Megan McGee, Climate Wars and Climate Peace Analysis

Megan McGee
Effective Writing I

                                    Rhetorical Analysis:
Making Peace with the Earth: “Climate Wars and Climate Peace”

AUTHOR: Vandana Shiva was born on November 5, 1952 in Dehradun, which is located in the northern part of India. It is nestled between the Ganges and Yumuna rivers and sits at the foothills of the Himalayas. Her father was a forest conservator and her mother a farmer. Growing up in this picturesque landscape and upbringing proved to be very influential to Shiva’s life and career. By 1978, she had completed her M.A. in the philosophy of science and received her PhD in Philosophy. Shiva then went into interdisciplinary research in environmental policy, science, and technology. Vandana Shiva began to make her mark as an authority in the environmental impact field and received the Right Livelihood Award for her work with women and ecology.

TITLE: Making Peace with the Earth: “Climate Wars and Climate Peace”

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2013

PUBLISHER: Pluto Press is based in London and considered one of the world’s leading radical publishers. Pluto Press promotes different views in politics, Marxism, feminism, and social sciences for today’s changing ideas. This book is distributed in the United States by Palgrave Macmillan, St. Martin’s Press LLC.

TONE, SYNTAX, LANGUAGE: Vandana Shiva writes this section of her book in a very informative factual and intellectual language. She expresses her ideas and urgency for change in our world in a persuasive and passionate manner that is supported by research and statistics.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Although Shiva Vandana speaks of the disaster climate change is presently doing to areas surrounding the Himalayas and areas where many glaciers are present, she often states that it is our duty of the human race to protect our earth. This piece is intended to speak to the civilians of the earth, regardless of ethnicity, residency, or gender. More specifically, the piece is intended for educated, upper to middle class citizens, and those who
are contributing to the pollution. Finally, it is intended for those who are skeptics to persuade them of the changes our earth is experiencing.

CONTEXT: Vandana Shiva begins the chapter by addressing the Un Climate Summit in Copenhagen in 2009. This was the largest worldwide gathering about the issue on global warming. The purpose of this summit was to have countries sign a legally binding treaty which will cut emissions by 80% keeping the temperature increase at 2^oC per year. Shiva stated that the treaty need be legally binding or “polluters will continue to pollute and life on earth will be increasingly threatened” (Shiva, 98).  However, the non-legally binding Copenhagen Acord was signed and supported by 31 countries.  Shiva does not support the Copenhagen Acord and states that “it should really be called the Right to Pollute Acord” (Shiva, 101). She believes that it is our duty of citizens of the earth to create “earth democracy” and pressure the governments to cut emissions and save our earth. Shiva also believes that climate change is a serious issue and will have a global effect and needs to be brought to our attention as civilians of the earth not as separate entities. She states that the increased emissions in the south are a direct result of corporations and consumers of the north because of the outsourcing of pollution.

 In 2010, the extreme effects of climate change were seen. Many weather related deaths resulted from the floods in the Indus Basin, rains in the desert of Ladakh, and the extreme rain in eastern India. Shiva explains that the melting of the Himalayas goes unmentioned and should not because the Himalayas have the maximum concentration of glaciers outside the polar region. These glaciers feed into the major rivers of Asia and support nearly half of the human race. The Gangotri glacier in the Himalayas is receding at 20-23 miles/year, three times the rate in the last three years. These receding glaciers will cause lakes to over flow, droughts in the summer and water shortages for 500 million people. It is estimated that the glaciers will go from 193,051 square miles to about 38,000 square miles by 2035. The people of the Himalayas are encouraged to talk about and get involved in the climate change movement. Geologists claim that the climate change is a natural part of earth’s history. Shiva argues, “We can afford neither hype nor denial. We need realism and that realism will come from the Himalayan ecosystems and communities” (Shiva, 109).

PURPOSE: Vandana Shiva’s purpose in writing this chapter is to promote awareness of climate change. She believes that it needs to be a global effort that starts at the civilian level. Shiva states that the people of these ecosystems subject to climate change presently are the ones that have the knowledge and power to create climate peace. She wants the people of the world to be educated and aware that the effects of climate change are not linear; they cause many problems that trickle down. She expresses the urgency of global warming and needs for people to get educated on this inevitable danger.

AUTHORS PROCESS: Vandana Shiva started by doing intensive research on the devastating effects of climate change. She also research particular country’s involvement in climate change, more specifically the Copenhagen Summit. She focused much of her research in this chapter on the Himalayas. She used this research to present it to her audience and persuade those of global warming and promote them to take action.

 

Shiva, Vandana. "Climate Wars and Climate Peace." Making Peace with the Earth. London: Pluto, 2013. 98-110.

"Vandana Shiva." - The Green Interview. Ed. Silver Donald Cameron. Paper Tiger Enterprises Ltd, 2010. Web. 05 Sept. 2013.< http://www.thegreeninterview.com/vandana-shiva-bio>.