Averting Disaster Science For Peace In A Perilous Age

Reminiscences from participants in Erice International Seminars on Planetary Emergencies.

The ecology of international security / Charles D. Ferguson. Assessment of RDD event medical response, recovery, and mitigation in a world of one science / Annette Sobel. Defeating religious terrorism - what will it take? / Pervez Hoodbhoy. Terrorism threats due to weapons of mass disturbance / Friedrich Steinhausler. Cell phones, texting, position reporting, and self-assembly in emergency response management / Robert V. Duncan -- 10. Special session : lectio magistralis. Why science is needed in everyday life / Ignazio La Russa -- 11. Climate. Focus : data, mathematical structures and predictions. Carbon dioxide, friend or foe. William Happer. Climate sensitivity : various approaches / Richard S. Lindzen. Climategate and the inquiries / Stephen McIntyre. Energy legislation in the USA / Richard Wilson -- 12. WFS general meeting. PMP reports - debate and conclusions. Permanent monitoring panel on motivations for terrorism / Lord John Alderdice. 2010 progress report of the MCD-2/7 project and 2011 research project. East-Africa AIDS Research Centre at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), Entebbe Uganda / Franco M. Buonaguro. Mother and child health PMP : maternal and child mortality is a planetary emergency, report of 2010 activities / Nathalie Charpak, J.G. Ruiz and S.D. Leon-Mendoza. Permanent monitoring panel report on limits of development / Christopher D. Ellis. Pollution permanent monitoring panel - 2010 annual report / Lorne G. Everett. Report of the energy permanent monitoring panel / William Fulkerson, J, Ongena and C. Difiglio. PMP report for cosmic objects / Walter F. Huebner. Annual report permanent monitoring panel on mitigation of terrorist acts / Alan Leigh Moore, Jr. Information security PMP report / Henning Wegener and Jody R. Westby -- 13. Seminar participants -- 14. Ettore Majorana Erice Science for Peace Prize

Is war necessary? In Peace and War prominent anthropologists and other social scientists explore the cultural and social factors leading to war. They analyze the covert causes of war from a cross-cultural perspective: ideologies that dispose people to war; underlying patterns of social relationships that help institutionalize war; and the cultural systems of military establishments. Overt causes of war—environmental factors like the control of scarce resources, advantageous territories, and technologies, or promoting the welfare of people “like” oneself—are also considered. The authors examine anthropologists’ role in policy formation—how their theories on the nature of culture and society help those who deal with global problems on a day-to-day basis. They argue that both covert and overt mechanisms are pushing the world closer to a devastating war and offer strategies to weaken the effects of these mechanisms. This anthropological and historical analysis of the causes of war is a valuable resource for those studying war and those trying to understand the place of social science in framing pacific options.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL BESTSELLER In this urgent, singularly authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical--and accessible--plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid an irreversible climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help and guidance of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance, he has focused on exactly what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide toward certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only gathers together all the information we need to fully grasp how important it is that we work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases but also details exactly what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. He describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions; where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively; where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions--suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but by following the guidelines he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.