HONR 229L: Climate Change: Science, Economics, and Governance

1. HONR 229L: Climate Change: Science, Economics, and Governance Roadmaps for Success or Failure Your name here 19 September 2019

2. Feel free to alter, ad lib, change in any way you’d like provided the presentation draws upon the reading. You are welcome to use the Admission Ticket questions heavily, not at all, or somewhere in between. However, for this discussion, most of the Admission Ticket questions are “ripe for discussion” and I have asked students to be prepared to share examples in class, so might as well take advantage of this situation, unless you feel strongly otherwise. You have 45 mins to use as you see fit! Good luck!

3. You could consider asking the students to describe the four “road map of factors contributing to failures of group decision making” outlined at the start of Chapter 14. Then, can ask students to provide an example for each of these factors from the book and another example, of their own, for each of these four based on modern society. Be sure to ask the class to provide their own examples  Regardless of how you begin, great if you can lead in “discussion” format from the start, rather than “lecture” format.

4. Diamond states “the commonest circumstance under which societies fail to perceive a problem is when it takes the form of a slow trend concealed by wide up-and-down fluctuations” Should also be able to elicit lots of discussion here, should you want to spend time on this topic. Might want to prepare a few slides on this matter, using global warming (can rely on information in the reading for this *or* can supplement with your own information) as well as any other examples you’d like to use (i.e., can use trees on Rapa Nui and/or water availability for the Maya, material from other chapters in the book, or else modern examples … whatever you’d like!)

5. Could at some point work in Question 2 of the AT: Provide an example of a society's failure to provide a solution of a vexing problem drawn either from your own experience (i.e., please use an example from outside the assigned readings)  orfrom an example given in a chapter of Diamond's book that has not been an assigned reading.  Next, state the key factor that was essential for the society to not be able to overcome the problem.

6. If you’d like, feel free also to work in Question 3 of the AT: Provide a real world example of either: a) the rational behavior on the part of one group that has translated into a disastrous situation for society or b) the tragedy of the commons Here, the example can be either from other chapters of Diamond's book (i.e., from other than Chapter 14)  or   from your real world experience.

7. Finally, I think Question 4 of the AT is particularly important, since it focuses on success. Feel free to have the students discuss: Provide an example of a society's successful solution of a vexing problem drawn either from your own experience (i.e., please use an example from outside the assigned readings)  or    from an example given in a chapter of Diamond's book that has not been an assigned reading.  Next, state the key decision that was essential for the society to overcome the problem.

8. In the middle of a paragraph on page 437, Diamond writes about the Dusky Seaside Sparrow of Florida While it is a bit of a leap, could relate the sad story of the Dusky Seaside Sparrow to what might happen to modern society if action is not taken soon to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Feel free to work the concept of sunk-cost effect, defined on the top of page 432, into the discussion

9. On the top of page 430, Diamond writes “clashes of interest involving irrational behavior are also prone to arise when the principal consumer has no long-term stake in preserving the resource but society as a whole does” (my emphasis) Can consider preparing a slide with this quote, then try to get the class to give examples and also to suggest how society might be able to overcome these types of conflicts then list some real world, modern examples of this type of “clash” Again, great if you can start by engaging the class, then be prepared to conclude with a few examples, if necessary.

10. Feel free to alter, ad lib, change in any way you’d like provided the topic is bears some relation to either the reading, societal decisions related to climate change, the environment, or sustainability. You have 45 mins to use as you see fit! And, fine to use whatever illustrations you’d like. I included the single image from the reading (next slide), but no need to use. Can find many images related to the reading on the web. If you use any images, great to place the source URL onto the slide, using a text box with a small font. Good luck!