270 likes | 386 Views
Scenario Thinking to Solve Complex Environmental Problems. Talk for ISSS Meeting Steve Carpenter Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin srcarpen@wisc.edu. Scenario thinking solves complex environmental problems. Topics: Recognized Uncertainties, Imaginable Outcomes, and
E N D
Scenario Thinking to Solve Complex Environmental Problems Talk for ISSS Meeting Steve Carpenter Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin srcarpen@wisc.edu
Scenario thinking solves complex environmental problems.
Topics: Recognized Uncertainties, Imaginable Outcomes, and Unasked Questions Scenarios Summary, Gaps, Needs
Topics: Recognized Uncertainties, Imaginable Outcomes, and Unasked Questions Scenarios Summary, Gaps, Needs
Evaluations of World-Ending Disasters: Overall chance of humanity making it to 2100: ~ 50:50 http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/apr/14/research.science2 See also Martin Rees, Our Final Century (Europe) or Our Final Hour (U.S.)
Effect of Knowledge on Probability of Extreme Events Focus on Student-t Tails Probability Deviation
Dust Bowl – North America, 1930s Cultivation of Marginal Land Dry, Windy Dust storms Soil erosion Peters, D. P. C., R. A. Pielke, Sr, B. T. Bestelmeyer, C. D. Allen, S. Munson-McGee, and K. M. Havstad. 2004. Cross scale interactions, nonlinearities, and forecasting catastrophic events. Proceedings National Academy Sciences 101:15130-15135.
All Possible Futures Unasked Questions Recognized Uncertainties Models & Observations Based on Carpenter, Bennett, & Peterson., 2006, Ecology & Society http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art29/
All Possible Futures Unasked Questions Imaginable Outcomes Recognized Uncertainties Models & Observations Based on Carpenter, Bennett, & Peterson., 2006, Ecology & Society http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss1/art29/
Topics: Recognized Uncertainties, Imaginable Outcomes, and Unasked Questions Scenarios Summary, Gaps, Needs
The World Lots of Perspectives
Salvador Dali, “Still Life Moving Fast” Carpenter, Folke, Scheffer, Westley, unpublished manuscript
Sample Perspectives Condense to a few Scenarios Cluster the Samples
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment http://www.MAweb.org
(Art by Pille Bunnell for the M.A.) Cork, S. J., G. D. Peterson, E. M. Bennett, G. Petschel-Held, and M. Zurek. 2006. Synthesis of the storylines. Ecology and Society11(2): 11. [online] URL: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol11/iss2/art11/
Process for Combining Multiple Models Millennium Ecosystem Assessment http://www.MAweb.org
Cost to replace failing infrastructure in the U.S.: $1.6 trillion Collapsed bridge, Minnesota, 2007
Topics: Recognized Uncertainties, Imaginable Outcomes, and Unasked Questions Scenarios Summary, Gaps, Needs
Summary Scenario processes provide: Playful, inventive thinking about the future Positive stories Blunt warnings Shadow networks Diverse people thinking together
GAPS People Institutions Structured Processes Information Tools
NEEDS Education Shadow Networks Ongoing Assessments of Planetary Life-Support