A very simple thermodynamic model of a planet, based on first order approximations of its (black body) radiation balance.

Simple stock model illustrating the relationship between increasing temperature and amount of rainforest loss per year

Market-led Sustainability is  a 'Fix-that-Fails' as is illustraited in this graph in a very simplified manner. Likely market-led initiatives would be investment in renewables, electric cars and the development of long-term battery storage as a back-up to renewable energy adn other initiatives. However, all of these make demands on the environmemt, requiring  resources, fossil fuels (solar cannot beused to built  solar) and will be accompanied by greenhouse gas emission. In the medium and long term  they will undermine the market-driven goal,  increasing  environmental and economic costs.  The whole enterprise will eventually fail.

A very simple thermodynamic model of a planet, based on first order approximations of its (black body) radiation balance.

If all Americans believed that extreme weather events, droughts and wildfires are primarily caused by climate change they would soon react and demand immediate action from their political leaders. It is likely that this will happen fairly soon because of the dynamic hidden in the phrase 'Climate Change'. Wolfgang von Goethe the famous German poet and scientist said  ''we only see what we know". Cognitive psychology largely agrees and says that we only understand what we see - and give importance to it -  if we have a schema  (mental model) for what we are looking at.  As the terms 'Climate Change' become more widely used people will try to understand what they mean and start to construct schemas. As a result of this process they will soon  see  extreme weather events and wild fire in a different light as the occur again and again - after all, climate scientists told us that  their numbers and severity would  increase as a result of climate change. This simple CLD tries to illustrate this dynamic. It suggests that if you want to speed up this process, a good strategy would be to point out at every occasion possible that an increase of extreme weather events and droughts is precisely what climate scientists predicted!

Estresse Térmico

DRAFT conceptual model of climate change connections in Yamuna river project.

This Insight is a model of Daisyworld created by James Lovelock in 1982 to demonstrate the central idea behind the Gaia hypotheses that life and the environment may be considered two parts of a coupled system.

Fajardo, Paul Gabriel E.

DRAFT conceptual model of climate change connections in Yamuna river project.

A very simple thermodynamic model of a planet, based on first order approximations of its (black bodies) radiation balance, and includes two radiation modulating effects i.e. albedo and green house as well as two heat stores (ocean and atmosphere). It is a lumped model which does not consider spatial variations and resulting mass transports - thus no heat exchange between e.g. equatorial and polar regions. As a consequence all values are surface specific i.e. per square meter. The radiation balance is in  W/m² and the heat reservoirs are in J/m² i.e. water and air columns with a cross section of 1 m².

DRAFT conceptual model of climate change connections in Yamuna river project.

A model of the potential impact on the elderly population (75+ years) from heat stress, which is increased by climate change in the UK.

Market-led Sustainability is  a 'Fix-that-Fails'. It is illustraited in this graph in a very simplified manner. Likely market-led initiatives would be: investment in renewables, electric cars and the development of long-term battery storage as a back-up means to renewable energy. However, all of these lead to undesirable consequences that involve environmental and economic costs that will finally make the whole enterprise fail.

DRAFT conceptual model of climate change connections in Yamuna river project.