what's a good thesis statement for climate change

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Climate change is an urgent global issue, characterized by rising temperatures, melting glaciers, and extreme weather events. Writing a thesis on this topic requires a clear and concise statement that guides the reader through the significance, focus, and scope of your study. In this piece, we will explore various examples of good and bad thesis statements related to climate change to guide students in crafting compelling research proposals.

Good Examples

Focused Approach: “This thesis will analyze the impact of climate change on the intensity and frequency of hurricanes, using data from the last three decades.” Lack of Focus: “Climate change affects weather patterns.”

The good statement is specific, indicating a focus on hurricanes and providing a time frame. In contrast, the bad statement is too vague, covering a broad topic without any specific angle.

Clear Stance: “Implementing carbon taxes is an effective strategy for governments to incentivize companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Not So Clear: “Carbon taxes might be good for the environment.”

The good statement takes a clear position in favor of carbon taxes, while the bad statement is indecisive, not providing a clear standpoint.

Researchable and Measurable: “The thesis explores the correlation between the rise in global temperatures and the increase in the extinction rates of North American mammal species.” Dull: “Global warming is harmful to animals.”

The good statement is researchable and measurable, with clear variables and a focused geographic location, while the bad statement is generic and lacks specificity.

Bad Examples

Overly Broad: “Climate change is a global problem that needs to be addressed.”

This statement, while true, is overly broad and doesn’t propose a specific area of focus, making it inadequate for guiding a research study.

Lack of Clear Argument: “Climate change has some negative and positive effects.”

This statement doesn’t take a clear stance or highlight specific effects, making it weak and uninformative.

Unoriginal and Unengaging: “Climate change is real.”

While the statement is factual, it doesn’t present an original argument or engage the reader with a specific area of climate change research.

Crafting a compelling thesis statement on climate change is crucial for directing your research and presenting a clear, focused, and arguable position. A good thesis statement should be specific, take a clear stance, and be researchable and measurable. Avoid overly broad, unclear, unoriginal, or unengaging statements that do not provide clear direction or focus for your research. Utilizing the examples provided, students can navigate the intricate process of developing thesis statements that are not only academically rigorous but also intriguing and relevant to the pressing issue of climate change.

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Global Warming Thesis Statement Ideas

Economic Impact of Coastal Erosion

Global warming is a complex problem that often sparks policy debates. When writing about it, stick to the facts and make sure that your thesis statement -- the central assertion of your essay -- is supported by research. Some global warming topics have produced extensive research worldwide and can serve as topical guides in formulating your thesis statement.

Manmade Causes versus Natural Causes

The causes of global warming are complex, including natural and man-made emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. Use your thesis to highlight the difference between natural sources and man-made sources. For example, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere have risen from 280 parts per million in the 18th century to 390 parts per million in 2010. Human activities release more than 30 billion tons of carbon dioxide each year, or 135 times as much as volcanoes. Focus your thesis on this discrepancy, how man-made carbon dioxide sources such as fossil fuel consumption, have eclipsed natural sources of the gas.

Rising Temperatures and Declining Sea Ice

Your thesis statement may focus on the relationship between rising surface temperatures and declining sea ice, specifically ice in the Arctic. For instance, since 1901, sea surface temperatures have risen at an average rate of 0.13 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, with the highest rates of change occurring in the past three decades alone, according to the EPA.

Your thesis may establish the inverse relationship between these rising surface temperatures and the shrinking ice coverage in the Arctic. Arctic sea ice extent in December 2014, for instance, was the ninth lowest in the satellite record. The rate of decline for December ice alone is 3.4 percent per decade, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Effects of Melting Glaciers on Water Supply

Along with sea ice, many of the world’s glaciers are melting due to climate change. Since the 1960s, the U.S. Geological Survey has tracked the mass of two glaciers in Alaska and one in Washington state, all three of which have shrunk considerably in the past 40 years.

Research other mountain ranges and compare the glaciological data. Use your thesis to answer the question of what melting glaciers will mean for populations dependent on the ice flows for their fresh water supply. For example, much of Peru’s population depends on Andean glaciers not only for drinking water but for hydroelectricity.

Effects of Drought on Food Production

While global warming is projected to raise sea levels and flooding in coastal regions, it’s also been credited for changes in weather patterns and extreme drought, according to the EPA. In the arid American Southwest, for example, average annual temperatures have increased about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the past century, leading to decreased snowpack, extreme drought, wildfires and fierce competition for remaining water supplies.

As drought still rages in this region, your thesis can explore the relationship between global warming and agriculture, specifically in California’s Central Valley, which provides produce for much of the country. It’s possible that hotter, longer growing seasons are beneficial to California crops, but that shrinking water supplies threaten the viability of commercial agriculture.

Ocean Acidification and Global Seafood Stocks

Increased carbon dioxide emissions don't just impact our air quality. These emissions also result in increased acidity of our planet's oceans. An immense range of shellfish and other molluscs, such as clams, oysters, crabs, lobsters and more, face immediate population decline due to ocean acidification weakening their calcium carbonate shells.

Your thesis can explore the mechanics of ocean acidification as well as the potential economic impact to the fisheries that rely upon these marine animals for survival. You can also explore the potential ecosystem impact for the predators that feed upon these animals.

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• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Causes of Climate Change
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Climate Change Indicators in the United States
• National Snow and Ice Data Center: Artic Sea Ice News and Analysis
• U.S. Geological Survey: 3-Glacier Mass Balance Summary
• National Geographic: Signs from Earth: The Big Thaw
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Climate Impacts in the Southwest
• Alaska Public Media: Ocean Acidification

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Argumentative Essay Writing

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change

Make Your Case: A Guide to Writing an Argumentative Essay on Climate Change

Published on: Mar 2, 2023

Last updated on: Jan 31, 2024

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With the issue of climate change making headlines, it’s no surprise that this has become one of the most debated topics in recent years. 

But what does it really take to craft an effective argumentative essay about climate change? 

Writing an argumentative essay requires a student to thoroughly research and articulate their own opinion on a specific topic. 

To write such an essay, you will need to be well-informed regarding global warming. By doing so, your arguments may stand firm backed by both evidence and logic. 

In this blog, we will discuss some tips for crafting a factually reliable argumentative essay about climate change!

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What is an Argumentative Essay about Climate Change?

The main focus will be on trying to prove that global warming is caused by human activities. Your goal should be to convince your readers that human activity is causing climate change.

To achieve this, you will need to use a variety of research methods to collect data on the topic. You need to make an argument as to why climate change needs to be taken more seriously. 

Argumentative Essay Outline about Climate Change

An argumentative essay about climate change requires a student to take an opinionated stance on the subject. 

The outline of your paper should include the following sections: 

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change Introduction

The first step is to introduce the topic and provide an overview of the main points you will cover in the essay. 

This should include a brief description of what climate change is. Furthermore, it should include current research on how humans are contributing to global warming.

An example is:

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Thesis Statement For Climate Change Argumentative Essay

The thesis statement should be a clear and concise description of your opinion on the topic. It should be established early in the essay and reiterated throughout.

For example, an argumentative essay about climate change could have a thesis statement such as:

Climate Change Argumentative Essay Conclusion

The conclusion should restate your thesis statement and summarize the main points of the essay. 

It should also provide a call to action, encouraging readers to take steps toward addressing climate change. 

For example, 

How To Write An Argumentative Essay On Climate Change 

Writing an argumentative essay about climate change requires a student to take an opinionated stance on the subject. 

Following are the steps to follow for writing an argumentative essay about climate change

Do Your  Research

The first step is researching the topic and collecting evidence to back up your argument. 

You should look at scientific research, articles, and data on climate change as well as current policy solutions. 

Pick A Catchy Title

Once you have gathered your evidence, it is time to pick a title for your essay. It should be specific and concise. 

Outline Your Essay

After selecting a title, create an outline of the main points you will include in the essay. 

This should include an introduction, body paragraphs that provide evidence for your argument, and a conclusion. 

Compose Your Essay

Finally, begin writing your essay. Start with an introduction that provides a brief overview of the main points you will cover and includes your thesis statement. 

Then move on to the body paragraphs, providing evidence to back up your argument. 

Finally, conclude the essay by restating your thesis statement and summarizing the main points. 

Proofread and Revise

Once you have finished writing the essay, it is important to proofread and revise your work. 

Check for any spelling or grammatical errors, and make sure the argument is clear and logical. 

Finally, consider having someone else read over the essay for a fresh perspective. 

By following these steps, you can create an effective argumentative essay on climate change. Good luck! 

Examples Of Argumentative Essays About Climate Change 

Climate Change is real and happening right now. It is one of the most urgent environmental issues that we face today. 

Argumentative essays about this topic can help raise awareness that we need to protect our planet. 

Below you will find some examples of argumentative essays on climate change written by CollegeEssay.org’s expert essay writers.

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change And Global Warming

Persuasive Essay About Climate Change

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change In The Philippines

Argumentative Essay About Climate Change Caused By Humans

Geography Argumentative Essay About Climate Change

Check our extensive blog on argumentative essay examples to ace your next essay!

Good Argumentative Essay Topics About Climate Change 

Choosing a great topic is essential to help your readers understand and engage with the issue.

Here are some suggestions: 

• Should governments fund projects that will reduce the effects of climate change? 
• Is it too late to stop global warming and climate change? 
• Are international treaties effective in reducing carbon dioxide emissions? 
• What are the economic implications of climate change? 
• Should renewable energy be mandated as a priority over traditional fossil fuels? 
• How can individuals help reduce their carbon footprint and fight climate change? 
• Are regulations on industry enough to reduce global warming and climate change? 
• Could geoengineering be used to mitigate climate change? 
• What are the social and political effects of global warming and climate change? 
• Should companies be held accountable for their contribution to climate change? 

Check our comprehensive blog on argumentative essay topics to get more topic ideas!

We hope these topics and resources help you write a great argumentative essay about climate change. 

Now that you know how to write an argumentative essay about climate change, it’s time to put your skills to the test.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good introduction to climate change.

An introduction to a climate change essay can include a short description of why the topic is important and/or relevant. 

It can also provide an overview of what will be discussed in the body of the essay. 

The introduction should conclude with a clear, focused thesis statement that outlines the main argument in your essay. 

What is a good thesis statement for climate change?

A good thesis statement for a climate change essay should state the main point or argument you will make in your essay. 

You could argue that “The science behind climate change is irrefutable and must be addressed by governments, businesses, and individuals.”

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Environment

How to write the perfect essay on climate change.

Writing an essay on green living or other environmental issues can be difficult. You need to make sure that you get your points right. One of the issues is that environmental research is changing at a breathtaking pace, so it is easy to use outdated data to make your point.

Creating the Perfect Essay on Climate Change or Any Environmental Topic

Essay writing is a task which poses an immense challenge to many students. This is because it not only has many requirements, but also requires one to have professional writing skills to produce a top-notch paper. This is especially complicated for climate change papers.

Additionally, many students find it hard to distinguish the type of paper they are writing. Hence, they end up producing the wrong article. Environmental science professors and instructors often give college and university students writing assignments.

You can always hire a professional paper writer to help you. However, you will learn more if you go through the process on your own. But how can you write a paper easily with limited time as a student?

You need to be familiar with the concepts behind climate change if you are planning on writing a paper on it. You should start by looking at previous papers and research on the topic. Global Change has a large list of all major climate change papers .

However, you are going to need to write your own paper and it needs to meet the school’s quality standards. It is up to you to ensure that you understand the distinction between various types of essay writing tasks. Cody Rhodes has been gracious enough to speak with us to clarify what a descriptive essay is and the goal or objective of writing one. Rhodes has said that there are a lot of great insights for people learning to create better papers on climate change.

What is a descriptive essay on Climate Change?

Before we go deeper into descriptive essay writing tips, you need to know what a descriptive essay is. A descriptive essay is a type of academic writing which involves describing a specific place, event, or person to the readers. You must do this in a way that creates a portrait in their minds by engaging their senses: touch, sound, smell, sight, and taste. Your ability to do this guarantees your success. Before you write your descriptive essay, you need to lay the foundation of the entire work.

Choose a topic related to climate change or green living

What topic is best for climate change? You can’t just focus on climate change in general , Rhodes tells us. He says that you need to get into the nuances of specific elements of the subject. You might want to talk about the fact that the minimum arctic ice levels have fallen over 12% a decade since the 1980s . Covering a very specific climate change topic makes things easier.

So, you need to select a topic which you can write a lot about. Your professor may give you one or they may leave it up to you to choose. So, ensure you pick a topic which allows you to convey your opinion about it through your description of it and how you want things laid out for the audience.

Also, you must ensure you structure your essay in a way that helps your topic to have meaning or make sense. A description of an event has paragraphs arranged chronologically, whereas a description of a person or a place has paragraphs arranged generally so that it allows you to go deeper into the specifics. The introduction paragraph of your essay should set out the key points you will discuss in your article as it sets the tone for the rest of the paper.

But what do you do once you’ve chosen your topic? If you need to learn how to write a descriptive essay about a place, event or person consider the following tips.

Do statement

Now that you have chosen a topic, develop a thesis statement for your climate change topic. An example could be “The hospitality sector’s global initiative has contributed to the climate crisis.”

A thesis statement is a statement which holds or supports the argument in the topic of your paper. Additionally, it lays out the purpose of the essay. It is prominent throughout the entire paper. Hence, when creating it, you need to make it precise, avoid clichés, and include it in the introductory paragraph.

Engage your readers’ senses

The audience will be able to comprehend what your paper is about if you create an image in their minds by engaging their senses. So, how do you get the senses right?

Take a sheet of paper and partition it into five columns. Note down all the senses. This will help you sort your thoughts and ideas as you elucidate your topic. Write any feelings or sensations which relate to the topic you are writing about. Back up your thesis statement by providing full sensory details. Utilize literary tools to perfect your paper such as personification, similes, and metaphors.

Write an outline

Once you get the senses right, you can proceed to the next step, which is creating a descriptive essay outline. A descriptive essay outline is essential in writing a descriptive essay as it not only acts as a road map to your essay but also simplifies the writing process. Additionally, it helps to show how the structure of your paper ought to appear.  A descriptive essay outline constitutes three main components: the introduction body, and conclusion.

• Develop a strong hook which will capture the attention of your audience. They need to be attracted to your paper by reading the introduction. Also, remember to include the thesis statement.
• Writing a descriptive paragraph(s)is not easy if you do not have a thesis statement. This is because it is where you provide support or backup the thesis statement (shows the purpose of your essay). So, ensure you begin each paragraph with a topic sentence. Use transitional phrases to show the readers that your essay is continuous.
• Conclude your paper with a summary of your main points. Restate your thesis statement.

Create a conclusion

The conclusion of your descriptive essay is fundamental as it shows the reader(s) that your article has come to an end.  It needs to be strong, especially if you are trying to make a case in a subject as controversial as climate change.

So, when creating it, ensure you provide a summary of your key points. Restate your thesis statement. Also, remember not to include any new information which you have not mentioned in your paper.

If you do not know how to structure a descriptive essay, follow the format above or have a look at some of the descriptive essay examples written by other students or professionals.

Polish and finish

You can begin writing your essay now that you have a guiding map (outline) you can use. After writing your paper, ensure you take a break then resume to revise it. Go through it and eliminate all the mistakes you may have made during the writing process. Polish it in a way that ensures you have met all the writing instructions and requirements.

Writing a Great Essay on Climate Change Doesn’t Have to Be Overwhelming

Climate change is a complicated topic . Fortunately, writing an essay on climate change doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Writing a descriptive essay on any environmental topic is not hard as long as you know the purpose it seeks to serve. The tips listed above along with someone from WriteMyPaperHub will help you learn how to write a descriptive essay on global warming.

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The Center for Global Studies

Climate change argumentation.

Carmen Vanderhoof, Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education, Penn State

Carmen Vanderhoof is a doctoral candidate in Science Education at Penn State. Her research employs multimodal discourse analysis of elementary students engaged in a collaborative engineering design challenge in order to examine students’ decision-making practices. Prior to resuming graduate studies, she was a secondary science teacher and conducted molecular biology research. 

• Subject(s):  Earth Science
• Topic:  Climate Change and Sustainability
• Grade/Level:  9-12 (can be adapted to grades 6-8)
• Objectives:  Students will be able to write a scientific argument using evidence and reasoning to support claims. Students will also be able to reflect on the weaknesses in their own arguments in order to improve their argument and then respond to other arguments.
• Suggested Time Allotment:  4-5 hours (extra time for extension)

This lesson is derived from Dr. Peter Buckland’s sustainability  presentation for the Center for Global Studies . Dr. Peter Buckland, a Penn State alumnus, is a postdoctoral fellow for the Sustainability Institute. He has drawn together many resources for teaching about climate change, sustainability, and other environmental issues. 

While there are many resources for teaching about climate change and sustainability, it may be tough to figure out where to start. There are massive amounts of data available to the general public and students need help searching for good sources of evidence. Prior to launching into a search, it would be worthwhile figuring out what the students already know about climate change, where they learned it, and how they feel about efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. There are many options for eliciting prior knowledge, including taking online quizzes, whole-class discussion, or drawing concept maps. For this initial step, it is important that students feel comfortable to share, without engaging in disagreements. The main idea is to increase students’ understanding about global warming, rather than focus on the potential controversial nature of this topic.

A major goal of this unit is to engage students in co-constructing evidence-based explanations through individual writing, sharing, re-writing, group discussion, and whole group reflection. The argumentation format presented here contains claims supported by evidence and reasoning (Claims Evidence Reasoning – CER). Argumentation in this sense is different from how the word “argument” is used in everyday language. Argumentation is a collaborative process towards an end goal, rather than a competition to win (Duschl & Osborne, 2002). Scientific argumentation is the process of negotiating and communicating findings through a series of claims supported by evidence from various sources along with a rationale or reasoning linking the claim with the evidence. For students, making the link between claim and evidence can be the most difficult part of the process.

Where does the evidence come from?

Evidence and data are often used synonymously, but there is a difference. Evidence is “the representation of data in a form that undergirds an argument that works to answer the original question” (Hand et al., 2009, p. 129). This explains why even though scientists may use the same data to draw explanations from, the final product may take different forms depending on which parts of the data were used and how. For example, in a court case experts from opposing sides may use the same data to persuade the jury to reach different conclusions. Another way to explain this distinction to students is “the story built from the data that leads to a claim is the evidence” (Hand et al., 2009, p. 129). Evidence can come from many sources – results from controlled experiments, measurements, books, articles, websites, personal observations, etc. It is important to discuss with students the issue of the source’s reliability and accuracy. When using data freely available online, ask yourself: Who conducted the study? Who funded the research? Where was it published or presented? 

What is a claim and how do I find it?

A scientific claim is a statement that answers a question or an inference based on information, rather than just personal opinion.               

How can I connect the claim(s) with the evidence?

That’s where the justification or reasoning comes in. This portion of the argument explains why the evidence is relevant to the claim or how the evidence supports the claim.

Implementation

Learning context and connecting to state standards.

This interdisciplinary unit can be used in an earth science class or adapted to environmental science, chemistry, or physics. The key to adapting the lesson is guiding students to sources of data that fit the discipline they are studying.

For  earth science , students can explain the difference between climate and weather, describe the factors associated with global climate change, and explore a variety of data sources to draw their evidence from.  Pennsylvania Academic Standards  for earth and space science (secondary): 3.3.12.A1, 3.3.12.A6, 3.3.10.A7.    

For  environmental science , students can analyze the costs and benefits of pollution control measures.  Pennsylvania Academic Standards  for Environment and Ecology (secondary): 4.5.12.C.          

For  chemistry  and  physics , students can explain the function of greenhouse gases, construct a model of the greenhouse effect, and model energy flow through the atmosphere.   Pennsylvania Academic Standards  for Physical Sciences (secondary): 3.2.10.B6.      

New Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Connections

Human impacts and global climate change are directly addressed in the NGSS.  Disciplinary Core Ideas  (DCI): HS-ESS3-3, HS-ESS3-4, HS-ESS3-5, HS-ESS3-6.     

Lesson 1: Introduction to climate change

• What are greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect? (sample answer: greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane contribute to overall heating of the atmosphere; these gases trap heat just like the glass in a greenhouse or in a car) 
• What is the difference between weather and climate? (sample answer: weather is the daily temperature and precipitation measurements, while climate is a much longer pattern over multiple years)

Drawing of the greenhouse effect  – as individuals or in pairs, have students look up the greenhouse effect and draw a diagram to represent it; share out with the class

• Optional: figure out students’ beliefs about global warming using the Yale Six Americas Survey (students answer a series of questions and at the end they are given one of the following categories: alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful, dismissive).

Lesson 2: Searching for and evaluating evidence

• Compare different data sources and assess their credibility
• Temperature
• Precipitation
• Storm surge
• Ask the students to think about what types of claims they can make about climate change using the data they found (Sample claims: human activity is causing global warming or sea-level rise in the next fifty years will affect coastal cities like Amsterdam, Hong Kong, or New Orleans).

Lesson 3: Writing an argument using evidence

• Claim – an inference or a statement that answers a question
• Evidence – an outside source of information that supports the claim, often drawn from selected data
• Reasoning –  the justification/support for the claim; what connects the evidence with the claim
• Extending arguments –  have students exchange papers and notice the strengths of the other arguments they are reading (can do multiple cycles of reading); ask students to go back to their original argument and expand it with more evidence and/or more justification for why the evidence supports the claim
• Anticipate Rebuttals  – ask students to think and write about any weaknesses in their own argument

Lesson 4: Argumentation discussion  

• rebuttal  – challenges a component of someone’s argument – for example, a challenge to the evidence used in the original argument
• counterargument  – a whole new argument that challenges the original argument
• respect group members and their ideas
• wait for group members to finish their turns before speaking
• be mindful of your own contributions to the discussion (try not to take over the whole discussion so others can contribute too; conversely, if you didn’t already talk, find a way to bring in a new argument, expand on an existing argument, or challenge another argument)  
• Debate/discussion  – In table groups have students share their arguments and practice rebuttals and counterarguments
• Whole-group reflection  – ask students to share key points from their discussion

Lesson 5: Argumentation in action case study

Mumbai, india case study.

Rishi is a thirteen year old boy who attends the Gayak Rafi Nagar Urdu Municipal school in Mumbai. There is a massive landfill called Deonar right across from his school. Every day 4,000 tons of waste are piled on top of the existing garbage spanning 132 hectares (roughly half a square mile). Rishi ventures out to the landfill after school to look for materials that he can later trade for a little bit of extra money to help his family. He feels lucky that he gets to go to school during the day; others are not so lucky. One of his friends, Aamir, had to stop going to school and work full time after his dad got injured. They often meet to chat while they dig through the garbage with sticks. Occasionally, they find books in okay shape, which aren’t worth anything in trade, but to them they are valuable.

One day Rishi was out to the market with his mom and saw the sky darken with a heavy smoke that blocked out the sun. They both hurried home and found out there was a state of emergency and the schools closed for two days. It took many days to put out the fire at Deonar. He heard his dad say that the fire was so bad that it could be seen from space. He wonders what it would be like to see Mumbai from up there. Some days he wishes the government would close down Deonar and clean it up. Other days he wonders what would happen to all the people that depend on it to live if the city shuts down Deonar.

Mumbai is one of the coastal cities that are considered vulnerable with increasing global temperature and sea level rise. The urban poor are most affected by climate change. Their shelter could be wiped out by a tropical storm and rebuilding would be very difficult.

Write a letter to a public official who may be able to influence policy in Mumbai.

What would you recommend they do? Should they close Deonar? What can they do to reduce air pollution in the city and prepare for possible storms? Remember to use evidence in your argument.  

If students want to read the articles that inspired the case study direct them to: http://unhabitat.org/urban-themes/climate-change/

http://www.bloomberg.com/slideshow/2012-07-06/top-20-cities-with-billions-at-risk-from-climate-change.html#slide16

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-26/smelly-dumps-drive-away-affordable-homes-in-land-starved-mumbai

http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/05/asia/mumbai-giant-garbage-dump-fire/

Resources:    

• Lines of Evidence  video  from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine  http://nas-sites.org/americasclimatechoices/videos-multimedia/climate-change-lines-of-evidence-videos/  
• Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network  (CLEAN) 
• Climate maps  from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Sources of data from  NASA
• Explore the original source of the  Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences (PNAS) study

Differentiated Instruction

• For visual learners – use diagrams, encourage students to map out their arguments prior to writing them
• For auditory learners – use the lines of evidence video
• For ESL students – provide them with a variety of greenhouse gases diagrams, allow for a more flexible argument format and focus on general meaning-making – ex. using arrows to connect their sources of evidence to claims
• For advanced learners – ask them to search through larger data sets and make comparisons between data from different sources; they can also research environmental policies and why they stalled out in congress 
• For learners that need more support – print out excerpts from articles; pinpoint the main ideas to help with the research; help students connect their evidence with their claims; consider allowing students to work in pairs to accomplish the writing task 

Argument write-up  – check that students’ arguments contain claims supported by evidence and reasoning and that they thought about possible weaknesses in their own arguments. 

Case study letter  – check that students included evidence in their letter.

References:

Duschl, R. A., & Osborne, J. (2002). Supporting and promoting argumentation discourse in science education.

Hand, B. et al. (2009) Negotiating Science: The Critical Role of Argumentation in Student Inquiry. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

McNeill, K. L., & Krajcik, J. (2012). Claim, evidence and reasoning: Supporting grade 5 – 8 students in constructing scientific explanations. New York, NY: Pearson Allyn & Bacon.

Sawyer, R. K. (Ed.). (2014). The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

https://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/basics/today/greenhouse-gases.html

http://unhabitat.org/urban-themes/climate-change/

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Steps To Follow While Writing An Essay On Climate Change

Table of Contents

Climate change is the most essential issue of our generation; we are the first to witness its early signs and the last who have a chance of stopping them from happening.

Living in a bubble of denial can only get us this far; the planet which is our home is already a scene for melting glaciers, raising floods, extinction of species… the list goes on and on. Spreading awareness on matters of climate change through any means available, including as seemingly trivial form as writing a school essay, cannot be underestimated.

Follow the guidelines suggested in the paragraphs below to learn how to create a perfect essay that will get you an appraisal of your teacher.

Essay on climate changes: how to write?

If you really want to make your teacher gasp while they are reading your work, there are three vital things to pay attention to .

First of all, read the topic carefully and understand it’s specific, i.e., what is expected from you.

For instance, if it is the role of individuals in helping prevent climate change, you should not focus so much on the global problems, but speak about how small changes all of us can introduce in our routines will eventually have a positive environmental effect.

Secondly, determine your personal take on the problem . Search for materials on your subject using keywords, and pile up the evidence that supports your point of view.

Finally, write a conclusion. Make sure that the conclusion you make reflects the viewpoints you have been expressing all throughout your essay.

Below you will find a more detailed breakdown of tasks you will have to accomplish to complete writing an essay on climate changes that is worthy of a top mark.

Check if it is an argumentative essay on climate change or more of a speculative one? Arrange your writing accordingly.

• Craft the outline and don’t go off-topic.
• Search for keywords .
• Make a plan .
• Avoid the most common mistakes from the start.
• Write an introduction thinking about what you will write later.
• Develop your ideas according to the outline .
• Make a conclusion which is consistent with what you’ve written in the main paragraphs.
• Proofread the draft , correct mistakes and print out the hard copy. All set!

One of the most focal of your writing will be factual evidence. When writing on climate change, resort to providing data shared by international organizations like IPCC , WWF , or World Bank .

It is undeniable that among the main causes of climate change, unfortunately, there are oil and fossil fuels that are the basis of the whole economy and still invaluable sources of energy.

Although everyone knows that oil resources are polluting and that it would be much more useful and environmentally sustainable to rely on renewable energies such as wind and solar energies and electricity, the power of the world seem not to notice or pretend not to see for don’t go against your own interests.

The time has come to react and raise awareness of the use of renewable energy sources.

In addition to the causes already mentioned, we must consider the increase in the carbon dioxide air that traps heat in our atmosphere, thus increasing the temperatures with the consequent of the Arctic glaciers melting.

WWF reported that in 2016, the recorded data was quite worrying with a constant increase in temperatures and a 40% decrease in Arctic marine glaciers.

Topics for essay on global warming and climate change

If you do not have any specific topic to write on, consider yourself lucky. You can pick one that you are passionate about – and in fact, this is what you should do! If we think back to the very definition of essay, it is nothing more than a few paragraphs of expressing one’s personal attitude and viewpoints on a certain subject. Surely, you need to pick a subject that you are opinionated about to deliver a readable piece of writing!

Another point to consider is quaintness and topicality factors. You don’t want to end up writing on a subject that the rest of your class will, and in all honesty, that has zero novelty to it.

Even if it is something as trivial as the greenhouse effect, add an unexpected perspective to it: the greenhouse effect from the standpoint of the feline population of Montenegro. Sounds lunatic, but you get the drift.

Do not worry, below you will find the list of legitimately coverable topics to choose from:

• The last generation able to fight the global crisis.
• Climate change: top 10 unexpected causes.
• Climate changes. Things anyone can do.
• Climate changes concern everyone. Is it true?
• The Mauna Loa volcano: climate change is here.
• Water pollution and coastal cities: what needs to be done?
• Is there global warming if it’s still cold?
• The CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.
• Celebrity activists and climate changes.
• Individual responsibility for the environment.
• How the loss of biodiversity is the biggest loss for humanity.
• Ways to fight global warming at home.
• Sustainable living as a way of fighting climate change.
• Climate change fighting countries to look up to.
• Industrial responsibility and climate change.
• What future will be like if we fail to make an environmental stand?
• Discovering water on Mars: a new planet to live on?
• Climate change effects on poor countries.
• Nuclear power laws and climate change.
• Is it true that climate change is caused by man?

Mistakes to avoid when writing an essay on climate change

When composing your essay, you must avoid the following (quite common!) mistakes:

• Clichés – no one wants to read universal truths presented as relevant discoveries.
• Repeating an idea already expressed – don’t waste your readers’ time .
• Making an accumulation of ideas that are not connected and that do not follow one another; structure your ideas logically .
• Being contradictive (check consistency).
• Using bad or tired collocations .
• Using lackluster adjectives like “good”/”bad”. Instead, think of more eye-catching synonyms.

Structure your essay in a logical way : introduce your thesis, develop your ideas in at least 2 parts that contain several paragraphs, and draw a conclusion.

Bottom line

Writing an essay on global warming and climate change is essentially reflecting on the inevitable consequence of the irresponsible behavior of people inhabiting the planet. Outside of big-scale thinking, there is something each of us can do, and by shaping minds the right way, essential change can be done daily.

Each of us can act to protect the environment, reducing the use of plastic, recycling, buying food with as little packaging as possible, or turning off water and light when not in use. Every little help, even a short essay on climate change can help make a difference.

Can’t wait to save the planet? Do it, while we write your essay. Easy order, complete confidentiality, timely delivery. Click the button to learn more!

How to Write a Cleanliness Essay 

Advantages of Learning Foreign Language

How To Write A Strong Obesity Research Paper?

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Thesis Topics

The dissertation projects of the DK  (in the first phase from 2014 to 2018) contribute to finding answers to three questions:

• How do we understand and deal with climate change uncertainties in the natural and social sciences as well as from the perspective of normative theories?
• What are critical thresholds of environmental, social and economic systems considering their vulnerability and how are these thresholds related to the normative threshold of sufficiency, that is, the threshold of well-being below which persons’ basic rights are infringed or violated?
• What are scientifically sound, technologically and institutionally feasible, economically efficient, and ethically defensible and sustainable strategies to cope with climate change, particularly taking into account the problems of implementation in an environment characterized by uncertainties and thresholds?

Phd projects dealing with research question 1

Phd projects dealing with research question 2

Phd projects dealing with research question 3

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Research Basics

Develop a Thesis Statement

Now that you've learned about your topic through background research and developed your topic into a research question, you can formulate a solid thesis statement. The thesis statement can be looked at as the answer to your research question. It guides the focus of your research and the direction of your arguments, and also prevents any unnecessary tangents within your project. A strong thesis statement will always make it easier to maintain a clear direction while conducting your information search.

Thesis statements are one sentence long and are focused, clear, declarative, and written in third person voice. Read the sections below for more information and view examples.

Focus on a single position or point of view in your thesis statement. You cannot effectively address multiple perspectives within a single paper, as you want to make coherent points to support your position.

Weak Thesis: Underfunded arts programs, underpaid teachers, and standardized testing are all factors in underachieving students in public schools.

Stronger Thesis: The emphasis on standardized testing is a critical factor in the underperformance of public school students.

Present your argument or position clearly and precisely. A clear thesis statement will avoid generalizations and make your position known.

Weak Thesis: The lack of funding in public schools is a major issue in the American education system.

Stronger Thesis: Underfunding arts programs in public schools does not adequately prepare students for college.

3. Declarative

Present your position or point of view as a statement or declarative sentence. Your research question helped guide your initial searching so you could learn more about your topic. Now that you have completed that step, you can extract a thesis statement based on the research you have discovered.

Weak Thesis: Does car exhaust impact climate change?

Stronger Thesis: Car exhaust is a leading contributor to climate change.

4. Third Person

Write your thesis statement in third person voice. Rather than addressing "I," "we," "you," "my," or "our" in your thesis, look at the larger issues that affect a greater number of participants. Think in terms like "citizens," "students," "artists," "teachers," "researchers," etc.

Weak Thesis: I think using your cell phone while driving is the leading cause of traffic deaths for people in my age group.

Stronger Thesis: Cell phone use is the leading cause of traffic deaths in teenagers.

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Across UBC, faculty and students contribute to research on climate change. See below for recent theses on a few select topics, and search cIRcle , UBC's open access repository, for publications, theses/dissertation, and presentations to find more.

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What Is Climate Change?

Climate change is a long-term change in the average weather patterns that have come to define Earth’s local, regional and global climates. These changes have a broad range of observed effects that are synonymous with the term.

Changes observed in Earth’s climate since the mid-20th century are driven by human activities, particularly fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere, raising Earth’s average surface temperature. Natural processes, which have been overwhelmed by human activities, can also contribute to climate change, including internal variability (e.g., cyclical ocean patterns like El Niño, La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation) and external forcings (e.g., volcanic activity, changes in the Sun’s energy output , variations in Earth’s orbit ).

Scientists use observations from the ground, air, and space, along with computer models , to monitor and study past, present, and future climate change. Climate data records provide evidence of climate change key indicators, such as global land and ocean temperature increases; rising sea levels; ice loss at Earth’s poles and in mountain glaciers; frequency and severity changes in extreme weather such as hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, floods, and precipitation; and cloud and vegetation cover changes.

“Climate change” and “global warming” are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings. Similarly, the terms "weather" and "climate" are sometimes confused, though they refer to events with broadly different spatial- and timescales.

What Is Global Warming?

Global warming is the long-term heating of Earth’s surface observed since the pre-industrial period (between 1850 and 1900) due to human activities, primarily fossil fuel burning, which increases heat-trapping greenhouse gas levels in Earth’s atmosphere. This term is not interchangeable with the term "climate change."

Since the pre-industrial period, human activities are estimated to have increased Earth’s global average temperature by about 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit), a number that is currently increasing by more than 0.2 degrees Celsius (0.36 degrees Fahrenheit) per decade. The current warming trend is unequivocally the result of human activity since the 1950s and is proceeding at an unprecedented rate over millennia.

Weather vs. Climate

“if you don’t like the weather in new england, just wait a few minutes.” - mark twain.

Weather refers to atmospheric conditions that occur locally over short periods of time—from minutes to hours or days. Familiar examples include rain, snow, clouds, winds, floods, or thunderstorms.

Climate, on the other hand, refers to the long-term (usually at least 30 years) regional or even global average of temperature, humidity, and rainfall patterns over seasons, years, or decades.

Find Out More: A Guide to NASA’s Global Climate Change Website

This website provides a high-level overview of some of the known causes, effects and indications of global climate change:

Evidence. Brief descriptions of some of the key scientific observations that our planet is undergoing abrupt climate change.

Causes. A concise discussion of the primary climate change causes on our planet.

Effects. A look at some of the likely future effects of climate change, including U.S. regional effects.

Vital Signs. Graphs and animated time series showing real-time climate change data, including atmospheric carbon dioxide, global temperature, sea ice extent, and ice sheet volume.

Earth Minute. This fun video series explains various Earth science topics, including some climate change topics.

Other NASA Resources

Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio. An extensive collection of animated climate change and Earth science visualizations.

Sea Level Change Portal. NASA's portal for an in-depth look at the science behind sea level change.

NASA’s Earth Observatory. Satellite imagery, feature articles and scientific information about our home planet, with a focus on Earth’s climate and environmental change.

Header image is of Apusiaajik Glacier, and was taken near Kulusuk, Greenland, on Aug. 26, 2018, during NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) field operations. Learn more here . Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Essays on climate change

Malova, Anna (2024) Essays on climate change. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

This thesis attempts to provide practical policy recommendations that may make a difference in the climate crisis. It is, therefore, grounded in non-cooperative game theory, and the author regards its simplicity as a virtue rather than a hindrance. By no means does it offer a comprehensive solution, but merely recommendations that are easy to implement.

Chapter 1 focuses on approaches to reform implementation in the face of political constraints, such as a net-zero transition. In a simple three-period model where a welfare-enhancing reform may never be implemented, we show how a winning coalition of voters can be identified and constructed before reform is proposed to enable its implementation. When domestic mobility frictions are small, the reform can be implemented immediately. Alternatively, in certain settings, a winning coalition of voters serves as a commitment device underpinning the credibility of a proposal to implement reform with delay. If nations are part of a network, the transition may be engineered in a small number of pivotal members, which will lower the cost of transition for other members and ensure the transition across all countries. We propose many different ways to identify and leverage a pivotal group of voters or countries.

In Chapter 2, we turn to the role of unilateralism and how it can be used to lower global emissions more effectively. In a model with n countries, we prove that the core is empty and thus, no multilateral agreement with full participation is immune to deviations. Extending the model to include technological spillovers in the form of discontinuity in the investment cost if enough nations adopt the technology early on leads to multiple subgame perfect equilibria, among which is a stable grand coalition. We survey the literature for ways to introduce technological trade, discuss the role of an international environmental treaty under these conditions and provide some policy implications.

Chapter 3 looks at a non-cooperative game of three interacting nations who pollute, consume, invest and bear delayed cost of their choices. The novelty of the model is in separating environmental damage into two terms, local and global, so that the two stocks have different effects on nations’ payoffs. Instead of assuming that some countries would adopt new technology earlier than others, this approach provides a rationale for such choice. It is evident that already today, the consequences of climate change can be felt, but some countries have it worse than others, so the nations with greater present environmental damage will be the first to invest. Comparative statics suggests that merely an option of technological trade is enough to convince some nations to invest in green technology, but the country must be large in terms of its share of global emissions and suffer from local pollution already at present. Under these circumstances, China is a reasonable candidate for the role of global transition leader.

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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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Position Statement on Climate Change

Society must address the growing climate crisis now.

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Immediate and coordinated actions to limit and adapt to human-caused climate change are needed to protect human and ecological health, economic well-being, and global security.

The Challenge

Human activities are changing Earth’s climate, causing increasingly disruptive societal and ecological impacts. Such impacts are creating hardships and suffering now, and they will continue to do so into the future - in ways expected as well as potentially unforeseen. To limit these impacts, the world’s nations have agreed to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-industrial levels.

To achieve this goal, global society must promptly reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must reach net-zero by around 2070 to have a good chance of limiting warming to a 2° C increase and by about 2050 to achieve a more protective limit of a 1.5°C (2.7°F) increase. Either target will require a substantial near-term transition to carbon-neutral energy sources, adoption of more carbon-efficient food systems and land use practices, and enhanced removal of CO2 from the atmosphere through a combination of ecological and technological approaches.

Society must also prepare to cope with and adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. Done strategically, efficiently, and equitably, the needed transformations provide a pathway toward greater prosperity and well-being, while inaction will prove very costly for humans and other life on the planet.

The Evidence

Over the past century, as a result of burning fossil fuels and other human activities, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases—including CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and halocarbons—have risen to levels unprecedented in at least the last 800,000 years. Extensive observations document that the global average surface temperature in the atmosphere and ocean has increased by about 1°C (1.8°F) from 1880 to 2018. The current decade is now the hottest in the history of modern civilization. Based on extensive scientific evidence, it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. There is no alterative explanation supported by convincing evidence.

Many other changes related to heating have been documented: more frequent heat waves on land and in the ocean; reductions in Arctic sea ice, the Northern Hemisphere’s snow cover, the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, and mountain glaciers; changes in the global water cycle, including intensifying

precipitation events; and rising sea levels. Greater CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere are also affecting the growth and nutritional value of land plants and are directly acidifying ocean waters.

The Predictions

Realistic and continually improving computer simulations of the global climate predict that global temperatures will continue to rise as a result of past and future greenhouse gas emissions, with growing risks to natural and human systems. The amount of warming predicted in the coming decades depends primarily on the choices society makes and how those choices affect future emissions.

Global average temperatures will only stabilize after CO2 emissions reach net-zero, which means that the amount humans emit into the atmosphere is matched by efforts to accelerate its removal by natural or technological means. Simulations demonstrate that limiting the overall temperature increase to 1.5°C, including the 1.0°C warming that has already occurred, requires achieving net zero CO2 emissions around 2050, sooner if warming reduces the ability for nature to absorb and retain carbon. Large reductions in emissions of other greenhouse gases, as well as increased removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, are also required. Even if global temperature is stabilized, sea level will continue to rise for hundreds of years, but at a much slower rate than if warming continued.

The Consequences

Human-caused climate change is occurring more rapidly than has been typical in Earth’s history, disrupting communities and ecosystems adapted to previous, relatively stable climatic conditions. The changing climate will increase heat-related deaths, various mental and physical illnesses, and some infectious diseases. It will accentuate hazards such as flooding, wildfire, and dryland water scarcity, and toxic algae. Economic disruption and additional health impacts will result from shifts in agricultural and fisheries productivity, diminished worker productivity, damages to critical infrastructure, and more severe weather disasters, including expected increases in drought and hurricane intensities. Economic or social disruption is likely to drive migration and compound risks of conflict and global insecurity. Climate change will continue to severely stress the world’s ecosystems, including threatened coral reefs, permafrost landscapes and the Arctic; decrease biodiversity; and cause extraordinary numbers of extinctions on land and in the oceans. The severity of these and other impacts will worsen with more warming.

Climate change is manifest in myriad ways that exacerbate many existing challenges, stressing every region of the world and every sector of the economy. Some populations, communities, regions, and ecosystems are especially vulnerable. As lower-income and other marginalized populations are likely to be more affected and generally have less capacity to adapt to changes, climate change is expected to worsen pre-existing inequalities.

The Needed Responses

Destructive consequences of global climate change can be moderated by taking prompt actions to use energy more efficiently, transition to energy sources and products and services that do not release greenhouse gases, implement existing and novel technologies and practices to remove and store CO2 from the atmosphere, and adapt to unavoidable changes. These actions must involve individuals, communities, businesses, governments, acting at local, regional, national, and global scales. Done smartly, those actions can yield significant economic and social benefits, including better human health and well-being, employment opportunities, more sustainably used resources, and conserved biodiversity. Enhanced CO2 removal from the atmosphere will be needed to achieve net-zero emissions. Other climate intervention approaches, such as solar radiation management, require cautious consideration of risks. Neither can substitute for deep cuts in emissions or the need for adaptation.

Effective climate policies will rely on innovative and responsive science and engineering to inform and weigh response options. Scientists and engineers must continue to engage with policy makers, communities, businesses, and the public to undertake solution-oriented research and analysis. Scientific institutions, including academia and governmental agencies, should expand and prioritize their support for research, application, and knowledge dissemination to address the climate crisis.

A position statement on climate change was previously adopted by the American Geophysical Union in December 1998; A new version was adopted December 2003; Revised and Reaffirmed December 2007, February 2012, August 2013, November 2019.