Enjoy your visit.
What's New:
December 7, 2009: In "Responding to the Skeptics," published in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria and I offer short refutations of four arguments commonly used to raise doubts about the scientific consensus on climate change. To read the article, click here.
On August 9, an article titled "The Enticements of Green Carrots" was published in the Toronto Globe and Mail, I describe a scheme for rewarding consumers for green behavior, modeled on an airline's frequent flyer points. To read the article, click here.
On June 8, 2009, Thomas Homer-Dixon gave a speech to a conference in Essen, Germany on "The Great Transformation: Climate Change as Cultural Change," in which he identified the cognitive, economic, political, and normative components of the coming cultural transformation arising from climate change. To read the speech, click here. To hear a podcasts of the speech, click here for part one and part two.
In June, an article titled "The Newest Science," appearing in Alternatives Journal, argues that while physics was the master science of the 20th century, ecology will be the master science of the 21st century. To read the article, click here.
On May 4, an article, co-athored with Julio Friedmann of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail describing the advantages of exploiting underground coal gasification technology in Alberta. To read the article, click here.
On April 14, Thomas Homer-Dixon's edited book, Carbon Shift: How the Twin Crises of Oil Depletion and Climate Change Will Define the Future, was released in Canada. The book argues that the crises of climate change and peaking oil production are really one: a carbon problem.
Carbon Shift brings together six of Canada's world-class experts to explore where we stand now and where we might be headed. It investigates the economics, geology, politics, and science of the predicament we find ourselves in. And it gives each expert the chance to address what he thinks are the most important facets of the complex problem before us.
For further information, and to order the book, go to http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307357182.
On April 4, the CBC's Peter Mansbridge interviewed Thomas Homer-Dixon about the causes and consequences of the current economic crisis. To see the interview, click here.
On April 4, an essay on the value of fear – and on how its absence contributed to the current economic crisis – appeared in the Saturday Focus section of the Toronto Globe and Mail. To read the article, click here.
On March 19, a review of two books (Vaclav Smil's Global Catastrophes and Trends and Chris Patten's What Next?) appeared in Nature. To read the review, click here.
From the Archives:
The following four articles explain the origins of the current economic crisis:
"Unbounded uncertainty #1," Toronto Globe and Mail, August 14, 2007.
"From Risk to Uncertainty," Toronto Globe and Mail, March 19, 2008.
"Unbounded uncertainty #2," Toronto Globe and Mail, September 26, 2008.
"The Stag Hunt: Deflation as a Collective Action Problem," Toronto Globe and Mail, November 26, 2008.
Things I'm Reading:
In a recent Brookings conference paper, economist James Hamilton (UCSD) argues that the oil price shock of 2007-08 contributed directly to the onset of the US recession. "The experience of 2007-08 should thus be added to the list of recessions to which oil prices appear to have made a material contribution."
December 7, 2009: In "Responding to the Skeptics," published in the Toronto Globe and Mail, Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria and I offer short refutations of four arguments commonly used to raise doubts about the scientific consensus on climate change. To read the article, click here.
On August 9, an article titled "The Enticements of Green Carrots" was published in the Toronto Globe and Mail, I describe a scheme for rewarding consumers for green behavior, modeled on an airline's frequent flyer points. To read the article, click here.
On June 8, 2009, Thomas Homer-Dixon gave a speech to a conference in Essen, Germany on "The Great Transformation: Climate Change as Cultural Change," in which he identified the cognitive, economic, political, and normative components of the coming cultural transformation arising from climate change. To read the speech, click here.
To hear a podcasts of the speech, click here for part one and part two.In June, an article titled "The Newest Science," appearing in Alternatives Journal, argues that while physics was the master science of the 20th century, ecology will be the master science of the 21st century. To read the article, click here.
On May 4, an article, co-athored with Julio Friedmann of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, appeared in the Toronto Globe and Mail describing the advantages of exploiting underground coal gasification technology in Alberta. To read the article, click here.
Carbon Shift brings together six of Canada's world-class experts to explore where we stand now and where we might be headed. It investigates the economics, geology, politics, and science of the predicament we find ourselves in. And it gives each expert the chance to address what he thinks are the most important facets of the complex problem before us.
For further information, and to order the book, go to http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307357182.
On April 4, the CBC's Peter Mansbridge interviewed Thomas Homer-Dixon about the causes and consequences of the current economic crisis. To see the interview, click here.
On April 4, an essay on the value of fear – and on how its absence contributed to the current economic crisis – appeared in the Saturday Focus section of the Toronto Globe and Mail. To read the article, click here.
On March 19, a review of two books (Vaclav Smil's Global Catastrophes and Trends and Chris Patten's What Next?) appeared in Nature. To read the review, click here.
From the Archives:
The following four articles explain the origins of the current economic crisis:
"Unbounded uncertainty #1," Toronto Globe and Mail, August 14, 2007.
"From Risk to Uncertainty," Toronto Globe and Mail, March 19, 2008.
"Unbounded uncertainty #2," Toronto Globe and Mail, September 26, 2008.
"The Stag Hunt: Deflation as a Collective Action Problem," Toronto Globe and Mail, November 26, 2008.
Things I'm Reading:
In a recent Brookings conference paper,
economist James Hamilton (UCSD) argues that the oil price shock of 2007-08 contributed directly to the onset of the US recession. "The experience of 2007-08 should thus be added to the list of recessions to which oil prices appear to have made a material contribution."