Sociology of Climate Change
Recently, the existence of an anthropogenic climate change has become one of the major concerns world in general. The majority of the investigations in this area, however, does not regard sufficiently the interrelation between this phenomenon and our societies.
On one hand, anthropogenic climate change is being caused by human activity on the planet (energy consumption, transportation, production and consumption of goods, urbanism, modern life-style...).
On the other hand, climate change has an important impact on our societies, either directly (heatwaves, floodings, climatic hazards...), or indirectly, as it produces changes in our biogeophysical environment (water availability, agriculture, social tensions...).
Therefore, we consider climate change primarily as a social act, due to its social causes and consequences. Environmental problems cannot be solved by the environment itself, they have to be tackled by the societies (political, social, economic agents and the society in general). Hence, the challenge of climate change has to be considered as a social challenge.
Environmental sociology uses the concept of a "social ecosystem" as a framework for its analysis, which focuses on the relationship between the biogeophysical environment and social life. It also includes the notion of sustainable development as an aim for the preservation of humanity and life on the planet. The "social ecosystem" is characterised by the interconnection of all its components, including every area of human life. Common examples include:
- Population as a demographic base, settlement structures
- Economic bases of a society
- Culture in its broad, anthropogenic sense: patterns of societal organisation, material and cultural (technological) development and non-material (symbolic) development
All elements are interconnected with the biophysical environment. Every resource we make use of, e.g.. material supply (food...) or values (beauty of a landscape...) originate from this base. The impact of climate change includes therefore the following aspects:
Impacts on the sociodemographic base of the society:
- Health and life expectancy
- Capacity of a society for biological reproduction and conservation of social stability, focussing on population growth, age and gender
- Migratory processes enhanced by climate change...
Impacts on the economic base of a society:
- Risks for the economic subsistence of a society and for land-use, particularly for settlement
- Economic income and social status
- Labour/Work
- Technology...
Impacts on the societal organisation and culture:
- Social structure
- Education
- Social net of benefits
- Political and social organisation. Systems of governance and democracy
- Social norms and values
- Potential for social conflicts and/or social cohesion. Safety and security
- Cultural heritage...