Global Climate Change: Background and Sociological Contributions

The source of the global, systemic problem of global climate change (GCC) is principally human activities (anthropogenic forces). While an understanding of climate change is the purview of climate and related scientists, an understanding of the human factors contributing to climate change is the purview of the social sciences. The social sciences can also contribute to the assessment of appropriate strategies and policies for addressing climate change issues. Such an assessment is undertaken by three social scientists?Loren Lutzenhiser, Thomas Rudel, and Timmons Roberts?in the articles that follow. This article presents an introduction to those contributions by providing an historical overview of the globalization of environmental concerns and a context for understanding the sociological significance of climate change. It also highlights the contribution of the three articles to our understanding of climate policy.