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A growing body of literature studies how expert practices constitute issues such as climate change, migration, or public health as international objects of expertise. The article contributes to this research agenda by highlighting the role of digital visual technologies and infrastructures in the constitution and governance of these international objects. It develops the concept of visual objects and uses it to trace and explain the emergence of a new technological initiative conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU: the vision of a 'digital twin Earth' (DTE). The idea behind the DTE is to combine various technologies, including satellite Earth observation, advanced computer models, and AI, to build a digital replica of our planet and thereby govern risks emanating from environmental changes and other global challenges. The article provides a first analysis of the international politics of the DTE. It shows how the visual object of the DTE functions as an attractor of heterogeneous actors and practices involved in the European space policy field thereby temporarily stabilizing this complex assemblage. Finally, it traces how the DTE and its machinic ways of seeing enact the Earth not only as an object of knowledge but also as one of experimentation and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossil fuel companies hold enormous political, economic, and knowledge production power. Recently, industry operators have pivoted from pushing climate denialism to campaigns aimed at individualizing responsibility for climate crisis. In this paper, we focus on one related outcome of such efforts – people's experiences of complicity – here in the context of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production. We ask: How do mobilized activists experience fossil fuel scapegoating, and what does it mean for their goals as they organize against UOG production? We show that even activists fighting UOG production feel complicit in fossil fuel production, and these feelings of complicity diminish their demands for UOG accountability. We argue that these outcomes have been especially pernicious in cultural contexts like that of the United States, where neoliberal ideologies are normalized, centering personal responsibility, individualization, and identification as consumers rather than citizens. We marshal an extensive qualitative dataset and advance a theory of complicity as a way to understand: a) how social movements intersect with neoliberalized patterns of life; b) how experiences of complicity affect activism; and c) how this may contribute to fossil fuel firms' goals of undercutting organizing. We end by examining how a sub-set of activists works to dismantle this complicity narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the impact of digital platforms like TikTok and YouTube on the consumption of news and information by young people. It raises concerns about the uncurated content that is served to users through algorithms and the potential implications for society. The author argues that while there have been regulatory efforts to address competition issues in the digital world, there is still a need for regulation in the information ecosystem. The article also discusses the role of AI in content creation and distribution and its potential impact on the reliability of information. Ultimately, the article suggests that the dominance of digital gatekeepers and the lack of quality control in user-generated content pose a threat to democracy and the exchange of ideas. It proposes several ideas for regulation, including limiting personalized advertising, strengthening platform responsibility, monitoring the use of AI, breaking up information monopolies, and implementing positive regulation to ensure a certain plurality and quality of information. The author also calls on European politicians to address toxic cultures on platforms and restrict the use of the internet and social media by children and young people. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the role of climate fiction in addressing the climate crisis. It critiques the prevalence of dystopian narratives and suggests that focusing on small changes and everyday life may be more effective in engaging readers. The article uses Jennifer Egan's novel A Visit from the Goon Squad as an example of how climate change can be subtly incorporated into literary fiction. It argues that the absence of climate change in the novel reflects a state of apathy or denial, but later chapters allow readers to confront the issue. The article also explores the connection between energy consumption and the American lifestyle portrayed in the novel, highlighting the correlation between the climate crisis and the habits of highly connected individuals. It emphasizes the need to address issues of complicity and responsibility and highlights the potential for climate fiction to address social and environmental issues. [Extracted from the article]

This article examines the environmental impact of digital infrastructures, specifically focusing on cloud computing. It analyzes J.R. Carpenter's web-based poem-essay, "The Gathering Cloud," which emphasizes the physical reality of data storage and transmission. The article raises ethical questions about cloud computing and calls for a better understanding of our dependence on digital technologies. It also discusses the excessive electricity consumption of data centers and the lack of transparency in the industry. Carpenter's work incorporates images, texts, and historical artifacts to explore the intersections of art, technology, and science, while also encouraging readers to consider the ethics and environmental impact of their media consumption choices. [Extracted from the article]

Climate litigation is anticipated to continue expanding, especially related to the interface with the human rights of vulnerable populations and the adequacy of states' efforts to adopt and implement climate laws. While the possibility of climate-related litigation is envisaged before the African Human Rights System (AHRS), there is no pioneering case on climate change at that level yet. Essential rights that may be relevant in climate change litigation in the AHRS are not yet tested and often have claw-back clauses that have limits imposed by national legislation. Also, climate change commitments that may link to human rights are under a regime outside the AHRS. These developments may generate conceptual divergences regarding a state's sovereign right and climate justice in future climate litigation within the AHRS. This article explores the potential application of claw-back clauses and divergent views on states' sovereign rights and climate justice in climate change instruments that may feature in individual communications at the AHRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global climate crisis demands that all branches of government play a role in tackling climate change, including the judiciary. One important mechanism is climate litigation. In the adjudication of climate litigation, courts can advance the protection of human rights, promote environmental values, assist in developing climate change law and policy, and uphold the rule of law. However, some Latin American countries are facing several constitutional and legal barriers to adequately protecting environmental and human rights enshrined in their constitutions. Through analysis of the Chilean and Ecuadorian contexts, this note identifies obstacles and barriers that might prevent human rights' protection in each jurisdiction when adjudicating climate cases and proposes reforms that may strengthen courts' performance. Among the options are strengthening existing environmental and human rights provisions, developing new legal frameworks addressing climate change, and enhancing the capacity of courts to hear and decide climate change cases. Furthermore, these reforms must be accompanied by adequate resources, training, and support for the judiciary effectively to advance climate justice through human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the world is still far from achieving its emission reduction target. Despite the scientific certainty of the devastating effects of climate change on human rights, countries' 'nationally determined contributions' (NDCs) still fall short of the 1.5 °C goal. Compared to developed countries and their historical contributions, the Global South's role in climate mitigation may appear insignificant. However, the magnitude of the human rights effects of climate change are enormous. Any increase above 1.5 °C would endanger human well-being and the ecosystems on which human life depends. Therefore, all parties must cooperate to adopt more ambitious NDCs. This imperative—while falling mainly on the Global North, which holds significant historical responsibility for emissions—also extends beyond the Global North, to, for example, a country like Brazil. This article assesses how fair share has played a role in climate litigation cases in the Global North (primarily in Europe) and discusses the possibilities and challenges of bringing similar cases in Brazil. It relies on the fair share methodology used to substantiate the argument of increased ambition in cases in the Global North, discussing whether a similar argument could be brought in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public support for ambitious climate policies and carbon prices that have direct costs for voters may depend on policy sequencing. Policy sequencing theory suggests that the strategic ordering of policies into sequences that initially create benefits can subsequently increase support for higher carbon prices. However, systematic quantitative evidence about the effects of sequencing on public support is lacking. We provide novel theoretical and empirical insights on the mechanisms through which strategic policy sequencing affects public support for climate policies. We generated these insights using geospatial data and a representative conjoint experiment with Swiss voters conducted just before the popular vote on an amendment to the Federal Act on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in June 2021. Our evidence shows that the perceived effectiveness of prior policy-induced benefits is related to more public support for higher carbon prices across sectors. Moreover, we find that more opportunity structures for low-emission alternatives--like higher EV charging station density--are associated with increased public support for carbon prices in the sector where the former material benefits occur. Our results also imply that positive policy perceptions of prior climate policies are related to increased support, particularly among conservative voters and those who do not regard climate change as a salient issue. Thus, strategic policy sequencing could be an effective strategy for broadening public support for ambitious climate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We find that people revise their beliefs about climate change upward when experiencing warmer than usual temperatures in their area. Using international data, we show that attention to climate change, as proxied by Google search volume, increases when the local temperature is abnormally high. In financial markets, stocks of carbon-intensive firms underperform firms with low carbon emissions in abnormally warm weather. Retail investors (not institutional investors) sell carbon-intensive firms in such weather, and return patterns are unlikely to be driven by changes in fundamentals. Our study sheds light on peoples' collective beliefs and actions about global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Google Scholar Google Preview OpenURL Placeholder Text WorldCat COPAC 47 Rogers Melvin L. "Between Pain and Despair: What Ta-Nehisi Coates is Missing." Google Scholar Google Preview OpenURL Placeholder Text WorldCat COPAC 38 Moore Jason W. "The Capitalocene Part I: On the Nature and Origins of our Ecological Crisis." Google Scholar Google Preview OpenURL Placeholder Text WorldCat COPAC 24 Haraway Donna, et al. "Anthropologists Are Talking - About the Anthropocene." Google Scholar Google Preview OpenURL Placeholder Text WorldCat COPAC 30 Keane Patrick J. "Beauty and Fear: Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me", Salgamundi 190-91 (Spring-Summer 2016): 10 - 23. [Extracted from the article]

According to the Polluter Pays Principle, excessive emitters of greenhouse gases have special obligations to remedy the problem of climate change, because they are the ones who have caused it. But what kind of problem is climate change? In this paper I argue that as a moral problem, climate change has a more complex causal structure than many proponents of the Polluter Pays Principle seem to recognize: it is a problem resulting from the interaction of anthropogenic climate effects with the underlying vulnerability and exposure of human communities and other things of value. This means that we should acknowledge more pathways by which human agency contributes to the climate problem and, accordingly, a different landscape of contribution-based remedial responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Google Scholar Crossref Search ADS Google Preview WorldCat COPAC 5 Caracciolo Marco. Google Scholar Crossref Search ADS Google Preview WorldCat COPAC 2 Buell Lawrence. Google Scholar Crossref Search ADS Google Preview WorldCat COPAC 6 Marco Caracciolo, Hurlburt Russell T. A Passion for Specificity: Confronting Inner Experience in Literature and Science. Google Scholar Crossref Search ADS Google Preview WorldCat COPAC 27 Pragglejaz Group. [Extracted from the article]

The film runs for 25 minutes and is produced as an independent film released as a part of the "largeshort film" series on YouTube for popular viewing.[3] However, the film stands out amidst similar films of apocalyptic futures in its conceptualization of the human factor in climate change. (37) In a world where climate change discourse often precludes the central issue of capitalism, and instead veers around technological fixes and "green" solutions that seek not to radically disturb the status quo, films like I Carbon i offer art's resistance to what Ursula LeGuin calls the "inescapable power of capitalism", a resistance embodied in the "art of words" (115). The article also discusses the unsuitability of literary realism as a mode for the representation of climate change and the possibilities of speculative fiction as a narrative vehicle to convey the vagaries of a future thriving on present fossil capitalism.[1] Climate Change and the Anthropocene Climate change is often mapped against the Anthropocene era, whose beginning Crutzen locates in the latter part of the eighteenth century, coinciding with James Watt's invention of the steam engine and the beginning of industrialization. With unprecedented temperature extremes, melting polar caps, ocean acidification, the recurrence of devastating natural disasters, and steady multi-species extinction, the reality of climate change and environmental damage has become what Timothy Morton calls a "hyperobject" or things that are "so massively distributed in time and space as to transcend spatiotemporal specificity" (1). [Extracted from the article]

Ecologists and fisheries scientists are faced with forecasting the ecological responses of non-stationary processes resulting from climate change and other drivers. While much is known about temporal change, and resulting responses vis-à-vis species distributional shifts, less is known about how spatial variability in population structure changes through time in response to temporal trends in drivers. A population experiencing decreasing spatial variability would be expected to be more evenly spatially distributed over time, and an increasing trend would correspond to greater extremes or patchiness. We implement a new approach for modelling this spatiotemporal variability in the R package sdmTMB. As a real-world application, we focus on a long-term groundfish monitoring dataset, from the west coast of the USA. Focusing on the 36 species with the highest population densities, we compare our model with dynamic spatiotemporal variance to a model with constant spatiotemporal variance. Of the 36 species examined, 13 had evidence to support increasing patchiness, including darkblotched rockfish, lingcod, and petrale sole. Species appearing to be more uniformly spatially distributed over time included: Dover sole, Pacific ocean perch, and Dungeness crab. Letting spatiotemporal variation change through time generally results in small differences in population trend estimates, but larger estimated differences in precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

They share "course strategies developed during [their] time teaching at the Sea Education Association (SEA) where [they] separately taught four shore-based marine environmental humanities courses." The creative writing section features Sarah Lawler's creative nonfiction essay "Field Mice: A North Dakota Family Farm Faces the Pernicious Effects of Modern Agribusiness" and Whitney DeVos' translation from Spanish into English of Valeria Meiller's I El mes raro i (2014). Tormey uses this letter as an opening to consider the friendship between Beston and Carson. [Extracted from the article]

Donald Trump's 2016 election and his nomination of climate skeptic Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency drastically downshifted expectations about U.S. policy toward climate change. Joseph Biden's 2020 election shifted them dramatically upward. We study firms' stock-price movements in reaction to these changes. As expected, the 2016 election boosted carbon-intensive firms. Surprisingly, firms with climate-responsible strategies also gained, especially those firms held by long-run investors. Such investors appear to have bet on a "boomerang" in climate policy. Harbingers of a boomerang appeared during Trump's term. The 2020 election marked its arrival. (JEL G14, G38, G41) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines 'adaptation-induced tourism', a form of media-induced tourism understood to be distinct from 'screen tourism' or 'literary tourism' and marked by tourist activity related to an adaptation from one media format to another. Such adaptation-induced tourism activates an existing fan base and as a result provides considerably more upside in terms of the potential long-tail impact of tourism, but also faces particularly acute challenges in terms of fidelity and potential negative fan reactions. Moreover, this article suggests an ethical dimension to adaptation. Examining Game of Thrones tourism in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK), this research shows that the choice to adapt popular works through extensive location shooting invites significant increases in visitation, thereby bringing sustainability issues to the fore and forcing communities to 'adapt' to new realities. The changes that occur on the local level, while often positive in the short-term, may have deleterious impacts upon the physical and cultural ecosystem, particularly in the context of climate change and a larger trend in tourism towards 'adapting' to new geoatmospheric and political realities. The article suggests that stakeholders involved in location scouting, providing incentives to film and television producers, and the marketing of place might remain mindful of and proactive concerning unintended consequences to seemingly obvious production and development decisions, particularly where adaptations are concerned. Finally, the article suggests that adaptation-induced tourism spaces and their reproduction by visitors are further examples of adaptation that have the potential to induce further visitation, creating a productive circle with ambivalent outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Rise of Ecofascism: Climate Change and the Far Right" explores the connection between climate change and far-right ideologies. The book highlights how the far right has used the climate crisis to promote racism and anti-immigration rhetoric. It also examines the historical intersections between far-right ideologies and ecological politics, from colonial practices to Nazi Germany's claims of resource scarcity. The authors analyze how these ideas permeate contemporary society, particularly in authoritarian states and online movements. The book concludes with a call to oppose ecologies of domination with ecologies of liberation and emphasizes the importance of climate justice and solidarity. [Extracted from the article]

This article compares how the print media portrayed Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May in the first three weeks of their respective prime ministerial terms. Examining the similarities and differences between the media coverage of the two leaders, who ascended to the prime ministerial role almost 40 years apart, helps us understand how mainstream media coverage concentrates on the gendered differences of women political leaders from the masculine leadership norm. Seven major daily newspapers were examined, using feminist content analysis and feminist critical discourse analysis. The study revealed that, contrary to expectations, not only was there more attention to May's gender than to Thatcher's, but it was also more detailed and elaborate, particularly in the conservative press. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author explores ecophobic practices and ethics in the context of the Anthropocene theory. Topics discussed include the analysis of ecophobia as a precognitive sense of one's animality, the significant role of anthropocentric cultures in the regulation of the ecophobic theory of death anxiety according to cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker, and the speculations offered by theorists such as Timothy Morton and Roy Scranton over Anthropocene conditions.

As graduate and undergraduate students in science, we will be faced with pushing back on anti-science ideologies for decades to come. Long before COVID-19 denialism, anti-maskers, and anti-vaxxers, anti-science movements existed in the form of climate change denial, anti-LGBTQI+ legislation, restrictions on reproductive rights, and more. Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, one unfortunate fact has become evident: an anti-science sentiment is escalating in the United States and globally. [Extracted from the article]

The article explores various Christian views in support and in opposition to environmental protection measures with regard to climate change. A survey of differing positions on the issue is given from 1970 to the present, outlining a diversity of views each grounded in Biblical interpretation. Further comments are then given discussing how to engage in such views constructively.

This study tests a model of reinforcing spirals in the context of global warming, using a 2-wave, within-subjects panel survey with a representative sample of Americans. Results show that, within waves, conservative media use is negatively related to global warming belief certainty and support for mitigation policies, while nonconservative media use is positively associated with belief certainty and policy support. In addition, the results show that consuming conservative or nonconservative media at Wave 1 makes people more likely to consume those same media at Wave 2, partly as an indirect result of the media's effects on global warming belief certainty and policy preferences. Wave 2 media use, in turn, further strengthens audiences' global warming belief certainty and policy preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the effects of politics on climate change mitigation policy in the U.S. It is noted that despite the existence of a large amount of research data detailing the effects of anthropogenic climate change, concerns over the economy as well as the influence of climate change skeptics have prevented substantive action on these issues by the U.S. federal government. Climate scientists hope to counteract the effects of politics by communicating clear and cogent information and presenting viable solutions to aid in policy decision making. An overview is provided of climate policies in U.S. regional and state governments, as well as organizations such as the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USCCRP).

Contemporary science and environmental news coverage of global warming increasingly portrays scientific consensus. Political news coverage of global warming, however, typically portrays controversy. We hypothesize that attention to science and environmental news is associated with beliefs more consistent with the global warming science and higher risk perceptions, and that the opposite is true of attention to political news. Furthermore, we hypothesize that science-based beliefs and risk perceptions are positively associated with support for policies aiming at reducing global warming. These hypotheses were confirmed by survey data from a nationally representative sample of adults (N = 2,164 ). These findings support and extend the cognitive mediation model of news learning and have important practical ramifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In public discourse and survey research, global climate change is sometimes referred to as “global warming” and sometimes as “climate change.” An analysis of web sites of conservative and liberal think tanks suggests that conservatives prefer to use the term “global warming” whereas liberals prefer “climate change.” A question wording experiment (N = 2267) illustrates the power of these frames: Republicans were less likely to endorse that the phenomenon is real when it was referred to as “global warming” (44.0%) rather than “climate change” (60.2%), whereas Democrats were unaffected by question wording (86.9% vs. 86.4%). As a result, the partisan divide on the issue dropped from 42.9 percentage points under a “global warming” frame to 26.2 percentage points under a “climate change” frame. Theoretical and methodological implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Without public trust of climate change science, policymaking in a democratic society cannot address the serious threats that we face. Recent calls for proposals to increase "climate literacy" from federal agencies such as NASA, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), and the National Science Foundation illustrate the urgency of this crisis. Although more climate change education is certainly needed, focusing solely on climate literacy will not garner public trust and may leave out high-impact media literacy education. Climate change deniers have been more effective "educators" than scientists and science educators because their messages are (a) empowering, built on the premise that every individual can quickly learn enough to enter public discourse on climate change; and (b) delivered through many forms of media. A more effective strategy for scientists and science educators should include not only discourse approaches that enable trust, with emphasis on empowerment through reasoning skills, but also approaches that embrace the maturing discipline of media literacy education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]