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GEOSCIENCE and PUBLIC POLICY GE187

GEOSCIENCE and PUBLIC POLICY GE187. This week, I will be away at the annual National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment . As difficult as it is for me to miss the first two classes of GE187, the conference is on a topic that is very relevant to this course!

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GEOSCIENCE and PUBLIC POLICY GE187

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  1. GEOSCIENCEand PUBLIC POLICY GE187 This week, I will be away at the annual National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment. As difficult as it is for me to miss the first two classes of GE187, the conference is on a topic that is very relevant to this course! Disasters and Environment: Science, Preparedness, and Resilience

  2. DRAFT

  3. GEOSCIENCEand PUBLIC POLICY GE187 Theme: Life is uncertain... No matter what we do, there will always be uncertainty and risks that we have to accept as part of our lives.

  4. People are generally uncomfortable with uncertainty. In spite of the inherent uncertainty that we must all accept, many people expect science and technology to eliminate uncertainty from their lives, and people are often disappointed when science fails to do this.  

  5. Science has drastically reduced uncertainty in many areas of life. This is generally a good thing... But, it can become problematic when people grow to expect science to reduce uncertainty, and become disillusioned when science can’t.  

  6. Fatalities: 41,000+ Fatalities: 2

  7. Haiti January 12, 2010 Chile February 27, 2010 Depth 35 km Depth 13 km Magnitude 8.8 Fatalities: 525 Magnitude 7.0 Fatalities: 316,000

  8. Hurricane Sandy Damage... It’s the Republicans It’s Global Warming, Stupid We Can Fix the Problem Or, is it? It’s Just Natural Climate Variation It’s the Democrats Need More Research

  9. Another Issue to Consider: Because people are uncomfortable with uncertainty, they often prefer simple answers to complex issues. We see this, for example in the media, where “sound bites” are used to present a story, avoiding tough/complex scientific questions.

  10. GEOSCIENCEand PUBLIC POLICY • What can we expect to • accomplish in this course? • Learn about the underlying science relevant to some science and public policy issues. • Explore how the science needs to be considered as part of the process of making public policy decisions. • One scientist’s reflections on issues of science and public policy.

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