平特五不中

Colline Gombault

2 掳C! Global temperature rise, which now stands at 0.7掳C, should not exceed 2掳C above pre-industrial temperatures to minimize the chance of climate change disaster. This means a reduction in world GHG emissions of 50% by 2050. However the recent Copenhagen Accord does not legally constrain GHG emissions. This is further compounded by the fact that world energy demand based on fossil fuel is expected to rise by 40%. The impact on global climate change could be catastrophic. Solutions such as carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management are therefore being studied as 鈥淧lan B鈥�, leading to intensely controversial discussions. This seminar is a presentation of methods of geo-engineering the climate, their potential impacts, and limitations.

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Large-scale Desalination in Israel: An Easy Hard Path

Sarah Lee

Large-scale desalination will play a central role in Israel's future water strategy, representing a "hard path" approach to water management.听 Drawing on "water soft and hard path" literature, analysis of thirty interviews with a range of stakeholders show: how the inevitability of desalination has been constructed; but also the tradeoffs and consequences of this decision; alternative water management strategies that are being overlooked; and finally the interlocking reasons that such alternatives are unlikely to dislodge the hard path approach in Israel.

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Population Control: A Look at China鈥檚 One Child Policy

Penny Ma

While global population continues to increase, natural resources continue to be limited. Growing populations place demands on the environment and can degrade ecosystems. In turn, insufficient and uneven distribution of food can cause malnourishment in certain population groups. Poverty, environmental degradation, and overpopulation are among the reasons that some governments have adopted population control measures. Family planning is a method of population control, and this presentation examines China鈥檚 One Child Policy in an attempt to determine important factors that must be considered when trying to control a population.