Ambitious NDCs “Assessing the ambition of post-2020 climate targets: a comprehensive framework” studies the NDCs of China, the EU, and the US, as 3 of the most ambitious. They found that of these 3, the EU had the most ambitious policy target areas. An ambitious target is not always a good thing if it is… Continue reading Ambition and Success of NDCs

We’ve seen what NDCs are and some examples of NDCs – but why do we care? Does it really matter if each country has an NDC and upholds their commitments? What would the consequences be if we didn’t uphold our Nationally Determined Contributions? To answer these questions, we need to first look to the future… Continue reading Why is it important that countries commit to Nationally Determined Contributions?

Dr. Lance Gunderson’s talk was titled “Communicating the Science of Global Environmental Change” and was focused on how we think and talk about our planet. His talk was closely related to the readings and to some other presentations about communicating environmental science that we’ve seen this semester. Dr. Gunderson began by discussing the importance of… Continue reading Communicating the Science of Global Climate Change: Emory’s Dr. Lance Gunderson

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) hold a unique place on the world stage when it comes to climate change and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Although they have not contributed much to our current greenhouse gas emissions crisis, SIDS and LDCs are among the most harshly impacted by the effects of… Continue reading NDCs of Small Island Developing States and Least Developed Countries

The stated Intended Nationally Determined Contribution of the US is: “The United States intends to achieve an economy-wide target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26%-28% below its 2005 level in 2025 and to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by 28%.” Since 2005, US emissions have already been on an average decline.… Continue reading Nationally Determined Contribution of the United States

What are (I)NDCs and when were they created? Nationally Determined Contributions, or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions are national commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with goals for global temperature limits set by the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP). The World Resources Institute explains NDCs as public… Continue reading An Introduction to Nationally Determined Contributions

This exhibition at Agnes Scott University highlights the issues and effects of climate change in a beautiful way. The following pieces were my favorite in the gallery: “VENT” by Peter Bahouth “VENT: A photographic response to the heat and pressure we put on the planet” is a beautiful and mesmerizing collection of manipulated photographs that… Continue reading Weatherwise/Otherwise: Artists React to Climate Change

The image of the sunset from the International Space Station is a striking photo that shows the layers of the atmosphere and was a good image to use to begin a discussion about climate change. This photo shows the beauty of Earth’s climate from a perspective that is very different than how we usually view… Continue reading What does climate change mean to us and what can we do about it? A webinar by Dr. Eri Saikawa

The mock UN COP in our Climate Change and Society class was very interesting from the perspective of the US Cities and States. We had four representatives: I represented the Cities and States as a whole and the others were representatives of New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Seattle. All these cities have made commitments to… Continue reading Mock UN COP 23

Dr. Marshall Shepherd is a meteorologist who educates the public on weather and climate change. He gave a talk at Emory University that he called “Zombies, Cola, and Sports: Implications for Communicating Weather and Climate.” He was very engaging and asked a lot of important questions about the communication of climate science. I thought that… Continue reading Dr. Marshall Shepherd: Weather & Climate Change