Debates

Motivating humanity to act

This debate is under discussion by participants in the Climate Summit. For more information see http://theclimatesummit.org . Other members of the Collaboratorium community are also welcome to add to this debate. To navigate to the Climate Summit's dedicated debate page, go to http://climatecollaboratorium.org/web/guest/theclimatesummit .

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
How can the media be used to motivate humanity to respond proactively to climate change?New media/guerilla marketing (12 votes)136/10/10 3:12 PM
How can we harness faith communities to create climate awareness & action?Speak personally at your congregation or faith meeting. (1 vote)18/8/10 3:25 PM
How can current globalized economy refocus on ethics and sustainability?Equal per capita emissions to reach 350 ppm (6 votes)14/15/10 5:54 PM
How can education motivate humanity to respond proactively to climate change?Primary/secondary education central (8 votes)146/13/10 2:44 PM
How can we address this issue across cultures?Work locally to create awareness (6 votes)118/6/10 6:46 PM
How can we convince parlamentarians that human activity is changing the climate?Interaction between activists and parliamentarians. (2 votes)0
What political action can motivate humanity to respond proactively to climate change?Activism in the streets (4 votes), Formal electoral process (4 votes), Grass roots approach (4 votes)145/10/10 1:29 AM
How to talk about science in an age of sound bites?Scientists need spokespeople (2 votes)66/27/10 5:17 PM
Do religion and faith have a role in motivating humanity to respond proactively to climate change?Yes (12 votes)24/17/10 5:19 PM
How might a proactive response to climate change be inhibited?Other pressing needs, such as global development (6 votes)58/27/10 6:37 PM

Policy approaches

This debate is under discussion by participants in the Climate Summit. For more information see http://theclimatesummit.org . Other members of the Collaboratorium community are also welcome to add to this debate. To navigate to the Climate Summit's dedicated debate page, go to http://climatecollaboratorium.org/web/guest/theclimatesummit .

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
How can major changes in policy occur?Recognition of true threat of global warming (6 votes)39/1/10 3:54 AM
How should we extend the concept of CO2 offsetting project itself?Invent a capital flow based emission control mechanism (1 vote)0
How Important is the Approval of Cape Wind?Very important (1 vote)16/26/10 3:31 AM
How can overpopulation be curtailed?Provide basic needs (2 votes)54/17/10 4:50 PM
What government policies should be adopted to address climate change?Subsidies for green tech (4 votes)65/21/10 5:02 PM
How can overconsumption be curtailed?"Waste less, want less" (1 vote), Revamp economic system (1 vote), Faith based simplicity (1 vote)24/25/10 8:03 PM

Is the earth's climate changing because of human activity?

On December 2009, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled "What Global Warming? A look at the arguments the skeptics make—and how believers respond." The Debate below is based on this article and has since been augmented by CoLab user contributions.

For more background, see http://www.climatecollaboratorium.org/web/guest/resources/-/wiki/Main/Debate+topic--Is+the+earth%27s+climate+changing+because+of+human+activity

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
Can we trust temperature readings that indicate warming?Yes (proponent position) (4 votes)44/15/10 11:55 AM
Is the warming of the past 150 years due to human activity?Yes (proponent position) (2 votes)21/23/10 2:17 AM
Do the polar ice caps and oceans show evidence of warming?Yes (proponent position) (3 votes)14/10/10 4:11 PM
Is there scientific consensus on global warming?Yes (proponent position) (3 votes)0
Even if climate change was not due to human activity, don't we still have a problem?Yes (2 votes)38/23/10 10:14 PM
Is the warming since 1850 outside the range of past climate fluctuations?Yes (proponent position) (2 votes)16/3/10 2:07 AM
Has the warming trend of the past 150 years slowed recently?Yes (proponent position) (2 votes)28/23/10 10:05 PM

Model Debates

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
How can the CoLab's modeling capabilities be improved?More detail on costs/benefits (3 votes)24/23/10 3:21 AM
How rapidly will new low-emission technologies emerge?Modest technical progress (2 votes)0

Other debates

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
What will be the impact of the Gulf Oil Spill?Catastrophic damange (1 vote)37/14/10 11:10 PM
Can behavioral economics help with climate change?Yes (3 votes)54/19/10 11:48 PM

International climate negotiation issues

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
What should the global emissions target be for 2050?Emissions should be cut substantially (4 votes)24/15/10 11:46 AM
How can the burden of climate change mitigation be shared equitably?Rich countries should lead the way (10 votes)44/15/10 11:52 AM

Projects

What are some projects done on the local, state, or federal level that have shown a lot of promise that you support? Are there some projects that are actually really bad ideas?

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
Should we increase production of natural gas?No; hidden costs and risks are too great (1 vote)0
How Important is the Approval of Cape Wind?Very important (1 vote)16/26/10 3:31 AM
What's the best way to build/retrofit green homesInsulation (1 vote), Solar panels (1 vote)29/1/10 4:47 PM

CoLab debates

Members of the community are invited to provide input on key questions about the design of the CoLab system. One of the debates focuses on the design of the 2010 Contest. More information on the design of the contest is at http://www.climatecolab.org/web/guest/resources/-/wiki/Main/CoLab%20Global%20Challenge%202010.

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
Should the CoLab be augmented by less formal collaborative software?Threaded forum/mailing list (1 vote)0
Is the design of the 2010 CoLab Contest sound?No votes.0

Inactive Debates

These debates and their threads are being placed inactive but are being left for interested viewers to read.

Question Leading position(s) # Comments Most recent comment
Would the Dalai Lama's participation in Climate Summit help or hinder?Hinder overall goals of Climate Summit (7 votes), Dalai Lama should be welcome (7 votes)195/20/10 11:12 PM