STS/BSOC/HIST 4131 Comparative Environmental History (Spring 2024)

Covers climate, disease, oceans, the body, energy, consumerism, and international relations.

Over the past four decades, "corporate environmentalism" has emerged and been constantly redefined, from regulatory compliance to more recent management conceptions such as "pollution prevention", "total qualityenvironmental management", "industrial ecology", "life cycle analysis", "environmental strategy", "environmental justice," and, most recently, "sustainable development."As a result, understanding the intersection of business activity and environmental protection has become increasingly complex, and there has emerged a focus in academic research on business decision-making, firm behavior, and the protection of the natural environment.

Key topics covered include the history of the issues, social and political reception of climate science, the denial of that science by individuals and organized interests, the nature of the social disruptionscaused by climate change, the economics of those disruptions and possible responses to them, questions of human security and social justice, obligations to future generations, policy instruments forreducing greenhouse gas emissions, and governance at local, regional, national, international, and global levels.

Explores the origin and evolution of our understanding of climate change as it is presented in communication and media. Taking a multifaceted approach, the encyclopedia offers a scholarly examination of the effects of climate change communication on public opinion and policy decisions; journalistic coverage and media portrayals of climate change; communication strategies and campaigns; and the implications for effective communication, including those of outreach and advocacy efforts.Additionally, the encyclopedia reviews climate change communication research methods and approaches. Global in breadth and deeply resourced.