Abstract
Books
Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet
Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope
St. Martin's Press, 2017, $26.77
https://us.macmillan.com/climateofhope/michaelbloomberg/9781250142078/
Michael Bloomberg, former New York City mayor and entrepreneur, and Carl Pope, former head of the Sierra Club, teamed up to pen this book about the benefits of addressing climate change. Their book explores solutions that will make the world more prosperous and healthier.
The book starts out with each author explaining his interest in climate change and then exploring what climate change is and how it affects the planet in ways that are hard to predict. The authors discuss how politicians and journalists tend to focus on short-term interests rather than the long-term because focusing on the cataclysmic changes that are predicted to occur in the future does not appear to lead to actions that could mitigate the problems—sometimes the problems of climate change seem too big to manage.
That said, the authors do take an optimistic look at climate change in this book and offer solutions that hold the greatest promise, for example, clean energy. They suggest practical steps to achieve climate change goals and share some examples of cities that have stepped up, such as Miami Beach. Cities have a vested interest in addressing climate change since it will cost them money to prevent the impacts and to clean up after disasters, along with population health issues and livability in their communities. The authors posit that businesses have joined in the fight against climate change, because it is in their best economic interest to do so.
Where the Water Goes: Life and Death along the Colorado River
David Owen
Riverhead Books, 2017, $28
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/317824/where-the-water-goes-by-david-owen/9781594633775
The Colorado River is a critical resource for people living in the western United States. More than 36 million people depend on the Colorado River for potable water, and it irrigates six million acres of farmland, using about 80 percent of the river's water. The Hoover Dam and Glen Canyon Dam rely on it to make electrical power, and it supports recreational tourism. So much water is diverted from the river that only once since the late 1990s has it flowed all the way to its terminus.
From the headwaters to its terminus, someone claims every gallon of the Colorado River's water. The terminus near the United States border with Mexico was, before the 1960s, a vibrant wetland, but today is a one-million-acre desert. The river is often too shallow, narrow, or rugged to be used for commercial navigation, but it could be used for transportation in its valleys and canyons.
The author, David Owen, digs into the river's history and politics and explores the patchwork of engineering feats, legal agreements, and aging infrastructure that allows people to live, work, and play in the arid West. He describes the river as functioning like a 1,400-mile-long canal, with tributaries in seven states.
The future of the Colorado River remains more elusive. Owen explores different ways to bring water to the West, including desalination, cloud seeding, and addressing over-allocation of the water to different entities.
The Violence of Climate Change: Lessons of Resistance from Nonviolent Activists
Kevin J. O'Brien
Georgetown University Press, 2017, $24.95
http://press.georgetown.edu/book/georgetown/violence-climate-change
Climate change is more than an environmental phenomenon: it's also a wicked problem—multifaceted with no clear solution and with structural violence, according to author Kevin O'Brien. He states clear facts, citing increases in average global temperatures, less ice and snow in the Arctic, and a rising sea level. He also explores different perspectives about climate change, including one that “privileged citizens of the industrialized world should also learn to see climate change as a case of structural violence.”
The book then focuses on nonviolence as a way of facilitating change. In five chapters, it draws on lessons from different topics related to climate justice and the need to balance social justice against the good of every living thing through the eyes of five peaceful resisters. The five peaceful resisters in these chapters demonstrate diverse paths and never-finished projects, yet explain how they made a difference in the world. O'Brien also discusses assessing proposals to “engineer the climate” and juggling differing interests, such as those of the industrialized world and the global poor.
In conclusion, the author calls climate change an “impossibly hard problem” that will not be solved. Nevertheless, he encourages people to take action.
Reports
2017 City Energy Efficiency Scorecard
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, 2017
Available as a free download at:
http://aceee.org/research-report/u1705
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy has produced a map showing what 51 large cities in the United States are doing to save energy in five key areas: operations, building policies, transportation policies, utilities, and community-wide initiatives.
For the third year in a row on the City Scorecard, Boston was ranked first, receiving 84.5 points and scoring well in all policy areas. New York City came in second and Seattle third. Los Angeles gained a 25-point improvement, boosting it into fourth place in a tie with Portland, OR. San Diego, Kansas City, and Phoenix also were noted as most improved, increasing efficiencies. Altogether, 32 cities boosted their scores.
Birmingham, AL, came in last at 51, followed by Oklahoma City and Detroit. Cities are leaving points on the table, with only 18 earning more than half of the points available.
The report noted that every city has room for improvement. It suggests adopting energy savings targets, improving efficiency in local government operations, actively managing energy use information, adopting policies to improve efficiency in new and existing buildings, partnering with utilities, and decreasing transportation energy use. Examples of what has worked well in one city could serve as a tool to help other cities develop programs.
Empowering Water Utility Innovation: A Pathway to Sustainability
Arcadis, 2017
Available as a free download at:
https://www.arcadis.com/en/united-states/our-perspectives/empowering-water-utility-innovation/
This report highlights the Water Research Foundation and the Water Environment & Reuse Foundation research and innovation framework, designed to encourage utilities to build creative environments and discover new approaches to serving customers, financing, managing assets, and delivering superior performance. More than 90 percent of the 423 utility professionals from 82 urban water utilities surveyed for this report think “innovation is critical to the future of their organizations,” yet just 40 percent reported seeing measurable change through innovation.
Several key discoveries are reported. Innovative utilities have moved to become a primary driver of creativity. They are active in identifying challenges and leveraging resources to develop solutions. Utilities are seeking out digital and business consultants to facilitate innovation and are redoing their supply chains with partnerships to enable the development of ideas. Programs are branching out to expand services or other models. Utilities also are talking about new values and investments in new processes. These paths provide a foundation for innovation.
Innovation is a pathway to sustainability, the report states. Innovative utilities, characterized as those that have adopted storm water harvesting, advanced metering, and real-time system monitoring, are more likely than other utilities to reap sustainability dividends in water “resiliency, efficacy, and quality.” Hurdles persist, however, especially culture and risk aversion.
“Not only is innovation a pathway to utility sustainability, but it transforms utilities into catalysts for regional sustainability,” according to the report.
A Region at Risk: The Human Dimensions of Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific
Asian Development Bank, 2017
Available as a free download at:
https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/325251/region-risk-climate-change.pdf
The Asia and Pacific region of the planet could experience devastating consequences from unabated climate change, according to this report. Those consequences could negatively affect future growth, reverse development gains, and degrade quality of life for those living in the region. By the end of the century, a two-degree Celsius temperature increase is anticipated, resulting in more intense typhoons and major fluctuations in the weather system.
Most land areas can expect a 50 percent increase in annual precipitation, while Pakistan and Afghanistan may be in for a 20 to 50 percent reduction of rainfall if action is not taken to mitigate climate change. All of this could lead to threats to agriculture, the economy and energy distribution, and the impact on food security and health. Coastal areas are expected to see more flooding. The report expects Indonesia will be most affected by coastal flooding. Losses associated with floods will increase. For example, food production will become more difficult and costly. Marine ecosystems also will be in danger.
People's health is at risk with continued climate change in Asia. Currently 3.3 million people die from air pollution. Heat-related deaths and vector-borne diseases also are expected to increase. Migration to cities is expected.
The report indicates significant investments will be needed for adaptation and mitigation efforts. It recommends continuing transitioning to renewable energy and technology innovation.
Planet Earth II
Films
Planet Earth II
BBC Earth
2017, 7 episodes, about 50 minutes each
One episode in High Definition from Amazon Digital Services, $2.99; season, $19.99
http://www.bbcearth.com/planetearth2/
This series highlights the Earth's habitats: islands, mountains, jungles, deserts, grasslands, cities, and a behind-the-scenes look at crews filming the documentary. The camera takes viewers deep into the Earth's environments and follows animals as they navigate their habitats. From monkeys jumping across buildings, big cats fighting and attacking prey, and birds flying majestically, most people will never see nature so vividly as in these documentaries, which were filmed in 17 locations in 40 countries. The filmmakers bring viewers into some of the world's most inaccessible locations.
Tomorrow
Under the Milky Way
Melanie Laurent and Cyril Dion, filmmakers
2017 (US), 119 minutes
Screenings, including at the Sonoma Film Institute in Rohnert Park, CA, on October 22, 2017; the Aquarium of Pacific in Long Beach, CA, on November 5, 2017, and The Grand Cinema in Tacoma, WA, on November 16, 2017
https://www.tomorrow-documentary.com
This documentary aims to encourage local communities to change for the sake of the planet. The French filmmakers traveled to 10 countries and look at energy, the environment, economics, education, democracy, and agriculture, before offering solutions one can act on, such as growing basil below tomatoes. It highlights creative alternatives currently functioning and succeeding, such as a citywide recycling and composting project, growing food in the city for city residents, and a town that prints a local currency to keep commerce in the community.
Websites
Coursera SDG Initiative
Designed for people interested in learning more about sustainability and how they can contribute to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, the SDG Initiative offers free social impact courses, presented by participating Coursera universities on five continents.
Some examples include a course on Global Warming from the University of Chicago; Ecosystem Services: A Method for Sustainable Development from University of Geneva; and Climate Change Mitigation in Developing Countries from University of Cape Town.
The courses encourage learners to team up with a nonprofit organization and assist with ongoing projects. Topics include poverty, hunger, education, health, clean water, clean energy, and gender equality.
Images of Change
https://climate.nasa.gov/state_of_flux
NASA has launched a website showing before and after photos of 100 different sites from around the world from the vantage of space. The images portray a planet in flux due to urban growth, natural disasters, and the effects of climate change. Some examples include images of coastal changes in Sonora, Mexico; deforestation in Brazil; and drought at Lake Powell (AZ and UT).
The photos can be viewed in various modes and visitors can view a map and click on the regions of interest.