Inescapable Questions: Academia, Global Warming, and the Energy Crisis

摘要

The scientific consensus on global warming, and the onset of a global energy crisis raise profound issues of social justice, equity and the relevance of the values of "modern" society. Who is responsible for the population of Bangladesh as it is submerged by rising sea levels created by greenhouse gasses emanating from "advanced" societies? How will American individualism respond to an energy crisis which threatens the entire national commons, from Madison Avenue to Rodeo Drive, from the Bronx to inner-city Los Angeles? The reality of global warming is now self-evident with heat waves in Paris, glacier melts in mountains and at the poles, droughts which have led to devastating fire seasons in the American west, shifting animal populations, and species die-outs. The science shows that global warming has risen in lockstep with the industrial revolution and the attendant world population explosion.