The Human Development Index
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the production of goods and services within a country. GDP tells us about the economic development of a country, it shows us how the economy …
Course: Tackling Environmental Challenges for a Sustainable Future
Welcome to our course
How this all works Over the next four weeks we will be exploring the important theme of our environment – how it is studied and how our research at the …
Fishing in Indonesia
Indonesia has the second largest fishery in the world after China. Over 12 million people are employed through the fishing industry, landing a catch of about 25.32 million metric tonnes. …
Going forward, what role should new technologies play? The case of climate engineering (geoengineering)
What is geoengineering? Watch this short video for an explanation. This is an additional video, hosted on YouTube. Planting lots more trees, painting buildings and roads white, brightening clouds, sucking …
Summary of what attitudes mean for energy system change
So now we know what people think to different forms energy – both generic national attitudes, and the attitudes of people living close to some of these (proposed) developments. You’re …
Case study 2: Living close to wind energy
Wind energy – both onshore and offshore – still has significant support in national surveys. However, as outlined in a previous step, there can also be vociferous local opposition to …
Case study 1: Living close to nuclear power stations
Nuclear power, due to its (real or perceived) longtime association to atomic weaponry, radiation, radioactive waste, accidents such as Chernobyl, and concerns about health impacts from contamination and leaks, is …
Histories of development
In 1949 Harry Truman gave a speech upon his re-election as president of the United States of America. Now known as the ‘four point speech’ the fourth point marked the …
If there is national support, why are there local protests?
In the previous step, we saw that national surveys about public opinion of different energy developments indicate a strong level of support for renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, hydroelectric and …
Introducing development: Key terms
In this step we are going to introduce some of the key terms that you will come across in development. The language around development can be quite challenging – there …
Aquaculture: pros and cons
In response to the growing challenges facing marine capture fisheries, many have suggested that fish farming, or aquaculture, is the solution. It is true that even if wild fisheries are …
Fisheries management
Given that overfishing is now well recognised to not only be possible, but common, it is essential that fisheries are regulated to keep them sustainable. But importantly we are not …
General attitudes towards energy developments
In an earlier step, we outlined a public vision for energy system change in the UK. We stated that publics had a desire for a sustainable system based on renewable …
Alternative cooking options
Globally approximately 3 billion people use solid fuels to cook, such as firewood, charcoal, crop waste, kerosene and dung. In addition to over-exploitation of natural resources and release of greenhouse …
Energy use and tobacco cultivation
In the previous steps we looked at the use of natural resources for cooking and the alternatives options that are available. In this step we are going to look at …
These articles are from the online course:
Tackling Environmental Challenges for a Sustainable Future
