Climate Change Narcissism

Check out Daniel Sarewitz's piece on climate change narcissism. His article suggests that climate survivalism, that is, how individuals protect themselves and live in a world of climate change, ought to focus more on adaptation and not just mitigation.

But beyond the "individual", society will need to collectively adapt to the pressures brought on by climate change. Evidence of communities around the world that have suffered from natural disasters provide even more compelling reason to consider more strict policies such as rigid building codes and drought resistant crops to alleviate the burdens of hurricanes and heat waves respectively. Policies that are brought about by our governments need to recognize the realities of human behaviour. Asking millions of North Americans to cut down on driving is logical but simply unrealistic. Providing smart incentives to use transit, among other things, is one way to help society adapt in a world of higher fuel prices and help mitigate the impact of congestion, for example.

From the article:

"I assume that climate survivalism is not the version of adaptation that most people who are concerned about climate change would advocate. Yet the attention of climate change policy advocates (as well as climate change researchers) has never seriously focused on sensible approaches to adaptation. Until recently, leaders of the mainstream environmental community resisted open discussion about adaptation because they naively thought that they could get the world to stop using fossil fuels, and that any discussion about adaptation would simply give comfort to those who didn’t, or couldn’t, fully buy into their agenda."

More here.

Driving Behaviour in Hong Kong

"Time is money"

A statement that is very appropriate for Hong Kong and manifested in the City's driving behaviour. Drivers come first, pedestrians, second. Speed is equated with money even at the expense of consuming more (unnecessary) amounts of fuel.

Driving behaviour is quite fascinating in Hong Kong. Drivers (especially on Hong Kong Island) will speed and accelerate regardless of the traffic congestion. Indeed, I have noticed many cars quickly accelerating and precipitously stamping on the brake amid traffic jams. Smooth acceleration and gradual braking has been a rare site. Cars cruising along at a constant speed is also quite rare.

From an environmental and efficiency stand point, such a practice is not smart. It ruins your fuel consumption (more fuel used) because more kinetic energy is dissipated as heat and thus lost. Therefore, it requires more energy (fuel) to re-accelerate because of the lost momentum that you would have had from gradually moving forward. A excellent explanation of this can be found here. Smooth acceleration and gradual braking does not use as much fuel and is less pressure intensive on the car's engine.

Drivers might have a perception that rapid acceleration and sudden braking might get them to their destination faster and such behaviour might be driven by economic motivations, however, mechanical engineers have shown that it is worse for the car’s fuel economy and ultimately for the environment as aggregate carbon emissions inevitably increase.

Key message: Is such driving behaviour counter-productive? Maybe. But if drivers feel that they are moving faster and more efficiently toward their destination, then switching to more gradual acceleration may prove unpopular.

The Importance of Prevention: Lessons from Haiti...

The tragedy occurring in Haiti as a result of the devastating earthquake is absolutely heartbreaking. No one deserves such a fate and my heart goes out to the millions that have been adversely impacted by the disaster. Moreover, the outpouring of support coming from around the world is somewhat inspiring.

But you are going to have to forgive my forthcoming cynicism.

As inspiring and necessary as the support is, I was left with a sick feeling in my stomach as soon as the media started publishing all sorts of stories about the rapid deployment of disaster relief complemented by a series of politically-opportunistic photo ops. This is both typical and frustrating, but not my main point of contention. My greater concern is how the world approaches Haiti and its disaster, and more broadly, how we approach the prevention of disasters.

(I will preface this by saying I am by no means an expert on Haiti nor an expert on international development, but have a relatively decent grasp of both subjects). Haiti has been falling apart for decades, if not centuries. Even prior to the disaster, it was among the most impoverished countries in the world with outrageously high rates of infant mortality and disease. A series of brutal dictatorships, coups and interference from influential foreign powers have left the country in political ruin for years and consistently ranks near the top of the world's most corrupt countries. There is very little money for the majority of citizens and the physical infrastructure (roads, well-built houses, emergency services) throughout the country is awful.

And how has the world helped? Some countries have thrown money at them and expected great things, although the success of purely financial foreign aid is far from high. Basically, we turn a blind eye.

But when the country physically starts to fall apart, we run in like the white knight without even thinking about it. Governments throughout the world are pledging hundreds of millions of dollars in support and sending in their militaries to help out as soon as possible. Different workplaces are collecting money to donate and even professional sports leagues like the NHL are reaching into their pockets to help out. I just walked by a booth at Trent where a bake sale is being put on the help quake victims. Again, this is touching and it is nice to see all sorts of people helping out.

But there is only so much help all of this can do right now. Much of the aid can't even get into the country at this point and some donation groups have even been swindling the folks who have trusted them with their money.

As great as all the support is, it could have been considerably more effective if used to prevent much of the devastation rather than clean it up. True, as a friend pointed out to me, you can't predict the future. But natural disasters often wreak similar havoc. The damage may not have been much more different had it been a massive hurricane or flood.

The infrastructure is particularly important. A reporter on the CBC was comparing the damage to that seen in L'Aquila, Italy recently from another strong earthquake. But unlike there, where the buildings were modestly strong and emergency services could easily get to the sites, Haiti's buildings are weak and domestic emergency services essentially non-existent.

And I want to make it clear that when I say support, I do not just mean money. Money has been thrown at Haiti for years, but that doesn't go very far when it is given to a corrupt regime, or coming with strings attached. Indeed, development practices are tricky things, but surely something could have been done to create stable infrastructure several years ago.

Moreover, the amount of support coming in from members of the public is important, but how many of these people really cared about Haiti prior to the quake? Would they have been as willing to stand in the halls selling baked goods if you told them the proceeds might one day prevent such a high level of devastation? Or does the actual event have to take place before people care?

I should also make it clear that my use of prevention is to describe preventing such a high level of devastation. Indeed, you can't prevent an earthquake, and with one of such magnitude, there is inevitably going to be damage, but the amount of damage could have been reduced significantly.

The problem with only helping out once the damage is done is that it is often considerably less effective overall. And it is more expensive. How much do you think it'll really cost to return Haiti to its former self prior to the quake? And how expensive has the entire disaster relief effort been? It certainly isn't cheap and it certainly isn't any cheaper than what might have been needed to prevent such tragedy.

So why is this appearing in an environmentally-related blog?

Because if the climate scientists are right, natural disasters are going to get more frequent and more powerful as the planet warms. True, climate change won't influence earthquakes, but as I said earlier, natural disasters often wreak havoc in a similar fashion. How many more Haitis could we prevent over the next 100 years if we thought about this properly and invested in prevention rather than the clean up?

More broadly, our entire approach to climate change and the environment is centred around this phenomenon. We spend years trying to figure out where to put our waste rather thinking about how to reduce the production of it. If we don't do enough to prevent the damages we're bringing upon ourselves, we could all be screwed. After all, there comes a point when it's impossible to clean up.        

How Green roofs can increase the health and well-being of urban residents…

Enviroboys has blogged about green roofs before, citing their numerous advantages for urban environments. The main environmental benefits associated with them include minimizing air pollution, reducing the urban heat island effect and improving stormwater management. Noting these benefits, Toronto recently adopted a by-law to require and govern the construction of green roofs on new development in the city. The bylaw is quite comprehensive and rigid leading Toronto in a sustainable direction and demonstrating its commitment to urban greening projects.

A PhD student at U of T is doing research on how urban greening projects like green roofs can increase the health and well-being of employees in the workplace. One major dimension of the PhD student’s research is whether employees in workplaces can actually see green roofs and roof top gardens from their workplace windows. Just being able to see greenery can have important health benefits.

Rachel and Stephen Kaplan have done extensive research on the “role of nature in the context of the workplace”. What has emerged out of this research is the indispensable fact that employers need to invest in programs that are oriented to prevention and enhancing well-being of their employees. In workplace settings, employees experience stress, mental fatigue and occasionally burnout when things get really overwhelming. What becomes fatigued is one’s capacity to focus attention to demands that require effort, thus decreasing their level of productivity… in theory.

Rachel and Stephen Kaplan came up with a theory called attention restoration theory. This theory emerged out of their 1980s book "The experience of nature: A psychological perspective”. This theory asserts that people can concentrate better after spending time in a wilderness, or even looking at scenes of nature. Thus, natural environments have a restorative function for human-beings and we don’t always realize this. In one of their studies of an office environment they reported that “almost 50% of employees thought that the lack of windows affected them or their work adversely”. Job satisfaction and work attitudes were significantly related to the presence of windows for their sample of 123 office workers and health care providers.

In throwing together a nice interdisciplinary analysis of green roofs, we know that they have the potential to improve the health and well-being of urban residents. They have important environmental benefits and from an economic point of view, they can help minimize the energy costs associated with building heating and cooling. The health benefits though, are still nebulously defined, but we can speculate that they do play a role based on the work from the Kaplan’s. Parks and gardens have long been noted for their restorative effects on both mental and physical health. Toronto’s new bylaw can gain way more popularity from developers, residents and hospitals if the health benefits are made clearer.

Finally, if green roofs do corroborate “attention restoration theory” just think about the economic advantages workplaces would accrue. Less stress and mental fatigue among employees can undoubtedly lead to better workplace productivity and job satisfaction. But above all, if green roofs do take off because of their ostensible health benefits, employees would have to have access to them. On breaks and lunches, employees could go to these urban green sites and interact with colleagues.

Key message: Nature can help reduce a person's stress, as well as improve attention. Do green roofs constitute nature? And if so, how do workplace employees perceive them? Interesting how this will play out for Toronto considering its new green roof bylaw.

Special talk on eco-psychology next week....

This coming Wednesday, the World Affairs Colloquium at Trent is hosting the 2009 Jack Matthews fellow, Douglas Blakey. The talk is titled "Eco-psychology and Educational Leadership: Bridging the Gap". It will be hosted in the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre (2505 Pioneer Road) on November 18th from 3-5pm. The centre is just south of Gzowski College. For a map of the centre in relation to the university, see here.

Douglas Blakey spent over 30 years as a teacher and principal of Upper Canada College in Toronto. Mr. Blakey has recently worked as an advisor on environmental sustainability for independent schools. Using a unique pedagogy approach based on “Learn it By Living It” concepts, Mr. Blakey uses these concepts to upgrade facilities and grounds with environmental technologies and integrates them with curriculum and organizational behaviour. Also working with local communities, Douglas Blakey has recently developed a fascination with eco-psychology and is interested in the interplay between eco-psychology and its positive impact on inspiring educational leadership.

The Jack Matthews Fellowship was created in 2008 to honour the founding contributions Jack made to to Trent University, Lakefield College School and the Canadian Canoe Museum.

It's going to be a great talk that you definitely don't want to miss.