Society and Climate

Climate has for a long time been a taken-for-granted background against which social, political and economic interactions have taken place. But this taken-for-granted background is cleaving. It is becoming hard to ignore the potential repercussions of a changing climate, and the uneven impact of certain forms of human society and energy cultures that risk undermining their own environmental conditions.

In a comprehensive and accessible way, this book:

Drawing on the insights of various disciplines and citing numerous examples, Society and Climate probes the interplay between society, science and climate, and warns against making any easy assumptions.
Contents:Introduction: Society, Nature, Climate:The Nature of WeatherThe Climate of ScienceThe Climate of SocietyClimates of DisagreementClimate as Scientific Object:Climate as Average WeatherMeasuring the ClimateThe Emergence of a New ParadigmThe Discovery of the 'Greenhouse Effect'Modelling the ClimateClimate as Possible WeatherClimate as Cycle and Change:The History of the Science of Climate ChangeNatural Climate VariabilityAnthropogenic Climate ChangeMeasuring and Modelling Climate ChangeThe Impact and Inequality of Climate ChangeUnderstanding Change?Climate as Determinant:Climate Works?Ellsworth HuntingtonClimate Determinism: A CritiqueClimate Determinism: A Revival?Climate MattersClimate as Public Perception:Trusting the ClimateMistrusting the ClimateDistrusting the ScienceSocial Change?Climate as a Policy Issue:Scientific PolicyEconomic PolicyRegulatory PolicyClimate Policy: Who Decides?Summary and Prospects
Readership: Undergraduate students studying or contemplating the study of environmental science, and readers interested in understanding the relationship between climate, society, and science, and the potential socio-political implications of these processes. Climate Change;Society;Science;Politics;Anthropocene00