This book provides a holistic consideration of climate change that goes beyond pure science, fleshing out the discussion by considering cultural, historical, and policy-driven aspects of this important issue.

Climate change is a controversial topic that promises to reframe rudimentary ideas about our world and how we will live in it. The articles in Climate Change: An Encyclopedia of Science and History are designed to inform readers’ decision making through the insight of scholars from around the world, each of whom brings a unique approach to this topic. The work goes beyond pure science to consider other important factors, weighing the cultural, historical, and policy-driven contributors to this issue. In addition, the book explores the ideas that have converged and evolved in order to clarify our current predicament.

By considering climate change in this holistic fashion, this reference collection will prepare readers to consider the issue from every angle. Each article in the work is suitable for general readers, particularly students in high school and college, and is intended to inform and educate anyone about climate change, providing valuable information regarding the stages of mitigation and adaptation that are occurring all around us.

Contributions from more than 100 experts

Excerpts from reports from international organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Transcripts of speeches from world leaders on the climate change issue

Sidebars on the climate-history connection explore the possible links between climate and key events through history, such as the Classical Maya collapse

Essential, annotated primary sources

Quotes from policy makers, scientists, eyewitnesses to climate change, and social and cultural leaders