American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting (Dec 2014, San Francisco USA)

Dates: 15-18 December 2014
Location: San Francisco, USA
Website: Abstracts submission website
Deadline for submissions on abstracts: 6 August 2014

NOTE: Although targeted primarily at scientists, I am posting this CFP because it relates to policy and organizational design, decision-making, and other areas of interest to designers and design researchers.

The Union of Concerned Scientists is seeking abstracts for three symposia at this year’s American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting from December 15-18 in San Francisco. I hope that you and other members of the UCS Science Network will consider submitting an abstract.

If you are attending or interested in attending AGU this December, please review the sessions below. All abstract submissions are due by August 6.

SESSION ONE
Climate Literacy: Overcoming the Actors and Actions that Inhibit Climate Science Education and Informed Decision Making
Description: As the impacts of climate change become more evident to the public, having an educated and engaged citizenry, including youth, has never been more important. Yet, there are still many barriers to understanding the basic science behind climate change and to using that science for informed decision making. Moreover, social and political factors can hinder acceptance and understanding of the science. In this session, we welcome papers that address the challenges to presenting climate science in multiple spheres, from the educational to the public realm. How can an understanding of barriers be used to improve climate literacy globally? What factors limit public understanding of climate science and decision making informed by the scientific evidence? What models could be used to further public understanding of the science? This session takes a fresh look at these questions, and their implications for scientists, educators, communicators, and policy experts to discuss models for solutions.

SESSION TWO
Carbon Budgets, Emissions Pathways, and the Risks of Missing the 2°C Target: Can We Better Inform Policy?
Description: The publication of IPCC AR5 brought renewed attention to the budget approach to global CO2 emissions, with emissions budgets for various probabilities of exceeding 2°C, both with and without accounting for non-CO2 emissions. While a useful simplification for policy makers, there is an underlying complexity that warrants further exploration. This session will address important issues for climate policy such as the tradeoffs between long-lived and short-lived forcings; the irreducible budgets associated with agriculture; technologies for negative emissions; the implications of changes to the carbon cycle; questions about risk and adaptation associated with alternative pathways; and the policy implications of alternative global temperature targets.

SESSION THREE
Solutions and Strategies for fostering GeoEthics and Enhancing the Geosciences Section
Description: As earth science experts, we possess vast potential and responsibility to apply our knowledge to the major challenges facing society and the planet. Yet our discipline is ill-equipped to confront these issues beyond the lab. Many geoscientists and educators are beginning to tackle ethical issues through ethics education programs, public outreach and communication, interdisciplinary collaboration, and research targeting important societal problems. These and other creative approaches are urgently needed in an age of global interconnectedness, high technology, and climatic change. Presenters are invited to report on projects aimed at making geoscientists more cognizant of the ethical and social dimensions of their work, and enhancing the contributions of geoscientists to the public and policy makers.

Click here to submit an abstract for any of these AGU sessions. If you are not an AGU member and need one to sponsor your submission, please contact me at dfox@ucsusa.org.