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It has now been 12 months since Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States, a man who as a candidate for the job called the scientific evidence for climate change “a hoax,” vowed to deregulate the American economy from what he considered to be onerous oversight, and bring back jobs that he claimed were lost as a result of the effort to combat the rise in global atmospheric temperatures. So, now is a good time to examine the president’s words and deeds regarding climate change – a sort of first-year job performance review or report card. What has he been able to accomplish? Has he laid a foundation for a successful agenda? And what are the most significant challenges to his energy and climate policy objectives? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An emerging literature discusses the effects of short-term temperature fluctuations on public opinion toward climate change. Yet, prior literature has not explored potential opinion-influencing effects of temporal patterns of temperature fluctuations or the interdependence between temperature anomalies and the direction and magnitude of short-term trends. This study uses an extreme warm spell that occurred during a survey of Michigan residents to evaluate the influence of complex temperature effects on public support for government involvement in the agricultural sector's adaptation to climate change. Comparison of several alternatives for capturing the influence of temperature fluctuations on survey responses (some drawn from the literature, some newly constructed) shows a temporary increase in support for government assistance for adaptation after the onset of a warm spell, but a longer exposure to extreme temperatures does not necessarily lead to more support for adaptation policies. Conditional on other attributes of temperature abnormalities (e.g., direction of trend), abnormal heat might even lead to reduced support for adaptation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is the Restructuring of the Global Economy (ROGE) needed or is it part of a U. N. master plan? The evidence indicates that it is a U.N. master plan using global warming/climate change alarmism as the vehicle to accomplish a restructuring from a capitalist global economy to a more socialist global economy. This paper addresses the validity of the U.N.'s global warming narrative and the economic impact of following the U.N.'s agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why has the United States not adopted global warming policies? Because the inner circle of the corporate elite has opposed these policies despite some corporate support for cap-and-trade and other policies. Pro- and anti-positions taken by think tanks that have led the policy debate in the post-Kyoto period are analyzed in order to demonstrate this. The corporate and upper class social ties of the directors of these pro- and anti-think tanks are examined, revealing a corporate elite split between the inner circle opposing these policies, and a ‘public interest sector’ of corporate law and media corporations along with top executives from higher education and other nonprofits that is supportive of policies addressing global warming. To enable adoption of major global warming policies, the corporate inner circle will need to become supportive and forge a class-wide corporate consensus on the need to address global warming. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On 1 July 2012 the Australian Government's comprehensive carbon tax was levied on those businesses that produce more than 25 Mt annually of greenhouse gas emissions. The evidence justifying the need for such a tax is examined using the geological record, contemporary measurements and their interpretation. The hypothesis that carbon dioxide generated by mankind can cause dangerous global warming lacks compelling evidence. Moreover, the historical evidence demonstrates that reducing CO2 emissions as a precautionary measure will have very little, if any, influence on the timing, direction or extent of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading a coalition spanning 38 countries, the Danish Board of Technology organized World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews) on September 26, 2009. WWViews represented a pioneering effort to hold simultaneous citizen deliberations focusing on questions of climate change policy addressed at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in December 2009. Sponsors and organizers envisioned WWViews as a means to affect the COP15 negotiations, and the project included numerous strategies to influence policy-making. This paper examines the success of such strategies in the USA through the lens of ‘policy pathways,’ routes of influence to affect the behavior of policy-makers and policy-making bodies. Our analysis highlights the difficulty of connecting citizen deliberations to meaningful policy pathways, and the importance of recognizing and enlisting policy networks, which we define as the collection of relationships, nodes, or pre-existing organizational ties that can be mobilized in the service of agenda- or alternative-setting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses China's climate policies during the early 21st century, highlighting its focus on pursuing renewable energy despite offering a weak commitment to reducing emissions. The author highlights China's policies on energy efficiency and climate change and argues that conflicts between these policies derive from the Communist Party of China's (CCP) emphasis on maintaining China's economic growth. Other topics include China's argument that developed countries bear more responsibility for climate change, the role of China's State Development and Planning Commission (NDRC) in addressing climate change in terms of development, and China's investment in renewable energy due to the growth potential of the renewable energy industry.

Science advisory committees exercise complex collaborative expertise. Not only do committee members collaborate, they do so across disciplines, producing expert reports that make synthetic multidisciplinary arguments. When reports are controversial, critics target both report content and committee process. Such controversies call for the assessment of expert arguments, but the multidisciplinary character of the debate outstrips the usual methods developed by informal logicians for assessing appeals to expert authority. This article proposes a multi-dimensional contextualist framework for critical assessment and tests it with a case study of the controversies over reports issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The case study shows (1) how the critical contextualist framework can illuminate the controversy and guide evaluation of the various arguments and counterarguments; (2) how cases of this sort open up avenues for fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration between argumentation theorists and other fields; and (3) where further work is required in argumentation theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change adaptation presents a paradox: climate change is a global risk, yet vulnerability is locally experienced. Effective adaptation therefore depends on understanding the local context of vulnerability, which requires deliberative and participatory approaches to adaptation policy-making. But, how can local inclusiveness be achieved in the context of global environmental risk, and what sorts of institutions are needed? This article examines one avenue for the participation of vulnerable groups in adaptation policy-making: National Adaptation Programmes of Actions (NAPAs). Drawing on the case study of Bangladesh, this article shows that the "adaptation paradox" creates a tension between local and global definitions of climate change risk, affecting the legitimacy of participatory processes under the NAPA. I propose that early analysis and engagement of existing local institutional frameworks as a starting point for national adaptation planning is one possible entry point for meaningful local deliberation in global climate change policy-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of PR in the debate about global climate change. Seeking to move beyond a focus on PR as just the handmaiden of corporate power, the article documents the fluid role of professionalized communication in terms of its impact on both corporate and NGO actors and their activities, focusing on communication tactics and the influence of PR consultancies. Drawing from the debates around the transformation of the public sphere, the article argues that the climate change issue illustrates not only structural change but also a wider cultural transformation marked by the emergence of promotionalism as the dominant communicative logic of both powerful and institutionally weaker players. It is argued that although existing political and economic resources provide certain actors with significant advantages, these assets and the structural advantages they tend to accrue cannot alone determine the outcome of struggles over climate change policy and public opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The ways in which Russian public discussion translates climate change into a policy problem that identifies the phenomenon and defines a course of action are examined in order to shed light on the underlying structures of belief, perception and appreciation that shape Russian conduct toward global climate policy. The discussion distinguishes between three frames: the mission, national interest and duty. The mission frame defines climate policy as a means to improve Russia's international image, while the national interest frame focuses on economic and political costs. Only the duty frame defines climate change as a problem that Russia must help solve. Despite these differences, a central premise of all three frames is the centuries-old idea of Russia as a Great Power with a special mission in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse Japanese newspaper coverage of global warming from January 1998 to July 2007 and how public opinion during parts of that period were influenced by newspaper coverage. We show that a dramatic increase in newspaper coverage of global warming from January 2007 correlated with an increase in public concern for the issue. Before January 2007, we find that coverage of global warming had an immediate but short-term influence on public concern. With such transitory high levels of media coverage we suggest that for more effective communication of climate change, strategies aimed at maintaining mass-media coverage of global warming are required. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Adaptation to climate change is given increasing international attention as the confidence in climate change projections is getting higher. Developing countries have specific needs for adaptation due to high vulnerabilities, and they will in this way carry a great part of the global costs of climate change although the rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are mainly the responsibility of industrialized countries. This article provides a status of climate change adaptation in developing countries. An overview of observed and projected climate change is given, and recent literature on impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation are reviewed, including the emerging focus on mainstreaming of climate change and adaptation in development plans and programs. The article also serves as an introduction to the seven research articles of this special issue on climate change adaptation in developing countries. It is concluded that although many useful steps have been taken in the direction of ensuring adequate adaptation in developing countries, much work still remains to fully understand the drivers of past adaptation efforts, the need for future adaptation, and how to mainstream climate into general development policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The challenges of how to respond to climate change and ensure sustainable development are currently high on the political agenda among the world's leading nations. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is part of the global carbon market developing rapidly as part of the Kyoto response towards the mitigation of global warming. One of the aims of the CDM is to achieve sustainable development in developing countries, but uncertainty prevails as to whether the CDM is doing what it promises to do. Close to 200 studies on the CDM have been carried out since its birth in 1997 including peer-reviewed articles and reports from the grey literature. This review of the literature serves to assess the state of knowledge on how the CDM contributes to sustainable development (SD) including poverty alleviation. The main finding of the review is that, left to market forces, the CDM does not significantly contribute to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Northeast China comprises Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning Provinces, with a total area of 790,000 km² and a population of about 107 million. Northeast China, located at relatively high latitudes, (from about 39 to 53°N), is one of the coolest regions in China with long and cold winters, a short growth season and frequent cold extreme events, which are adverse to agricultural production. However, since the 1980s, Northeast China has experienced significant warming with annual mean temperature rising by 1.0-2.5°C. The increase of accumulated temperature, the extension of the growth period and the recession of summer cool disasters all contributed to improved conditions for crop growth and led to a northward movement of the agricultural climate zone. In addition, the adaptation to warming including the adjustment of crop composition and structure as well as the adoption of advanced technologies greatly facilitated agricultural development. As a result, total grain production in the region increased rapidly. This paper describes in detail climate change, adaptation measures and final agricultural outcomes, alongside with economic and political factors and the role of different political actors in Northeast China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the severity of global warming. He mentions that in the reports of scientists working for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the impacts of global warming are already visible. Predictions of the disastrous results of climate changes for the people living in poor countries and the decrease in wildlife and more water shortages is discussed. He comments that politicians should act on the problems before the solutions may be too late to be implemented.

The article reports on an eleven day United Nations conference on climate change which opened in Bali on December 3, 2007. The conference was designed to provide new information on the degree of importance that government policy makers attach to public health when attempting to help reduce global warming, and to test individual countries' commitment to public health. The conference concluded that the presence of global warming should no longer be questioned, and that humans are being directly exposed to climate change in many ways.