidt, Gavin A.; McQuade, Scott

2014-01-01

The goal of climate informatics, an emerging discipline, is to inspire collaboration between climate scientists and data scientists, in order to develop tools to analyze complex and ever-growing amounts of observed and simulated climate data, and thereby bridge the gap between data and understanding. Here, recent climate informatics work is presented, along with details of some of the field's remaining challenges. Given the impact of climate change, understanding the climate system is an international priority. The goal of climate informatics is to inspire collaboration between climate scientists and data scientists, in order to develop tools to analyze complex and ever-growing amounts of observed and simulated climate data, and thereby bridge the gap between data and understanding. Here, recent climate informatics work is presented, along with details of some of the remaining challenges.

Bringing Climate Change into the Life Science Classroom: Essentials, Impacts on Life, and Addressing Misconceptions

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Amy J.; Stark, Louisa A.

2016-01-01

Climate change is at the forefront of our cultural conversation about science, influencing everything from presidential debates to Leonardo DiCaprio's 2016 Oscar acceptance speech. The topic is becoming increasingly socially and scientifically relevant but is no closer to being resolved. Most high school students take a life science course but…

New Climate Science 2006-2009; Ny klimatvetenskap 2006-2009