Global Warming
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Topics
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 | What is the global warming hypothesis? |
| What does the science suggest? |
| Conflicts over what the science suggests and how does this uncertainty influence the
policy process? |
| What can or should be done in an apolitical world? |
| What can, should, or is likely to be done given practical political, economic, social,
and cultural realities? |
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Readings
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| Rosenbaum: 342 - 381 |
| Hemple: Ch. 4, 90 – 118 |
| Issue 18 (Reserve) |
| Washington Post
article on the latest developments on the Kyoto Protocol |
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Lecture Notes
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Assignments
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Web Resources
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Movies that Might Be of Interest
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| Soylent Green (1973) starring Charlton
Heston and Edward G. Robinson: A gloomy depiction of a future
where Heston is a Manhattan cop trying to solve a murder in the overpopulated, overheated city. His roommate (a necessity in the overcrowded metropolis), played by
Robinson (also his last film), tries telling him about a better time on Earth before there were no more resources or room left; but Heston doesn't care.
Heston eventually stumbles onto explosive government secret (which you'll figure out long before he does).
The title refers to a precious foodstuff made of soybeans and lentils. |
| Waterworld (1995) starring Kevin Costner
and Dennis Hopper: Another of
Kevin Costner's attempts (the other being The Postman) to create the next Mad Max film.
While not the greatest of movies, at the time it was the most expensive Hollywood production in history (it had a Titanic-sized $200 million budget)
and it does have great action scenes and an interesting futuristic premise.
In a world engulfed by water after the ice caps have melted, the drifters and scavengers are pitted against bad guys called
Smokers led by Hopper (they control the remaining fossil fuel
resources and live on the Exxon Valdez). Costner, known as The Mariner, is a
resourceful survivor who readies himself for the ultimate showdown with
the smokers. |
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Books that Might Be of Interest
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| Michaels, Patrick J and Robert C. Balling, Jr. 2000. The
Satanic Gases: Clearing the Air about Global Warming. Washington,
DC: Cato Institute. The book offers a critique of the
research on global warming and the authors' conclude, based on their
own research and analysis of the data, that there is more evidence to
support predictions of moderate warming than the doom and gloom
forecasts that typically attract media attention. The book also
offers some interesting insights on the politics of global warming and
the role that science has or has not played in the
process. |
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