Answer the following questions:
In your opinion and based on our discussion in class what method of law would you suggest is the most effective when it comes to Environmental Law and why? (10 points, 300 words)
If you were elected to either branch of congress on a “fighting climate change” platform what committee(s) would you think would be most advantageous to carrying out your mandate and why? (10 points, 300 words)
Climate change and our understanding of it and its implications is clearly a scientific endeavor but I would hope that after having taken this class you see how this existential crisis bleeds into other fields. Please summarize for me how and why it has bled into 2-3 fields outside the traditional sciences? (600-700 words, 15 points)
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is important for a variety of reasons right now but with respect to climate change and the science and advocacy around it what makes the 5th circuit so critical at this juncture? (10 points, 300 words)
After discussing the primary biogeochemical cycles in this class please explain to me which one you think has seen the most dramatic influences from anthropogenic activities and why? (15 points, 400-500 words)
The Laudato Si issuance from Pope Francis was profound for a variety of reasons and it wasn’t coincidental that it was this Pope and not his predecessors that made such an issuance. What was Pope Francis conveying with this statement? What do you hope are the trickledown and out implications of it? What makes Pope Francis the right man for this type of message? (15 points, 400-500 words)
On Slide #16 of the Lakes lecture I present to you a graph of PO4 (log) concentration on the X- and Net Primary Productivity on the Y-axis. What about this figure stands in opposition to everything we’ve learned in the class up until this point and why? In this particular instance what are the implications biogeochemically/ecologically of this relationship? What differentiates Freshwater and Brackish water systems with respect to nutrient limitations and what are the primary sources of excess nutrients in each? Give me several examples of eutrophication of both fresh and brackish water that we’ve discussed in class or even those that you found online but make sure to include links for the latter (800-1000 words, 15 points)
What are the costs/benefits of a Command-and-Control Economic model Vs our NeoClassical Model and what are some examples of how both have nurtured a renewable energy transition? What makes the reduction of food-waste a multiple “win” in terms of addressing climate change? (10 points, 300 words)
(300-400 Words): Read and report back to me the article attached from Northern Woodlands on the multiple stressors being dealt with by Northern Temperate Forests. Based on what you have learned in this class do you have any suggestions for how we can assist these forests as they adapt to these stressors?
Category: Global climate change
Answer the folloqing 2 questions (500 words for each individual question 1000 minimum total).
1. Read https://climatevulnerabilityindex.org/ on the Climate Vulnerability Index I shared with you a while back and then launch the mapping tool https://map.climatevulnerabilityindex.org/map/cvi_overall/usa?mapBoundaries=Tract&mapFilter=0&reportBoundaries=Tract&geoContext=State.. Do the same with the https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper/ . Familiarize yourself with the data layers and the interoperability of the tools and then give me your perspective on the utility of each, some of goods and bads of the tools and an overall impression of how they might be deployed. Are the redundant or complimentary? There are quite a few ways in which the data is displayed and nuggets of information that reveal themselves. I am thinking of questions around data layers and scale, the differences between mapping census tracts, blocks, and counties, what types of data do you think could be included. Were there any surprises during your familiarizing yourself with the tool.
2. We’ve just talked in class about the “Rights of Nature” as the concept pertains to Lake ErieLinks to an external site. and Inside Climate News reporter Katie Surma has written extensively about this topic including several articles below. Please provide a synthesis of at least 4 of these articles and in concluding your answer give me a sense for how viable you think this concept is. What questions still remain for you? Do you feel that your generation is one that would be amenable to taking up this fight? Why or why not?
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20032024/peru-court-rules-maranon-river-legal-rights/Links to an external site.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25032024/aruba-rights-of-nature/Links to an external site.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29032024/international-court-right-to-healthy-environment/Links to an external site.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25032024/aruba-rights-of-nature/Links to an external site.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/01022024/utah-legislature-stopping-rights-of-nature/Links to an external site.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04022024/cleveland-museum-rights-of-nature/Links to an external site.
Article on Lake Erie Rights of Nature movement https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/toledo-ohio-just-granted-lake-erie-same-legal-rights-people-180971603/
Please follow all the instructions given by the professor. I am living in Austria, Vienna. Each student is required to conduct an individual mini-research project and summarize the applied method, the results and learning in a mini-research paper submitted as a pdf document. The focus lies on the personal CO2-Footprint and on ways to mitigate the own impact as well as to explore your carbon handprint (evaluating your actions that help reduce climate change beyond your own value chain).