Comment on SenLin's summary by Utshash Das

Dear SenLin, the summary of the lecture given by Mr. Benjamin K. Sovacool that you posted is quite interesting. His talk was indeed mostly on how to cut down the emission of greenhouse gases such as Carbon dioxide, Nitrous oxides, Methane and CFCs, most of which are released in the atmosphere as a result of human actions. You have mentioned that burning of fossil fuels and agriculture constitutes up to 76% of the emissions but you forgot to mention the emission of Chlorofluorocarbons and Hexa-fluorocarbons, which have the most devastating effect on the environment.

The speaker talked about the changes the Government and we, as individuals, can make to reduce the emissions. As you wrote, the Government can apply tax on cars and invest more on public transportations, and impose subsidies to help in agricultural sectors. The easier and more important issue is individual response and how everyone should be aware of the dangerous climate change. People can recycle stuff instead of buying new products.

Finally, I'll like to mention that you missed out one major point of the talk. As the World Bank data shows, countries with higher income per capita emits more greenhouse gases than countries with low income and that Asian countries contribute to the gases more than other countries. Government and individuals must become aware of it and act to make sure that Global Warming doesn't bring an end to life-forms on earth.

Comments on Senlin's entry by Nicodemus Yu

With regards to your entry, what i feel is generally you are just listing out the examples. What is lacking is the ideas which are being supported by the examples. For instances, you wrote that, "for energy supply, reduction of fossil fuels and application of renewable energy can be helpful". It is not preceded by or followed up with a general idea behind such actions. In my opinion, what should precede this sentence should be, "Institutes and industrial entities can help ease global warming by taking actions within themselves." Something along these lines. Generally, i feel your entry is blatant listing of what was written in the provided lecture slides. What i suggest is that when you summarize Dr. Sovacool's lecture, instead of listing what he said, grasp the underlying idea behind his lecture first. After which it would be exponentially easier for you to summarize his lecture.

Comment on Sue Ben's by Sanjeet POSTING 1

Dear sue Ben, in your summary you stated that Dr Sovacool lecture was about ways of “Institutional and Individual Response to Climate Change Issue”. I agree that his whole lecture was about ways institutes and individuals can help to overcome the environmental problems. You mentioned some of the greenhouses gases Dr Sovacool mention in his lecture but you missed out nitrogen oxides and chlorofluorocarbons (CF Cs). It is true that all the greenhouse gases were converted to carbon dioxide to measure the percentage change in carbon dioxide emissions in various countries. It was stated in the lecture that majority of the greenhouse emissions were contributed by ASIA. It is true that a country’s emissions level is generally proportional to their GDP. For example, countries like Germany and Hungary have experienced economic downfall when they reduce their emission of greenhouse gases.
Dr Sovacool also mentioned that there were four not three major sectors that contributed the most to greenhouse emissions. They are energy supply, agriculture forestry and transportation.
He mentioned institutional actions for climate stabilization by citing some examples. For example, limiting the number of driving days in Mexico City would target the transportation sector. Dr Sovacool also said that the agriculture and waste management sector were very much neglected.
Lastly, when Dr Sovacool mentioned about the importance of individual effort in climate stabilization, he cited some examples. One of the examples was about the most expensive home in the world which is located in Mumbai. He mentioned that ‘too much and too little can be very disruptive for the environment’.
He ended by saying that we should start as individuals by making a difference to the environment.

senlin's summary

Summary on “institutional and individual response to climate change and issues ”

As he pointed out, the global temperature is increasing rapidly, and the great emission of greenhouse gas is the main reason. As for the share of emissions by greenhouse gas, co2 from fossil fuels and other sources takes up 59.4%, following by deforestation and agriculture, which emit s 17.3% of the total gas. It is obvious that the human behaviors contribute most to the global warming, so the institutional and individual actions should play the major role in maintaining climate stabilization.

Here are some institutional actions. For energy supply, reduction of fossil fuels and application of renewable energy can be helpful; for transport, government can increases the tax and fees on vehicle purchase, and limit the number of driving days; for agriculture, farmers may get financial support for ecosystem service…

However, the individual actions are much easier and more important. One can educate himself and others, or try to become a vegetarian for one year, or alter lifestyle by walking and cycling more, or buy environmental friendly foods, or reuse and recycle some of the old things…Every one of us can make a difference by a small action.

In conclusion, global warming is mainly a result of human activities, so it is everyone’s duty to take actions to remedy our own mistakes before too late…

Ben's Summary

Sue Ben
Summary (Second speaker)
The second speaker, Benjamin K. Sovacool talked about “Institutional and Individual Response to Climate Change Issue”. He mentioned that there were a variety of gases classified as greenhouse gases, notably CO2, CH4, and N2O, but to facilitate measurement, they were all converted to CO2 and with weight proportional to their degree of impact on the environment. He then pointed out the three major sectors that contributed the most to greenhouse gas emission, energy supply, forestry and agriculture.
Most countries had done little in the past to cut emissions, with their emissions level generally proportional to their GDP. Sovacool also mentioned briefly some of the institutional actions for climate stabilization, with the majority promoting the use of stricter regulations and subsidies targeting sectors such as energy supply, transport, industry, agriculture, forestry and waste management.
Then the speaker moved on to stress the importance of individual effort in climate stabilization. He encouraged the use of sustainable electricity, food, homes and technology, and elaborated on how conserving resources will have huge impact on not just the environment but also our health. Lastly, he ended by reiterating that these challenges can be solved with everyone’s effort, and urged us to make a difference starting today.