Climate Change the science, the policy and the ethics

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interpreting weather and climate for your needs
Fionas Red Kite
Climate Change - the science, the policy and
the ethics
A presentation by Fiona Hewer MSc
FRMetS for Henley College 13 February 2008
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Temperature evidence
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• current warming trend unequivocal (0.74ºC
  /100yr)
• global average sea-level rise (2mm/yr)
• glaciers and snow cover are declining loss of
  Arctic sea ice

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IPCC Synthesis Report
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• Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as
  is now evident from observations of increases in
  global averaged air and ocean temperatures,
  widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising
  global average sea level.

Most of the observed increase in
globally-averaged temperatures since the mid-20th
century is very likely due to the observed
increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations.
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Consequences of global temperature rises
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• at 0-1ºC above 1980-1999s hundreds of millions of
  people exposed to increased water stress
• at 1ºC up to 30 species at increased extinction
  risk
• at 2ºC there will be further increases in deaths
  from drought, flood and heat wave
• at 3ºC about 30 of global coastal wetland will
  be lost
• at 4ºC significant extinctions around the globe
• at 5ºC millions in coastal flooding

The highest projections for the 2090s are 6.4ºC
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What warms and cools the climate of your town
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• the Gulf stream
• land use - dark coloured surface absorb more of
  the suns heat
• green house gases

• aerosols - particles in the atmosphere
• land use - light coloured surfaced reflect the
  suns heat
• the natural cycle of ice-ages

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International agreements and UK targets
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Climate change - the ethics
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• Which solutions are moral? How can we ensure the
  policies we implement are just?
• Im not going try and tell you what you should
  think, but I will discuss some tools and ideas to
  help you explore your own views
• For whom do we want be just? Who is our moral
  community?
• membership of the moral community gives us rights
  and responsibilities

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Climate change - the ethics
Fionas Red Kite
Technocentrism versus
Ecocentrism

• nature provides resources for humans such as
  fuel, building materials and food
• our unique powers of intelligence allow us to
  study and understand nature
• we can predict and manage nature
• were confident that new technical solutions can
  be found

• humans are part of nature - if we damage it we
  damage ourselves
• nature is a complicated, interconnected system we
  cannot fully understand
• humans should respect nature, not try to control
  it
• its best to follow a precautionary approach, and
  not do new things unless were sure about the
  impacts