This bold and important new book presents current and emerging thinking on the social dimensions of climate change. Using clear language and powerful examples, it introduces key concepts and frameworks for understanding the multifaceted connections between climate and society. Robin Leichenko and Karen O’Brien frame climate change as a social issue that calls for integrative approaches to research, policy, and action. They explore dominant and relevant discourses on the social drivers and impacts of climate change, highlighting the important roles that worldviews and beliefs play in shaping responses to climate challenges. Situating climate change within the context of a rapidly changing world, the book demonstrates how dynamic political, economic, and environmental contexts amplify risks yet also present opportunities for transformative responses. Aimed at undergraduate students and others concerned with a critical challenge of our time, this informative and engaging book empowers readers with a range of possibilities for equitable and sustainable transformations in a changing climate.

This book explores the significance of human behaviour to understanding the causes and impacts of changing climates and to assessing varied ways of responding to such changes. So far the discipline that has represented and modelled such human behaviour is economics. By contrast Climate Change and Society tries to place the ‘social’ at the heart of both the analysis of climates and of the assessment of alternative futures. It demonstrates the importance of social practices organised into systems. In the fateful twentieth century various interlocking high carbon systems were established. This sedimented high carbon social practices, engendering huge population growth, increasing greenhouse gas emissions and the potentially declining availability of oil that made this world go round. Especially important in stabilising this pattern was the ‘carbon military-industrial complex’ around the world. The book goes on to examine how in this new century it is systems that have to change, to move from growing high carbon systems to those that are low carbon. Many suggestions are made as to how to innovate such low carbon systems. It is shown that such a transition has to happen fast so as to create positive feedbacks of each low carbon system upon each other. Various scenarios are elaborated of differing futures for the middle of this century, futures that all contain significant costs for the scale, extent and richness of social life. Climate Change and Society thus attempts to replace economics with sociology as the dominant discipline in climate change analysis. Sociology has spent much time examining the nature of modern societies, of modernity, but mostly failed to analyse the carbon resource base of such societies. This book seeks to remedy that failing. It should appeal to teachers and students in sociology, economics, environmental studies, geography, planning, politics and science studies, as well as to the public concerned with the long term future of carbon and society.

Climate change presents perhaps the most profound challenge ever confronted by human society. This volume is a definitive analysis drawing on the best thinking on questions of how climate change affects human systems, and how societies can, do, and should respond. Key topics covered include the history of the issues, social and political reception of climate science, the denial of that science by individuals and organized interests, the nature of the social disruptions caused by climate change, the economics of those disruptions and possible responses to them, questions of human security and social justice, obligations to future generations, policy instruments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and governance at local, regional, national, international, and global levels.

Climate change can reasonably be expected to increase the frequency and intensity of a variety of potentially disruptive environmental events-slowly at first, but then more quickly. It is prudent to expect to be surprised by the way in which these events may cascade, or have far-reaching effects. During the coming decade, certain climate-related events will produce consequences that exceed the capacity of the affected societies or global systems to manage; these may have global security implications. Although focused on events outside the United States, Climate and Social Stress: Implications for Security Analysis recommends a range of research and policy actions to create a whole-of-government approach to increasing understanding of complex and contingent connections between climate and security, and to inform choices about adapting to and reducing vulnerability to climate change.

This bold and passionate textbook has become a go-to introduction to current and emerging thinking on the social dimensions of climate change, presenting key concepts and frameworks for understanding the multifaceted connections between climate and society. Using clear language and powerful examples, Robin Leichenko and Karen O'Brien explore the varied social drivers, impacts, and responses to climate change. They highlight the important roles that worldviews, values, and – especially in this updated edition – emotions play in shaping interpretations of climate challenges. They include additional material on climate justice and equity, eco-centric discourses, paradigm shifts, and other topics. Situating climate change within the context of a rapidly changing world, the book demonstrates how dynamic political, economic, and environmental contexts amplify risks, often unequally for different groups based on race, gender, wealth, and location. Yet these shifting conditions also present opportunities for transformative responses: the new edition strengthens its emphasis on individuals’ power to influence systems, structures, and cultures. With updated references, examples, and data, and expanded pedagogical features, this informative and engaging new edition empowers undergraduates across the social sciences and other disciplines with a broader and deeper understanding of climate change and the potential for equitable and sustainable responses.

Although the impacts of climate change are certainly global, its manifestations and subsequent consequences begin locally. Local Climate Change and Society examines how climate change has altered society's relationship with the environment and particularly local communities to adapt to and mitigate climate change. The book analyzes the principles, practices and local responses to micro-level climate policies and interrogates the increasing role of local governments and local climate social movements induced by transnational corporations' activities both above and below the equator. This book contains country and cross-country case studies and inter-disciplinary contributions written by academics, researchers and policy makers at the cutting edge of climate change knowledge. It aimed at students of environmental and climate change in the social sciences, academics, climate change public. Local climate change and society has direct appeal to professional staff concerned with environmental management, and policy makers supporting communities and municipalities in climate change adaptation and mitigation processes and activities at the at local level.