Essay #5: Countries and Climate Change

Learning Objectives

1. Research a country
2. Interpret data from that country to describe the culture of the country
3. Research and describe what climate change actions the country has been involved in
4. Discuss how culture influences what actions the country will take on climate change
5. Discuss what you think the country should do about climate change

Summary

Before you begin this assignment, you will need to e-mail your TA your top 3 countries you would like to write about. You may not select the United States. Your TA will tell you which species you are assigned. For this essay you will research your country and describe how the culture of that country influences its climate change mitigation actions.

Prompts

For this essay, answer the following questions and prompts.

1. Describe your country:

a. Include a brief description of the geography, people, society, government, and economy.

2. Describe how you think the culture of the country influences how it reacts to climate change:

a. What environmental risks does climate change pose to the country?
b. How do you think the demographics of your country influences how it reacts to climate change?
b. Do you think the government will be involved in climate change mitigation?
c. How will climate change affect the economy of the country?

3. Describe the climate change actions your country has taken: (for this answer you do not need to include every action/agreement your country has been involved in, just the ones you think are the most important)

a. What international agreements on climate change is the country involved in?
b. What national efforts have been made to mitigate climate change?
c. Have any goals been set to reduce GHG emissions by a certain date?
d. Are there any agreements or efforts that are legally binding?

4. Describe what will your country do:

a. Based on the culture of your country, what kind of mitigation measures would be appealing?
b. Do you think your country will invest money in climate change mitigation?
c. Do you think your country will legislate climate change mitigation (such as making laws that set emission reduction targets)?
d. Will climate change mitigation actions affect the economy? How?

5. Describe what you think your country should do?

a. If you were the leader of the country, would you participate in climate change mitigation? If so, which measures would you take? If not, explain why not.
b. Would these measures be supported by your country? Why or why not?
c. Do you think the culture of your country needs to change to deal with climate change?

References

This assignment draws upon the following files:

Exercise 5: Countries and Climate Change

Bloom, Arnold J (2010) Global Climate Change, Convergence of Disciplines, Sinauer Assoc., Sunderland, MA.

CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

White House page: http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/climate-change

US Environmental Protection Agency: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

Formatting