Agnese and her blog

Drawing inspiration from some recent news articles shared by some classmates, I find interesting to review the conversation previously outlined on the 1.5°C pathway which the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change) declared in its "Special Report - Impacts of Global Warming 1.5°C Above Pre-Industrial Level" (2018) as the most promising resolution towards a sustainable future climate change. The study concluded that by minimizing the climate warming to 1.5°C before 2100, we would have been able to minimize the adaptive consequences to a sustainable new future, whereas with an increase already of 0.5 degrees C more (warming of 2 degrees C) the consequences would have been disastrous with a very high probability of threats towards unique systems, extreme events and distribution of impact.  The study proceeds to outline possible mitigation pathways and their related impact on the slowing of climate change in order to advise the policy makers towards the most effective r...

Gender vulnerability is conventionally linked to women as being the most vulnerable party with climate change affecting more severely typical household core responsibilities  such as food, water and energy security. It could as well be argued that if the climate change vulnerability is connected to the resource entitlement then it's not anymore so much united with the gender specifically but more with the social status and therefore affecting disadvantageous households/regions more acutely.  When climate change vulnerability is regarded as being connected to resource accessibility and its variance among different individuals, then we can presume gender plays a role in this. Nonetheless, research on the matter has been inconsistent. This arises from two main points: we cannot consider the whole female gender as being more affected by climate change, as this might be a further diversified between women from a developed society and those from an under developed; second ...

Climate vulnera bility refers to the "propensity or predisposition to be adversely affected" by climate change. It can apply to humans but also to natural systems (ecosystems).  The factors impacting vulnerability are climate adaptation, resilience and exposure  (McCarthy et al., 2001) . The assessment of climate change vulnerability is important in order to assess how and to which extent specific regions in the world are affected by climate change, both from an ecological point of view as well as from a socio-economic one.  This way, we can develop a tailored framework of methodology to tackle each region in all aspects affected by climate change with the appropriate policies. Analysing the diversified impacts and possible adaptation strategies against climate change allow inclusivity in the policy making which would o therwise unevenly impact on a bigger scale more impoverished  and exposed countries rather than the more developed. Moreover, an important variable t...

The causes of climate change are divided into two categories: natural and anthropogenic. The former include solar radiation intensity, Earth axis and orbit changes, volcanic activities and ocean currents. while the latter consist of burning of fossil fuels, chemical fertilizers, deforestation, energy production.  Although the climate has been naturally changing throughout its history, scientists have recorded that since the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, the global temperature has increased at a much faster rate. By burning fossil fuels and changing how we use the land, human activity has quickly become the leading cause of changes to our climate. This rapid warming is consistent with the scientific understanding of how the climate should respond to a rapid increase in greenhouse gases like that which has occurred over the past century, and the warming is inconsistent with the scientific understanding of how the climate should respond to natural external factors such as v...

I chose to analyse in specifics the climate changes experienced in my home region, the Alps.  This region encompasses the highest and most extensive mountain range in Europe along a 1,200 km range which touches seven different European countries. The whole range includes 128 mountains higher than 4,000 meters among which Mont Blanc which with its  4,809 m peak is regarded as the highest mountain. The Alps are particularly well known for their recurrent present glaciers, which are also to be thanked for moulding the several valleys which we see now today (of the them, my home town) and creating with them the many lakes also decorating the landscape of the region. Unfortunately, this iconic feature has also been the most visibly affected by climate change. The cryosphere (glaciers, snow, permafrost) and related changes of Alpine hydrology/water cycle have been exponentially visible in the last 50 years (W. Schöner, 2016). You can see in the picture below the incredible...

It is my opinion, that the narrative regarding climate change is still very much linked to the interests of the consumers. What I mean by this, is that it seems that the newspapers tend to publish articles related to climate change only when some environmental hazard is happening at the moment, and therefore the audience to the information will be more attracted to reading the article, or, on the other hand, if the public opinion towards environmentalism and its awareness is moving towards more conscious choices, such as it's been happening in the recent years. Let me elaborate my view on this. I can notice in my short lifespan, that the interest, perception and severity towards climate change has been consistently growing. I remember being a child and my former Austrian region in the North of Italy was one of the few if not the only which provided to the citizens recycling areas to separate the waste. In only a few decades, certainly also with the help of the political and news co...

During this discussion, I would like to explore how climate change is represented in the media by analyzing three different articles. Making use of my foreign languages knowledge, I think it would be very interesting for me to compare an article written for an Italian newspaper, a German one and and American one, identifying as well the three different methodology of reporting. I tried selecting of all three countries some news providers well known and accredited in order to make the comparison the most equal possible. Article 1: Italy https://www.ilmessaggero.it/salute/ricerca/allergie_nuove_ottobre_mix_pollini_cosa_sono-6995145.html Summary: This article discusses how the pollen allergies will continue in the future to be present not only in the typical spring and summer seasons, but throughout the whole year. The cause of this change: climate change. There will be an increase of 200% of the production of pollen by plants, as reported by the  Società Italiana di Allergologia, Asm...

 

It is very interesting for me to see how my perceptions change of the biology behind climate change as I learn more about it. When people talk about greenhouse gases, fossil fuels etc. the connotation to these words is always a negative one. Whereas these same elements are part of the extremely vital and beautifully complicated set up of our planet's natural carbon cycle. This process is the a backbone example of how fluid and complex is the whole organism of nature on Earth and how powerful as well. Such a primordial and ancient mechanism which has allowed life to sustain on our planet has been so easily corrupted and abused by our species to the point of becoming a generally known "enemy" to us: 'carbon dioxide is evil' this is what we grow up believing. This thought to say that the world's education should be shifted towards less descriptive and narrative storyline and more educative and aware knowledge. I believe, only in this way will the individuals be a...

The activity is focused on the reading of the book by  Houghton, J.   Global warming: The complete briefing   (Ca mbridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) 5th edition. Chapters 1 and 2, pp.1–33. By reading this chapters, the professors make us develop our own knowledge on climate change and greenhouse effect specifically by answering a list of questions which I will adres here below.                What major climate anomalies and episodic events occurred in 1998?   Reading through the first chapter of the above mentioned book as well as a couple of online resources ( Earth Temperature in 1998 Is Reported at Record High, by William K. Stevens in the NYT or  Did global warming stop in 1998? by Rebecca Lindsey in climate.gov) I discover the events of 1998. As explained very well by the NYT article, the average temperature globally in 1998 has been the highest ever measured since people began to measure it, with a...

 Going over the first topic of the module I wonder. The main source of climate change is clearly greenhouse gases emissions. This said, we go on analysing the sources and causes of increases in greenhouse emissions: the burning of fossil fuels, cows and sheep's methane emission, cutting down trees which help regulate the climate and many more. Not excluding the obvious which to me is that each single individual should be senzibilised in the fight and respect of the climate by recycling, cutting down on meat consumption, sharing the ethics with family and friends etc... How much can individuals actually impact in the overall change and deceleration of climate change? If most of individuals on the planet would change their daily habits, could we really make a significant enough impact to change the course of climate change? Would the waste that we produce and recycle really end up being re-utilized or will it just end lost in the inefficient civil machine of waste collection? On the ...

 Hi everyone, my name is Agnese, from a small village of 500 people in the Italian Alps. I started this blog as a university assignment, but who knows what will come of it? For now, I will try to share here any thoughts, ideas, opinions which I will develop or might interest me throughout my studies. I'm super excited to embark on this journey which I hope will lead me one step closer to my desired future self. I will try to explain at the best of my capabilities about environment, its changes, its importance and why we must ensure now that we're able even in our short lives to make an impact on it, for the current world population, for our ancestors, for our future children and most of all for ourselves. To try even in the smallest grain of sand that we are to strive towards a better way of living with more ethics, compassion and love towards anyone and anything. All the love, Agne