Hard Choices (Coward book)
{{Short description|2004 book by Harold Coward}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Hard Choices
| image = Hard Choices book by Coward and Weaver.jpg
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| caption = Hard Choices
| author = Harold Coward
Andrew J. Weaver
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| country = Canada
| language = English
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| subject = Climate change
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| publisher = Wilfrid Laurier University Press
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| pub_date = 2004
| media_type = Print (Paperback)
| pages = 282
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| isbn = 978-0889204423
| oclc = 300938101
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Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada is a non-fiction compilation book about climate change in Canada, edited by Harold Coward and Andrew J. Weaver. It was published in paperback format by Wilfrid Laurier University Press in 2004.{{cite book|author1=Harold Coward|author-link=Harold Coward|author2=Andrew J. Weaver|author2-link=Andrew J. Weaver|title=Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4e5KBqC4XoC&pg=PP1|year=2004|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn=978-0-88920-442-3}}
Hard Choices received favorable reviews in academic journals including Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences, Environmental Reviews, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, and Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
Contents summary
Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada is presented as a work to help address societal questions surrounding climate change in Canada and the inherent problems caused by its impact. Editors Harold Coward and Andrew J. Weaver gathered together writers from Canada with backgrounds including humanism, social science, and engineering. These individuals contributed articles to the book assessing the effects of climate change in Canada and how it would result in changes on the levels of technology, society, finance, politics, and religion. A collaborative work, Hard Choices engages with multiple topics to provide information from multiple different perspectives together in one source. Contributors to the work grapple with the Kyoto Protocol, the reaction by the government of Canada to this international treaty, and the effectiveness of the treaty to society overall with respect to the issues posed by changes in the climate of the planet.
Research
Research on Hard Choices was sponsored by the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society of the University of Victoria.{{cite news|url=http://csrs.uvic.ca/Publications/full_list.php|accessdate=18 March 2015|work=Full list of CSRS-sponsored research publications|title=2004|date=2015|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140930193505/http://csrs.uvic.ca/Publications/full_list.php|archivedate=September 30, 2014|publisher=Centre for Studies in Religion and Society of the University of Victoria}}
Publication history
Hard Choices was first published in 2004 by Wilfrid Laurier University Press.{{oclc|300938101}} It was published the same year as an eBook.{{oclc|256539357}} A 2005 edition was published in German.{{oclc|637012663}} A later eBook edition was released in 2006 in English.{{oclc|753479479}}
Reception
A review in Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences by Matthew Bramley wrote: "Hard Choices does cover the ground quite well, reviewing climate science, impacts, adaptation, technology, policy, law, equity, and ethics."{{cite journal|accessdate=18 March 2015|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1819&context=greatplainsresearch|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318170313/http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1819&context=greatplainsresearch|archivedate=18 March 2015|first=Matthew|last=Bramley|journal=Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences|title=Review of Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada Edited by Harold Coward and Andrew J. Weaver|date=1 April 2006|publisher=University of Nebraska-Lincoln}} The review criticized some of the essays for being a bit outdated, while others were considered timely.
Writing in the journal Environmental Reviews, Barry G. Rabe reviewed the book and commented: "It is one of those relatively rare edited collections that fits varied pieces into an appropriate package and, in the process, makes a profoundly important contribution to our understanding of climate change, particularly in the context of Canada."{{cite journal|title=Book review: Hard choices: climate change in Canada|date=June 2005|last=Rabe|first=Barry G.|journal=Environmental Reviews|volume=13|issue=2|pages=85–86|via=EBSCO Information Services|doi=10.1139/a05-005|bibcode=2005EnvRv..13...85R }}
Robert Balling reviewed the book for the journal Annals of the Association of American Geographers and wrote: "Hard Choices is very well written, free of errors, and nicely illustrated with many color maps and diagrams." Balling concluded: "I recommend the book to scholars, students, and policy makers who have interests in Canada, climate change, and humanistic dimensions of difficult environmental choices."{{cite journal|first=Robert|last=Balling|pages=712–713|title=Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada|journal= Annals of the Association of American Geographers|date=1 September 2005|volume=95|issue=3|issn=0004-5608|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8306.2005.00482_9.x|s2cid=129523913|via=EBSCO Information Services}}
Hard Choices was reviewed in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society by Tom G. Brydges.{{cite journal|title=Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada|last=Brydges|first=Tom G.|journal=Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society|date=November 2007|volume=87|issue=11|pages=1590–1591|via=EBSCO Information Services|issn=0003-0007}} The review observed: "Twenty highly qualified authors have contributed twelve chapters plus a summary that cover climate change in Canada from the basic science through politics, economics, and religion to national
and international law. Hard questions regarding the value of emission controls versus adaptation to inevitable climate change are thoroughly discussed." Brydges strongly endorsed the work as a resource for those engaging in climate change politics on the global playing field, concluding: "This book should be mandatory reading for all future negotiators."
See also
{{Portal|Literature|Global warming|Canada}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081202042552/http://www.wlupress.wlu.ca/press/Catalog/coward-weaver.shtml Hard Choices] at website of Wilfrid Laurier University Press
{{North America topic|Climate change in|state=collapsed}}
{{North America in topic|Environmental issues in}}
Category:2004 non-fiction books
Category:2004 in the environment