What is Climate and Society?

Climate influences crucial development issues.

In the past decade, the world’s attention has been drawn to the damage caused by extreme climate events such as the 1997–98 “El Niño of the Century,” exceptionally damaging hurricanes in the Caribbean region, infectious disease outbreaks in Peru, Brazil, Kenya, and the United States, harsh droughts in the Horn of Africa, the Korean peninsula, Central Asia, and the western United States, and severe floods in Europe, China, and southern Africa.

Some researchers link these episodes to global warming, while others assert that they are natural variations of global climate. Regardless of the outcome of this scientific debate, there is an emerging consensus in governments, corporations, and civil societies that climate anomalies damage societies and need to be factored into policy decisions and economic strategies.

Climatic hazards affect poor people most, destroying homes and livelihoods, and affecting participation in the development process itself. In both developing and industrialized societies, these hazards lead to food and water shortages, population displacements, and disease outbreaks. Such events trigger appeals for international assistance. At the international level, with the Earth Summit and the Kyoto agreement, governments are now in the process of creating a “Law of the Atmosphere,” just as they had earlier developed a Law of the Sea.

Recent research has generated a wealth of new knowledge about long-term climate change, shorter-term climate variability, and their socioeconomic impacts.

Decision makers need clear and reliable guidance on impending climate shocks, as well as practical information and tools to deal with their consequences. Building on improved scientific understanding of climate and improved coping mechanisms, Columbia University is training a new generation of academics and professionals at the nexus of social science, climate science, and public policy.