critical topics

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Critical World Issues

This PEW survey says "Climate Change and Financial Instability Seen as Top Global Threats" http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/06/24/climate-change-and-financial-instability-seen-as-top-global-threats/ from June 24, 2013, from the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project. Islamic extreemist groups are a close third.

The UN has these Millennium Goals   http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/   and reports about them
    End poverty and hunger
    Universal education
    Gender equality
    Child health
    Maternal health
    Combat HIV/AIDS
    Environmental Sustainability

The UN also has a list of issues   http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/ including aging, Africa, AIDS, climate change, disarmament, drugs and crime, refugees, science and technology, terrorism, water and others.

Global Education Website http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/page1.html The Global Education Website is initiated and funded by AusAID to support its Global Education Program.
This site also lists a number of critical issues such as
    Children's rights
    Environment
    Food Security
    Governance
    Health
    HIV/AIDS
    Human rights
    Peace building
    Poverty reduction
    Refugees
    and others....

Global Issues of the Twenty-First Century and United Nations Challenges http://www.global-challenges.org/index.html    lists a bunch of issues organized into various topics such as conflict, crime, development, environment, human rights and health.

Global Challenges for Humanity   http://www.millennium-project.org/millennium/challenges.html   15 challenges, about global warming, inequality, etc.

World Economic Crisis The current situation, prospects, how it got here

These people, Roubini, Stiglitz, Krugman, among others, predicted the recession.

Nouriel Roubini's “Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance.” Explains the world wide recession.
Book reviews
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/23/crisis-economics-crash-course-review
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/books/review/Barrett-t.html
watch him   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izbXsvV5xj4&feature=related   a 2011 presentation

Joseph Stiglitz also explains the world wide recession. A kind of review is here http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/jan/30/freefall-global-economy-joseph-stiglitz
another review   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/books/19book.html
and Stiglitz describes Obama's stimulus, Feb 20, 2010 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/18/nobel_economist_joseph_stiglitz_on_obamas
watch him   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DPL6TpNct0&feature=fvst
and   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOxCMc9-1Cc

Menzie Chinn and Jeffry Frieden, Lost Decades: The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery.
This is about the economic problems of the US but also explains recessions in general.
See their talk   http://www.imf.org/external/mmedia/view.aspx?vid=1239060532001
Professor Chinn is Professor of Public Affairs and Economics, Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs     http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~mchinn/index.html   and he lists a bunch of reviews to the book at his website.

Paul Krugman
NY Times page for his writings   http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/paulkrugman/index.html

Global Economic Prospects http://go.worldbank.org/RWLJPPA0D0   and   Prospects for the Global Economy.

Brookings Global Economy   http://www.brookings.edu/global.aspx   news, studies, etc

Federal Reserve Bank of New York Global Economy http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/global_economy/index.html has a page of indicators    http://www.newyorkfed.org/research/global_economy/globalindicators.html    at least for US, Japan and Europe area.

IMF research page http://www.imf.org/external/research/index.aspx includes world outlook reports, includes 2011 report   http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2011/02/index.htm

Brookings section on economy   http://www.brookings.edu/global.aspx   more like news and reports.

London School of Economics public lectures page   http://www2.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/Home.aspx has some related videos. Look for the last 500 lectures.

Simon Johnson, Peterson Institute for International Economics in testimony before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, Committee on Foreign Affairs, US House of Representatives
March 12, 2009    http://www.petersoninstitute.org/publications/testimony/testimony.cfm?ResearchID=1147 says "I forecast a contraction of 1 percent in the world economy in 2009 (on a Q4-to-Q4 basis) and no recovery on the horizon"
The Peterson Institute was tied for first among International Economic Policy Think Tanks    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/files/2008_Global_Go_To_Think_Tanks.pdf

Economy Watch   http://www.economywatch.com/world_economy/   news and info, reports, conferences etc.
   Economy Watch is listed here
   http://www.loc.gov/law/help/financial_stimulus_plan.php
   http://export.gov/india/eg_in_028850.asp

World Economic Forum   http://www.weforum.org/ news and info, reports, conferences etc.
   The World Economic Forum is listed here
   http://www.opic.gov/blog/events/featured-photo-opic-president-elizabeth-littlefield-speaks-at-the-world-economic-forum
   http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2011/09/172605.htm

Global Warming has the potential to cause the greatest changes in society.

Basic Info

EPA's Climate Change Site   http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/   This site "offers comprehensive information on the issue of climate change in a way that is accessible and meaningful to all parts of society"
Also see this EPA site http://www.epa.gov/ncea/ National Center for Environmental Assessment.

Global Climate Change   http://climate.nasa.gov/   Vital signs of the planet.

Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming   http://globalwarming.house.gov/issues/globalwarming   some 'basic science'

World Meteorological Organization   http://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html    go to 'climate' and get data, current status, measurements

Climate Change and Human Health    http://www.who.int/globalchange/en/   from WHO

UK's National Weather Service   http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change   one area is the basics of climate change

Exploratorium   http://www.exploratorium.edu/climate/   basics, etc

Guardian FAQ page   http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/series/the-ultimate-climate-change-faq   questions and answers about climate change

http://globalchange.gov/   central US gov't place

National Geographic page on global warming   http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/ The causes, effects, the science, etc

Union of Concern Scientists   http://ucsusa.org/global_warming/   some of the basics

News

Guardian   http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change   recent news stories

Huffington Post   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/climate-change   recent news stories

New Scientist   http://www.newscientist.com/topic/climate-change   recent stories

CNN   http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change   news etc

New York Times   http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html news stories

Research

Global cloud height fluctuations measured by MISR on Terra from 2000 to 2010. Davies and Molloy. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 39, 2012
http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2012/2011GL050506.shtml
explained here http://www.physics.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/news/template/news_item.jsp?cid=466683
Says basically that clouds have lowered a little, which may reduce global surface temperature. If this continues, it will counteract global warming somewhat. But too soon to tell.

Reports

World Bank   http://climatechange.worldbank.org/climatechange/   projects, news, etc

UN Central Portal   http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/climatechange/gateway

UN Environmental Program   http://www.unep.org/climatechange/   news, projects, etc

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change   http://www.ipcc.ch/   This group was established "to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation."

IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios   http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc/emission/index.htm

Projected distributions of novel and disappearing climates by 2100 AD, John W. Williams, Stephen T. Jackson, and John E. Kutzbach. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 10.1073. http://www.pnas.org/content/104/14/5738.abstract
    Key risks associated with projected climate trends for the 21st century include the prospects of future climate states with no current analog and the disappearance of some extant climates.

Livestock's Long Shadow: environmental issues and options.   http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM   from FAO. Page 272 says that livestock is 18% of global warming effect, more than the transportation sector worldwide.

Comments about the IPCC reports

The IPCC - on the run at last   http://www.sciencealert.com.au/opinions/20082204-17218.html   story from April 2008 critical of the IPCC reports, by Bob Carter, is or was a researcher at the Marine Geophysical Laboratory at James Cook University. His papers and presentations about global warming are here   http://members.iinet.net.au/~glrmc/   available to read and view for free.

The US Senate Committee On Environment and Public Works has this story http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=D4B5FD23-802A-23AD-4565-3DCE4095C360 summarizing an open letter to the UN Secretary General, also critical of the IPCC reports, signed by 103 professionals, including professors of environmental scientists, and one expert reviewer for the IPCC.

New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears   http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=84E9E44A-802A-23AD-493A-B35D0842FED8   from the same committe, says that there are a number of peer This story says reviewed studies have "prompted scientists to declare that fear of catastrophic man-made global warming “bites the dust” and the scientific underpinnings for alarm may be “falling apart.” The latest study to cast doubt on climate fears finds that even a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide would not have the previously predicted dire impacts on global temperatures."

The above story refers to this article: Heat capacity, time constant, and sensitivity of Earth's climate system. Stephen E. Schwartz. Atmospheric Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory. http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007/2007JD008746.shtml in the J. Geophys. Res. 2007. A preprint version is here http://www.ecd.bnl.gov/steve/pubs.html While I don't understand most of it, I'm not entirely sure that says that fears of man made global warming "bites the dust". I'm guessing more likely it says we aren't sure enough yet, or the models make a lot of assumptions and still aren't entirely clear.

Comments and additional information

Adapting Cities for Climate Change: The Role of the Green Infrastructure
S.E. Gill, J.F. Handley, A.R. Ennos, S. Pauleit. Built Environment, March 2007, 115-133
http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/programs/uesd/uep/products/12/psw_cufr701_Gill_Adapting_Cities.pdf
This paper says that adding more trees and other plants can greatly reduce city heat.

Global Climate Change   http://www.exploratorium.edu/climate/index.html   has a primer listed on the home page "Overview of Climate Change Research"   http://www.exploratorium.edu/climate/primer/index.html   This outlines some of the uncertainties, for example, difficulties in measurement.

The Natural Resources Defense Council   http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/   has some basic guides and a solution guide.

The Republican Policy Committee has a number of papers, such as:
Global Warming: The Settled Versus The Unsettled Science   http://rpc.senate.gov/public/_files/022707GlobalWarmingPG.pdf from Feb 2007
This paper is listed on the Environment page   http://rpc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Issues.Issue&Issue_ID=9b609f26-b496-4540-b3b1-76ee1487f56a

This article has some data: Global and hemispheric temperature anomalies--land and marine instrumental records   http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends/temp/jonescru/jones.html   by P. D. Jones,1 D. E. Parker,2 T. J. Osborn,1 and K. R. Briffa

Clouds of Global-Warming Hysteria   http://www.aei.org/article/24335

Global Warming.org   http://www.globalwarming.org/   This site is aimed to "dispel the myths of global warming by exposing flawed economic, scientific, and risk analysis.

Just for information, this site says "This website is paid for and maintained by the Competitive Enterprise Institute." The CEI had been funded by Exxon up through 2005, at which time Exxon stopped funding this group. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/09/AR2007020902081.html

The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change http://www.co2science.org/ argues against global warming.

This organization is listed here   http://cdiac.ornl.gov/pns/gcclinks.html
and here   http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/links/linka-c.htm
and here   http://fire.pppl.gov/global_clim_chang.html

Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine   http://www.oism.org/    has some global warming slides and a petition. The petition links to "A review of the research literature ... leads to the conclusion that increases during the 20th Century have produced no deleterious effects upon global weather, climate, or temperature."
This organization is listed here   http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/climvar/climate-paper.html

Blowing the whistle on climate change:   New evidence shows the extent to which the White House censored scientific reports on the dangers of global warming
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jul/10/climatechange.dickcheney

Organizations   There are millions of organizations aimed at climate, global warming, etc. These are just a few of them.

Climate-Eval.org http://www.climate-eval.org/home is the online platform of the Climate-Eval community of practice. It is a venue for members to share information on the latest development on the evaluation of climate change and development interventions.

SEA Change http://www.seachangecop.org/    is a maturing virtual Community of Practice (CoP) focused on the monitoring and evaluation of climate change interventions in Asia, and beyond.

Food Crisis

FAO, World Food Situation   http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/en/    news, issues, etc

UN's World Food Program    http://www.wfp.org/ news, stories, etc.

Terrorism
Back to top
Terrorism definition   http://www.history.navy.mil/library/guides/terrorism.htm#definition    from the US Navy

Country Reports on Terrorism   http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/ Annual reports from the US Dept of State

UN Action to Counter Terrorism   http://www.un.org/terrorism/   links to strategies, other documents.

Council on Foreign Relations has this   http://www.cfr.org/issue/terrorism/ri135 section about terrorism.

The Global Terrorism Database http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/ has data on terrorism.

Interpol   http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Terrorism/Terrorism   some info about what interpol is doing, a fact sheet and some info about terrorism.


Terrorist hazards   http://www.ready.gov/terrorist-hazards   from FEMA

Are you ready? Chapter on terrorism http://www.ready.gov/are-you-ready-guide    from FEMA
Also here   http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/terrorism.pdf

list of links http://www.nps.edu/Library/Research%20Tools/Subject%20Guides%20by%20Topic/Special%20Topics/Terrorism/TerrorismSubjectGuideEssay.html from the Naval Graduate School