1st Edition

Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society

Edited By Constance Lever-Tracy Copyright 2010
    512 Pages 48 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    As the time-scales of natural change accelerate and converge with those of society, Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society takes the reader into largely uncharted territory in its exploration of anthropogenic climate change. Current material is used to highlight the global impact of this issue, and the necessity for multidisciplinary and global social science research and teaching to address the problem.

    The book is multidisciplinary and worldwide in scope, with contributors spanning specialisms including agro-forestry, economics, environmentalism, ethics, human geography, international relations, law, politics, psychology, sociology and theology. Their global knowledge is reflected in the content of the text, which encompasses chapters on American, European and Chinese policies, case studies of responses to disasters and of the new technological and lifestyle alternatives that are being adopted, and the negotiations leading up to the Copenhagen conference alongside a preface assessing its outcomes. Starting with an initial analysis by a leading climatologist, key issues discussed in the text include recent findings of natural scientists, social causation and vulnerability, media and public recognition or scepticism, and the merits and difficulties of actions seeking to mitigate and adapt.

    This accessible volume utilizes a wealth of case studies, explains technical terms and minimises the use of acronyms associated with the subject, making it an essential text for advanced undergraduates, postgraduate students and researchers in the social sciences.

    Climate change and society: an introduction, Constance Lever-Tracy and Barrie Pittock  Part 1: Understanding climate change 1. The science of climate change: knowledge, uncertainty and risk, Barrie Pittock 2. Climate change: complexity and collaboration between the sciences, Ian Welsh  Part 2: Social impacts on nature 3. Organisations and global warming, Charles Perrow 4. Capitalism versus nature: eco-socialist approaches to the climate crisis, Dennis Soron 5. Ecological economics: the impact of unsustainable growth, Philip Lawn 6. Ecological economics: consumption drivers and impacts, Inge Ropke  Part 3: Natural impacts on society 7. Vulnerability and adaptation to climate change, Robin Leichenko, Adelle Thomas and Mark Barnes 8. Ecological rationality, disaster, and the environmental education of leaders, Raymond Murphy 9. Case study: floods in Mumbai, Monalisa Chatterjee  Part 4: Social recognition of climate change 10. Public opinion: a cross national view, Steven Brechin 11. Media presentations of climate change, Max Boykoff and Joe Smith 12. Case study: climate change reporting in Time magazine, Ray Loi Postscript, Constance Lever-Tracy 13. Religion, worldview and climate change, Lee Levett-Olson 14. Climate change denial: sources, actors and strategies, Riley E. Dunlap and Aaron M. McCright  Part 5: Reducing emissions 15. Crises and opportunities, Noel Tracy 16. Alternative scenarios: varieties of capitalism, Constance Lever-Tracy 17. Alternative scenarios: technological optimism or low energy futures, Terry Leahy 18. Bio-fuels,
    Stephen Clarke, Dan Graiver and Sudirman Habibie 19. The nuclear option, Lee Clarke 20. Case study: agro-forestry in the Philippines, Lutgarda Tolentino, Leila Landicho, Catherine C De Luna and Rowena D Cabahug 21. Public opposition to renewable energy, Claire Haggett 22. Behavioural insights: motivating individual emissions cuts through communication, David Ockwell, Saffron O’Neill and Lorraine Whitmarsh  Part 6: National and global policies 23. Climate change and energy security in the European Union: from rhetoric to practice? Karin Bäckstrand 24. Case study: wind energy regulation in Germany and the UK, Shiufai Wong 25. Tipping point: crossroads for US climate policy, Marcus Carson and Mikael Roman 26. China’s emissions: dangers and responses, Bo Miao and Graeme Lang 27. Justice and the politics of climate change, Derek Bell 28. International law responses to climate change, Hossein Esmaeili 29. Pushing past neo-liberalism: rethinking global climate change negotiations, Raymond Clémençon

    Biography

    Constance Lever-Tracy is Senior Lecturer of Sociology at Flinders University of South Australia. She has prior interests in industrial militancy, ethnic relations and diaspora Chinese capitalism. Her recent work includes the entry for ‘Global Warming’ in the International Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences (2008), and initiation of a symposium on global warming and sociology in Current Sociology (2008).