Centre for Climate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education

* Carla Isobel Elliff, Rashmi Ramesh, Sunitha Anup and Dhanasree Jayaram The polar regions of our planet, the Arctic to the north and the Antarctic to the south, are among the world’s most environmentally vulnerable regions. However, the numerous geopolitical and geoeconomic contestations embedded in these regions pose critical obstacles to science diplomacy and environmental peacebuilding. To discuss these issues and how they interconnect with marine conservation, the second session of the webinar series on science diplomacy and environmental peacebuilding brought together Dr. Klaus Dodds, Professor of Geopolitics, Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, United Kingdom, and Dr. Cassandra Brooks, Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Boulder, United States, to discuss their research on polar regions. The session was moderated by Dr. Dhanasree Jayaram, Co-Coordinator, Centre for Climate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Ed...

*Carla Isobel Elliff, Sunitha Anup and Dhanasree Jayaram Background to the webinar series  Environmental peacebuilding has emerged as a new frontier in interdisciplinary studies, which seeks to go beyond the traditional role of natural resources or environmental change in general in triggering and exacerbating conflicts, but to look at the positive peacebuilding potential of environmental and natural resources in not only post-conflict societies but also fragile societies with weak governance and nation states that are at perpetual conflict with each other (that may not necessarily be physical in nature) over environmental resources or otherwise. Science diplomacy also aims at building bridges between societies where formal relationships are strained, strengthening partnerships between scientific and diplomatic communities and so on. The two conceptual frameworks, at the outset, seem to have common goals; and therefore, if they are aligned with each other, can they pro...

Dr. Anish Warrier, Coordinator and Dr. Dhanasree Jayaram, Co-Coordinator (Centre for Climate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education) Climate change has emerged as a defining global and national problem, the response to which needs to be supported and informed by scientific knowledge. For the past 4.7 billion years, our planet Earth has seen large-scale climatic variations on different timescales, which has led to mass extinction of different flora and fauna. There have been several external and internal forcing(s) like incoming solar radiation and volcanic eruptions, which play an important role in these fluctuations. However, during the past few decades, there has been an upward trend in the average global temperature, which has caused widespread changes in the global climate system. This exponential rise in the global temperature is mainly attributed to anthropogenic activities and has several disastrous effects on our environment. Realizing the threat posed by climate chan...