dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Social Links
  • zedreviews.com
  • citi.io
  • aster.cloud
  • liwaiwai.com
  • guzz.co.uk
  • atinatin.com
0 Likes
0 Followers
0 Subscribers
dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
  • Cities
  • Climate Change

The World Is Not Moving Fast Enough On Climate Change — Social Sciences Can Help Explain Why

  • March 11, 2024
People walk on the snowless streets of Place Jacques Cartier in Old Montréal on Jan. 3, 2024. February 2024 was the warmest February in human history. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

People walk on the snowless streets of Place Jacques Cartier in Old Montréal on Jan. 3, 2024. February 2024 was the warmest February in human history. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Fayola Helen Jacobs, University of Minnesota; Candis Callison, University of British Columbia, and Elizabeth Marino, Oregon State University

In late 2023 the United States government released its Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA). The NCA is a semi-regular summation of the impacts of climate change upon the U.S. and the fifth assessment was notable for being the first to include a chapter on social systems and justice.

Built on decades of social science research on climate change, the fifth NCA contends with two truths that are increasingly being reckoned with in U.S. popular and academic conversations.

The first is that climate change has the potential to exacerbate health, social and economic outcomes for Black, Indigenous, people of colour (BIPOC) and low-income communities. The second is that social systems and institutions — including governmental, cultural, spiritual and economic structures — are the only places where adaptation and mitigation can occur.

We only have to compare mortality rates for the COVID-19 pandemic disaggregated by race, income, and other axes of inequality to recognize that we are not all in the same boat, despite experiencing the same storm. Today, race and income similarly predict who is likely to be displaced permanently after a major hurricane — and forced relocation can have negative impacts on individuals and communities for generations.

Understanding how existing social systems influence, and are influenced by, climate change is key to not only slowing the effects of an increasingly warming Earth, but also ensuring that society’s transition to a new world is a just one.

And there is no doubt that we are indeed facing a new world.

Not moving fast enough

Decades of scientific research have shown that increasingly devastating and rapid climatic changes are ahead of us, including more intense hurricanes, droughts and floods.

Our recent levels of resource consumption — particularly in the Global North and countries with large developing economies — are untenable. To be clear, the world is responding to these risks with the U.S. alone achieving a 13 percent decrease in annual greenhouse gas emissions between 2005 and 2019, but these responses are not good enough.

It is the purview of social scientists — the scientists tasked with studying human society and social relationships in all of their complexity — to ask why.

What is it about the ethics, cultures, economies, and symbols at play in the world that have made it so difficult to turn the tide and make change? Why do we — individuals, societies, cultures, and nations — mostly seem unable to curb emissions at the rates necessary to save ourselves and our planet?

These are questions that can only partially be answered by new information and technologies developed by physical scientists and engineers. We also need an understanding of how humans behave. Having new technology matters for little if you do not also understand how social, economic and political decisions are made — and how certain groups are able to develop habits around lower rates of emissions and consumption.

We know that inequitable systems create unevenly distributed risk and capacities to respond. For example, a hurricane’s intensity scale is less predictive of its mortality rates than the socio-economic conditions within the nation where the storm makes landfall. Understanding these dynamics is the only way to respond to climate change in a way that does not entrench deep tendencies towards racist, sexist and classist landscapes of vulnerability.

Empowering real change

Recognizing that disasters and climate disruptions have the potential to make inequality worse also means that we have the opportunity to do better.

There are a range of outcomes that may stem from climate related disasters with a vast inventory of what is possible. There are also hopeful examples that point the way to rich collaborations and problem solving. For example, Tulsa, Okla. was the most frequently flooded city in the U.S. from the 1960s into the 1980s, but a coalition of concerned citizens came together with the city government to create a floodplain management plan that serves as a model for other cities.

In another example, Indigenous communities around the U.S. have some of the most proactive planning in place for adapting to climate change, despite histories of persecution, theft and violent exploitation.

A report on Indigenous-led bison conservations in the U.S., produced by the Associated Press.

There is an adage that says in order to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go far, go together. Make no mistake, climate change is the most urgent issue of our time. However, moving quickly and carelessly will serve only to re-entrench existing social, economic, political and environmental inequalities.

Instead, we must look at other ways of being in the world. We can repair and recreate our relationships with the Earth and the consumption that has gotten us to this point. We can pay attention and listen to global Indigenous peoples and others who have cared for this earth for millennia.

We must be more creative with our solutions and committed to ensuring that all, and not just a privileged few, are able to live in a better world than the one in which they were born into. Technological approaches alone will not achieve this goal. To build a better world we need the social sciences.The Conversation

Fayola Helen Jacobs, Assistant Professor of urban planning, University of Minnesota; Candis Callison, Associate professor, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies, University of British Columbia, and Elizabeth Marino, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Oregon State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article (https://theconversation.com/the-world-is-not-moving-fast-enough-on-climate-change-social-sciences-can-help-explain-why-218091).

Total
0
Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Share
Related Topics
  • Environment
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Social Science
  • Sustainability
dotlah.com

Previous Article
  • Engineering
  • People
  • Technology

Three MIT Alumni Graduate From NASA Astronaut Training

  • March 8, 2024
View Post
Next Article
Cloud
  • Engineering
  • People
  • Public Cloud

Why We Need Both Cloud Engineers And Cloud Architects

  • March 11, 2024
View Post
You May Also Like
View Post
  • Cities

Politicians love comparing NZ’s economy to Singapore or Ireland – but it’s simplistic and misleading

  • dotlah.com
  • September 21, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Technology

Meralco PowerGen’s PacificLight starts up 100 MW fast-response plant in Singapore

  • dotlah.com
  • June 20, 2025
View Post
  • Cities

Renewable energy, carbon credits are priority areas of cooperation for Singapore, Philippines: Lawrence Wong

  • dotlah.com
  • June 4, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Politics

Singapore businesses eye more investments in PH, says PM Wong

  • Dean Marc
  • June 4, 2025
View Post
  • Cities
  • Research

Mathematicians uncover the logic behind how people walk in crowds

  • dotlah.com
  • April 3, 2025
“Toyota Woven City,” a Test Course for Mobility, Completes Phase 1 Construction and Prepares for Launch
View Post
  • Cities
  • Technology

“Toyota Woven City,” a Test Course for Mobility, Completes Phase 1 Construction and Prepares for Launch

  • John Francis
  • January 6, 2025
View Post
  • Cities

Popes were once confined to Rome. Now they travel the world – and Francis’ current journey is particularly significant

  • dotlah.com
  • September 13, 2024
Singapore
View Post
  • Cities
  • Economy

South Africa’s new pension rules: Australia, Chile and Singapore show how personal savings can grow the economy

  • dotlah.com
  • August 30, 2024


Trending
  • 1
    • Lah!
    More Local Mixed-breed Dogs Can Be Rehomed To HDB Flats With The Revision In Size Limits Under Project ADORE
    • March 4, 2020
  • 2
    • Technology
    NTU Singapore Leverages AI And Machine Learning To Fight Money Laundering
    • August 22, 2019
  • 3
    • Cities
    GreenGov.SG Movement Sets New Measures And Targets To Cut Carbon Emissions Across Public Sector
    • July 13, 2021
  • 4
    • Environment
    • People
    Hurricanes And Wildfires Are Colliding With The COVID-19 Pandemic – And Compounding The Risks
    • August 28, 2020
  • 5
    • Society
    Five Reasons English Speakers Struggle To Learn Foreign Languages
    • July 30, 2019
  • 6
    • Cities
    Clean And Green Singapore (CGS) 2020 Launched With $25 Million Climate-Friendly Households Programme For One-To Three-Room HDB Households
    • December 4, 2020
  • 7
    • Cities
    • People
    In 2100, These 10 Countries Will Emerge As The Largest
    • January 12, 2020
  • 8
    • Cities
    • Technology
    GBCI Ventures To invest $10m For Projects From Its New Smart-City Solutions Platform
    • May 9, 2019
  • 9
    • Lah!
    SGX Introduces S$5 Million Care Package To Provide Support Amid COVID-19
    • March 17, 2020
  • 10
    • Lah!
    More Than 1,600 Premises Team Up With NEA To Say YES To Waste Less
    • June 11, 2019
  • new orleans 11
    • Cities
    Paris and New Orleans – The Two Cities that Helped Roulette Become a Global Phenomenon
    • December 9, 2020
  • 12
    • People
    • World Events
    Fear Spreads Easily. That’s What Gives The Wuhan Coronavirus Economic Impact
    • January 31, 2020
Trending
  • Smart Watch 1
    Best Smartwatches, Your Gateway to Health Monitoring and Everyday Use
    • October 5, 2025
  • Cooking pots and pans 2
    Best Pots and Pans 2025: All-Season, All-Purpose Picks for Every Kitchen
    • September 23, 2025
  • 3
    Politicians love comparing NZ’s economy to Singapore or Ireland – but it’s simplistic and misleading
    • September 21, 2025
  • Kitchen Knives - Best All-Around Picks in 2025 4
    Kitchen Knives : The Surgeons of Cooking – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • September 15, 2025
  • 5
    Apple unveils iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, the most powerful and advanced Pro models ever
    • September 9, 2025
  • 6
    Apple debuts iPhone 17
    • September 9, 2025
  • Fruits and vegetables for cooking. For food processors. 7
    Food Processor: The Swiss Army Knife of the Kitchen – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • September 8, 2025
  • 8
    Meet Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Series: Packing Everything You Expect From a Premium Tablet
    • September 4, 2025
  • 9
    Malaysia’s ‘ASEAN Shenzhen’ needs some significant legal reform to take off — here’s how
    • August 25, 2025
  • French Fries 10
    Air Fryer: The One Cooking Appliance to Rule Them All – Best All-Around Picks in 2025
    • August 22, 2025
Social Links
dotlah! dotlah!
  • Cities
  • Technology
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Society
  • Science
  • About
Connecting Dots Across Asia's Tech and Urban Landscape

Input your search keywords and press Enter.