Our Simmering Planet: What to Do about Global Warming?

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Zed Books, 2001 - 178 pages
Heat waves in Delhi and Athens. Hurricane Mitch in Central America and tornadoes in the USA. Floods in Britain and China. All unprecedented in severity. Unprecedented in frequency. What is happening to the world's weather? What are the world's governments doing about it? This book takes us through the science and behind the politics to explore:* Climate instability: do we need to worry?* Global warming: what is the evidence?* The likely outcome: what will be the likely impact of increases in temperatures, rising oceans, shifts in rainfall patterns -- not just on low-lying countries and islands in both the industrialized and developing countries, but on all regions of the world?* Action: most important of all, what can be done? What are scientists recommending? What happened during the climate change negotiations at Kyoto and elsewhere? Why are the politicians disagreeing? Does the Bonn agreement, without the United States on board, make sense?This book makes clear for the general reader what is at stake; the difficulties of concerted action; the conflicting concerns of countries North and South; and the urgent necessity for all of us to press our politicians to take climate change seriously.

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Contents

WEATHERING THE WEATHER
1
THE KYOTO REGIME AND ITS CONTROVERSIES
58
THE GAME OF COALITIONS ΙΟΙ
101
THE NONSTATE ACTORS AND COALITIONS
115
SAVING FACE IS SAVING FAITH
144
REFERENCES
164
USEFUL ORGANISATIONS AND WEBSITES
172
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About the author (2001)

Born in India, Joyeeta Gupta obtained her Masters in International Law at Harvard Law School and her PhD in International Law at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She has been a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), the Vrije Universiteit, since 1993. She taught water law from 1992 to 2000 at the International Institute for Hydraulic Engineers (IHE) in Delft. Her research work currently focusses on India's energy problems. Among other activities, she is a Trustee of the North Sea Foundation and the Foundation for International Security. During the Hague climate negotiations in 2000, she played an active role, in particular working closely with Third World delegations.Her books include:Gupta, J. (2000). On Behalf of My Delegation: A Guide for Developing Country Climate Negotiators, Center for Sustainable Development of the Americas, Washington D.C.Gupta, J. and M. Grubb (eds.) (2000). Climate Change and European Leadership: A Sustainable Role for Europe, Environment and Policy Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.Vellinga, P., F. Berkhout and J. Gupta (eds.) (1998). Managing a Material World: Reflections on Industrial Ecology, Environment and Policy Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.Gupta, J. (1997). The Climate Change Convention and Developing Countries - From Conflict to Consensus?, Environment and Policy Series, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.Maya, S. and J. Gupta (eds.) (1996). Joint Implementation: Weighing the Odds in an Information Vacuum, Southern Centre on Energy and Environment, Zimbabwe.

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