Science and Society – Climate Change Vulnerability
An important learning goal for our course is to think critically and ethically about how and
by whom science is conducted, and to think about the societal impacts of biological
research. To that end, please read the following excerpts and reflect on the pieces by
answering questions provided.
The readings will cover sensitive subjects and the questions may push you outside your
comfort zone. That is ok. Research shows that with a little discomfort comes the greatest
gains.
Feel free to post about this assignment (as any other) on Piazza, keeping in mind that for
everyone to express their opinions and participate in discussions about sensitive subjects,
they need to feel safe, their experiences need to feel honored, and they need not fear
retaliation. Thus, it is best to establish ground rules for discussions. The University of
Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching offers these rules to establish to
foster a more productive discussion:
• Respect one another’s views.
• Criticize ideas, not individuals.
• Commit to learning, not debating.
• Avoid blame and speculation.
• Avoid inflammatory language.
• Acknowledge that one’s opinions are formed by their unique experiences.
• No hate speech or bullying.
(We added the last two.)
Assigment 3
In the last weeks of the quarter, we will dive deeply into climate change. In Lecture 26 we
will explore many examples of the biological impacts of climate change. As a supplement to
those activities, we would like you to think about climate change and the impact it is having
on humans, and specifically the uneven impacts of climate change on human populations.
Most of the data you will unpack come from this paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/
srep20281.
Please read the abstract of the paper and the first couple of paragraphs of the introduction
(or more if you like – it is a great paper!).
Use the figures provided in this assignment to answer the following questions. Your
answers should be clear and concise. We expect you to answer each in 2-3 sentences. You
will be graded on your honest and respectful contribution, not your opinions.
This map shows each country’s contribution to climate change (carbon dioxide emissions)
and vulnerability to climate change (severity of impacts) in 2010 (top) and the projected
values in 2030 (bottom). Countries in cyan (the color on the diagonal) achieve “equity”
wherein the economic gain they achieve from emitting CO2 is approximately the same value
as the cost to society endured because of climate change. Economic gains specifically
include the profit from industries that emit greenhouse gasses, thus the country’s economic
growth as well as the improved human well-being as a result of that economic growth.
Economic costs of climate change include the costs from things like environmental
disasters (e.g., extreme weather), habitat changes (e.g., as a result of increased heat or
extreme events), health impacts (e.g., increased diseases), and industry stressors (e.g., lost
jobs).
1. Consider the range of colors among the countries on the map.
a. What does it mean for a country to be colored the darkest blue (labeled “Free
Rider” in the upper left of the legend)?
b. What does it mean for a country to be colored the darkest green (labeled
“Forced Rider” in the lower right of the legend)?
2. The top ten emitting countries generate >60% of total emissions: China (21.1%), the
USA (14.1%), and India (5.2%) are the largest emitters (% of total global emissions
shown in parentheses). India is projected to achieve “equity” by 2030: moving from
free riding in 2010 (medium blue) to equity in 2030 (cyan). In principle there are
two ways for a country to move in this way: reduce emissions or endure larger costs
of climate change. The primary reason India is going to change is because the costs
of climate change will “catch up” to the gains from economic growth contributing to
climate change. In other words, India will get richer but environmental disasters and
health are likely to get worse. Comment on the ethics of achieving “equity” in this
way as opposed to being achieved by reducing emissions.
3. Countries vary in both wealth—measured in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—and
vulnerability to climate change:
Describe the “uneven impact of climate change” shown in this graph.
4. Converting knowledge to action: Efforts such as the Paris Climate Agreement aim to
mitigate climate change through collective international action. If you were
negotiating an agreement for collective action, how would you decide how much and
in what ways each country should contribute and why?
