Gaia's Revenge: Climate Change And Humanity's Loss

by Liotta, P. H.

• ISBN13: 9780275987978
• ISBN10: 0275987973
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-01
• Publisher: PRAEGER AGENCY ACCOUNT

Summary

Highlighting the connections between climate change and human security, this book elucidates what might happen when a mere 10-degree drop in average temperature results in a sudden inability to produce enough food, when rapidly advancing desertification produces water scarcities where none existed before, and when newly frozen landscapes lead to more power plants for energy, resulting in increased air pollution. The destabilizing effects of these possibilities create many potential challenges for U.S. national security in a globalized world in which we may have to intervene militarily to safeguard our interests around the globe.

Author Biography

Allan W. Shearer is Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey. P. H. Liotta is Executive Director of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy in Newport, R.I., and Tenured Professor of Humanities at Salve Regina University.

Table of Contents

The gathering storm : an introduction	p. 1
Whether the weather : an abrupt climate change scenario and its meaning(s) for security	p. 17
Zombie concepts and boomerang effects : the shifting structure of strategy and security	p. 37
Through the glass darkly : scenarios and alternative futures	p. 67
"Let's scare Jessica to death" : mind-sets, the fear factor, and climate change	p. 89
Rethinking the unthinkable : comprehending climate change futures	p. 115
The end of the Anthropocene
An abrupt climate change scenario and its implications for United States national security October 2003	p. 163
Joint science academies' statement : global response to climate change	p. 185
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.