climate change social issue essay

2 Climate Change as a Social Problem

Scientists believe global climate change is the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. But what exactly is climate change? What causes climate change? Why is it a social problem and not just an environmental problem?

Climate change refers to the long-term shift in global and regional temperatures, humidity and rainfall patterns, and other atmospheric characteristics. Unlike changes in weather that occur on a local level that can be measured in hourly, daily, or weekly fluctuations, climate change refers to longer-term fluctuations (both regionally or globally) that take place over a time scale of seasons, years, or even decades.

In the past two centuries, an exponential increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been released into the earth’s atmosphere, as the chart in figure 8.3 shows. Although there are some natural processes that affect the earth’s climate, such as volcanic eruptions, the vast majority of scientists worldwide attribute the speed at which global warming has recently occurred to human activity, most notably the burning of fossil fuels. Scientists examine ocean sediments, ice cores, tree rings, and changes in glaciers to understand variations in Earth’s climate over time.

Figure 8.3. This graph shows the level of Carbon dioxide (CO2) over time. Although some fluctuation is normal, CO2 levels have never been as high as they are now. The change is predominantly caused by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas.

The Industrial Revolution is one reason for the increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Since the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of greenhouse gasses is higher than at any other time in the past 800,000 years. This increase in greenhouse gasses is called the greenhouse effect ––an imbalance between the energy entering and leaving the earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a rise in global temperature. Because certain gasses absorb energy, such as carbon dioxide and methane, they trap heat and prevent it from being released into space, causing a rise in global temperature. The burning of fossil fuels is not the only human activity contributing to the greenhouse effect. Other activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and unsustainable agricultural practices contribute to global climate change.

So, climate change is a social problem because humans are causing the problem and are differently impacted by the problem. A  social problem is a social condition or pattern of behavior that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world. Early sociological definitions of social problems rarely included the phrase “our physical world.” Today, climate change itself drives the importance of adding this phrase. social problem

Climate change is a critical issue, no matter how we approach it. Scientists are studying how to minimize its effects on people and the environment more broadly and, with any hope, successfully plan for the uncertain future. We must first examine the various ways climate change is already a threat to societies and communities worldwide.

Extreme Weather Events

As you watch the news, you may notice that extreme weather events occur regularly around the world. Many scientists argue that these events are caused or at least made worse by climate change. An extreme weather event is defined by the severity of its effects or any weather event uncommon for a particular location. Some examples of these types of severe and unusual events in the U.S. include Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which killed over 1800 people and caused $125 billion in damage; Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the third-most destructive hurricane ever to hit the nation; and the 2020 and 2021 wildfires that engulfed the West Coast states due to severe and prolonged drought and heat waves.

One of the most serious concerns Indigenous communities and other residents had about the Jordan Cove Energy Project discussed at the beginning of this chapter was the risk of a highly explosive gas pipeline being placed in a region increasingly inundated by annual wildfires. One of the large fires that swept through southern Oregon in September 2020 was located just a few miles from the planned route of the proposed pipelines, proving that the communities’ fears were valid.

And, as mentioned by communities of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, climate change and mismanagement of forests will continue to create ripe conditions for unprecedented wildfires.  In the Good Fire podcast , which you can listen to if you’d like, hosts Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff, along with guest Frank Lake, discuss the landscape surrounding fire management:

Wildfire management has long been the domain of colonial governments. Despite a rich history of living with, managing, and using fire as a tool since time immemorial, Indigenous people were not permitted to practice cultural fire and their knowledge was largely ignored. As a result, total fire suppression became the prominent policy. With the most active force of natural succession abruptly halted, Indigenous communities suffered as the land changed. Today, western society has recognized the ecological problem a lack of fire has created, however, the cultural impact has been largely ignored. (Kristoff 2019)

The Indigenous knowledge that might have protected us against wildfires has been suppressed. It is another consequence of colonialism, an economic and political set of practices introduced in Chapter 5.  Colonialism is not just a historical event. It is a structure of inequality that reproduces itself, even today (Wolfe 2006).

Cultural Loss

Figure 8.4. Salmon returning to their spawning grounds near Port Hope, Ontario, Canada. In the chapter’s next section, we will discuss what makes up a culture. How might access to salmon shape a culture? How might a lack of access to salmon impact that same culture?

Many cultures around the world are intimately connected to their environment. Certain foods, medicine, dance, and art are unique to places with particular animals, plants, or climates. With drastic temperature changes, extreme disasters, and biodiversity loss among plants and animals, people cannot practice many customs. This contributes to significant cultural loss around the world.

For example, salmon are an important symbol and food source for the Indigenous people in the Pacific Northwest (figure 8.4). The imagery of salmon in Indigenous art demonstrates a deep connection to natural surroundings. However, one effect of climate change is the warming of bodies of water worldwide. Like many fish, salmon require a specific temperature to spawn. As water temperatures increase, salmon cannot spawn as effectively or at all. This severely impacts species who eat salmon as a staple in their diet and the indigenous peoples who practice traditional methods of harvesting, crafting with, and cooking salmon.

Climate change can create cultural change or inhibit cultural expression.

Climate Change and Poverty: “Those who contribute the least suffer the most”

Figure 8.5. How vulnerable to climate change is your community? https://www.flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/6143273940

This index combines a country’s vulnerability to climate change, and its readiness to improve resilience. Much of Africa is both vulnerable and not ready. Most of North America is less vulnerable and more ready. However, looking at this data by country hides vulnerabilities that are unique to communities.

Figure 8.6. Countries with the highest annual per-capita CO2 emissions (in tons). https://www.statista.com/chart/20903/countries-emitting-most-co2-per-capita/

This image shows emissions of carbon dioxide, an emission that contributes to global warming. A common saying in the environmental movement is, “Those who contribute the least suffer the most.” This means that the poorest people use the least planetary resources, so they contribute to climate change the least. However, they suffer the most from climate change. We can see this as we compare the maps in figures 8.5 and 8.6. We see, for example, that Africa contributes the least greenhouse gasses, but they are the most vulnerable to climate change. The United States is a high contributor of emissions but the least vulnerable to climate change. While this model doesn’t hold true for every country, the saying encapsulates a key issue with climate change.

For example, with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, people with cars could evacuate. People without cars often couldn’t. People without cars contributed the least to CO2 emissions but experienced the most loss related to the extreme weather event (Bullard 2008).

You may have cheered with us as you learned that the Jordon Cove Energy Project pipeline project was shut down. However, the question remains: How else do we generate and transport our energy resources? Part of the answer is that the projects go where the resources exist, and the people are even more powerless to resist. Our unequal social locations contribute to inequality. To explore this further, we will look at the experience of people in Nigeria and oil production. We will build on the concept of socioeconomic class (SES) that we began in Chapter 4 .

Figure 8.7. This map shows Nigeria, a country on the west coast of Africa. Nearly everyone there lives on less than $30.00 a day. Many people live on much less. How much do you think this country contributes to CO2 emissions?

Nigeria is a country on the western coast of Africa, as shown in figure 8.7. More than 40% of the people in Nigeria live in extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.40 per day (Cuaresma 2018). Less than 15% of the people have access to clean fuel for cooking (Ritchie 2021), and less than 60% of the people have access to sufficient electricity (Ritchie and Rosado 2021). At the same time, Nigeria is one of the world’s top oil exporters. Oil companies use a practice called gas flaring, burning the waste gas from oil exploration rather than disposing of it in other ways.

Figure 8.8. Gas flaring causes poor health in Nigeria.

Poor Nigerians experience rashes and sores because of the toxic fumes. In a recent study, children exposed to flaring experience coughs, respiratory issues, fevers, and other poor health symptoms. The rate of child deaths in children under five also slightly increases (Alimi and Gibson 2022: n.p.) The pollution contaminates the land, so women can’t grow enough food. Pollution also contaminates the water, leaving less for drinking and crop irrigation. One article notes that the women in the Niger Delta are poor because the environmental toxins are poisoning their plants. Women plant cassava to make their flour. However, the cassava roots are dying, and the women can’t replace them (Lawal 2021).

Many people are migrating to bigger cities, but it doesn’t solve the local pollution and emissions problem. The article, “ In Nigeria, Gas Giants Get Rich as Women Sink Into Poverty ” documents the story with more details, including pictures of the impacts of the gas flares, if you would like to learn more. We also notice that those who use the least resources are impacted the most. In this case, the environmental impact occurs on a different continent than most of the people using the oil. If you’d like to look more deeply into this problem, watch Who Is Responsible For Climate Change? – Who Needs To Fix It?

Licenses and Attributions for Climate Change as a Social Problem

long-term shift in global and regional temperatures, humidity and rainfall patterns, and other atmospheric characteristics

an imbalance between the energy entering and leaving the earth’s atmosphere, resulting in a rise in global temperature

a social condition or pattern of behavior that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world

defined by the severity of its effects or any weather event uncommon for a particular location

Environmental Justice Copyright © by Deron Carter, Colleen Sanders, and Environmental Justice Students is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Social Dimensions of Climate Change

As the climate continues to change, millions of poor people face increasing challenges in terms of extreme events, health effects, food, water, and livelihood security, migration and forced displacement, loss of cultural identity, and other related risks.

Climate change is deeply intertwined with global patterns of inequality. The poorest and most vulnerable people bear the brunt of climate change impacts yet contribute the least to the crisis. As the impacts of climate change mount, millions of vulnerable people face disproportionate challenges in terms of extreme events, health effects, food, water, and livelihood security, migration and forced displacement, loss of cultural identity, and other related risks.

Certain social groups are particularly vulnerable to crises, for example, female-headed households, children, persons with disabilities , Indigenous Peoples and ethnic minorities, landless tenants, migrant workers, displaced persons, sexual and gender minorities , older people, and other socially marginalized groups. The root causes of their vulnerability lie in a combination of their geographical locations; their financial, socio-economic, cultural, and gender status; and their access to resources, services, decision-making power, and justice. 

Poor and marginalized groups are calling for more ambitious action on climate change. Climate change is more than an environmental crisis – it is a social crisis and compels us to address issues of inequality on many levels: between wealthy and poor countries; between rich and poor within countries; between men and women, and between generations. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has highlighted the need for climate solutions that conform to principles of procedural and distributive justice for more effective development outcomes.

The most vulnerable are often also disproportionately impacted by measures to address climate change. In the absence of well-designed and inclusive policies, efforts to tackle climate change can have unintended consequences for the livelihoods of certain groups, including by placing a higher financial burden on poor households. For example, policies that expand public transport or carbon pricing may lead to higher public transport fares which can disproportionately impact poorer households. Similarly, if not designed in collaboration with beneficiaries and affected communities, approaches such as limiting forestry activities to certain times of the year could adversely impact indigenous communities that depend on forests year-round for their livelihoods. In addition to addressing the distributional impacts of decarbonizing economies there is also a need to understand and address the social inclusion, cultural and political economy aspects – including agreeing on the types of transitions needed (economic, social, etc.) and identifying opportunities to address social inequality in these processes.

While much progress has been made on the science and the types of policies needed to support a transition to low carbon, climate resilient development, a challenge facing many countries is engaging citizens who may not understand climate change, and garnering the support of those who are concerned that they will be unfairly impacted by climate policies. It is critical that people are brought along in the choices to be made – this requires transparency, access to information and citizen engagement on climate risk and green growth in order to create coalitions of support or public demand to reduce climate impacts and to overcome behavioral and political barriers to decarbonization, as well as to generate new ideas for and ownership of solutions.

Moreover, communities bring unique perspectives, skills, and a wealth of knowledge to the challenge of strengthening resilience and addressing climate change. They should be engaged as partners in resilience-building rather than being regarded merely as beneficiaries. Research and experience have shown that community leaders can set priorities, influence ownership, and design and implement investment programs that are responsive to their community’s own needs. A recent  IPCC report recognizes the value of diverse forms of knowledge such as scientific, Indigenous and local knowledge in building climate resilience. Innovations in the architecture of climate finance can connect communities and marginalized groups to the policy, technical and financial assistance that they need for locally relevant and effective development impacts.

Last Updated: Apr 01, 2023

The World Bank’s work to address the social dimensions of climate change (SDCC) has a strong focus on poverty reduction and on addressing the underlying causes of vulnerability, including social exclusion. The Bank adopts a whole-of-society approach, working with national and local governments, civil society, grassroots communities, and other partners to strengthen social resilience at the ground level, where the effects of climate change are typically felt the most, and to promote meaningful engagement of communities and other social groups in climate change decision-making and action.

The World Bank is committed to promoting socially equitable responses to global crises. As we adapt to a changing climate in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we listen to, and learn from, people and communities. That is why a truly inclusive approach can often begin at the community level. Green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and transitioning to low-carbon, climate resilient development requires considering action on climate change in an immediate and broad social context and recognizing the urgency of present needs, while plotting an ambitious course to decarbonization. The World Bank supports achievement of these objectives through three key areas of activity:

Channeling resources and decision-making power to support locally-led climate action: Supporting devolved climate finance and community and local development approaches and that empower communities to drive a climate agenda in support of their development goals; promoting greater transparency and accountability on climate finance; aligning and linking locally led climate action to national climate change priorities and strategies; supporting work to strengthen M&E of resilience and adaptation.

Understanding and tracking the social impacts and social co-benefits of mitigation and green growth policies and programs: Supporting analysis and dialogue on what a “just transition” looks like across different sectors and in specific contexts; identifying and addressing the distributional and social inclusion impacts stemming from different approaches to decarbonization. 

Facilitating processes needed to support key transitions: Engaging communities and citizens in climate decision-making and enhancing social learning as a form of regulatory feedback (e.g., citizen engagement, national climate dialogues, and improved governance); building awareness and political will amongst governments and partners on the need to understand and address the social dimensions of climate change and green growth.

Through these areas of action, the World Bank fosters strong collaboration across different practice areas to bring together and empower poor communities and marginalized social groups to reduce risks to future crises; and to bridge the gap between the local, subnational, and national levels for effective climate change support.

The World Bank has recognized the need to support locally led climate action and work with communities as equal partners so that we are building on their experience and expertise in managing risk and adapting to climate change and to transitions. In other sectors, the World Bank has invested in community and local development (CLD) operations that emphasize citizen control over investment development planning and decision making and implementation. For decades, CLD has effectively supported basic service delivery, livelihoods, social services, poverty reduction, and other community priorities at a large scale. Over $30 billion has been invested in CLD programs over the past decade. This same mechanism is now being harnessed and adapted to deliver effective, local climate resilience support at the necessary scale and its core principles of citizen control and social inclusion are being integrated into innovative approaches to decentralized climate finance.

In Kenya, the World Bank is working with the national and county governments to channel climate finance and decision-making to people at the local level to design solutions that meet their specific needs. Through the Financing Locally Led Climate Action program (FLLoCA), county governments are supported to work in partnership with communities to assess climate risks and identify socially inclusive solutions that are tailored to local needs and priorities. The FLLoCA Program in Kenya provides the first national-scale model of devolved climate finance that can be replicated in other countries.

In Bangladesh, the Nuton Jibon project considers extreme weather events in its design with communities who undertake participatory risk analyses, which then informs the locations and design of community centers, rural roads, tube wells, and other works.

The Bank’s support to recovery after Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines was channeled through the National CDD Program so that communities could drive the decision-making process: The DAMPA (Damayan ng Maralitang Pilipinong Api) network consists of over 200 community-based women-led organizations representing rural and urban poor communities in the Philippines. It partnered with the government to monitor the delivery of disaster relief assistance after Typhoon Haiyan and facilitated community-based risk mapping to inform the prioritization and design of community-level investments of the National CDD Program. 

CLD programs are also responding to the impact of COVID-19, including cash transfers for vulnerable groups and block grants to communities to reach vulnerable households with food and medical supplies.  Lessons from previous pandemics, including the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, highlight the importance of social responses to crisis management and recovery to complement medical efforts.  In the case of COVID-19, partnerships between communities, healthcare systems, local governments, and the private sector have played a critical role in slowing the spread, mitigating impacts, and supporting local recovery.

The Somalia Crisis Response Project (SCRP) provides immediate support to areas hit by recent floods and droughts, in addition to response to COVID19 and building preparedness capacity for future risk management. The project will ensure women’s inclusion and participation in decision-making bodies, including participation in the development of the integrated community preparedness, adaptation, and response plans.

The World Bank also hosts the Climate Investment Funds , which is particularly relevant to the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation plus (REDD+) agenda. Given their close relationships with and dependence on forested lands and resources,  Indigenous Peoples are key stakeholders in CIF and REDD+. Specific initiatives in this sphere include: a Dedicated Grant Mechanism (DGM) for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities under the Forest Investment Program (FIP) in multiple countries; a capacity building program oriented partly toward Forest-Dependent Indigenous Peoples by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) ; support for enhanced participation of Indigenous peoples in benefit sharing of carbon emission reduction programs through the Enhancing Access to Benefits while Lowering Emissions (EnABLE) multi-donor trust fund; and analytical, strategic planning, and operational activities in the context of the FCPF and the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL).

Finally, more recent work is focusing on supporting just transitions in emerging economies and understanding the distributional and social inclusions impacts of green growth and decarbonization policies and investments. The goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions to mitigate the impacts of climate change is more urgent than ever. However, it is expected that the scaling down of industries and activities that most significantly contribute to carbon emissions will generate widespread impacts on the workers and the communities that depend on them. Ensuring a Just Transition for All means putting people and communities at the center of the transition process and promoting dialogue and participation at all levels of society throughout the entire transition, from planning to implementation. This entails ensuring socially inclusive approaches to transitions; garnering public support for complex transition processes; addressing the broader social, community, and cultural aspects of transition policies; supporting safe and successful migration where desired; and ensuring meaningful engagement of citizens in decision making. 

While this work is still unfolding, it includes such activities as: mapping out the political economy of carbon-related sectors and identifying ways to engage stakeholders in sector reform; ensuring that projects are designed so that local communities can benefit equitably and meaningfully from green growth investments; undertaking gender and vulnerability analysis to identify gaps and ensuring the participation of women and underrepresented  groups in decision making on green recovery programs; promoting transparency, access to information and citizen engagement on climate risk and green growth in order to create coalitions of support or public demand to reduce climate impacts; and, supporting local or national dialogues for just transition and green recovery decision making.

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The changing climate is a social justice issue

“Equity is at the heart of reversing climate change. Our collective challenge is to fundamentally change our behaviors, our habits, and our lifestyle to reduce carbon emissions, end the age of fossil fuels, and sustain a liveable planet for all.” — Joanne Jones-Rizzi, Vice President of Science, Equity, and Education Science Museum of Minnesota

I’ve learned while working at the Science Museum of Minnesota to view situations, ideas, and life through a variety of lenses. We work hard to bring together our core pillars of science, equity, and education, because it is when these three priorities come together that we do our best work. Science clearly tells us our planet is in trouble. We know the climate is changing and it is disproportionately affecting low-income countries and poor people in high-income countries. Climate change is a social justice issue, and we all need to understand this intersectionality (the overlap between the social impacts and environmental science of climate change). To make a real difference, consider how to take action to improve the current climate crisis through multiple lenses.

“It is the poor that actually suffer the most when there's an environmental injustice … and it's the poor that stand to benefit the most from an energy revolution.” — Kumi Naidoo of Africans Rising for Justice, Peace, and Dignity

I saw environmental injustice with my own eyes during a tour in New Orleans, LA. The tour was led by Leon Waters, founder of the Louisiana Museum of African American History and organizer of Hidden Histories tours; Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade—a citizen science organization; and Monique Verdin, tribal council person for the United Houma Nation. During this tour I witnessed the impact of industry on the environment and culture of New Orleans, as well as the historical transitions from plantations to refineries along the “Cancer Alley” corridor in the River Parishes. Even on a rainy morning, standing in neighborhoods in the shadows of refineries and other industries, all of my senses understood the impact industry and the changing climate has on life in these communities.

You don’t have to go to the other end of the Mississippi to witness the changing climate. Minnesota is warming slowly but surely. In the past 130 years, our state warmed by 2.9º F, while averaging 3.4 inches of additional annual rainfall. And although an extra 2.9 degrees may sound minor (and even welcome to Minnesotans at times!), its negative impact is significant. Minnesotans are already paying the price—literally—with homeowner’s insurance rates surging 68% in the past ten years due to a deluge of natural disasters in our state. But these impacts don’t affect everyone equally. People with less resources, from both urban and rural communities, suffer the most. Think about the farmers whose fields are underwater due to the more frequent and intense rainfall, and the urban poor who are exposed to much more pollution due to where they live day-after-day and generation-after-generation.

Nearly six in ten (58%) Americans are now either “Alarmed” or “Concerned” about global warming. From 2014 to 2019, the proportion of “Alarmed” nearly tripled. We should all be alarmed or concerned—whether we are directly affected or not. The problems are real, they’re here now, and they’re in desperate need of scientific solutions. To find those solutions, we must focus all of our intellectual firepower. But systems of social inequity mean that we’re shorting ourselves; we’re subjecting ourselves to a limited perspective and therefore a limited solution. We’re not harnessing all of our collective knowledge and creativity, and that needs to change.

There is still much we can do to stand up for science, together. ALL of us. We know that science, equity, and education can lead the way. This intersection is our superpower and the time to act is now. Be part of the solution and make a difference.

Do you want to learn more about climate change as a social justice issue? On this 50th anniversary of Earth Day, check out these resources and be inspired to take action:

Get involved with MN350 uniting Minnesotans as part of a global movement to end the pollution damaging our climate, speed the transition to clean energy, and create a just and healthy future for all.

Take action with COPAL to fight for environmental issues with racial and economic disparities in mind.

Stand up with the International Indigenous Youth Council and see how you can support the Twin Cities chapter.

Understand how climate change is already displacing thousands of people right now through this interactive article about climate migration.

Hear this interview with Thiagarajan Jayaramana , a professor at the School of Habitat Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India, who has focused on climate action and climate justice for more than a decade.

Learn about the work of the Climate Justice Alliance —they envision a world in which fairness, equity, and ecological rootedness are core values.

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Climate change: why is there still a gap between public opinion and scientific consensus, and how can we close it?

Catedrático de Ingeniería Química, Universitat de Girona

Director del IE Centre for Water & Climate Adaptation, IE University

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As children, many of us played the “telephone” game – a message is whispered from one person to the next, invariably getting distorted as it passes along the line. In this game, people’s perception and understanding matters more than the original message, but as the US Secretary of Defence James Schlesinger said in 1975, “everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not to his own facts”.

Today, this statement applies to climate change. While there is broad scientific consensus that human action has contributed decisively to warming the atmosphere, ocean and land, causing widespread change in a very short time, public opinion is less clear. At least 97% of scientists agree that humanity contributes to climate change, but the same cannot be said for society at large.

Same facts, different perceptions

Various studies and surveys show that social consensus on climate change is stronger in Europe than in the United States, where only 12% of citizens are aware of the scientific community’s near-total unanimity. This is a result of, among other things, disinformation , media portrayals , and cognitive bias .

Presenting climate change as a legitimate debate undermines the value of scientific consensus, often validating climate denialism – or its more recent iteration, delayism .

Moreover, there is a tendency to present ideological interpretations of the evidence as mere scientific disagreement: 82% of US Democratic voters believe that human activity contributes significantly to climate change, compared to just 38% of Republicans . This division also extends to responses to the crisis.

No enforcement, no accountability

The international community’s overall response has not been slow. As governments and multilateral bodies have become more aware of the issue they have committed themselves, albeit unevenly, to mitigation and adaptation plans.

This has also happened with decarbonisation plans , though, for the most part, commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, like those laid out in the 2015 Paris Agreement , are not binding.

This illustrates a clear obstacle to change: these commitments include no legal obligations , no effective enforcement mechanisms, and no accountability measures. This undermines any agreements, and their uneven and inconsistent implementation allows some countries to be “free-riders” , reaping the benefits of reduced emissions while contributing little to the costs.

Transition plans in companies and countries, and even in the global energy sector , consist of detailed strategies towards carbon neutrality and the goal of net zero. These cover a range of measures, from technological innovation to regulatory instruments, investments, and changes in individual and collective behaviour . However, confusion surrounding objectives like carbon neutrality and net zero is also a deterrent in many cases.

There has been some progress since the Paris Agreement in 2015, which projected emissions in 2030 under then current policies to increase by 16%. Today, a 3% increase is projected in the same period, but emissions would still have to fall by 28% to stay within 2°C of global warming, and by 42% to stay under 1.5°C.

Carbon dioxide emissions from China’s energy sector, for instance, increased by 5.2% in 2023. This means that an unprecedented 4-6% reduction in 2025 would be needed to meet the target.

Why can’t we slow down emissions?

There is no simple or singular explanation for humanity’s inconsistent attitudes towards climate change. It is an immensely complex issue, and only by recognising its complexity can we understand and try to change behaviours.

Despite slowing annual growth, global demand for fossil fuels has not peaked . It is expected to do so by 2030, but only if electric vehicle uptake increases, and if China’s economy grows slowly and it deepens investments in renewable energy.

Substantial amounts are still being poured into oil and gas investments . Between 2016 and 2023, they reached an annual average of around $0.75 trillion.

In 2023, global investment in clean energy reached an estimated $1.8 trillion, although concentrated in a few countries: mainly China, the European Union and the USA. For every dollar invested in hydrocarbons , approximately 1.8 dollars are already going into clean energy, but not all of it into renewables.

It should also be noted that long term “ rebound effects ” can often offset successful reductions in use of certain raw materials such as coal.

Furthermore, the benefits of carbon emission reductions are global and long-term, while the associated costs are often local and immediate .

Meanwhile, in low-income and emerging countries a lot of development is still less environmentally friendly – such as India’s ongoing dependence on coal – despite evidence that the co-benefits of reducing carbon emissions outweigh the cost of mitigation in a number of sectors .

Solutions remain elusive

It seems clear that there is no single solution . Some possible solutions require infrastructure or technologies to manage resources more efficiently, but more and more involve changes to our lifestyles and values.

In classical economics , the idea of rationality assumes that, with adequate information and income, an individual will always choose that which maximises their wellbeing. However, this explanation falls short – it assumes that people only live to maximise satisfaction through consumption, and ignores dreams, expectations and goals that may include other human beings.

The work of Herbert Simon in the 1950s demonstrates that our decisions are more accurately explained by what is known as bounded rationality : our cognitive capacity, information and time are limited, so we simplify reality and adapt.

For his part, Zygmunt Bauman ’s conception of “ liquid modernity ” envisaged the transition from a solid modernity to a more fluid, unstable form, unable to maintain one set of behaviours for long, and much more prone to change.

In the same vein, Gilles Lipovetsky speaks about the individualism and hedonism of a culture that prioritises the immediate fulfilment of individual desires, as opposed to commitment and sacrifice in service of ethical principles.

How do we reconcile these ideas that explain the way we respond to imperatives of sacrifice that, implicitly or explicitly, appear in the narratives of climate action and just transition ?

Perhaps recognising complexity and trying to understand how we decide is part of the answer. Biases and inconsistencies are easier to detect in others than in oneself.

This article was originally published in Spanish

• Climate change
• Carbon emissions
• Public opinion
• The Conversation Europe
• climate denialism

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Why Climate Change is an Environmental Justice Issue

September 21-27 is Climate Week in New York City. Join us for a series of online events and blog posts covering the climate crisis and pointing us towards action.

While COVID-19 has killed 200,000 Americans so far, communities of color have borne disproportionately greater impacts of the pandemic. Black, Indigenous and LatinX Americans are at least three times more likely to die of COVID than whites. In 23 states, there were 3.5 times more cases among American Indian and Alaskan Native communities than in white communities. Many of the reasons these communities of color are falling victim to the pandemic are the same reasons why they are hardest hit by the impacts of climate change.

How communities of color are affected by climate change

Climate change is a threat to everyone’s physical health, mental health, air, water, food and shelter, but some groups—socially and economically disadvantaged ones—face the greatest risks. This is because of where they live, their health, income, language barriers, and limited access to resources. In the U.S., these more vulnerable communities are largely the communities of color, immigrants, low-income communities and people for whom English is not their native language. As time goes on, they will suffer the worst impacts of climate change, unless we recognize that fighting climate change and environmental justice are inextricably linked.

The U.S. is facing warming temperatures and more intense and frequent heat waves as the climate changes. Higher temperatures lead to more deaths and illness, hospital and emergency room visits, and birth defects. Extreme heat can cause heat cramps, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, hyperthermia, and dehydration.

Disadvantaged communities have higher rates of health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Heat stress can exacerbate heart disease and diabetes, and warming temperatures result in more pollen and smog, which can worsen asthma and COPD. Heat waves also affect birth outcomes. A study of the impact of California heat waves from 1999 to 2011 on infants found that mortality rates were highest for Black infants. Moreover, disadvantaged communities often lack access to good medical care and health insurance.

African Americans are three times more likely than whites to live in old, crowded or inferior housing; residents of homes with poor insulation and no air conditioning are particularly susceptible to the effects of increased heat. In addition, low-income areas in cities have been found to be five to 12 degrees hotter than higher income neighborhoods because they have fewer trees and parks, and more asphalt that retains heat.

Extreme weather events

While climate change cannot be definitively linked to any particular extreme weather event, incidents of heat waves, droughts, wildfires, heavy downpours, winter storms, floods and hurricanes have increased and climate change is expected to make them more frequent and intense.

Extreme weather events can cause injury, illness, and death. Changes in precipitation patterns and warming water temperatures enable bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxic algae to flourish; heavy rains and flooding can pollute drinking water and increase water contamination, potentially causing gastrointestinal illnesses like diarrhea and damaging livers and kidneys.

Extreme weather events also disrupt electrical power, water systems and transportation, as well as the communication networks needed to access emergency services and health care. Disadvantaged communities are particularly at risk because subpar housing with old infrastructure may be more vulnerable to power outages, water issues and damage. Residents of these communities may lack adequate health care, medicines, health insurance, and access to public health warnings in a language they can understand. In addition, they may not have access to transportation to escape the impacts of extreme weather, or home insurance and other resources to relocate or rebuild after a disaster. Communities of color are also less likely to receive adequate protection against disasters or a prompt response in case of emergencies. In addition to physical hardships, the stress and anxiety of dealing with these impacts of extreme weather can end up exacerbating mental health problems such as depression, post-traumatic stress and suicide.

Poor air quality

While climate change does not cause poor air quality , burning fossil fuels does; and climate change can worsen air quality. Heat waves cause air masses to remain stagnant and prevent air pollution from moving away. Warmer temperatures lead to the creation of more smog, particularly during summer. And wildfires, fueled by heat waves and drought, produce smoke that contains toxic pollutants.

Living with polluted air can lead to heart and lung diseases, aggravate allergies and asthma and cause premature death. People who live in urban areas with air pollution, or who have medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma or COPD, are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of air pollution.

Black people are three times more likely to die from air pollution than white people. This is in part because they are 70 percent more likely to live in counties that are in violation of federal air pollution standards. A University of Minnesota study found that, on average, people of color are exposed to 38 percent higher levels of nitrogen dioxide outdoor air pollution than white people. One reason for the high COVID-19 death rate among African Americans is that cumulative exposure to air pollution leads to a significant increase in the COVID death rate, according to a new peer-reviewed study.

More people of color live in places that are polluted with toxic waste, which can lead to illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and asthma. These pre-existing conditions put people at higher risk for the more severe effects of COVID-19.

The fact that disadvantaged communities are in some of the most polluted environments in the U.S. is no coincidence. Communities of color are often chosen as sites for landfills, chemical plants, bus terminals and other dirty businesses because corporations know it’s harder for these residents to object. They usually lack the connections to lawmakers who could protect them and can’t afford to hire technical or legal help to put up a fight. They may not understand how they will be impacted, perhaps because the information is not in their native language. A 1987 report showed that race was the single most important factor in determining where to locate a toxic waste facility in the U.S. It found that “Communities with the greatest number of commercial hazardous waste facilities had the highest composition of racial and ethnic residents.”

For example, while Blacks make up only 13 percent of the U.S. population, 68 percent live within 30 miles of a coal plant. LatinX people are 17 percent of the population, but 39 percent of them live near coal plants. A new report found that about 2,000 official and potential highly contaminated Superfund sites are at risk of flooding due to sea level rise; the areas around these sites are mainly communities of color and low-income communities.

The link between climate change and environmental justice

Mary Annaïse Heglar , a climate justice essayist and former writer-in-residence at the Earth Institute, asserts that climate change is actually the product of racism. “It started with conquest, genocides, slavery, and colonialism,” she wrote . “That is the moment when White men’s relationship with living things became extractive and disharmonious. Everything was for the taking; everything was for sale. The fossil fuel industry was literally built on the backs and over the graves of Indigenous people around the globe, as they were forced off their land and either slaughtered or subjugated — from the Arab world to Africa, from Asia to the Americas. Again, it was no accident.”

The harmful impacts of climate change are linked to historical neglect and racism. When Black people migrated North from the South in the early 20th century, many did not have jobs or money; consequently they were forced to live in substandard housing. Jim Crow laws in the South reinforced racial segregation, prohibiting Blacks from moving into white neighborhoods. In the 1930s through the 1960s, the federal government’s “redlining” policy denied federally backed mortgages and credit to minority neighborhoods. As a result, African Americans had limited access to better homes and all the advantages that went with them—a healthy environment, better schools and healthcare, and more food options.

Prime examples of environmental injustice

Poor sanitation in the U.S.

Catherine Flowers,  founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice and a senior fellow for the Center for Earth Ethics , which is affiliated with the Earth Institute, is from Lowndes County, Alabama. As a child growing up in a poor, mostly Black rural area with less than 10,000 residents, she used an outhouse before her family installed indoor plumbing. After leaving to get an education, Flowers returned to Alabama in 2002 and still saw extreme disparities in rural wastewater treatment. She visited many homes with sewage backing up into their homes or pooling in their yards, as many residents couldn’t afford onsite wastewater treatment. She is still advocating for proper sanitation in Lowndes. As a result of her work, Baylor College’s National School of Tropical Medicine conducted a peer-reviewed study which showed that over 30 percent of Lowndes County residents had hookworm and other tropical parasites due to poor sanitation.

”We’re also seeing that there is a relationship between [wastewater and] COVID infections,” added Flowers. “We don’t know exactly what it is yet—but you can actually measure wastewater to determine the level of infections in the community before people start showing up with the illness.” In Lowndes, one of every 18 residents has COVID-19; it is one of the highest infection rates in the U.S.

Today, Flowers works at the intersection between climate change and wastewater throughout the U.S. “The more we see sea level rise, the more we’re going to have wastewater problems,” she said. Her new book, Waste, One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret , due out in November, shows how proper sanitation is essential as climate change will likely bring sewage to more backyards everywhere, not just in poor communities.

Cancer Alley

An 85-mile stretch along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, hosts the densest concentration of petrochemical companies in the U.S. There have been so many cases of cancer and death in the area that it became known as “Cancer Alley.”

Most of these petrochemical plants are situated near towns that are largely poor and Black. There are 30 large plants within 10 miles of mostly Black St. Gabriel, with 13 within three miles. St. James Parish, whose population is roughly half Black and half white, has over 30 petrochemical plants, but the majority are located in the district that is 80 percent Black.

These plants not only emit greenhouse gases that are exacerbating climate change, but the particulate matter they expel can contain hundreds of different chemicals. Chronic exposure to this air pollution can lead to heart and respiratory illnesses and diabetes. As such, it is no surprise that St. James Parish is among the 20 U.S. counties with the highest per-capita death rates from COVID-19.

Despite efforts of the residents to fight back, seven new petrochemical plants have been approved since 2015; five more are awaiting approval.

Hurricane Katrina

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 storm, caused extensive destruction in New Orleans and its environs. More than half of the 1,200 people who died were Black and 80 percent of the homes that were destroyed belonged to Black residents. The mostly Black neighborhoods of New Orleans East and the Lower Ninth Ward were hit hardest by Katrina because while the levees in white areas had been shored up after earlier hurricanes, these poorer neighborhoods had received less government funding for flood protection. After the hurricane, when initial plans for rebuilding were in process, white neighborhoods again got priority, even if they had experienced less flooding. Eventually federal funds were directed toward the rebuilding of parts of the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East and the strengthening of their levees.

In 2014, the city of Flint, MI, whose population is 56.6 percent Black, decided to draw its drinking water from the polluted Flint River in order to save money until a new pipeline from Lake Huron could be built. Previously the city had brought in treated drinking water from Detroit. Because the river had been used by industry as an illegal waste dump for many years, the water was corrosive, but officials failed to treat it. As a result, the water leached lead from the city’s aging pipelines. Officials claimed the water was safe, but more than 40 percent of the homes had elevated lead levels. As almost 100,000 residents — including 9,000 children — drank lead-laced water, lead levels in the children’s blood doubled and tripled in some neighborhoods, putting them at high risk for neurological damage.

In October, 2015, the city began importing water from Detroit again. An ongoing project to replace lead service pipes is expected to be complete by the end of November. And just recently, Flint victims were awarded a settlement of $600 million, with 80 percent of it designated for the affected children.

Steps to achieve environmental justice

As the founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Catherine Flowers works to implement the best practices to reduce environmental injustice. Here are some key strategies she prescribes.

• Acknowledge the damage and try to repair it.
• Clean up sites where environmental damage has been done.
• Create an equitable system for decision-making so there is not an undue burden placed on disadvantaged communities. “Lobbyists that represent these [polluting] companies shouldn’t have more influence than the people who live in the area that are impacted by it,” said Flowers. “We need to make sure that the people that live in the community are sitting at the table when decisions are being made about what’s located in their community.”
• Call out the officials who are making decisions that are not in the best interest of the people they represent.
• Vote to put in place representatives that listen to their constituents rather than the people and companies that donate to them.
• Provide climate training to help people become more engaged. For example, the Climate Reality Project (Flowers sits on its board of directors) trains everyday people to fight for solutions and change in their communities.
• Partner with universities to conduct peer-reviewed studies of health impacts to help validate and draw attention to the experiences of disadvantaged communities.
• Build cleaner and greener. “We cannot discount the impact this could have on communities around the world,” said Flowers. “If we don’t pollute and we have a Green New Deal to build better, cleaner, and greener, then we won’t have these environmental justice issues.”

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Injustice of any kind? It really does not matter. Unless people change their idea of materialism madness and understand the fact that they are threatened, we will get nowhere. When was the last time humans have done much of anything out of compassion if it would alter their own lifestyles?

I wonder if governments (particularly of modernized nations like America, the UK and China) have purposely chosen to ignore the issue of climate change? I agree that most of it falls on things like industrial shipping, transportation and processing, but governemnt incentivization is another issue with climate justice as a whole.

Simple VersionCOVID-19 has tragically claimed the lives of 200,000 Americans. However, it has disproportionately affected communities of color. Black, Indigenous, and LatinX Americans are at least three times more likely to die from COVID than their white counterparts. In 23 states, American Indian and Alaskan Native communities reported 3.5 times more cases compared to white communities. These same communities are also the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Factors such as location, health, income, language barriers, and limited resources contribute to their heightened susceptibility. These marginalized groups include communities of color, immigrants, low-income populations, and non-native English speakers. If not addressed, these groups will suffer the harshest consequences of climate change. It is crucial to acknowledge that addressing environmental justice and combating climate change go hand in hand. The rising temperatures and increased intensity of natural disasters in the U.S. are indicative of this pressing issue.

Hello Renée Cho,  I agree with your position on climate change; the events that occur heavily affect the health of the economy; Your connection with how COVID-19 still affects people with the rise of climate change events. We’ve been seeing records of air pollution continuing to showcase dramatic numbers. With the long-term symptoms of COVID-19 being asthma and heart complications, air pollution can worsen those problems and make survivors of COVID-19 vulnerable. Your connection with these ex-patients explains how aggressive climate change can change someone’s life around so negatively. Also, we’ve seen aggressive heat waves hitting across the globe sending people of all ages into hospitals. If adults and children are barely handling such temperatures, imagine how infants are the most susceptible to suffering from these heat waves as their bodies are not meant to withstand such heat. These heat waves are affecting ex-COVID-19 individuals with asthma as the thick air makes it difficult to breathe. We cannot afford such catastrophes caused by these damages. 

6/12/24, 2:48 pm

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Understanding Climate Change as a Social Issue: How Research Can Help

• Grand Challenges

Earth’s increasingly deadly and destructive climate is prompting social work leaders to focus the profession’s attention on one of humanity’s most pressing issues: environmental change.

Typhoons are hitting the South Pacific with greater severity and regularity. Hurricane Katrina prompted the largest forced migration of Americans since the Civil War. Civil conflicts and instability in the Middle East and Africa are being linked to climate change and its socioecological effects.

“We see it perhaps most importantly as a social justice issue,” said Lawrence Palinkas , the Albert G. and Frances Lomas Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. “Generally the people most affected by climate change tend to be the poor, older adults, children and families, and people with a history of mental health problems — populations that are typically the focus of social work practice.”

This inherent link between social work and the social and economic consequences of environmental change is at the heart of a new initiative Palinkas and other social work scholars are leading as part of the Grand Challenges for Social Work.

Organized by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the national effort seeks to achieve societal progress by identifying specific challenges that social work can play a central role in overcoming — in this case, creating social responses to the changing environment.

“Where we see social workers playing a role is developing an evidence-based approach to disaster preparedness and response,” Palinkas said. “How do we provide services to communities that are devastated by natural disasters? How do we help populations that are being dislocated by virtue of changes in the environment?”

Inaction could prove deadly

Not addressing this issue is likely to have dire consequences. At a policy meeting in London in December, military experts warned that dramatic shifts in the natural and built environments could trigger a major global disaster in the near future.

“Climate change could lead to a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions,” retired Brig. Gen. Stephen A. Cheney, CEO of the American Security Project and a member of the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board, said in prepared remarks. “We’re already seeing migration of large numbers of people around the world because of food scarcity, water insecurity and extreme weather, and this is set to become the new normal.”

To describe their vision for social work’s role in this grand challenge, Palinkas and his partners outlined three main policy recommendations for the profession.

The first recommendation centers on reducing the impact of disasters such as extreme weather events. Climate-related catastrophes affect more than 375 million people every year—an increase of 50 percent compared to the previous decade.

Palinkas emphasized the need to develop and spread evidence-based interventions to combat that risk and respond in the wake of disasters, in part by ensuring that all clinicians and social work students receive training in disaster preparedness and response as a critical component of the job.

“That includes things like training communities in the use of evidence-based practices to provide treatment for traumatic symptoms in the aftermath of a disaster,” he said. “We also need to promote social cohesion and community resilience to mitigate the possibility of social conflict.”

Leaders from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work are ahead of the curve in tackling that piece of the puzzle, most notably in the Pacific Rim. In recent years, for example, a team of researchers and practitioners from the school has led humanitarian missions to the Philippines following major typhoons.

Building a safety net

Faculty members Marleen Wong and Vivien Villaverde are among those who have traveled to the South Pacific to offer training sessions on delivering psychological first aid, addressing secondary post-traumatic stress and promoting social development.

“In many parts of Asia, the infrastructure for disaster response and recovery is weak,” said Villaverde, a clinical associate professor with expertise in disaster preparedness, crisis interventions and trauma-informed care. “At the same time, that’s where a lot of climate-related natural disasters are occurring.”

Social workers can assist during recovery efforts by offering interventions and training others to use them, she said, but broader efforts to prepare for and respond to crises are needed.

Although the USC team has generally focused on the intervention component, Villaverde noted an increasing emphasis on the multi-tier framework described by Palinkas and other scholars in the Grand Challenge policy brief, which calls on governments and private organizations to begin planning for climate change and related disasters at a national and community level.

Wong echoed the need for countries like the Philippines to move beyond merely reacting to environmental disasters, particularly in terms of developing proactive plans that outline how various government agencies, community groups and individuals can prepare for and respond to catastrophes.

“Social work has a clear role to play in building that safety net,” said Wong, senior associate dean of field education and clinical professor. “We can bring our knowledge and skills and develop additional ways of supporting people, especially children and families, in the wake of these natural disasters.”

Invisible refugees

Another critical issue highlighted by the Grand Challenge team is the emergence of a new class of displaced individuals, known as environmental or ecological refugees.

Environmental factors have caused an estimated 25 million people to relocate, according to the policy brief, and that figure is expected to skyrocket to 250 million by 2050. Examples include rising sea levels that are forcing Pacific Islanders to seek asylum in New Zealand, the devastating flooding of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans that displaced thousands and the recent conclusion of the United Nations Security Council that climate change prompted the war in Sudan.

“Of course people want to leave North Korea due to the harsh political environment, but the reality is most are leaving because the agricultural system was destroyed by devastating floods beginning in the 1990s,” Palinkas said. “Even this year, what little had been rebuilt was again wiped out by a series of historic floods.”

A major problem is these individuals have no legal status under the United Nations mandate to protect and support refugees, he said. Because they are denied protections offered to people fleeing from war or conflict, they may not have access to care or shelter, are unable to plan for the future and are afforded little dignity.

“They might not be leaving because their lives are being threatened, but threats to their livelihood are forcing them to migrate,” Palinkas said. “People who may not have had difficulties in generating income through agricultural activities are suddenly being forced to relocate because they can’t grow crops anymore.”

In addition to raising awareness and advocating for policy changes to ensure these individuals are supported, he said strategies are needed for long-term relocation of these environmental migrants.

An urban future

Finally, the Grand Challenge authors are calling for increased focus on the effects of urbanization and the inclusion of marginalized communities in planning for inevitable environmental changes. Experts expect two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities by 2050, which means increasing demands on infrastructure and service systems, new threats to security and increased density.

“How do we accommodate more people in the same amount of space?” Palinkas said. “How can we provide adequate support systems — not just physical but governmental, service-related, health care-related — to people living in these urban areas?”

Policies need to be developed that ensure equitable use of space, provide housing to all, protect the natural environment and create access to services and jobs. A critical component of developing those guidelines is giving a voice to vulnerable communities that have been left out of previous planning efforts.

Doing so will ensure that marginalized groups, particularly low-income individuals and people with racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, will not be disproportionately harmed by changes in urban and regional environments.

One effort to give voice to individuals interested in tackling climate change at the grassroots level is CYPHER , a technology-focused initiative led by R. Bong Vergara , an adjunct assistant professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.

In collaboration with Los Angeles CleanTech Incubator and other local partners, the program encourages teens and young adults from the United States, China and Kenya to develop social and technological strategies to address the human impact of climate change — ideas they present at CYPHER’s signature event, the Sustainable Earth Decathlon, each spring.

“Our work creates a pipeline of clean technology and tech-enabled solutions to local manifestations of climate change,” Vergara said. “Although we are interested in solutions, we are profoundly compelled by our target outcome, which is a shift in identity among these youth from non-innovators to tech innovators.”

He described one participant, the son of undocumented farmworkers, who had to ask his parents for permission to go to school and take part in CYPHER, which took him away from assisting with farm labor.

That personal background proved invaluable, Vergara said; the student helped invent an app-enabled irrigation system that shows farmworkers and landowners which parcel of property needs water the most. It earned top honors at the annual competition.

“The insight from his direct, personal experience of the impact of a heat wave on their farm was really instrumental in making the innovation that his team came up with rise to the very top,” Vergara said. “He saw the impact, financially, emotionally and socially, of solving the overlap of food, energy and water systems in the fields of his community.”

Measuring success

Many of the goals of the Grand Challenge team are broad and seemingly nebulous, so developing metrics that highlight progress could prove difficult. However, Palinkas said markers such as reducing the prevalence of environmentally induced diseases by a certain percentage might serve as signals of success.

“We may not reduce the number of natural disasters, but we may reduce the number of displaced families,” he said. “We may reduce the incidence of psychiatric conditions like PTSD or generalized anxiety disorder that are often associated with exposure to these kinds of events.”

In general, many are encouraged the Grand Challenge and the overall concept of responding to environmental change from a social perspective is gaining awareness among social workers and others in the helping professions.

Palinkas, Wong and other leading scholars have been crossing the globe to highlight the Grand Challenge initiative, delivering speeches in places like South Korea, Portugal, China, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Taiwan and Switzerland.

“I think social work is really well positioned to address this challenge,” Wong said. “Social workers never work alone; they always work as a team. In these complex situations, we need to build teams to enhance the national capacity to respond.”

To reference the work of our faculty online, we ask that you directly quote their work where possible and attribute it to "FACULTY NAME, a professor in the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work” (LINK: https://dworakpeck.usc.edu)

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• School Education /

Essay on Climate Change: Check Samples in 100, 250 Words

• Updated on  
• Sep 21, 2023

Writing an essay on climate change is crucial to raise awareness and advocate for action. The world is facing environmental challenges, so in a situation like this such essay topics can serve as s platform to discuss the causes, effects, and solutions to this pressing issue. They offer an opportunity to engage readers in understanding the urgency of mitigating climate change for the sake of our planet’s future.

Must Read: Essay On Environment  

Table of Contents

• 1 What Is Climate Change?
• 2 What are the Causes of Climate Change?
• 3 What are the effects of Climate Change?
• 4 How to fight climate change?
• 5 Essay On Climate Change in 100 Words
• 6 Climate Change Sample Essay 250 Words

What Is Climate Change?

Climate change is the significant variation of average weather conditions becoming, for example, warmer, wetter, or drier—over several decades or longer. It may be natural or anthropogenic. However, in recent times, it’s been in the top headlines due to escalations caused by human interference.

What are the Causes of Climate Change?

Obama at the First Session of COP21 rightly quoted “We are the first generation to feel the impact of climate change, and the last generation that can do something about it.”.Identifying the causes of climate change is the first step to take in our fight against climate change. Below stated are some of the causes of climate change:

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Mainly from burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) for energy and transportation.
• Deforestation: The cutting down of trees reduces the planet’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide.
• Industrial Processes: Certain manufacturing activities release potent greenhouse gases.
• Agriculture: Livestock and rice cultivation emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

What are the effects of Climate Change?

Climate change poses a huge risk to almost all life forms on Earth. The effects of climate change are listed below:

• Global Warming: Increased temperatures due to trapped heat from greenhouse gases.
• Melting Ice and Rising Sea Levels: Ice caps and glaciers melt, causing oceans to rise.
• Extreme Weather Events: More frequent and severe hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires.
• Ocean Acidification: Oceans absorb excess CO2, leading to more acidic waters harming marine life.
• Disrupted Ecosystems: Shifting climate patterns disrupt habitats and threaten biodiversity.
• Food and Water Scarcity: Altered weather affects crop yields and strains water resources.
• Human Health Risks: Heat-related illnesses and the spread of diseases.
• Economic Impact: Damage to infrastructure and increased disaster-related costs.
• Migration and Conflict: Climate-induced displacement and resource competition.

How to fight climate change?

‘Climate change is a terrible problem, and it absolutely needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority,’ says Bill Gates. The below points highlight key actions to combat climate change effectively.

• Energy Efficiency: Improve energy efficiency in all sectors.
• Protect Forests: Stop deforestation and promote reforestation.
• Sustainable Agriculture: Adopt eco-friendly farming practices.
• Advocacy: Raise awareness and advocate for climate-friendly policies.
• Innovation: Invest in green technologies and research.
• Government Policies: Enforce climate-friendly regulations and targets.
• Corporate Responsibility: Encourage sustainable business practices.
• Individual Action: Reduce personal carbon footprint and inspire others.

Essay On Climate Change in 100 Words

Climate change refers to long-term alterations in Earth’s climate patterns, primarily driven by human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, which release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. These gases trap heat, leading to global warming. The consequences of climate change are widespread and devastating. Rising temperatures cause polar ice caps to melt, contributing to sea level rise and threatening coastal communities. Extreme weather events, like hurricanes and wildfires, become more frequent and severe, endangering lives and livelihoods. Additionally, shifts in weather patterns can disrupt agriculture, leading to food shortages. To combat climate change, global cooperation, renewable energy adoption, and sustainable practices are crucial for a more sustainable future.

Must Read: Essay On Global Warming

Climate Change Sample Essay 250 Words

Climate change represents a pressing global challenge that demands immediate attention and concerted efforts. Human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, have significantly increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This results in a greenhouse effect, trapping heat and leading to a rise in global temperatures, commonly referred to as global warming.

The consequences of climate change are far-reaching and profound. Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities, displacing millions and endangering vital infrastructure. Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, droughts, and wildfires, have become more frequent and severe, causing devastating economic and human losses. Disrupted ecosystems affect biodiversity and the availability of vital resources, from clean water to agricultural yields.

Moreover, climate change has serious implications for food and water security. Changing weather patterns disrupt traditional farming practices and strain freshwater resources, potentially leading to conflicts over access to essential commodities.

Addressing climate change necessitates a multifaceted approach. First, countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions through the transition to renewable energy sources, increased energy efficiency, and reforestation efforts. International cooperation is crucial to set emission reduction targets and hold nations accountable for meeting them.

In conclusion, climate change is a global crisis with profound and immediate consequences. Urgent action is needed to mitigate its impacts and secure a sustainable future for our planet. By reducing emissions and implementing adaptation strategies, we can protect vulnerable communities, preserve ecosystems, and ensure a livable planet for future generations. The time to act is now.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in Earth’s climate patterns, primarily driven by human activities like burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Five key causes of climate change include excessive greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, notably burning fossil fuels and deforestation. 

We hope this blog gave you an idea about how to write and present an essay on climate change that puts forth your opinions. The skill of writing an essay comes in handy when appearing for standardized language tests. Thinking of taking one soon? Leverage Edu provides the best online test prep for the same via Leverage Live . Register today to know more!

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Home / For Educators: Grades 6-12 / Climate Explained: Introductory Essays About Climate Change Topics

Climate Explained: Introductory Essays About Climate Change Topics

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Climate change sociology: Past contributions and future research needs

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

• Debra J. Davidson

Published: July 12, 2022

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000055
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Citation: Davidson DJ (2022) Climate change sociology: Past contributions and future research needs. PLOS Clim 1(7): e0000055. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000055

Editor: Jamie Males, PLOS Climate, UNITED KINGDOM

Copyright: © 2022 Debra J. Davidson. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: The author received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

That the causes and consequences of climate change are deeply entangled with socioeconomic systems is no longer a provocative statement. Contributions by social scientists have grown impressively in both volume and influence recently. Sociology has played a particularly prominent role in the field, and several excellent recent reviews far more comprehensive than what I will offer here are available [ 1 – 6 ]. In what follows, I highlight notable findings offered by sociologists who focus on climate change, followed by key priorities in future research.

Notable sociological contributions, representing findings with strong agreement across several studies, fall into in three main areas, including social drivers; social impacts; and the power and politics associated with responses to climate change.

The research record articulating multiple social factors and their relative weight as drivers of climate change represent what is perhaps the strongest and most extensive set of sociological contributions to climate science and policy. Especially of note is the degree to which sociological research contradicts persistent claims in political discourse, including, first, the fact that population size has at most an indirect association with emissions, in fact economic growth is far more consequential. Second, individual consumption practices and climate action are shaped by multiple socio-cultural factors that belie simplistic, rationalist, ‘knowledge deficit’ models of human behaviour—information is necessary but by no means sufficient to motivate climate concern and action.

The prevailing finding emerging from research on the social impacts of climate change is the inequitable nature of those impacts. Because those peoples who are the most vulnerable—notably many global south regions, and BIPOC, Indigenous, and non-cismales in all regions—are also the least accountable for the emissions that produced the risks in the first place, the inequitable distribution of climate risks also represents a grievous injustice.

Third, sociologists have made resoundingly clear that responding to climate change has relatively less to do with technology and economics, where attention is so often directed, and far more to do with power and politics. From the local to the international scale, sociologists have provided evidence of the strong arm of power relations and their influence over political processes in the climate sphere. Most notable has been irrefutable evidence provided of the orchestration of climate denial through the deployment of disinformation by representatives and allies of the fossil fuel industry, effectively postponing proactive policy responses in many western polities for decades. Also notable are studies evidencing the role of media institutions in attenuating the perceived risk of climate change among publics. Sociologists attribute this institutional influence at least in part to the deployment of discourses—human exceptionalism, neoliberalism and technological optimism being particularly consequential—that prescribe a narrow ontological lens through which problem and solution spaces are created. Other studies have catalogued the factors facilitating the escalation in social movement engagement, and the successes of those endeavours.

As noteworthy as this body of scholarship is, the list of questions to which sociology could and should contribute more is far longer, including areas of contention and disagreement in current scholarship, and emergent themes associated with our rapidly shifting socio-ecological dynamics. In the realm of social drivers of emissions, there remains a need to disentangle the specific role of economic structures that operate at differing levels, including neoliberalism, globalization, industrialization, and capitalism, each of which has very different ramifications for policy response. In addition, the roles that both colonialism and patriarchy have played and continue to play in driving climate and environmental disruption have entered into academic climate dialogues, and warrant more attention.

One of the emerging impacts that warrants further attention entails interlinkages between climate change and labour—including working conditions in highly exposed regions and occupations, as well as prospects for, and prospective effects of, occupational shifts prompted by climate policies (e.g. de-growth and Just Transition initiatives). As the impacts of climate change evolve rapidly from the projected to the realized, the multiple consequences for families, communities and societies are coming into sharp focus, opening up a plethora of urgent questions for sociology. The most glaring of consequences are those associated with extreme events—floods, fires, heat waves and drought—unfolding at a shocking pace across the global map in recent years. Somewhat less vivid but no less consequential are rapid declines in essential needs—food, energy, and water—that have begun to unfold anew in some places (e.g. the US southwest), and intensify in regions already defined by scarcity (e.g. east Africa). Enormous disruptions to normalcy and survival associated with the loss of livelihoods, of homes and entire communities, and subsequently large movements of people, bespeak the need for a sociology of loss [ 7 ]. Material impacts include not solely the cost of disaster recovery but also rapid devaluation of real estate, and stranded assets associated with energy transition. All of these disruptions raise the spectre of failure in our risk and disaster management institutions, what Esping-Andersen [ 8 :5] refers to as a “disjuncture between the existing institutional configuration and exogenous change,” forcing a political confrontation with current structures of political and economic power. Sociologists have also begun to broaden our account of climate impacts to include the numerous non-material consequences associated with the loss of home and community, and coming to terms with climate futures.

Research needs are equally substantial in the realm of climate change responses. Notable here are growing calls for greater understanding of how emotions shape individual and collective responses to climate change, including climate anxiety, particularly among younger generations. As well, the intersections between climate politics and the escalation of far-right, populist and authoritarian movements; competition for political and public attention posed by contingent crises like the coronavirus pandemic and associated economic decline, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, all loom large on the sociology of climate change agenda.

The unique contribution of sociology to the study of climate change rests with its centering of mechanisms of social change within a conceptual landscape that encompasses individual, social interactional, and socio-structural levels. Yet, despite its record of achievements, and its potential to address the emerging research questions described here, sociology remains in the back seat in climate science and policy. The comparatively lower funding levels received by the social sciences and humanities have already been noted elsewhere. But some self-reflection about this underperformance within the discipline is warranted as well. Most notably, the disciplinary core has yet to fully embrace climate change as a worthy subject [ 3 , 5 ]. Sociologists committed to the study of climate change face difficulties receiving career rewards from their home disciple, and resort to publication outside of major sociology journals [ 4 ]. Alas, the Human Exemptionalism Paradigm still prevails. Sociology needs to embrace the interdisciplinarity that can allow for application of socio-ecological systems approaches [ 2 ]. Other disciplinary shifts are also called for, including methodological experiments in forecasting, rather than solely explaining, change would enhance sociology’s role [e.g. 9 ], as would expanding representation of climate sociology scholarship emanating from researchers in the Global South.

• 1. Falzon D., Roberts J.T. and Brulle R.J. Sociology and climate change: A review and research agenda. In: Caniglia BS, Jorgensen A, Malin SA, Peek L, Pellow DN, Huang X. editors. Handbook of Environmental Sociology. Springer; 2021, pp. 189–217.
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• 6. Dunlap RE, Brulle RJ, editors. Climate Change and Society : Sociological Perspectives . Oxford University Press; 2015.
• 8. Esping-Andersen G. Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies. New York, Oxford University Press; 1999.

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Climate change.

Climate change is a long-term shift in global or regional climate patterns. Often climate change refers specifically to the rise in global temperatures from the mid-20th century to present.

Earth Science, Climatology

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Fracking is a controversial form of drilling that uses high-pressure liquid to create cracks in underground shale to extract natural gas and petroleum. Carbon emissions from fossils fuels like these have been linked to global warming and climate change.

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Climate is sometimes mistaken for weather. But climate is different from weather because it is measured over a long period of time, whereas weather can change from day to day, or from year to year. The climate of an area includes seasonal temperature and rainfall averages, and wind patterns. Different places have different climates. A desert, for example, is referred to as an arid climate because little water falls, as rain or snow, during the year. Other types of climate include tropical climates, which are hot and humid , and temperate climates, which have warm summers and cooler winters.

Climate change is the long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place. Climate change could refer to a particular location or the planet as a whole. Climate change may cause weather patterns to be less predictable. These unexpected weather patterns can make it difficult to maintain and grow crops in regions that rely on farming because expected temperature and rainfall levels can no longer be relied on. Climate change has also been connected with other damaging weather events such as more frequent and more intense hurricanes, floods, downpours, and winter storms.

In polar regions, the warming global temperatures associated with climate change have meant ice sheets and glaciers are melting at an accelerated rate from season to season. This contributes to sea levels rising in different regions of the planet. Together with expanding ocean waters due to rising temperatures, the resulting rise in sea level has begun to damage coastlines as a result of increased flooding and erosion.

The cause of current climate change is largely human activity, like burning fossil fuels , like natural gas, oil, and coal. Burning these materials releases what are called greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere . There, these gases trap heat from the sun’s rays inside the atmosphere causing Earth’s average temperature to rise. This rise in the planet's temperature is called global warming. The warming of the planet impacts local and regional climates. Throughout Earth's history, climate has continually changed. When occuring naturally, this is a slow process that has taken place over hundreds and thousands of years. The human influenced climate change that is happening now is occuring at a much faster rate.

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• Published: 07 August 2024

Climate change debates

Nature Climate Change volume  14 ,  page 769 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Climate change
• Climate-change adaptation
• Climate-change ecology
• Climate-change mitigation

From a scientific standpoint, the causes of current ongoing climate change are well established. But in the context of rapid change, and real-world consequences, there is still room — and need — for scientific discussion in climate change fields.

Science, while ultimately grounded on the concept of knowledge, has always been a rich and often controversial stage for debate. While many scientific debates have been effectively ‘solved’ by further acquisition of knowledge (for example, heliocentrism versus geocentrism), others remain ripe for discussion. Examples include big questions about the origins of life on Earth, the potential for life outside this planet, or the ultimate impacts of artificial intelligence.

In the climate change field, the big questions have historically been those related to the recognition and acceptance of anthropogenic climate change. While the intensity of climate change debates has been partly fuelled by personal and political desires, the field remains wide open for debate even within more purely scientific realms due to its strong focus on future events. Past debates have now evolved into discussions on the details of what will happen when (and where), as well as weighing up the potential and pitfalls of different modes of action or inaction.

For example, in this issue of Nature Climate Change , we feature several pieces related to the complicated debate of how to best prioritize the conservation of species and their ecosystem functions in the context of rapid change, including discussion on the role of active human intervention. Among these, three independently written pieces on the conservation of corals highlight different, and sometimes opposing, priorities for future action.

In a Comment , Timothy McClanahan stresses that a focus on broad narratives of global coral loss, rather than acknowledging heterogeneities, caveats and uncertainty, will hinder management and muddy public communication. In their Comment , Robert Streit and colleagues argue for a minimal intervention approach in managing corals, questioning whether a human desire to ‘act heroically’ might hinder decision-making and be counterproductive. By contrast, Michael Webster and Daniel Schindler suggest in another Comment that ecological replacement — whereby corals lost to global change are replaced with species providing similar ecosystem functions — should be considered, urging that the potential risks of such actions are weighed against the risks of not intervening.

In a separate research Article , Silvio Schueler and colleagues focus on just one part of this ‘risk of inaction’ in a forest context, to demonstrate that while assisted migration (moving species and populations in response to climate change) can maintain or improve carbon stocks, failing to do so could result in large future carbon sink losses. Discussions related to active manipulation and movement of species have been historically more open when plants rather than animals (even relatively sessile animals, such as coral) are involved, particularly in artificial contexts such as crop or forestry plantations. Nonetheless, the wider debate remains in its infancy. In highlighting the potential, Schueler and colleagues call for more research to quantify the trade-offs between the opportunities and risks of implementation.

The topics here represent just a fraction of the ongoing debates in climate change circles. Recent examples range from questions related to the feasibility of large-scale carbon dioxide removal deployment ( Nat. Clim. Change 14 , 549; 2024 ), different opinions on geoengineering research and implementation , or altering the chemistry of the atmosphere to degrade methane ( Q. Li et al. Nat. Commun. 14 , 4045; 2023 ). Beyond that, many climate change debates have a common theme at their core — that regardless of the findings, any future possibilities should not be considered as an alternative for active mitigation.

Many of these are likely to be debated for some time to come as both science and time progress. We look forward to these debates, and hope that active discussion can help push science forward.

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Climate Change: Evidence and Causes: Update 2020 (2020)

Chapter: conclusion, c onclusion.

This document explains that there are well-understood physical mechanisms by which changes in the amounts of greenhouse gases cause climate changes. It discusses the evidence that the concentrations of these gases in the atmosphere have increased and are still increasing rapidly, that climate change is occurring, and that most of the recent change is almost certainly due to emissions of greenhouse gases caused by human activities. Further climate change is inevitable; if emissions of greenhouse gases continue unabated, future changes will substantially exceed those that have occurred so far. There remains a range of estimates of the magnitude and regional expression of future change, but increases in the extremes of climate that can adversely affect natural ecosystems and human activities and infrastructure are expected.

Citizens and governments can choose among several options (or a mixture of those options) in response to this information: they can change their pattern of energy production and usage in order to limit emissions of greenhouse gases and hence the magnitude of climate changes; they can wait for changes to occur and accept the losses, damage, and suffering that arise; they can adapt to actual and expected changes as much as possible; or they can seek as yet unproven “geoengineering” solutions to counteract some of the climate changes that would otherwise occur. Each of these options has risks, attractions and costs, and what is actually done may be a mixture of these different options. Different nations and communities will vary in their vulnerability and their capacity to adapt. There is an important debate to be had about choices among these options, to decide what is best for each group or nation, and most importantly for the global population as a whole. The options have to be discussed at a global scale because in many cases those communities that are most vulnerable control few of the emissions, either past or future. Our description of the science of climate change, with both its facts and its uncertainties, is offered as a basis to inform that policy debate.

A CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The following individuals served as the primary writing team for the 2014 and 2020 editions of this document:

• Eric Wolff FRS, (UK lead), University of Cambridge
• Inez Fung (NAS, US lead), University of California, Berkeley
• Brian Hoskins FRS, Grantham Institute for Climate Change
• John F.B. Mitchell FRS, UK Met Office
• Tim Palmer FRS, University of Oxford
• Benjamin Santer (NAS), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• John Shepherd FRS, University of Southampton
• Keith Shine FRS, University of Reading.
• Susan Solomon (NAS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Kevin Trenberth, National Center for Atmospheric Research
• John Walsh, University of Alaska, Fairbanks
• Don Wuebbles, University of Illinois

Staff support for the 2020 revision was provided by Richard Walker, Amanda Purcell, Nancy Huddleston, and Michael Hudson. We offer special thanks to Rebecca Lindsey and NOAA Climate.gov for providing data and figure updates.

The following individuals served as reviewers of the 2014 document in accordance with procedures approved by the Royal Society and the National Academy of Sciences:

• Richard Alley (NAS), Department of Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University
• Alec Broers FRS, Former President of the Royal Academy of Engineering
• Harry Elderfield FRS, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
• Joanna Haigh FRS, Professor of Atmospheric Physics, Imperial College London
• Isaac Held (NAS), NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
• John Kutzbach (NAS), Center for Climatic Research, University of Wisconsin
• Jerry Meehl, Senior Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research
• John Pendry FRS, Imperial College London
• John Pyle FRS, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
• Gavin Schmidt, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
• Emily Shuckburgh, British Antarctic Survey
• Gabrielle Walker, Journalist
• Andrew Watson FRS, University of East Anglia

The Support for the 2014 Edition was provided by NAS Endowment Funds. We offer sincere thanks to the Ralph J. and Carol M. Cicerone Endowment for NAS Missions for supporting the production of this 2020 Edition.

F OR FURTHER READING

For more detailed discussion of the topics addressed in this document (including references to the underlying original research), see:

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2019: Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [ https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc ]
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), 2019: Negative Emissions Technologies and Reliable Sequestration: A Research Agenda [ https://www.nap.edu/catalog/25259 ]
• Royal Society, 2018: Greenhouse gas removal [ https://raeng.org.uk/greenhousegasremoval ]
• U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), 2018: Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume II: Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States [ https://nca2018.globalchange.gov ]
• IPCC, 2018: Global Warming of 1.5°C [ https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15 ]
• USGCRP, 2017: Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume I: Climate Science Special Reports [ https://science2017.globalchange.gov ]
• NASEM, 2016: Attribution of Extreme Weather Events in the Context of Climate Change [ https://www.nap.edu/catalog/21852 ]
• IPCC, 2013: Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) Working Group 1. Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis [ https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1 ]
• NRC, 2013: Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises [ https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18373 ]
• NRC, 2011: Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts Over Decades to Millennia [ https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12877 ]
• Royal Society 2010: Climate Change: A Summary of the Science [ https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/publications/2010/climate-change-summary-science ]
• NRC, 2010: America’s Climate Choices: Advancing the Science of Climate Change [ https://www.nap.edu/catalog/12782 ]

Much of the original data underlying the scientific findings discussed here are available at:

• https://data.ucar.edu/
• https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu
• https://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu
• https://ess-dive.lbl.gov/
• https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
• https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/
• http://scrippsco2.ucsd.edu
• http://hahana.soest.hawaii.edu/hot/

Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time. It is now more certain than ever, based on many lines of evidence, that humans are changing Earth's climate. The Royal Society and the US National Academy of Sciences, with their similar missions to promote the use of science to benefit society and to inform critical policy debates, produced the original Climate Change: Evidence and Causes in 2014. It was written and reviewed by a UK-US team of leading climate scientists. This new edition, prepared by the same author team, has been updated with the most recent climate data and scientific analyses, all of which reinforce our understanding of human-caused climate change.

Scientific information is a vital component for society to make informed decisions about how to reduce the magnitude of climate change and how to adapt to its impacts. This booklet serves as a key reference document for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and others seeking authoritative answers about the current state of climate-change science.

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