Phil 2356F Philosophy and

Climate Change

Prof. Wayne Myrvold

Winter 2024
Week 1 , Monday, Jan. 8
Climate Change in the News

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/06/climate/2023-hottest-year-climate/index.h
tml
Climate Change in the News

Jan. 4, 2024

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/world/canada/canada-boreal-
forest-logging.html
On the other hand…

https://www.nrtoday.com/opinion/guest_col/guest-column-man-made-global-warming-is-a-hoax/article
_ab978b30-58a9-11ee-813e-b783adbd72bc.html
Immanuel Kant, 1781: 3 central
questions of philosophy
 What can I know?
 What must I do?
 What may I hope?
What can I know?
 Questions of scientific method; how do climate scientists
know what they know?
 How can we, as non-experts, be well-informed?
 Navigating truth and falsehood in the internet age, on a
topic on which much is at stake
What must I do?
 Individual and collective responsibility
 Obligations to future generations?
 What would count as a fair & just approach to dealing
with the climate?
 Can climate change be tackled in isolation from other
societal issues?
What may I hope?
 Are we doomed?
 What kind of future can we create?
How this will work
 Course material:
 Class lectures
 Assigned readings on course OWL site.
 Lectures slides will be posted weekly.
 Topics:
I. Intro to climate change, with emphasis on scientific reasoning
(2 weeks)
II. Ethical issues surrounding climate change (6 weeks)
III. Climate change, the media, and public relations (2 weeks)
IV. Climate Change and economics (2 weeks)
Requirements
 Attendance is required, but I will not be assigning an attendance
mark.
 Evaluation:
 Two short written assignments
 Asst 1, due Mar. 6
12%
 Asst 2, due Apr. 3
12%
 Online participation 3%
 Tests:
 Midterm, in class, Feb. 26
25%
 Final, exam period, date TBA
25%
 Final project 23%

Laptop & phone policy

 You may use a laptop or tablet to take notes.

 Put your phones away!
 You are expected to be paying attention in
class, and are responsible for any material
discussed in class.
 No texting, messaging, etc….
Office hours

 Stevenson Hall 4143

 Regular office hours: Mondays and

Wednesdays, 1:30–2:30 PM.
 These are the times you can expect to find me in my
office without an appointment.
 If you want to talk to me any other time, about
anything, send me an e-mail.
Recent warming

https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/globa
l/time-series/globe/land_ocean/12/12/1850-2023
Visualizing global warming

Source: http://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/spirals/
 Another visualization

https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/
Another visualization

https://www.reading.ac.uk/planet/climate-resources/climate-stripes
Climate change is nothing new

Source: http://ossfoundation.us/projects/environment/global-warming/myths/images/natural-cycle/Forcing-Temp_1.9wm2.png
http://www.skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature-intermediate.htm
Greenhouse effect
Temperature without greenhouse
effect
 Estimated global mean temperature if there
were no trapping of heating by greenhouse
gases:

-18°C

http://www.giss.nasa.gov/research/briefs/ma_01/
https://www.ec.gc.ca/ges-ghg/default.asp?lang=En&n=CAD07259-1
Update: from IPCC AR6 WGI SPM
Net effect of various factors

Vertical axis is energy

contribution, in ZJ (=
1021 Joules)

From IPCC AR6 WGI Ch. 7

http://www.skepticalscience.com/The-CO2-Temperature-correlation-over-the-20th-C
entury.html
Correlation

 Global mean temperature has gone up as

greenhouse gas concentrations have gone
up.
Correlation  causation

Source: Spurious correlations website

 Attribution of climate change

Source: Skeptical Science

https://skepticalscience.com/How-we-know-were-causing-global-warming-in-single-gr
Model-based attribution
 Source: IPCC
AR5 Synthesis
Report
Summary for
Policymakers