Part I: Assessment of How Class Contributed to Personal
Understanding of Global Warming
2. How has this class helped you to understand the role
of science in international decision making?
Compromise
is key, and no matter how much you try to bombard your opponent
with information, they will probably still not see eye to eye
with you. This class has further reaffirmed my ambition to get
involved in world politics.
The Kyoto Protocol relies upon science both as the basis for its
assertions and to lend support to them. It also looks toward technology
and scientific advancement for a solution to the global climate
change problem. This class experience revealed the close ties
between science and politics explicitly.
I never understood what an impact the uncertainties of science
has in international decision making. There is a big influence
in arguments because of this uncertainties, but there also remains
a larger influence because of the evidence that they can provide.
It is very powerful tool when making decisions that involve the
entire world.
When making international policies scientific evidence plays a
huge role. If not for the scientific backing to the case of global
warming the treaty would have never even been an issue. Science
forces international policies to step back from its own socioeconomic
drives and look towards the global good.
Prior to this class I didn't know science had such a big impact
on international policy making I used think it was just a bunch
of politicians.
This class showed that although scientific knowledge is important
in understanding environmental issues, it is only a part of international
decision making. The roles of economics and politics are highly
influential. It is important for whomever understands the scientific
aspects of climate change to be charismatic and well versed in
both speaking and writing in order to convey the importance of
the science to policy makers, who quite possibly are minimally
knowledgeable about the scientific aspects.
When countries, like African nations, are faced with mitigating
climate change, it is difficult for them to ignore the lifestyles
of their people, their economic stances and their political stances
in the global arena. Even when science presents factual knowledge
(ex: that CO2 emissions have a strong positive radiative forcing)
countries will not always act to directly mitigate the problem.
This class showed me that science plays a huge role in the global
decision making process. Everything must be evaluated from the
economy to the environment. It's hard work to come up with a compromise
that satisfies everyone's wishes, but I think we showed that it's
possible.
I have got a better understanding the role of science in the international
decision making because now I have realized that just simply a
finding by a scientist is not enough to convince everyone. Also
if people cant see the actual impact something is causing then
hey will never really be serious at just the finding .for example
if people didn't observe change in weather pattern dramatically
they would not bother to care about the scientific finding on
global warming.
Unlike other classes, this course was not about cramming for a
midterm or final. It was not about reading a boring book that
just slipped out of your head after the quarter. It was about
personally going into the roles and making yourself a part of
an international decision. I believe that much of life's lessons
come from experience and not from sitting in a classroom. This
class definitely provided the opportunity to experience a part
of global warming on a personal level.
This class has made me realize that science matters in international
policy. Hard data and facts are important components of decision
making. This class has also made me realize that levels of uncertainty
and inaccuracies can hurt the policy and the base of information
it rests on. This class has shown me that international scientists
are faced with much opposition when trying to prove scientific
facts to policy makers.