Climate Controversy 2013

By George M. Woodwell, John P. Abraham, Michael C. MacCracken and Pamela S. Ellis

"This marvelously accessible book highlights a full color presentation of climate science with solutions. On the most highly-charged environmental policy issue of the 21st Century, top climate scientists join forces with 2013 Common Ground Student Essayists to expand public awareness and activism in an effort to garner crucial support for U.S. and international environmental policymakers."
All book sale proceeds benefit the ongoing efforts of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Books Motivate Foundation, Inc. to safeguard quality of life on planet earth for present-day and future generations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481718226

George M. Woodwell

Dr. John Abraham is an Associate Professor at the University of St. Thomas where he teaches courses in the thermal sciences, including heat transfer, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and numerical simulation. His research is broad and includes turbulent fluid flow, energy production and distribution in the developing world, wind turbine design, oceanography, climate sensitivity, and design of medical devices. He has approximately 160 publications which include journal papers, conference presentations, books, and patents. In 2010, Dr. Abraham co-founded the Climate Science Rapid Response Team which he currently co-manages. This organization consists of approximately 150 of the world’s best climate scientists who work to improve communication between scientists and the larger public. Dr. Michael MacCracken is Chief Scientist for Climate Change Programs with the Climate Institute in Washington DC. His current research interests include human-induced climate change and consequent impacts, climate engineering, and the beneficial effects of limiting emissions of non-CO2 greenhouse gases. He has also served as leader of climate change research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, first executive director of the interagency Office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program and then the National Assessment Coordination Office, president of the International Association of Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences, and integration team member for the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. In addition, his legal declaration on standing was favorably cited by Supreme Court Justice Stevens in his April 2007 majority opinion in the important climate change case known as Massachusetts et al. versus EPA. His undergraduate degree is from Princeton University and his Ph.D. from the University of California Davis. Dr. George Woodwell founded the Woods Hole Research Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1985 and has served as Director, Director Emeritus, and Chief Scientist throughout his tenure there from 1985-2012. His research focus has involved the structure and function of natural communities and their role as segments of the biosphere. He has worked extensively in forests and estuaries in North America and has made well-known studies of the ecological effects of ionizing radiation and the circulation and effects of pesticides and other toxins. For many years he has studied the biotic interactions associated with the warming of the earth. He has published more than 300 papers in ecology and has contributed articles to Science, Scientific American, BioScience, Ecology and the Journal of Ecology, among many. He has written and edited books on the effects of nuclear war, the global carbon cycle, biotic impoverishment, and satellite imagery used in measuring the area of forests globally. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is recipient of the 1996 Heinz Environmental Prize, the John H. Chafee Excellence in Environmental Affairs Award of 2000, and the Volvo Environment Prize of 2001.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 Books Motivate Foundation, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing by Books Motivate Foundation, Inc., www.booksmotivate.org.

The Climate Controversy 2013 book may be purchased for educational or sales promotional use. For information, call Books Motivate Foundation, Inc., [phone].

Citation:

Abraham, J. P., MacCracken, M. C., Woodwell, G. M., & Ellis, P. S. (2013). Climate controversy 2013 with common ground student essayists. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

Published by AuthorHouse 2/25/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-1821-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-1822-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013903182

Books Motivate Foundation, Inc.

Climate Controversy 2013 / Books Motivate Foundation, Inc.

1. Education 2. Climate Science 3. Public Policy

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any warranty for them.

US%26UKLogoColornew.ai

Foreword

Pamela S. Ellis, Ph.D.

President/CEO

Books Motivate Foundation, Inc.

From the deep humus soil of our personal experiences, composed of people and places contemporaneously with whom we interact, our greatest ideas come into existence.  Secondary education students, parents, teachers, education administrators, and top climate scientists involved in higher education pursuit and application of learning have found common ground in demonstrating evidence of their understanding and concern for the future of the quality of life possible on planet Earth in this persuasive book, Climate Controversy 2013. 

The words of Harold T. Shapiro, President Emeritus of Princeton University, provide a suitable framework for the collaboration.  Shapiro (2001) stated,

In the most general sense, the education sector is that particular set of social and institutional arrangements by which society provides the next generation with the capacities, the beliefs, and the commitments thought necessary to ensure society’s goals.  It is this civic purpose that is the foundation of the university’s social legitimacy. At any historical moment, therefore, the particular array of institutions of higher education that society supports reveals a great deal about society’s views regarding such important issues as: who should receive the most advanced education: the importance of traditional values: the importance attached to innovation and new ways of thinking; the most important sources of knowledge and wisdom; the value placed on particular cognitive abilities; the most highly prized virtues and skills; and the nature of the broad hopes and aspirations of the society itself.

It is this reflexive, intergenerational and bounded chaos of support that nurtures the health of all levels of education, business, and government systems within American and international civil societies.  The ability to address the most critical questions of Climate Controversy in 2013 environmental issue awareness, understanding, and the appropriate actions necessary rests, singularly, in the achievement of this seminal goal.

Books Motivate Foundation received recognition for the idea to publish secondary student essays to invite a worldwide audience of readers to think more deeply and act more responsibly to protect natural environmental resources at the 2012 Create WV Conference.  West Virginia’s 21st century learning plan called Global21: Students deserve it. The world demands it highlights the aspiration to develop self-directed, motivated learners who demonstrate the skills and knowledge that are fundamental to becoming successful adults in the digital world (WVDE, 2009, p. 1). 

The value of a connection with top climate scientists and policymakers interested in broadening the impact of climate science information to a wider audience by passing the torch of responsibility to students who utilize their education to impact their community through their ideas and their ability to communicate them in a collaborative manner for individual and group community success immediately became the gestalt of paramount importance.

All of the scientists contacted, and subsequently accepted our request to contribute writing for Climate Controversy 2013, recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2012, or are working in a direct effort to further enhance consideration of the environmental impact of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. They were contacted because of their enthusiasm for enhanced climate science awareness in the U.S. and internationally. Their professionalism demonstrated in providing relevant information as a community service is commendable, magnanimous, and very much appreciated.

We are, also, especially indebted to Jefferson County, West Virginia teachers, Cheryl Reilly and Timothy Smith who challenged their middle school students, with the consent of their parents and administrators, to submit essays for this book.  The adjudication process responsibility was accepted by Ren and Pamela Parziale, Ruth Raubertas, and Dale Woods.  Copy editing volunteer hours were graciously provided by Sarah Orrick.

Although, we marketed the 2013 Common Ground Student Essay Competition through our requests of national, state, and local contacts, and even beyond via our website, our group of student essayists were from Jefferson County, West Virginia, but not regrettably.  As you will find, their writing provided the accessible, rich impetus for a wondrously compelling response from top climate scientists who are actively engaged in a frontline battle to protect the planet, and our quality of life on it, from what many believe to be neglect, disinterest, or even worse, an implacable and untenable future.   

References

Shapiro, H. T. (2001). Professional education and the soul of the American Research University. Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/~hts/PDFs/Professional_Education.pdf

Wong, D. W. S., & Fotheringham, A. S. (1990). Urban systems as examples of bounded chaos: exploring the relationship between fractal dimension, rank-size, and rural- to-urban migration. Geogr. Ann. 72 B(2-3): 89-99.

West Virginia Department of Education (2009).  Global21: Students deserve it. The world demands it: Overview. Retrieved from http://wvde.state.wv.us/global21/overview.html

All book sales benefit Natural Resources Defense Council and Books Motivate Foundation, Inc. nonprofit efforts to safeguard our quality of life on planet Earth for present-day and future generations. 

This work is made possible by the generous support of:

Geostellar, Inc.

and

The Arts and Humanities Alliance of Jefferson County, WV

2013 Common Ground Student Essayists

Climate Chaos: How I Weigh in on the Controversy