Lecture 1

Science, Policy and Innovation: Dr. Vannevar Bush

***The ways government can interact with different sectors and NPOs***

Introduction to SEE: Philosophy & Curriculum

The Hedgehog and the Fox
Analyzes Tolstoy and how he approached history
Ancient Greek story Types of leaders
Hedgehog Know one big thing
Fox Know a lot of little things
Leo Tolstoy was both a fox, and a hedgehog, at the same time
GOAL IS TO BECOME THIS

Vannevar Bush:
Science has a simple faith (belief), which transcends utility. It is the faith
that it is the privilege of man to learn to understand, and that this is his
mission
If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic,
we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One
might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the
mathematics of probability
The Manhattan Project

Science, The Endless Frontier:

1. Improvement in living standards depends on advances in technology
2. But technology does not just come from companies, it comes from basic
science
3. What is basic science?
Science undertaken without utility, just for the sake of advancement
4. There is little incentive for the private sector to undertake fundamental,
curiosity driven research
Research will always suffer when put into competition with operations
5. Governments should treat basic scientific research like a public good
6. Where should the research take place, and why?
At universities youth, de-politicize it
7. How should governments fund basic science at universities

 Government determines the total amount of funding available in

different fields of science biology, physics and chemistry but
specific projects are not assessed on political, commercial or seniority
grounds
Independent government agency like the National Science Foundation
Peer Review: independent experts judge proposals on scientific merit

Lecture 2
Climate Change: The Physics of Global Warming
Modern Day Global Warming Rate of Change
Is it really happening?
Global temperature has risen
Thermometers say yes data clear trend
Arctic Sea is melting
However, sea levels would not rise ice cube in a glass
If Greenland were to melt then yes sea levels would rise
Land ice is a better proxy
Covers the whole planet
Glacier thickness change drop
Yes, glaciers need to melt because we are going out of an ice age
the rate is too fast
Sea levels are rising
Stratosphere is at a lower temperature
Absorbing heat like putting a blanket over the earth, keeping the
heat in
But what is causing it?
Natural variability (El Nino, the Ice Age)
El Nino
Huge amount of warm precipitation
Ocean oscillations warm and cold phases in the water
Pacific - Warm phase with increased storms and rain
Atlantic Associated with huge hurricanes
Volcanoes
Blast ash and gas to the stratosphere
However they cool the earth because they block sunlight
People

Lecture 3:
The Science of Science Communication
The Two-Climate Changes Thesis
One that affects people
Another that you identify with, it tells about your party
Measurement problem
How do you measure belief?
Main idea: Our beliefs or the party we choose to identify with
decides what our knowledge on climate change is

Lecture 4:
The Paris Agreement from Breakdown to Breakthrough
June 1992 Earth summit Rio
Signed agreement convention on climate change
Developed countries were to reduce emissions however it was an aim
softened the commitment
Only 3 countries hit the target, USSR, Germany, Britain
Britain - Shut coal mines and brought in natural gas
USSR collapsed economy
Germany Both
Nobody else hit the targets because their economies were growing and
they didnt take the agreement seriously
2008-9 emissions went down because of the collapse of the economy
2009 there was a push to try to fix it
Copenhagen Conference of the Parties
Get serious about climate change
Failed
Conference of the Parties Paris last December

 The product of many negotiations

There was a recognition that something new had to be done
8 things that turned in new directions that made a difference the Paris agreement
is breakthrough
New leadership
- Last July the Pope stepped up to the issue of environment care of our
common home policy
Were all in this together set a tone of moral logic
Ban Ki Moon UN secretary general
Talked a lot about the need to address climate change
President Obama
Started paying more attention to environment
Develops domestic climate change policy cleaner fuels
More energy efficiency and more renewable energy
Fuel switching from coal to natural gas
Leadership from China
Started to become an active participant
2015 U.S and China start to work together on climate change
Important because first and second biggest emitters of greenhouse
gases
Success
Team that works on the Secretariat of the Treaty
Team of UN officials whose job it is to keep that treaty on track
President Hollande host country
Shifted away from the goal of the agreement was reaching targets and time
tables
Intended National Determined Contribution
A change in who is stepping up to action
All countries time for you to take action
188 countries produced an INDC
Came up with a climate change plan
Nobody sitting on the sidelines and detailed action plans
We got away from thinking that the way to solve the problem was through a
method called top down presidents tell what to do
Shifted power from presidents to mayors to control carbon footprint
Needed a bottom up strategy
Brought in the corporate world to participate
New way of thinking incentives for action
What would it take to get people to do things differently?
From mitigation (reducing greenhouse gases) to mitigation AND adaptation
(preparing to deal with the climate change that will occur)
Introduced adaptation because they refused to accept that climate change
would occur considered it giving up

 Began to talk about who was going to pay? Funding

Whole chapter dedicated to funding
Going to take private capitol AND government money
Commitment to measurement and tracking progress
Measurement, reporting and verification
Whats working and whats not
Need proof
Allows for benchmarking
Paris Agreement changed the psychology of climate change
It became a scene of optimism and excitement
Bottom line: the world now gets that there is a sustainability imperative
If we want to survive 21st C

Lecture 6:
The Himalayas: What is so big about them?
Eco zone: Species of a specific type and live only there
Because of the formation of Himalayas
o A new Eco zone was formed
Hindu Kush-Himalayas are a dynamic landscape with a rich and remarkable
biodiversity 1995
o High relative relief and steep slopes, mountains are remarkably diverse
and globally important as centers of biological diversity 2004
Eastern Himalayas
Ecosystem Services