global warming topics for research paper

• Climate Change Essay Topics Topics: 317
• Climate Essay Topics Topics: 260
• Pollution Research Topics Topics: 236
• Air Pollution Essay Topics Topics: 119
• Biodiversity Paper Topics Topics: 58
• Recycling Topics Topics: 123
• Earthquake Essay Topics Topics: 107
• Renewable Energy Paper Topics Topics: 118
• Ecosystem Essay Topics Topics: 71
• Alternative Energy Paper Topics Topics: 92
• Hurricane Research Topics Topics: 139
• Environment Research Topics Topics: 490
• Waste Disposal Paper Topics Topics: 110
• Environmental Issues Research Topics Topics: 111
• Marine Life Essay Topics Topics: 124

184 Global Warming Essay Topics

NASA named July 2023 as the hottest month ever since 1880. This news cannot be ignored, and we suggest delving into this urgent issue that is reshaping our planet. In this compilation of global warming essay topics, you will find title ideas about how human activities impact the environment, what collective actions are required to battle it, and others.

🌡️ TOP 7 Global Warming Topics

🏆 best global warming essay topics, 🎓 interesting global warming essay titles, 👍 debate topics on global warming, 💡 simple global warming essay topics, 🌶️ catchy global warming topics, 📌 easy global warming essay titles, ❓ global warming research questions.

• The Problem of Global Warming and Ways of Its Solution
• Global Warming and Ozone Depletion
• Global Warming is Not a Myth
• Extreme Weather and Global Warming
• How Global Warming Affects Wildlife
• Climate Change and Global Warming
• Al Gore’s Speech on Global Warming
• Fast Fashion and Its Impacts on Global Warming Fast fashion contributes to this change in weather conditions due to its improper disposal, leading to the release of emissions into the atmosphere, thus causing global warming.
• Global Warming: Myth or Reality? Global warming can be described as a progressive increase in the earth’s temperature as a result of a trap to greenhouse gases within its atmosphere.
• Effects of Global Warming: Essay Example According to environmentalists and other nature conservatives, Africa would be the worst hit continent by the effects of global warming despite emitting less greenhouse gases.
• Global Warming Effects on the Environment and Animals Global warming is a threat to the survival and well-being of human and animal life. This discussion aims to provide the effects of the current global warming threats.
• Devastating Effects of Global Warming The incapacitating consequences of a changing climate have resulted in significant distress among vulnerable populations as they face various challenges.
• Global Warming Challenges Solving in General Electric Environmental solutions that favor the growth of the company rather than social responsibility drive the decisions and policies of the company.
• Global Warming With an Emphasis on the Arctic This paper presents the impact of global warming with a focus on the Arctic region. It also provides key solutions that can be implemented to reduce its effects.
• Car Emissions and Global Warming The emissions problem that is caused by the excessive use of cars is an issue that affects most of the modern world and needs to be addressed as soon as possible to prevent further adverse impact.
• Car Emission Effects on Global Warming Car emissions are expected to aid policy makers in national governments, automobile manufacturers, fuel industry CEOs and city planners.
• The Effect of Global Warming and the Future Global warming effects are the social and environmental changes brought-about by the increase in global temperatures.
• Climate Change and Global Warming Awareness If people continue to have misconceptions about global warming, climate change will negatively impact weather, food security, and biodiversity.
• Global Warming and Business Ethics Business ethics is significant in promoting effective industrial activities that promote environmental conservation and reduce global warming.
• Global Warming in Relation to Human Population Size The density of the world population in the future is a crucial component of climate policy to safeguard the vulnerable future generation.
• It’s Not My Fault: Global Warming and Moral Responsibility The work of the American professor of ethical sciences Sinnott-Armstrong approaches the phenomenon of global warming in terms of individual and collective responsibility.
• Journal and Newspaper Collection on Global Warming This paper comments on Journal/ newspaper article on global warming from major newspapers and journals around the world
• The Issue of Unstoppable Global Warming and Its Effects Drought levels shall increase if the temperatures remain high, evaporation shall increase too, mostly at summer and fall, could worsen famine, and the danger of wildfires.
• Global Warming, Climate Change and Ozone Depletion Global warming refers to an increase in the Earth’s average temperature that is characterized by rising global surface temperatures and the accumulation of pollutants in the atmosphere.
• Global Warming: Causes, Factors and Effects The main factors that have been attributed to the resulting global warming are the green house gas effects, differences in the solar and also volcanoes.
• Questions on Information Revolution and Global Warming The information revolution characterizes the period of change propelled by the development of computer technology. Technological advancements impact people’s lives.
• Is the Threat of Global Warming Real? Increases in Earth’s average temperature over an extended period are called global warming. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere have recently increased.
• Global Warming: Understanding Causes of Event Global warming is a phenomenon characterized by the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere.
• Endogenous Substitution Among Energy Resources and Global Warming
• Global Warming and Developing Countries: The Possibility of a Solution by Accelerating Development
• Can Nuclear Power Solve the Global Warming Problem
• The Kyoto Protocol and the Causes and Effects of Global Warming
• Anthropogenic Global Warming Hypothesis: Testing Its Robustness by Granger Causality Analysis
• Using Hydropower Help Stop Global Warming
• Global Warming and Risk of Resources War
• Environmental Issues That Impact the Tourism Industry: Global Warming Causes
• Global Warming Atmosphere Heat Gases
• The Paris Agreement: Solutions to the Issue of Global Warming
• Each Citizen Should Aim to Reduce Their Carbon Footprint to Halt Global Warming
• Atmospheric Pollution the Atmospheric Issues and Global Warming
• Combating Global Warming and Other Problems Associated With Fossil Fuels
• Global Warming and Its Effect on Human Society
• Global Warming and Its Threat to the Future of Wildlife and Its Habitat
• Anthropogenic Global Warming: Man’s Influence in the Environment Critical Thinking
• Global Warming and Planetary Dangers
• Global Warming and Endogenous Technological Change: Revisiting the Green Paradox
• The Global Warming Potential Paradox: Implications for the Design of Climate Policy
• Does Increased Carbon Dioxide Emissions Cause Global Warming
• Global Warming: Cause and Mitigation
• America Should Take the Lead in Stopping Global Warming
• Deforestation: Global Warming and Percent Grass
• Are Global Warming and Economic Growth Compatible? Evidence From Five OPEC Countries
• Did Global Warming and Climate Change Cause the Degradation of Lake Chad, Africa’s Most Important ‘Ecological Catastrophe’
• The History of Climate Change and Global Warming Issue The paper states that the history of climate change and the solutions communities opted for are critical to tackling the current global warming issue.
• Worldwide Effects of Global Warming The article conveys Trenberth’s message about the far-reaching implications of global warming on climate and the urgent need for collective action to address its consequences.
• Global Warming and Climate Change and Their Impact on Humans Climate change and global warming are significant issues with negative impacts on all aspects of human life; for example, they disrupt the food web, hurting humans and wildlife.
• Global Warming and Crop Production in Africa Many people are aware of the current and future negative effects of global warming. Global warming will cause severe reductions in the crop in Africa, particularly in Ethiopia.
• Consequences of Global Warming Although the opinions about the causes of climate change are diverse, the effects of human activities and natural elements are similar and lead to global warming.
• Global Warming: “Hopeful Lessons From the Battle to Save Rainforests” The “Hopeful lessons from the battle to save rainforests” video proposes several solutions to deforestation and global warming.
• Global Warming Effects on Earth Global warming presents a considerable threat by having an enormous influence on humanity’s social, economic, and physical state.
• Global Warming and Economics Discussion The article discusses that at the international level, the carbon tax is not always conducive to climate change regulation.
• Global Warming: The Importance of Addressing the Climate Crisis The paper states that global warming has many consequences. Multiple scientific discoveries emphasize the importance of addressing the climate crisis urgently.
• Examining the Potential of Digital Earth Services in Connection to Global Warming In this work, the primary characteristics of global warming will be discussed with the implementation of digital Earth tools, examining the data from these sources.
• Greenhouse Effect as a Cause of Global Warming The report serves an informative function and is designed to explore the nature of global warming through the greenhouse effect.
• Iron Fertilization: Solving Global Warming The discussion in this paper considers some of the international as well as maritime laws that deal with the application of iron fertilization as a method of mitigating global warming.
• How Car Emissions Affect Global Warming This paper examines the concept of global warming with a focal point on the emissions of gases by cars and other automobiles.
• Economic Model for Global Warming The adoption of various economic models is a superior strategy that appears promising and capable of guiding policymakers and nations to tackle the predicament of climate change.
• Global Warming From a Social Studies Perspective The inability to find a balance between human needs and the consequences of their realization for the environment leads to conflict resulting in global warming.
• Climate and Social Change in Global Warming Crisis People in the community should be encouraged to change their behaviors and make better personal choices to mitigate the global warming crisis.
• Global Warming and Climate Change Climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities, mainly through the energy and transport sectors.
• Climate Change: The Leading Cause of Global Warming The chosen issue is climate change because it is a social dilemma triggered by human activity and will need joint efforts to reduce or alleviate its adverse effects.
• Climate Change Skepticism in Relation to Global Warming The researcher has used the most appropriate research design that enables her to take a closer look at climate change skepticism.
• The Issue of Global Warming in the Community To effectively mitigate the effects of global warming in the community, the team will be made up of three experts in different disciplines closely related to the environment.
• Global Warming: Do Human Activities Threaten to Change Climate? The greenhouse gases that cause global warming can only be present in the atmosphere if they are emitted and their emission can only come out of the activities of human beings.
• Global Warming and Mitigation Strategies The paper outlines causes of global warming and possible impact on human beings. There is also an evaluation of strategies applied in realization of environmental sustainability.
• Global Warming: Is It Caused by Nature or Mankind? The greenhouse effect is a term that describes an increase of the average global temperature and is often associated with global.
• Controversy About Global Warming: Skepticism and Reality There are two different points of view on global change. Skeptics believe that global warming is a natural process. Another thinks that it is the result of an exclusive human activity.
• Global Warming and Other Ecology Issues The results of global warming will always remain a topic of controversy. Most scientists will always agree and disagree on the real effects of global warming on human life.
• Global Warming: Harmful Impact on the Polar Bears The natural existence of Polar bears directly depends on the global warming process due to numerous reasons. Global warming fosters the spread of poisoned substances.
• Global Warming: Issue Analysis Global warming is a term commonly used to describe the consequences of man- made pollutants overloading the naturally-occurring greenhouse gases causing an increase of the average global temperature.
• Global Warming and the Effect on Plant Diversity
• Global Warming and Its Effects on Coastal Cities
• Weakening Dust Storm Intensity in Arid Central Asia Due to Global Warming Over the Past 160 Years
• Can Earth End Because of Global Warming?
• Global Warming and Its Effect on the Marine Ecosystem
• The Greenhouse Effect and Its Relationship to Global Warming
• Global Warming and the Need for Energy-Efficient Lighting
• Global Agricultural Trade Pattern in a Warming World: Regional Realities
• Global Warming and Its Effect on Earth’s Surface, Oceans
• Accounting for Global Warming Risks: Resource Management Under Event Uncertainty
• Global Warming and Its Effect on Natural Disasters
• The Global Warming Phenomenon: Is It Real or Not
• Global Warming and Its Effect on the Quality of Life on Earth
• Global Warming and Its Effects on the Human Body
• Global Warming and Electricity Demand: A Study of California
• Global Warming and Climate Change: Melting the Marine Life
• The Multiple Climate Change Indicators of Global Warming
• Adaptation Behaviors Across Ecosystems Under Global Warming: A Spatial Micro-Econometric Model of the Rural Economy in South America
• Global Warming and Extreme Events: Rethinking the Timing and Intensity of Environmental Policy
• Global Warming and the Changes of Temperature on Earth
• Counteracting Global Warming With Artificial Leaves
• Global Warming and Ice Age
• What Role Can Nuclear Power Play in Mitigating Global Warming
• Global Warming and Climate Change: Impacts on Hurricanes and Cyclones Worldwide
• The Long Term Effects of Global Warming and Climate Change
• Oil and Gas Industry Response to Global Warming Global warming is a contemporary serious threat to our planet for the combustion of oil, coal, and natural gas contributes in changing the atmospheric balance of carbon dioxide.
• Global Warming: Causes and Solutions Climate change has started to develop since the 20th century and is still in a progressive state of continuation. The true causes of the greenhouse effect are still open to discussion.
• The Kyoto Protocol: First Framework for Fighting Global Warming The UN Conference, held in Kyoto, in 1997 focussed on creating an international agreement to fight global warming, by reducing greenhouse gases in developed countries.
• Global Warming as Not a New-Fangled Issue Analytical research and an explanatory research have been seen to be helpful in many ways in order to increase the awareness that an audience has about the issues as global warming.
• The Global Warming Crisis and Ways of its Solution The question of global warming has been a subject of discussion in a number of publications that attempt to describe what is happening and to suggest ways that we might help make a change
• Global Warming: Causes and Consequences Global warming is the result of high levels of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, and ozone) in the earth’s atmosphere.
• Issue of the Global Warming Global warming is an issue of growing concern, with the consequences of climatic change being felt in different parts of the world.
• Global Warming: Solving a Social Problem Global warming may be a cause of the cooling in some parts of the world. Global warming can slow down ocean heat transport which becomes the reason for cooling in some regions.
• Global Warming and Its Various Consequences The slowly overheating planet may carry a wide variety of repercussions for humanity as one of the species living on its surface.
• Global Warming Leads Climate Change This paper aims to research scholarly literature in order to prove that the human race is largely responsible for global warming and climate change rather than considering it to be a natural course of existence.
• The Paris Accord: Macroeconomics and Global Warming The 21st century has been characterized by the unstoppable emergence of industries due to diverse demands of the ever-increasing world population.
• Virtue Ethics: Altering Testimony on Global Warming The paper discusses an important issue of censorship in regards to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention testimony on global warming.
• Global Warming and Its Health Implications This paper reports on the possible effects of global warming on health, complexities associated with it and the significant general implication of the same around the globe.
• Global Warming and Its Threats: Debates As human civilization continues to expand it brings with it an ever-increasing demand for resources such as food, raw materials, and space.
• The Issue of Global Warming Investigating the issue of global warming keenly would increase the understanding on whether it is a naturally occurring phenomenon or one that has been caused by human activities.
• Global Warming Problems due to Economic Growth This paper investigates if it is possible to deal with global warming by reducing CO2 emissions and energy consumption without any threats to economic development.
• Global Warming and the Free Rider Problem This paper will examine the issue of global warming from an economic standpoint, as well as cover the free rider problem and how it affects the fight against global warming.
• Iron Seeding Oceans: Global Warming Solution The principle behind iron seeding is the reduction of carbon dioxide through photosynthesis. One of the major raw materials needed in photosynthesis is carbon dioxide.
• Biodiversity, Global Warming, Environmental Conservation Several pertinent issues manifest themselves in the discussion of nature. These issues include biodiversity, global warming, and environmental conservation.
• The Problem of Global Warming and Its Effects Global warming is a problem that concerns everyone, and it is necessary to take action personally in order to prevent the development of the problem.
• Global Warming as a Humanity’s Fault World leaders were forced to hold discussions in Kigali, Rwanda, in late 2016 to establish a deal addressing mechanisms to be adopted to curb global warming.
• The Seriousness of Global Warming One of the most troubling ecological issues of the contemporary world is global warming. It is defined as an increase of global average surface temperature at an alarming rate.
• Global Warming: Car Emissions Effects The paper will answer the question on how the car emissions affect the global warming. It has been noted that in the UK, cause various health problems to the people.
• Environmental Studies of Global Warming: Cause and Mitigation Natural climate changes occur in cycles in world, and they are caused by natural interaction with different forces, whereas human activities cause anthropogenic climate changes.
• Global Warming Causes and Impacts This paper endeavors to delineate the history of global warming, the causality and every potential revelation towards diminution of the impacts of global warming.
• Environmental Studies: The Global Warming Holocaust Global climate change is a social issue that has captured the imagination of the world’s population. This issue is discussed in mass media and social media platforms.
• Concept of Global Warming Human pollution is changing the climate of our earth and has increased global warming in the past half century.
• Causes and Effects of Global Warming on the Environment The Global Warming is a process which points out an increase of approximate temperature in different spots of Earth. Causes and effects of global warming bear in present days an equivocal character.
• Climate Change and the Future of Research on Global Warming According to Feygina, Jost, and Goldsmith
• Global Warming Affects Polar Bears
• Global Warming and How It Will Affect Soil Carbon
• Will Global Warming Lead to Mass Extinction of the World’s Species
• Global Warming and Changes in Marine Ecosystems: Economic Consequences and Adjustment Issues
• Global Warming and Decreased Crop Production
• Global Warming and Its Effect on Our Environment
• Eliciting Public Preference for Nuclear Energy Against the Backdrop of Global Warming
• Could Slowing the Effects of Global Warming Save Our World
• Waste Prevention and Its Effects on Global Warming
• Global Warming and Its Effect on Ecosystems by Stimulating
• Global Warming: Polar Bears Are Endangered
• Global Warming and Its Effects on Water Storage Systems
• Global Warming and Its Effect on Earth’s Atmosphere
• Counterarguing Coleman’s Allegations That Global Warming Is a Scam
• Acid Rain, Global Warming, and Air Quality
• The Three Reasons Why Public Transportation Won’t Solve the Global Warming Problem
• U.S. Climate Report Says Global Warming Impact Already Severe by Darryl Fears
• The Past, Present, and Future of Global Warming and Climate Change
• Global Warming: Could Things Get Better Before They Get Worse
• Global Warming and Electricity Demand in the Rapidly Growing City of Delhi: A Semi-parametric Variable Coefficient Approach
• Global Warming Effects: Scientific Consensus on Temperature Changes
• Environment: Global Warming and Current Carbon Dioxide
• Will Biofuels Solve Global Warming?
• Are Global Warming and Economic Growth Compatible?
• Can Subsidizing Alternative Energy Technology Development Lead to Faster Global Warming?
• How Global Warming Is Changing the World?
• What Is the Economics of Hurricanes and Implications of Global Warming?
• How Global Warming Can Trigger Infectious Diseases Development?
• What Are the Economic Fundamentals of Global Warming?
• How Much More Rain Will Global Warming Bring?
• What Are the National Contributions to Observed Global Warming?
• What Are the Biological Consequences of Global Warming?
• What Is the “Damages Function” for Global Warming?
• How Effective Are Public Policies Against Global Warming?
• How Does Global Warming Benefit the Small in Aquatic Ecosystems?
• What Are the Alternative Mechanisms to Control Global Warming?
• What Is the Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It?
• What Is the Spatial Economic Impact of Global Warming?
• What Are the Effects of Global Warming and Urbanization in Cities?
• What Are the Public Perceptions of Global Warming Issues?
• Do People “Personally Experience” Global Warming?
• What Are the Robust Responses of the Hydrological Cycle to Global Warming?
• What Is the Status and Prospects of Renewable Energy for Combating Global Warming?
• How Warm Days Increase Belief in Global Warming?
• Can China Contribute More to the Fight Against Global Warming?
• Can Advances in Science and Technology Prevent Global Warming?
• How the Public Engages With Global Warming?
• What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming?

Cite this post

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 184 Global Warming Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/global-warming-essay-topics/

"184 Global Warming Essay Topics." StudyCorgi , 9 Sept. 2021, studycorgi.com/ideas/global-warming-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) '184 Global Warming Essay Topics'. 9 September.

1. StudyCorgi . "184 Global Warming Essay Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/global-warming-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "184 Global Warming Essay Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/global-warming-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "184 Global Warming Essay Topics." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/global-warming-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Global Warming were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on June 22, 2024 .

Climate change, energy, environment and sustainability topics research guide

What is climate change.

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. The world is now warming faster than at any point in recorded history, which disrupts the usual balance of nature and is a threat to human beings and other forms of life on Earth. This topic guide includes sample keywords and search terms, databases to find sources, and samples of online books.

Example keywords and subtopics

Example keywords or search terms:  

• Climate change
• global warming
• greenhouse effect or greenhouse gas
• climate crisis
• environmental change
• clean energy
• alternative energy or renewable energy
• green energy or renewable energy or clean energy
• Low carbon or carbon neutral
• Carbon offsetting
• sustainability environment or sustainability
• environmental protection
• pollution or contamination
• impact or effect or influence
• cost or price or expense or money or financial
• fossil fuels or coal or oil or gas

Tip: This is a big topic with lots written so you can often focus on one or two subtopics. This will help to find more relevant sources, more quickly and be a better fit for an assignment. 

Possible subtopics ideas:  Pick one or two subtopics and then add those words to your search.

• Health impacts of climate changes (e.g. air pollution, water pollution, etc.)
• impacts on a specific city, state, region or country
• political impacts (e.g. voting, government policy, etc.)
• impact on specific population or culture (e.g. children, elderly, racial or ethic group, country, etc.)
• specific types of renewable or alternative energy (e.g. solar, wind, bio, etc.) 
• example of new technology (e.g. electric cars or electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles
• economic impacts (e.g. business, employment, industry (e.g. oil, coal, etc.)
• weather and impacts (e.g. rising sea levels, flooding, droughts or heat waves, etc.)
• media aspects (e.g. news coverage, advertising, misinformation, movies, music, etc.) 
• Tutorial: Creating an effective search strategy

• Use meaningful keywords to find the best sources
• Apply search strategies like AND and OR to connect keywords
• Tutorial: What is a library database and why should I use one?

• Identify what a library database is
• Recognize the two main types of library databases
• Know why you should use them
• Understand why searching a library database is different than searching the general internet

Databases for finding sources

Article Databases - 

Use articles to find new research, specific information and evidence to support or refute a claim. You can also look at the bibliography or works cited to find additional sources. Some articles give an overview of a specific topic -- sometimes called "review articles" or "meta-analyses" or "systematic review." Databases are like mini-search engines for finding articles (e.g. Business Source Premier database searches business journals, business magazines and business newspapers). Pick a database that searches the subject of articles you want to find. 

• Agricultural & Environmental Science Database Search journals and literature on agriculture, pollution, animals, environment, policy, natural resources, water issues and more. Searches tools like AGRICOLA, Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management (ESPM), and Digests of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) databases.
• GreenFILE Collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles. Multidisciplinary by nature, GreenFILE draws on the connections between the environment and agriculture, education, law, health and technology. Topics covered include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling, and more.
• Ethnic NewsWatch Ethnic NewsWatch is a current resource of full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press from 1990, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives.
• Opposing Viewpoints in Context Find articles on current issues, including viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, magazine and newspaper articles.

Sample of online books

Below are a selection of online books and readings on the broad topic. We have more online books, journal articles, and sources in our Libraries Search and article databases.  

• A climate policy revolution : what the science of complexity reveals about saving our planet by Roland Kupers ISBN: 9780674246812 Publication Date: 2020 "In this book, Roland Kupers argues that the climate crisis is well suited to the bottom-up, rapid, and revolutionary change complexity science theorizes; he succinctly makes the case that complexity science promises policy solutions to address climate change."

Get help from the U Libraries - Online!

• Peer Research Consultants Make an online 30 minute appointment for one-on-one peer assistance with your research. Get help with researching your topic, finding sources, citing sources and more. Peer Research Consultants can also help you get started with faculty-sponsored research.
• Chat 24/7 online with the Libraries Ask us anything! Chat with a librarian, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with any research or library questions.
• Meet with a librarian Schedule an online consultations for personalized research support primarily for University of Minnesota faculty, instructors, graduate and undergraduate students and staff.

• Climate Change - A Global Issue
• Dag Hammarskjöld Library
• Research Guides

Major Reports

• A Global Issue
• At the United Nations
• Books & Journals
• Consulting the Experts
• Keeping up to date
• Data & Statistics
• AR6 - 6th IPCC Assessment Report / Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change The main activity of the IPCC is to, at regular intervals, provide Assessment Reports of the state of knowledge on climate change. The IPCC is now in its sixth assessment cycle, in which it is producing the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) with contributions by its three Working Groups and a Synthesis Report, three Special Reports, and a refinement to its latest Methodology Report.

• Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2023 / Climate Policy Initiative Date: 2023 Provides information about which sources and financial instruments are driving investments, and how much climate finance is flowing globally. The report aims to provide an updated picture on how, where, and from whom finance is flowing toward low-carbon and climate-resilient actions globally, and to improve understanding of how public and private sources of finance interact.

• << Previous: At the United Nations
• Next: Books & Journals >>
• Last Updated: May 6, 2024 4:22 PM
• URL: https://research.un.org/en/climate-change

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication

• About YPCCC
• Yale Climate Connections
• Student Employment
• For The Media
• Past Events
• YPCCC in the News
• Climate Change in the American Mind (CCAM)
• Publications
• Climate Opinion Maps
• Climate Opinion Factsheets
• Six Americas Super Short Survey (SASSY)
• Resources for Educators
• All Tools & Interactives
• Partner with YPCCC

Home / For Educators: Grades 6-12 / Climate Explained: Introductory Essays About Climate Change Topics

Climate Explained: Introductory Essays About Climate Change Topics

Filed under: backgrounders for educators ,.

Climate Explained, a part of Yale Climate Connections, is an essay collection that addresses an array of climate change questions and topics, including why it’s cold outside if global warming is real, how we know that humans are responsible for global warming, and the relationship between climate change and national security.

More Activities like this

Climate Change Basics: Five Facts, Ten Words

Backgrounders for Educators

To simplify the scientific complexity of climate change, we focus on communicating five key facts about climate change that everyone should know. 

Why should we care about climate change?

Having different perspectives about global warming is natural, but the most important thing that anyone should know about climate change is why it matters.  

External Resources

Looking for resources to help you and your students build a solid climate change science foundation? We’ve compiled a list of reputable, student-friendly links to help you do just that!  

Subscribe to our mailing list

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Yale Program on Climate Change Communication:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center
• Introduction & Top Questions
• Climatic variation since the last glaciation
• The greenhouse effect
• Radiative forcing
• Water vapour
• Carbon dioxide
• Surface-level ozone and other compounds
• Nitrous oxides and fluorinated gases
• Land-use change
• Stratospheric ozone depletion
• Volcanic aerosols
• Variations in solar output
• Variations in Earth’s orbit
• Water vapour feedback
• Cloud feedbacks
• Ice albedo feedback
• Carbon cycle feedbacks
• Modern observations
• Prehistorical climate records
• Theoretical climate models
• Patterns of warming
• Precipitation patterns
• Regional predictions
• Ice melt and sea level rise
• Ocean circulation changes
• Tropical cyclones
• Environmental consequences of global warming
• Socioeconomic consequences of global warming

How does global warming work?

Where does global warming occur in the atmosphere, why is global warming a social problem, where does global warming affect polar bears.

global warming

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• U.S. Department of Transportation - Global Warming: A Science Overview
• NOAA Climate.gov - Climate Change: Global Temperature
• Natural Resources Defense Council - Global Warming 101
• American Institute of Physics - The discovery of global warming
• LiveScience - Causes of Global Warming
• global warming - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• global warming - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

Human activity affects global surface temperatures by changing Earth ’s radiative balance—the “give and take” between what comes in during the day and what Earth emits at night. Increases in greenhouse gases —i.e., trace gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that absorb heat energy emitted from Earth’s surface and reradiate it back—generated by industry and transportation cause the atmosphere to retain more heat, which increases temperatures and alters precipitation patterns.

Global warming, the phenomenon of increasing average air temperatures near Earth’s surface over the past one to two centuries, happens mostly in the troposphere , the lowest level of the atmosphere, which extends from Earth’s surface up to a height of 6–11 miles. This layer contains most of Earth’s clouds and is where living things and their habitats and weather primarily occur.

Continued global warming is expected to impact everything from energy use to water availability to crop productivity throughout the world. Poor countries and communities with limited abilities to adapt to these changes are expected to suffer disproportionately. Global warming is already being associated with increases in the incidence of severe and extreme weather, heavy flooding , and wildfires —phenomena that threaten homes, dams, transportation networks, and other facets of human infrastructure. Learn more about how the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report, released in 2021, describes the social impacts of global warming.

Polar bears live in the Arctic , where they use the region’s ice floes as they hunt seals and other marine mammals . Temperature increases related to global warming have been the most pronounced at the poles, where they often make the difference between frozen and melted ice. Polar bears rely on small gaps in the ice to hunt their prey. As these gaps widen because of continued melting, prey capture has become more challenging for these animals.

Recent News

global warming , the phenomenon of increasing average air temperatures near the surface of Earth over the past one to two centuries. Climate scientists have since the mid-20th century gathered detailed observations of various weather phenomena (such as temperatures, precipitation , and storms) and of related influences on climate (such as ocean currents and the atmosphere’s chemical composition). These data indicate that Earth’s climate has changed over almost every conceivable timescale since the beginning of geologic time and that human activities since at least the beginning of the Industrial Revolution have a growing influence over the pace and extent of present-day climate change .

Giving voice to a growing conviction of most of the scientific community , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), published in 2021, noted that the best estimate of the increase in global average surface temperature between 1850 and 2019 was 1.07 °C (1.9 °F). An IPCC special report produced in 2018 noted that human beings and their activities have been responsible for a worldwide average temperature increase between 0.8 and 1.2 °C (1.4 and 2.2 °F) since preindustrial times, and most of the warming over the second half of the 20th century could be attributed to human activities.

AR6 produced a series of global climate predictions based on modeling five greenhouse gas emission scenarios that accounted for future emissions, mitigation (severity reduction) measures, and uncertainties in the model projections. Some of the main uncertainties include the precise role of feedback processes and the impacts of industrial pollutants known as aerosols , which may offset some warming. The lowest-emissions scenario, which assumed steep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2015, predicted that the global mean surface temperature would increase between 1.0 and 1.8 °C (1.8 and 3.2 °F) by 2100 relative to the 1850–1900 average. This range stood in stark contrast to the highest-emissions scenario, which predicted that the mean surface temperature would rise between 3.3 and 5.7 °C (5.9 and 10.2 °F) by 2100 based on the assumption that greenhouse gas emissions would continue to increase throughout the 21st century. The intermediate-emissions scenario, which assumed that emissions would stabilize by 2050 before declining gradually, projected an increase of between 2.1 and 3.5 °C (3.8 and 6.3 °F) by 2100.

Many climate scientists agree that significant societal, economic, and ecological damage would result if the global average temperature rose by more than 2 °C (3.6 °F) in such a short time. Such damage would include increased extinction of many plant and animal species, shifts in patterns of agriculture , and rising sea levels. By 2015 all but a few national governments had begun the process of instituting carbon reduction plans as part of the Paris Agreement , a treaty designed to help countries keep global warming to 1.5 °C (2.7 °F) above preindustrial levels in order to avoid the worst of the predicted effects. Whereas authors of the 2018 special report noted that should carbon emissions continue at their present rate, the increase in average near-surface air temperature would reach 1.5 °C sometime between 2030 and 2052, authors of the AR6 report suggested that this threshold would be reached by 2041 at the latest.

The AR6 report also noted that the global average sea level had risen by some 20 cm (7.9 inches) between 1901 and 2018 and that sea level rose faster in the second half of the 20th century than in the first half. It also predicted, again depending on a wide range of scenarios, that the global average sea level would rise by different amounts by 2100 relative to the 1995–2014 average. Under the report’s lowest-emission scenario, sea level would rise by 28–55 cm (11–21.7 inches), whereas, under the intermediate emissions scenario, sea level would rise by 44–76 cm (17.3–29.9 inches). The highest-emissions scenario suggested that sea level would rise by 63–101 cm (24.8–39.8 inches) by 2100.

The scenarios referred to above depend mainly on future concentrations of certain trace gases, called greenhouse gases , that have been injected into the lower atmosphere in increasing amounts through the burning of fossil fuels for industry, transportation , and residential uses. Modern global warming is the result of an increase in magnitude of the so-called greenhouse effect , a warming of Earth’s surface and lower atmosphere caused by the presence of water vapour , carbon dioxide , methane , nitrous oxides , and other greenhouse gases. In 2014 the IPCC first reported that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides in the atmosphere surpassed those found in ice cores dating back 800,000 years.

Of all these gases, carbon dioxide is the most important, both for its role in the greenhouse effect and for its role in the human economy. It has been estimated that, at the beginning of the industrial age in the mid-18th century, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere were roughly 280 parts per million (ppm). By the end of 2022 they had risen to 419 ppm, and, if fossil fuels continue to be burned at current rates, they are projected to reach 550 ppm by the mid-21st century—essentially, a doubling of carbon dioxide concentrations in 300 years.

A vigorous debate is in progress over the extent and seriousness of rising surface temperatures, the effects of past and future warming on human life, and the need for action to reduce future warming and deal with its consequences. This article provides an overview of the scientific background related to the subject of global warming. It considers the causes of rising near-surface air temperatures, the influencing factors, the process of climate research and forecasting, and the possible ecological and social impacts of rising temperatures. For an overview of the public policy developments related to global warming occurring since the mid-20th century, see global warming policy . For a detailed description of Earth’s climate, its processes, and the responses of living things to its changing nature, see climate . For additional background on how Earth’s climate has changed throughout geologic time , see climatic variation and change . For a full description of Earth’s gaseous envelope, within which climate change and global warming occur, see atmosphere .

• Climate modelling
• Extreme weather
• Health and Security
• Temperature
• China energy
• Oil and gas
• Other technologies
• China Policy
• International policy
• Other national policy
• Rest of world policy
• UN climate talks
• Country profiles
• Guest posts
• Infographics
• Media analysis
• State of the climate
• Translations
• Daily Brief
• China Briefing
• Comments Policy
• Cookies Policy
• Global emissions
• Rest of world emissions
• UK emissions
• EU emissions
• Global South Climate Database
• Newsletters
• COP21 Paris
• COP22 Marrakech
• COP24 Katowice
• COP25 Madrid
• COP26 Glasgow
• COP27 Sharm el-Sheikh
• COP28 Dubai
• Privacy Policy
• Attribution
• Geoengineering
• Food and farming
• Nature policy
• Plants and forests
• Marine life
• Ocean acidification
• Ocean warming
• Sea level rise
• Human security
• Public health
• Public opinion
• Risk and adaptation
• Science communication
• Carbon budgets
• Climate sensitivity
• GHGs and aerosols
• Global temperature
• Negative emissions
• Rest of world temperature
• Tipping points
• UK temperature
• Thank you for subscribing

Social Channels

Search archive.

Receive a Daily or Weekly summary of the most important articles direct to your inbox, just enter your email below. By entering your email address you agree for your data to be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy .

Roz Pidcock

Which of the many thousands of papers on climate change published each year in scientific journals are the most successful? Which ones have done the most to advance scientists’ understanding, alter the course of climate change research, or inspire future generations?

On Wednesday, Carbon Brief will reveal the results of our analysis into which scientific papers on the topic of climate change are the most “cited”. That means, how many times other scientists have mentioned them in their own published research. It’s a pretty good measure of how much impact a paper has had in the science world.

But there are other ways to measure influence. Before we reveal the figures on the most-cited research, Carbon Brief has asked climate experts what they think are the most influential papers.

We asked all the coordinating lead authors, lead authors and review editors on the last Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report to nominate three papers from any time in history. This is the exact question we posed:

What do you consider to be the three most influential papers in the field of climate change?

As you might expect from a broad mix of physical scientists, economists, social scientists and policy experts, the nominations spanned a range of topics and historical periods, capturing some of the great climate pioneers and the very latest climate economics research.

Here’s a link to our summary of who said what . But one paper clearly takes the top spot.

Winner: Manabe & Wetherald ( 1967 )

With eight nominations, a seminal paper by Syukuro Manabe and Richard. T. Wetherald published in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences in 1967 tops the Carbon Brief poll as the IPCC scientists’ top choice for the most influential climate change paper of all time.

Entitled, “Thermal Equilibrium of the Atmosphere with a Given Distribution of Relative Humidity”, the work was the first to represent the fundamental elements of the Earth’s climate in a computer model, and to explore what doubling carbon dioxide (CO2) would do to global temperature.

Manabe & Wetherald (1967), Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences

The Manabe & Wetherald paper is considered by many as a pioneering effort in the field of climate modelling, one that effectively opened the door to projecting future climate change. And the value of climate sensitivity is something climate scientists are still grappling with today .

Prof Piers Forster , a physical climate scientist at Leeds University and lead author of the chapter on clouds and aerosols in working group one of the last IPCC report, tells Carbon Brief:

This was really the first physically sound climate model allowing accurate predictions of climate change.

The paper’s findings have stood the test of time amazingly well, Forster says.

Its results are still valid today. Often when I’ve think I’ve done a new bit of work, I found that it had already been included in this paper.

Prof Steve Sherwood , expert in atmospheric climate dynamics at the University of New South Wales and another lead author on the clouds and aerosols chapter, says it’s a tough choice, but Manabe & Wetherald (1967) gets his vote, too. Sherwood tells Carbon Brief:

[The paper was] the first proper computation of global warming and stratospheric cooling from enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations, including atmospheric emission and water-vapour feedback.

Prof Danny Harvey , professor of climate modelling at the University of Toronto and lead author on the buildings chapter in the IPCC’s working group three report on mitigation, emphasises the Manabe & Wetherald paper’s impact on future generations of scientists. He says:

[The paper was] the first to assess the magnitude of the water vapour feedback, and was frequently cited for a good 20 years after it was published.

Tomorrow, Carbon Brief will be publishing an interview with Syukuro Manabe, alongside a special summary by Prof John Mitchell , the Met Office Hadley Centre’s chief scientist from 2002 to 2008 and director of climate science from 2008 to 2010, on why the paper still holds such significance today.

Joint second: Keeling, C.D et al. ( 1976 )

Jumping forward a decade, a classic paper by Charles Keeling and colleagues in 1976 came in joint second place in the Carbon Brief survey.

Published in the journal Tellus under the title, “Atmospheric carbon dioxide variations at Mauna Loa observatory,” the paper documented for the first time the stark rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii.

A photocopy of Keeling et al., (1976) Source: University of California, Santa Cruz

Dr Jorge Carrasco , Antarctic climate change researcher at the University of Magallanes  in Chile and lead author on the cryosphere chapter in the last IPCC report, tells Carbon Brief why the research underpinning the “Keeling Curve’ was so important.

This paper revealed for the first time the observing increased of the atmospheric CO2 as the result of the combustion of carbon, petroleum and natural gas.

Prof David Stern , energy and environmental economist at the Australian National University and lead author on the Drivers, Trends and Mitigation chapter of the IPCC’s working group three report, also chooses the 1976 Keeling paper, though he notes:

This is a really tough question as there are so many dimensions to the climate problem – natural science, social science, policy etc.

With the Mauna Loa measurements continuing today , the so-called “Keeling curve” is the longest continuous record of carbon dioxide concentration in the world. Its historical significance and striking simplicity has made it one of the most iconic visualisations of climate change.

Source: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Also in joint second place: Held, I.M. & Soden, B.J. ( 2006 )

Fast forwarding a few decades, in joint second place comes a paper by Isaac Held and Brian Soden published in the journal Science in 2006.

The paper, “Robust Responses of the Hydrological Cycle to Global Warming”, identified how rainfall from one place to another would be affected by climate change. Prof Sherwood, who nominated this paper as well as the winning one from Manabe and Wetherald, tells Carbon Brief why it represented an important step forward. He says:

[This paper] advanced what is known as the “wet-get-wetter, dry-get-drier” paradigm for precipitation in global warming. This mantra has been widely misunderstood and misapplied, but was the first and perhaps still the only systematic conclusion about regional precipitation and global warming based on robust physical understanding of the atmosphere.

Held & Soden (2006), Journal of Climate

Honourable mentions

Rather than choosing a single paper, quite a few academics in our survey nominated one or more of the Working Group contributions to the last IPCC report. A couple even suggested the Fifth Assessment Report in its entirety, running to several thousands of pages. The original IPCC report , published in 1990, also got mentioned.

It was clear from the results that scientists tended to pick papers related to their own field. For example, Prof Ottmar Edenhofer , chief economist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and co-chair of the IPCC’s Working Group Three report on mitigation, selected four papers from the last 20 years on the economics of climate change costs versus risks, recent emissions trends, the technological feasibility of strong emissions reductions and the nature of international climate cooperation.

Taking a historical perspective, a few more of the early pioneers of climate science featured in our results, too. For example, Svante Arrhenius’ famous 1896 paper  on the Greenhouse Effect, entitled “On the influence of carbonic acid in the air upon the temperature of the ground”, received a couple of votes.

Prof Jonathan Wiener , environmental policy expert at Duke University in the US and lead author on the International Cooperation chapter in the IPCC’s working group three report, explains why this paper should be remembered as one of the most influential in climate policy. He says:

[This is the] classic paper showing that rising greenhouse gas concentrations lead to increasing global average surface temperature.

Svante Arrhenius (1896), Philosophical Magazine

A few decades later, a paper by Guy Callendar in 1938  linked the increase in carbon dioxide concentration over the previous 50 years to rising temperatures. Entitled, “The artificial production of carbon dioxide and its influence on temperature,” the paper marked an important step forward in climate change research, says Andrew Solow , director of the Woods Hole Marine Policy centre and lead author on the detection and attribution of climate impacts chapter in the IPCC’s working group two report. He says:

There is earlier work on the greenhouse effect, but not (to my knowledge) on the connection between increasing levels of CO2 and temperature.

Though it may feature in the climate change literature hall of fame, this paper raises a question about how to define a paper’s influence, says Forster. Rather than being celebrated among his contemporaries, Callendar’s work achieved recognition a long time after it was published. Forster says:

I would loved to have chosen Callendar (1938) as the first attribution paper that changed the world. Unfortunately, the 1938 effort of Callendar was only really recognised afterwards as being a founding publication of the field … The same comment applies to earlier Arrhenius and Tyndall efforts. They were only influential in hindsight.

Guy Callendar and his 1938 paper in Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society

Other honourable mentions in the Carbon Brief survey of most influential climate papers go to Norman Phillips, whose 1956 paper described the first general circulation model, William Nordhaus’s 1991 paper on the economics of the greenhouse effect, and a paper by Camile Parmesan and Gary Yohe in 2003 , considered by many to provide the first formal attribution of climate change impacts on animal and plant species.

Finally, James Hansen’s 2012 paper , “Public perception of climate change and the new climate dice”, was important in highlighting the real-world impacts of climate change, says Prof Andy Challinor , expert in climate change impacts at the University of Leeds and lead author on the food security chapter in the working group two report. He says:

[It] helped with demonstrating the strong links between extreme events this century and climate change. Result: more clarity and less hedging.

Marc Levi , a political scientist at Columbia University and lead author on the IPCC’s human security chapter, makes a wider point, telling Carbon Brief:

The importance is in showing that climate change is observable in the present.

Indeed, attribution of extreme weather continues to be at the forefront of climate science, pushing scientists’ understanding of the climate system and modern technology to their limits.

Look out for more on the latest in attribution research as Carbon Brief reports on the Our Common Futures Under Climate Change conference taking place in Paris this week.

Pinning down which climate science papers most changed the world is difficult, and we suspect climate scientists could argue about this all day. But while the question elicits a range of very personal preferences, stories and characters, one paper has clearly stood the test of time and emerged as the popular choice among today’s climate experts – Manabe and Wetherald, 1967.

Main image: Satellite image of Hurricane Katrina.

• What are the most influential climate change papers of all time?

Expert analysis direct to your inbox.

Get a round-up of all the important articles and papers selected by Carbon Brief by email. Find out more about our newsletters here .

Global Warming

Long-term warming trends and increases in extreme weather events have the potential to impact all life on Earth. Even though at least 97 percent of climate scientists agree that human activities have contributed to rising global temperatures, the predominance and causes of these phenomena continue to be debated and many Americans deny global warming.

Read the overview below to gain a balanced understanding of the issues and explore the previews of opinion articles that highlight many perspectives on the response to global warming and climate change.

Access Through Your library >>  

Topic Home      |      Social Issues      |      Literature      |      Lifelong Learning & DIY      |      World History

Global warming topic overview.

"Global Warming and Climate Change." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection , Gale, 2023.

Though the terms global warming and climate change are often used interchangeably, they have different meanings. Climate change describes long-term shifts in Earth's weather patterns that affect temperature, humidity, wind, cloud cover, and precipitation. Global warming refers explicitly to an increase in Earth's average surface temperatures caused by human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels. Anthropogenic climate change refers to changes in the climate caused by human activity, particularly industrialization and agricultural practices that release pollutants into the atmosphere.

Overwhelming scientific evidence supports the existence of both global warming and climate change. Through the United Nations' (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), thousands of scientists work together to collect and analyze the latest available research related to climate change, its effects, and potential responses. In an interim update to its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) in 2023, the IPCC estimated that global surface temperatures increased by 1.1°C (1.98°F) between the latter half of the nineteenth century and the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The IPCC has linked climate change and global warming to the increased occurrence and severity of storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires, warning that such disasters will increase further if temperatures continue to rise. The scientists' group also identifies water availability and food production as well as health and wealth being as experiencing observable, widespread, and substantial changes related to climate change. These threats have led scientists to identify global warming and climate change as a climate crisis . The IPCC recognizes human activity, particularly industrialization and certain agricultural practices that release carbon dioxide (CO2), as the primary driver of global warming and climate change.

Despite substantial evidence and a consensus among the scientific community, a vocal minority continues to challenge the science behind climate change. These critics characterize climate change as a natural phenomenon and dispute assertions that human activity has contributed to rising global temperatures. This position may be referred to as climate denial , and those who reject the scientific consensus are considered climate deniers . Fossil fuel companies often provide financial support to politicians, media campaigns, and organizations that promote climate denial.

• Climate chang e refers to long-term shifts in weather patterns. Global warming is the increase in the planet's average surface temperatures caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels.
• Causes of climate change related to human activity are referred to as anthropogenic . Natural causes of climate change are called naturogenic .
• Earth's atmosphere contains several gases that trap heat from the sun and prevent it from escaping into space. These gases are called greenhouse gases (GHGs).
• July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth.
• Global warming has the potential to cause disruptions in the food supply, harm ecosystems and wildlife habitats, and threaten the planet's biodiversity.
• Countries that experience the harshest effects of climate change are often low- and middle-income countries who contribute fewer greenhouse gas emissions than wealthier countries that do not experience the effects so intensely.
• The United States has joined other countries in making commitments to fight climate change, but that commitment has largely depended on the country's leadership.
• Though the administration of President Joe Biden has taken more aggressive steps to combat the climate crisis, critics question whether these steps will meet the administration's ambitious goals and whether those goals are sufficient.

CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Earth's atmosphere contains several gases that trap heat from the sun and prevent it from escaping into space. This phenomenon is known as the greenhouse effect , and the gases are called greenhouse gases (GHGs). The main GHGs in nature are carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Without the greenhouse effect, Earth would be too cold to support life. Over time, the amount of GHGs trapped in Earth's atmosphere has increased significantly, causing worldwide temperatures to rise.

Natural processes on Earth constantly create and destroy GHGs. For example, plant and animal matter decay produce carbon dioxide, which plants then absorb during photosynthesis. This natural cycle stabilizes atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide. Climate change scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other federal and international agencies recognize that natural factors, including volcanic activity and shifts in the planet's crust, continue to play a role in climate change. However, they generally agree that these factors alone do not explain the substantial rise in Earth's temperature. Natural causes of climate change are referred to as naturogenic , while causes of climate change related to human activity are called anthropogenic .

Earth's vegetation releases and absorbs over two hundred billion metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels, add approximately seven billion metric tons per year. Climate scientists believe the cumulative effect of this additional carbon dioxide has had a dramatic impact on the atmosphere. Deforestation has also contributed to this increase by releasing carbon dioxide stored in trees and eliminating forests that would continue to absorb many tons of carbon dioxide. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as of 2023 the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had increased by 50 percent since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain in the eighteenth century.

Increased levels of other GHGs, such as nitrous oxide and methane, have also resulted from human activity. Several agricultural and industrial processes, such as the use of certain fertilizers in farming, produce extensive amounts nitrous oxide. Methane emissions come from fossil fuel production, landfills, and livestock. Though much smaller quantities of these gases exist in Earth's atmosphere, some scientists believe they cause more harm than carbon dioxide. Methane, for example, is about twenty-one times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat. Humans have also created and released GHGs that do not occur in nature. These include hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). These gases, released during industrial processes such as aluminum production and electrical transmission, trap thousands of times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

CLIMATE CHANGE PREDICTIONS

A broad consensus exists in the scientific community that the consequences of climate change may be devastating, though the exact nature of the changes is difficult to predict. No model to chart climate patterns has had complete accuracy. For instance, most climate models failed to predict a slowdown in rising temperatures starting in 1998 and ending in 2012. The slowdown was attributed to volcanic eruptions that blocked out the sun and cooled temperatures, low levels of solar activity, and naturally occurring variability. Similarly, some predictions have underestimated threats.

In its initial assessment of rising sea levels in 1990, the IPCC initially anticipated a sea level rise of 1.9 millimeters per year from that year onward. However, as of 2023, the IPCC reports that sea levels rose at a rate of 3.7 millimeters per year between 2006 and 2018. Sea level rise contributes to increased flooding and the damage caused by extreme storms such as hurricanes in coastal cities. The IPCC predicts that sea level rise could threaten as many as one billion people living in low-lying cities and communities by 2041, noting the threats to livelihoods, cultural heritage, and the existence of many island nations.

US PUBLIC OPINION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The effects of human activities on global warming and climate change are acknowledged and accepted by most people in the United States. According to annual polls conducted by Gallup since 2001, the public's beliefs in anthropogenic climate change has increased. In 2023, 62 percent of Americans accepted that human activities cause climate change (up from 61 percent in 2001), 60 percent believed that the effects have begun (up from 54 percent), and 46 percent stated that global warming will soon pose a serious threat (up from 31 percent).

Researchers have observed a strong correlation between Americans' political affiliations and their acceptance of climate science and levels of concern about global warming. In 2023, about 85 percent of Democrats believed the effects of global warming were already apparent, and 88 percent believed humans caused them. In comparison, only 33 percent of Republicans agreed with the first statement and 29 percent agreed with the second. Most independents believed both statements (61 and 66 percent, respectively). However, further analysis by Gallup in 2022 revealed that Republicans under age fifty-five expressed greater concern about global warming than those age fifty-five and older but still significantly fewer than Democrats or Independents of any age group.

EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING

The potential consequences of global warming remain an issue of great debate and uncertainty. However, most experts predict dramatic and severe problems for future generations. Warmer oceans could result in stronger and more frequent hurricanes. As temperatures climb, some regions could experience frequent heat waves that bring devastating droughts and wildfires. In the United States, the 2023 summer season experienced a series of heat waves that broke temperature records in different parts of the country, particularly in Washington and Oregon. In July 2023, heat waves also affected many countries in the Northern Hemisphere, including Canada, China, and some European countries. NASA has confirmed that July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth by a significant margin, identifying global warming as the principal causal factor.

Climate change has been linked to severe, exceptional droughts across several western states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Climate scientists refer to this phenomenon a "megadrought," and it has contributed to massive wildfires in the first decades of the twenty-first century.

From 2018 to 2021, California and Oregon endured massive wildfires that burned millions of acres and led to the displacement of thousands of residents, widespread destruction of property, and the deaths of dozens of people. California had a record-breaking wildfire season in 2020, including the state's first gigafire —a blaze that burned over one million acres of land. By the end of the year, wildfires burned more than four million acres throughout the state. Though wildfires were less frequent throughout the United States from 2022 to 2023 than in the preceding several years, the effects of global warming and the federal and state governments' lack of emergency preparedness led to one of the deadliest wildfires in recorded history. In August 2023 a small brush fire that a broken powerline may have caused started burning just outside the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii. In just a few minutes, winds blew the fire toward town, devouring wooden buildings, telephone and electric power lines, and water pipes. Without enough water pressure, Lahaina's fire department failed to contain the wildfire, and with the town's communication and power systems down, residents were not immediately alerted. As of September 2023, authorities had confirmed that ninety-seven people had been killed in the wildfire and thirty-one individuals were still missing in what had become the eleventh deadliest wildfire in world history.

A megadrought could also lead to water shortages. For example, the US government issued its first Tier 1 federal water shortage declaration in August 2021 for the Colorado River. The river provides water for several US states and parts of Mexico. The first cuts to state water supplies took effect in October in Arizona and Nevada. Upon revisiting the issue in August 2022, the government intensified its alarm, raising the classification to a Tier 2 federal water shortage and issuing drastic cuts to state water allowances. In August 2023, the government announced that the Colorado River water shortage would return to Tier 1 in 2024 and that water restrictions would be eased. The government's decision came after an unusually high amount of snowpack formed on the mountains near the Colorado River during the 2022–2023 winter season.

Many coastal areas worldwide could also face severe flooding due to rising sea levels. Low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean would eventually become uninhabitable. From 1880 to 2022, sea levels rose about eight to nine inches worldwide. The hurricane season of 2017 proved to be the costliest hurricane season since 1900, causing over $265 billion of property damage in the United States and more than three thousand deaths in Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico. The year 2020 experienced thirty named storms, the most to ever occur in a single hurricane season. The first hurricane to make landfall in 2022 was Hurricane Fiona, which struck Puerto Rico and other Caribbean Islands in September. All of Puerto Rico, which was still recovering from devastating hurricanes in 2017, lost power, and several areas suffered flooding and landslides. Though twenty tropical storms affected the United States during the 2023 hurricane season, only three made landfall. One of them, Hurricane Idalia, was the strongest hurricane to hit Florida's Big Bend region since 1950, leaving over $1 billion worth of damages.

Global warming also threatens vulnerable ecosystems and wildlife habitats. Extended periods of drought can turn fertile lands into deserts with little vegetation. Plants and animals may not survive the rapid changes caused by global warming and could become extinct. Over the long term, such changes would negatively affect Earth's biodiversity. Environmental scientists warn that some ecosystems, such as coral reefs and coastal mangrove swamps, will likely disappear entirely.

The climate crisis also threatens to disrupt the global food supply, worsen economic inequality, and create security issues. Some areas might become too dry or too wet to support agriculture. As global warming causes more places to become uninhabitable, such displacement can drive mass migration. Communities struggle to recover from climate disasters, often exacerbating existing problems in those areas. Disputes over access to water have arisen in several states, including those with areas that rely on Colorado River water. Around the world, some water disputes have developed into armed conflicts.

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

• For what reasons do you think perceptions of anthropogenic climate change vary among Democrats and Republicans in the United States?
• What potential long-term consequences of climate change do you think will be the most difficult to manage? Explain your reasoning.
• In what ways, if at all, do you think the federal government could change its approach to address climate change more effectively? Explain your answer.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE AND US POLICY

The scope and global nature of the climate crisis necessitate that countries work together. Because an effective response requires countries to make sacrifices, negotiations to develop a coordinated international response have encountered repeated obstacles. Further, industrialized countries have contributed a disproportionate amount to the crisis. In contrast, less industrialized, lower-income countries have disproportionately felt the effects of the crisis and often lack the resources and infrastructure for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Since 1995, the UN has hosted annual conferences to discuss climate change as part of its Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). In 1997, delegates gathered in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate an international treaty known as the Kyoto Protocol. This treaty required industrialized countries to reduce their GHG emissions by a certain percentage over five years. As of November 2023, 191 countries and the European Union had ratified the Kyoto Protocol. The United States has not ratified the agreement, citing concerns that it does not impose restrictions on China and India. Canada withdrew in 2011.

In 2015, world leaders set new climate goals at the UNFCCC conference (COP21) in Paris, France. The resultant Paris Agreement aimed to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2°C (3.6°F) above preindustrial levels and provide countries with the tools needed to counteract climate change. President Barack Obama played a leading role in brokering the Paris Agreement and pushed for greater environmental restrictions during his presidency. The Paris Agreement went into effect with the commitment of the United States and seventy-three other parties in November 2016. Obama's successor, Donald Trump, announced in 2017 that the United States would withdraw its support. After a required period, the United States officially withdrew from the agreement in November 2020.

Upon taking office in January 2021, President Joe Biden reentered the country in the Paris Agreement. Biden vowed that his administration would prioritize climate policy and issued several executive orders that made sustainability and addressing climate change important considerations across all federal government agencies. In April 2021, the president hosted a virtual climate summit attended by forty world leaders and pledged that the United States would reduce its carbon emissions to half of 2005 levels by 2030. In June 2022, the Biden administration experienced a setback when the Supreme Court ruled in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the Clean Air Act did not grant the EPA authority to regulate GHG emissions without Congress passing additional legislation.

In August 2022, Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a law promoting a sustainable green economy by incentivizing emissions reductions, supporting clean energy projects, and requiring the wealthiest individuals and corporations to pay more taxes. Though many advocates celebrated the law as the federal government's most aggressive step to combat the climate crisis, the law has also attracted criticism. Some detractors contend that the law remains insufficient to have a meaningful impact on the climate crisis or its other targets, which include health care costs, worker protections, and inflation. Further, Republicans have framed the law as an undue empowerment of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the agency responsible for collecting taxes. Public reception of Biden's climate policies has largely split along party lines. A June 2023 Pew Research Center survey revealed that 76 percent of Democrats approved of Biden's climate policies while 82 percent of Republicans disapproved.

More Articles

Global warming and climate change can be stopped if people try harder.

“Nations need to accelerate deployment of existing technologies to lock in and build on the gains of the last three years.”

Dr. Pep Canadell is Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project, Deputy Research Director at Atmosphere and Land Observation Assessment, and a research scientist at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research.

In the following viewpoint, Canadell argues that recent efforts to improve energy efficiency and increase the use of clean energy have contributed to a stalling in fossil fuel emissions. However, Canadell contends that governments will need to increase their efforts to meet the climate goals established in the 2015 Paris Agreement. He compares the successes and shortcomings of China, the United States, India, Australia, and the European Union in reducing emissions. He examines the practice of storing carbon dioxide underground through carbon capture and storage (CCS) and concludes that thousands of CCS facilities will be necessary to meet climate goals.

Politicians Use Climate Change as an Excuse to Limit Personal Freedom

"Repetition is precisely what we are experiencing in the major media, which have selectively interviewed people who promote the climate change myth."

Cal Thomas is a syndicated columnist and the author of several books, including What Works: Common Sense Solutions for a Stronger America .

In the following viewpoint, Thomas argues that politicians use the issue of climate change as an excuse for the government to interfere in the lives of private citizens. Noting that some climate predictions have overestimated the impact of global warming, the author disputes the widely held belief that global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity. He contends that politicians and the mainstream media encourage public outrage and generate panic over climate change by promoting the opinions and predictions of alarmists while ignoring the views of skeptics.

Renewable Energy Sources Benefit Health, Climate, and the Economy

The Union of Concerned Scientists is a membership organization of citizens and scientists who work together to promote the responsible use of science to improve the world.

Renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass, each come with their own set of unique costs and benefits, but overall these cleaner energy sources have overwhelmingly positive effects on the climate, human health, and the economy. Renewable energy sources represent a vast and inexhaustible supply of energy, produce little or no global warming emissions, improve public health and environmental quality, help stabilize energy prices, create jobs and other economic benefits, and contribute to a more reliable and resilient energy system. The costs of renewable energy have declined in recent years and are projected to continue decreasing, making renewables more accessible and affordable for consumers than ever.

Biomass Power Plants Produce Just as Much Pollution as Coal-Fired Power Plants

"There is no quicker way to move carbon into the atmosphere—the opposite of what we want—than through utility-scale biomass energy plants that burn millions of trees per year."

In the following viewpoint, Gordon Clark and Mary Booth point out that although biomass energy has been promoted as environmentally friendly, new and proposed biomass power plants emit just as much pollution and carbon dioxide as those using fossil fuels, sometimes even more. The arguments favoring biomass power plants as a renewable energy source are not valid, they say; recent studies have shown this, and some states are eliminating subsidies and tightening regulations requiring efficiency. The authors speculate whether the Environmental Protection Agency will take federal action and formulate rules that make biomass power plants responsible for the greenhouse gases they release. Booth is the director of the Partnership for Policy Integrity, and Clark is its communications director.

Looking for information on other topics?

Access Through Your Library >>

• Share full article

The Science of Climate Change Explained: Facts, Evidence and Proof

Definitive answers to the big questions.

Credit... Photo Illustration by Andrea D'Aquino

Supported by

By Julia Rosen

Ms. Rosen is a journalist with a Ph.D. in geology. Her research involved studying ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica to understand past climate changes.

• Published April 19, 2021 Updated Nov. 6, 2021

The science of climate change is more solid and widely agreed upon than you might think. But the scope of the topic, as well as rampant disinformation, can make it hard to separate fact from fiction. Here, we’ve done our best to present you with not only the most accurate scientific information, but also an explanation of how we know it.

How do we know climate change is really happening?

• How much agreement is there among scientists about climate change?
• Do we really only have 150 years of climate data? How is that enough to tell us about centuries of change?
• How do we know climate change is caused by humans?
• Since greenhouse gases occur naturally, how do we know they’re causing Earth’s temperature to rise?
• Why should we be worried that the planet has warmed 2°F since the 1800s?
• Is climate change a part of the planet’s natural warming and cooling cycles?
• How do we know global warming is not because of the sun or volcanoes?
• How can winters and certain places be getting colder if the planet is warming?
• Wildfires and bad weather have always happened. How do we know there’s a connection to climate change?
• How bad are the effects of climate change going to be?
• What will it cost to do something about climate change, versus doing nothing?

Climate change is often cast as a prediction made by complicated computer models. But the scientific basis for climate change is much broader, and models are actually only one part of it (and, for what it’s worth, they’re surprisingly accurate ).

For more than a century , scientists have understood the basic physics behind why greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide cause warming. These gases make up just a small fraction of the atmosphere but exert outsized control on Earth’s climate by trapping some of the planet’s heat before it escapes into space. This greenhouse effect is important: It’s why a planet so far from the sun has liquid water and life!

However, during the Industrial Revolution, people started burning coal and other fossil fuels to power factories, smelters and steam engines, which added more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Ever since, human activities have been heating the planet.

Where it was cooler or warmer in 2020 compared with the middle of the 20th century

Global average temperature compared with the middle of the 20th century

+0.75°C

–0.25°

30 billion metric tons

Carbon dioxide emitted worldwide 1850-2017

Rest of world

Other developed

European Union

Developed economies

Other countries

United States

E.U. and U.K.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

Advertisement

Global Warming

About global warming, narrow the topic.

• Articles & Videos
• MLA Citation This link opens in a new window
• APA Citation This link opens in a new window

• Is the world actually getting warmer?
• What is the difference between greenhouse effect and global warming?
• What are the greenhouse gases and why are they important to us?
• Should we be concerned about global warming?
• Is the greenhouse effect a serious threat?
• Why is glacial melt a concern?
• Is ozone depletion a genuine threat?
• Discuss the effect of global warming on a particular region such as Alaska?
• Should the United States sign the United Nations' Kyoto Protocol?
• Should the Environmental Protection Agency have the authority to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from motor vehicles and power plants?
• Next: Library Resources >>
• Last Updated: Aug 29, 2024 2:42 PM
• URL: https://libguides.broward.edu/Global_Warming

Questions? Call us: 

Email: 

• How it works
• Testimonials

Essay Writing

• Essay service
• Essay writers
• College essay service
• Write my essay
• Pay for essay
• Essay topics

Term Paper Writing

• Term paper service
• Buy term papers
• Term paper help
• Term paper writers
• College term papers
• Write my term paper
• Pay for term paper
• Term paper topic

Research Paper Writing

• Research paper service
• Buy research paper
• Research paper help
• Research paper writers
• College research papers
• Write my research paper
• Pay for research paper
• Research paper topics

Dissertation Writing

• Dissertation service
• Buy dissertation
• Dissertation help
• Dissertation writers
• College thesis
• Write my dissertation
• Pay for dissertation
• Dissertation topics

Other Services

• Custom writing services
• Speech writing service
• Movie review writing
• Editing service
• Assignment writing
• Article writing service
• Book report writing
• Book review writing

Popular request:

Writing the best global warming essay – take an original approach.

October 8, 2019

Global warming is one of the most disastrous phenomenons in the history of the earth. Unlike several decades ago, the scientific evidence of global warming and associated impacts has become clearer. But even with the dangers such as the thawing of polar ice sheets and extensive droughts become the norm, it is sad that we have failed to come up with a cohesive strategy to counter it. Now, when you are required to write a global warming essay or related paper; how do you do it?

Craft The Right Structure For Your Essay On Global Warming

Even before starting to work on your global warming essay, it is prudent to create a good structure. The goal of the structure is ensuring you know what will come at what section and creating a smooth flow of ideas from the start to the end. Here is a sample structure of a great short essay on global warming for students.

Title : The title should be catchy and relevant to the topic.

Introduction : As the first part of your essay, you should use the introduction to prepare the reader about what is in the body. Also, make the introduction interesting so that the reader can have the interest to keep reading.

The body : This is another very important part of the essay where you get into the details of your subject. Every paragraph on global warming essays should explain a different point.

Conclusion : After bringing out your argument cohesively, the conclusion allows you to tie the points neatly. You should summarize the entire essay in a few sentences. Note that the conclusion should not introduce new points. However, you can call for further studies on the topic if you found it inadequately covered.

Research All Facts Before Writing Your Essay On Global Warming

Now that you have the best structure for the essay of global warming, it is time to get down into the details of your topic. Every global warming essay in English for students should be deeply researched to cover the following components:

Some history of global warming (when did it start). At what point was it discovered to be a threat to the planet?

What are the causes of global warming? Make sure to cite specifics such as individual sources of emissions.

Effects of global warming. Because these are many, it is important to focus on those that you have ample information on.

Carefully bring out the different interventions that have been instituted and point out their success or failure.

Special Tips For A Winning Global Warming Essay For Students

In addition to having the best structure, and comprehensive research on global warming, here are other useful tips to help you craft a good essay.

• Use images to demonstrate various aspects of the global warming phenomenon.
• Use the latest trends to make your essay more impressive.
• Consider using short sentences and paragraphs to make the essay easy to read and understand.
• Make sure to use the right citations. For example, capture the latest statistics and give the right references. This will make your work more authentic.
• Make the essay easy to read by using simple English and explaining every complex phrase. If there are initials, ensure to give their full meaning the first time they appear in the essay.
• Use samples of other global warming essays for students to learn how to craft winning papers.
• If your writing skills are poor or the deadline is tight, do not hesitate to seek writing help with your college essay. This will guarantee you top marks as you hone the necessary skills.

Essay Of Global Warming: Where Do You Place Environmental Activism

Another concept that features prominently in global warming essays is environmental activism. You can either include it as a separate paragraph in a short essay or a different subtopic for longer papers. One of the most outstanding activists in fighting global warming out there is Greta Thunberg. Here is some info about her:

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist whose campaign on climate change has won her international recognition. At age 15, she started spending part of her school time outside the Swedish parliament with banners calling for stronger efforts to counter global warming. She called it “School Strike for Climate.” Soon, other students joined and held demonstrations from across the world, calling for firmer action on climate change. In 2018, she addressed the UN Climate Change Conference.

Identifying Essay Topics On Global Warming

If you are in a global warming class or a related subject, there are instances when your tutor might require you to pick your preferred topic to write on. In such a case, you should look for a subject that has ample information to write on. Though it is also okay to be exploratory by picking subjects that are relatively new, you are likely to get stuck along the way for a lack of information. Here are some great topics that you should consider for your global warming essay.

• The New Dynamics of Climate Change: What are the Factors making it Hard to Address the Global Phenomenon.
• How does Global Warming Impact Food Production?
• Climate Change: Why the Earth is Still at Risk even if Carbon Dioxide Emissions are Reduced.
• Demonstrating the Link between Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming.
• What Efforts Could Have been used to Prevent Global Warming 50 Years Ago?
• Demystifying Global Warming Denial and its Impact on Mitigation Effects?
• Red Alert: Why Global Warming could become Unstoppable even with the new interventions.
• Exploring the Shift in Earth Balance of the Polar Ice: A Closer Look at Antarctic Ice Sheet.
• Is there a Link between Climate Change and Sea-level Changes in Islands?
• Learning From the Past: Exploring the Lessons Drawn from the Kyoto Protocol on Carbon Dioxide.
• Evaluating the Relationship between Global Warming and Population Changes of Tropic Animals.
• Can the Fight against Global Warming be won?
• The Extended Impacts of Air Pollution: A Closer Look at the Health of Forests
• Taking Stock of Kyoto: Why Our Best is not enough to Halt Global Warming.
• Global Biodiversity Change: Exploring the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Climate Change.
• Assessing the Extinction of Debt of Mountain Plants under the Effect of Climate Change.
• Evaluating the Species that are Most Vulnerable from Global Warming.
• Assessing Greenhouse Gases Emissions Production in West China.
• What are the Most Effective Ways of Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Transport Sector: A Closer Look at Copenhagen.
• Polar Volcanoes: Evaluating the Impact of their Degradation Because of Global Warming.
• Global Warming and its Impact on Migration Paths.
• Impacts of Pesticides on Water Safety: Exploring its Link to Air and Water Pollution.
• International Treaties: Evaluating their Efficiency in Addressing Global Warming.
• Demonstrating how Politics Can Affect Global Warming.
• A Closer Look at the Link between Global Warming and Development of the Chemical Industry.
• Assessing the Carbon Footprint of Global Tourism: A Closer Look at Sweden
• Demystifying The Main Processes used by Greenhouse Gases to Take Heat and Radiate it back.
• Evaluating the Efficiency of Strategies used to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Concentration in the Atmosphere.
• Assessing the Impacts of Climate Extremes: A Case Study of Egypt 1990-2019.
• What are the Impacts of Climate Change on Coral Reefs? A Closer Look at the Great Barrier Reef.
• Exploring the Impacts of Global Warming on Business in London.
• Distributed Burden of Climate Change: Influence of Ethics, Science, and Development.
• Evaluating the Impacts of Climate Change on Tourism: A Case Study of France.
• Impact of Climate Change on Portable Water: A Case Study of India.
• Differentiating between Anthropogenic and Natural Climatic Changes.
• A Theoretical View: Why are Some Countries Ignoring the Global Warming phenomena?
• Disappearing Forests: Exploring the Best Strategies for Saving them.
• Economic Development vs Environment: The Politics of Air Pollution, Health and Wealth.
• Is this the Best Solution to Global Warming: A Closer Look at the Hybrid Approach to Addressing the Problem of Deforestation.
• Evaluating the Impact of Food Waste on Climate Change.
• Global Warming in Numbers: Demystifying the Earth Surface Heating Rates in the Last 100 years.
• Using Technology to Fix the Problem of Global Warming
• Linking Security issues and Global Warming.
• Why are the impacts of Global Warming Felt more in Some Countries than Others?
• Estimating greenhouse gas Emissions from India’s Domestic Water Sector.
• Challenges of Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Municipal Solid Waste Management Facilities in India.
• Assessing the Place of Environmental Activism in Countering the Problem of Global Warming.
• Is Global Warming a Natural Cycle?
• On the Trails of Global Warming: Does the World have a Future?
• Global Warming: Are Human Beings the Biggest Enemies to the Planet?

The Final Take On Writing Global Warming Essays

If you are new to college, tasks such as global warming essay assignments will be very common. This post has demonstrated how to plan for such essays and get the highest marks. Do not let college essays cause stress to you; use the tips provided in this post to write like a pro.

Take a break from writing.

Top academic experts are here for you.

• How To Write An Autobiography Guideline And Useful Advice
• 182 Best Classification Essay Topics To Learn And Write About
• How To Manage Stress In College: Top Practical Tips  
• How To Write A Narrative Essay: Definition, Tips, And A Step-by-Step Guide
• How To Write Article Review Like Professional
• Great Problem Solution Essay Topics
• Creating Best Stanford Roommate Essay
• Costco Essay – Best Writing Guide
• How To Quote A Dialogue
• Wonderful Expository Essay Topics
• Research Paper Topics For 2020
• Interesting Persuasive Essay Topics

197 Global Warming Essay Titles & Examples

A global warming essay is a popular assignment in schools and colleges. Over here, our experts came up with 191 amazing titles that you can use for practice or inspiration.

☀Top 10 Global Warming Essay Topics

📝 global warming essay structure, 🏆 best global warming research topic, 🥇 most interesting titles for global warming, 💡 good essay topics on global warming, 📌 simple & easy global warming essay titles, ❓ global warming essay questions.

• The impact of global warming on physical geography.
• The benefits and limitations of solar power.
• Contribution of deforestation to climate change.
• How successful are international climate agreements?
• Comparing the average carbon footprint across different countries.
• How individuals can fight against global warming.
• Largest contributors to the greenhouse effect.
• What are the causes of global warming?
• Changes in the sea climate over the last 20 years.
• The impact of global warming on weather patterns.

If you study science, journalism, or politics, chances are that you will need to write a global warming essay at some point.

While finding things to write about shouldn’t be an issue, your paper must be structured well to receive an excellent mark. The following step-by-step process will help you to organize ideas and ensure that your essay on global warming flows logically.

1️⃣ Choose the right topic

If your instructor didn’t provide a list of possible topics to write about, you would need to do this yourself.

Ideally, the focus of your paper should be rather narrow, as this will allow you to demonstrate your analytical and critical thinking skills. For example, you could write about global warming causes and effects or comment on national policies that aim to prevent environmental damage.

Make sure that there are plenty of resources on your chosen subject and that it sounds interesting to you. Otherwise, the writing process will be more difficult.

2️⃣ Find sample papers on global warming, climate change, and related problems

There are plenty of example essays available on the Internet, so this shouldn’t take too long. While reading other people’s work, note how they structured key points. Write down any global warming essay titles that seem interesting, and then brainstorm to find an ideal name for your piece.

3️⃣ Create a list of key points based on your thoughts and research

Once you have a title, finding resources online is easy. Be careful to select scholarly resources, such as articles from academic journals, books, and official reports.

The information contained in news articles may be biased, so try to refrain from relying on them. As you read, write out the main ideas related to your subject and any thoughts and responses you have.

4️⃣ Organize your points into a proper global warming essay outline

The introduction should have some background information. Reserve your main arguments for the body of the paper. Each paragraph should begin with one key idea, followed by an explanation and examples. The information in the next paragraph should be connected to or follow logically from the arguments you present. This will help you to create a logical flow.

5️⃣ Write a strong global warming essay thesis

A thesis statement should reflect the focus of the work and be clear and succinct. If you are struggling with this part, ask a friend to read your outline and suggest what the main idea should be.

You can also check essay samples to see how other students structured their thesis. As you write the paper, return to your thesis to see if the content fits in with it. Do not include too much irrelevant information, as this will cost you marks.

6️⃣ Create a neat conclusion

The purpose of a global warming essay conclusion is to tie together all of your points and offer the reader a proper closure. For this reason, you should write a plan for your conclusion after you’ve mapped the rest of the paper.

Repeat your thesis statement at the beginning of the final paragraph and then offer more details by returning to the main arguments. Do not include any new resources of information in the end, as this will make your paper look unfinished!

Following the steps described above will assist you in writing an excellent, well-organized student essay on global warming! Before you begin working on your paper, check our samples – they will help you to make great global warming essay titles!

• Global Warming as Serious Threat to Humanity One of the most critical aspects of global warming is the inability of populations to predict, manage, and decrease natural disruptions due to their inconsistency and poor cooperation between available resources.
• Global Warming Advantages: A New Look at the Phenomenon Global warming will become a threat to it, and will save a lot of money that may involve in clearing and keeping the ice blocks off the roads.
• Global Warming: Causes, Effects, Solutions When carbon dioxide emissions are released to the air, they remain in the atmosphere for over 100 years, and with time causing the temperature on the earth to increase, which results to global warming.
• Effects of Global Warming on Human Health The increasing global temperatures cause the level of water in the seas to rise due to the melting of sea ice and glaciers.
• Global Warming and Human Impact: Pros and Cons These points include the movement of gases in the atmosphere as a result of certain human activities, the increase of the temperature because of greenhouse gas emissions, and the rise of the oceans’ level that […]
• Climate Change – Global Warming For instance, in the last one century, scientists have directly linked the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere with the increase in temperature of the earth.
• Causes and Effects of Global Warming The following discussion comprises of the effects of the global warming as well as the mitigating measures to be put in place.
• Global Warming and Increase of Global Temperature Global warming refers to the rise in the normal temperature of the earth’s near-surface atmosphere and water bodies ever since the middle of the twentieth century and its predictable continuation.
• The Global Warming Debate: Is It Real? Regardless of the side that has the truth, it is very important to treat the issue of global warming with utmost attention given the potential it has for causing misery on the planet.
• Global Warming: Causes and Effects | Essay Example Although people are not only aware but have also have tasted the impacts of these effects, very few individuals have taken the required action to save the earth from destruction, as most people still embrace […]
• Global Warming: Arguments for and Against In proving that global warming is not a theory but a fact, believers claim that, it impacts like: melting of arctic sea ice, rise in the sea level, surface temperature rise, melting of glaciers and […]
• The Great Global Warming Swindle: Different Views on the Issue According to the film, the main aim of the scientific organizations is to get funding for the research of this problem and attract additional attention to global warming, while in reality, the climate is changing […]
• ‘The Global Warming Myth’ by David Bellamy The argument against the occurrence of global warming, as highlighted by Bellamy who depicts it to be more of a myth in the general public instead of a reality, is based on the dubious nature […]
• Global Warming Causes, Effects and Solutions This paper is an in-depth evaluation of the facts surrounding global warming, and it seeks to establish the causes and effects of the phenomenon, and proposes solutions for mitigating the effects of global warming.
• A World Without Ice: Effects of Global Warming on Polar Regions The impacts of global warming in the Polar Regions are so clear and have severe repercussions that they led to the institution of the International Polar Year. Global warming is leading to a reduction of […]
• Global Warming and Melting of Polar Ice Sheets The collaboration of the different scientists allowed them to make the claim that due to global warming, there is an average increase in temperatures in recent decades.
• Global Warming Is Real: Fundamentals of the Phenomenon So, first of all, there is a need to point out that global warming seems to be not only an environmental and climatic issue, but also one of the most important mechanisms of evolution.
• Global Warming and Effects Within 50 Years Global warming by few Scientists is often known as “climate change” the reason being is that according to the global warming is not the warming of earth it basically is the misbalance in climate.
• Global Warming: Causes and Consequences Other definitions of global warming are “the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s near-surface air and oceans since the mid-twentieth century and its projected continuation”.
• Aviation Impact on Air Quality and Global Warming The United Kingdom’s aviation sector is the largest, most mature, yet the fastest expanding source of CO2 emissions compared to any other industry in the country.
• Major Impacts of Global Warming In Human Health Global warming is a rise in average temperatures on the earth surface due to human activities such as burning of coal and oil refining, eventually the activities cause emission of greenhouse gases in the air […]
• Global Warming – The Biggest Threat in the 21st Century According to Solomon “global warming has become a question for citizens and not only for scientists”.”Global warming has implications on our quality of life-it affects our nutrition, and brings about adverse changes in natural phenomena […]
• Global Warming: Fact or Fiction According to, global warming is the average persistent increase in the atmospheric temperature near the earth’s surface leading to changes in global climate patterns over a given period of time.
• Ways to Reduce Global Warming The objectives of this report are to identify the causes of global warming, to highlight the expected effects of global warming and to identify ways of reducing global warming.
• Global Warming: “An Inconvenient Truth” The main effect of increased carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere is the high ice melting on different mountains. The recent occurrence of Hurricanes, tornados and typhoons is due to high temperatures in the oceans […]
• Impact of Global Warming on Arctic Wildlife High surface temperatures lead to “the melting of ice in Polar Regions such as the Arctic and Antarctic regions causing a rise in the ocean and sea levels, which affects the amount and pattern of […]
• Global Warming in the “Soylent Green” Movie The future of humanity and of the entire universe is determined, most significantly, by the power of man, which can be made use for the growth or the destruction of the world.
• Global Warming Threat and Scientific Evidence For example, one of the latest articles by The Guardian talks about the effect of the global warming on the Arctic ice, which melts and causes local animals to suffer from the lack of food.
• Global Warming Causes and Adverse Effects Human activities which are referred to as anthropogenic factors are the major causes of global warming which have resulted into some effects such as sea level rise as natural factors are not known to account […]
• Global Warming Threats and Solutions The threat is real and unless we act appropriately, almost half of all earth will be under the sea at the turn of the century.
• The Global Warming Problem and Solution Therefore, it is essential to make radical decisions, first of all, to reduce the use of fossil fuels such as oil, carbon, and natural gas. One of the ways of struggle is to protest in […]
• Global Warming: Speculation and Biased Information For example, people or organizations that deny the extent or existence of global warming may finance the creation and dissemination of incorrect information.
• The Dangers of Global Warming: Environmental and Economic Collapse Global warming is caused by the so-called ‘Greenhouse effect’, when gases in Earth’s atmosphere, such as water vapor or methane, let the Sun’s light enter the planet but keep some of its heat in.
• Aspects of Global Warming Global warming refers to the steadily increasing temperature of the Earth, while climate change is how global warming changes the weather and climate of the planet.
• Global Warming: Moral and Political Challenge That is, if the politicians were to advocate the preservation of the environment, they would encourage businesses completely to adopt alternative methods and careful usage of resources.
• Climate Change: Global Warming Intensity Average temperatures on Earth are rising faster than at any time in the past 2,000 years, and the last five of them have been the hottest in the history of meteorological observations since 1850.
• Global Warming and Climate Change The author shows the tragedy of the situation with climate change by the example of birds that arrived too early from the South, as the buds begin to bloom, although it is still icy.
• Challenges to Global Warming Control The fourth Conference of the Parties (COP) in Buenos Aires, in Argentina, saw US join over 150 nations in signing the Kyoto Protocol.
• Global Warming Challenges and Potential Solutions Some of the recent encounters exemplifying the presence of global warming include the aspects of climate change which resulted in wildfires in forests such as those witnessed in the Amazon Rainforest alongside other evidence of […]
• Effects of Global Warming on Marine Life Global warming has adverse effects on the marine life. It has led to the extinction of some of the animals and living things and has been necessitated by human activities.
• Energy Sector and Effects of Global Warming In an interview that was conducted with some of the experts in this field, one of the respondents stated that “the government has the financial capacity to support the growth and development of renewable energy […]
• Global Warming: Separation of CO2 The process of CO2 absorption has diverse advantages and disadvantages. The proper combination of solvent, packing, and conditions will reduce the costs of absorption of CO2.
• Contributions of Methane to Global Warming This is because the amount of methane produced by ruminant animals is proportional to the ratio of nutrients that are available in the animal feeds.
• Global Warming and Health & Emergency Sectors It is important to stress that ambulance service work in various communities is based on the quality of medical supplies and work of qualified specialists being the members of emergency team.
• Sylvain Fleury: Global Warming Heats up Need for Malaria Vaccine The central thesis of the author, Sylvain Fleury, is that global warming is one of the major, if not the major, causes of this high spread rage of infectious diseases.
• Global Warming: Cause and Mitigation However, most researchers agree that global warming is in fact taking place, based on three main pieces of evidence: the average temperature increase, the sea level increase, and the melting of glaciers.
• Global Warming: Negative Effects to the Environment The effect was the greening of the environment and its transformation into habitable zones for humans The second system has been a consequence of the first, storage.
• Phenomenon of the Global Warming and the Increase in the Temperatures of the Earth’s Global warming is the increase in the temperatures of the earth’s air surface and the subsequent increase in the water levels that is, oceans and sea levels increase.
• Effects on Society From Global Warming In future books on history, the last decades of 20th century are going to be referred to as the time of ‘environmental/politically correct craze’, because during the course of this historical period, the enforces of […]
• GIS Project: Global Warming and Its Causes For the GIS project, it is necessary to study the main aspects and problems of global warming and the way it affects the geographic presentation of the planet.
• Global Warming Problem Overview: Significantly Changing the Climate Patterns The government is not in a position to come up with specific costs that are attached to the extent of environmental pollution neither are the polluters aware about the costs that are attached to the […]
• Al Gore and Global Warming: Hurricane Katrina Was Avoidable The essay seeks to explore the roles played by the 21 irrefutable laws of leadership in the tragedy The terrible and devastating incidences of hurricane Katrina still linger in the minds of Americans and the […]
• Global Warming: Reality or Hoax? The scope of this concern can be evident in the fact that the position on global warming was an issue in the US presidential election, and still an issue of dispute between the leading parties […]
• Global Warming Positive Aspects A sustained increase in the surface temperatures of land will lead to the melting of the Arctic Ice. This will lead to the formation of a new trade route that will cut the cost of […]
• Global Warming: Physical and Economic Impacts In a bid to mitigate possible risks to the ecosystem as well as humankind due to the aftermath of global warming, a majority of the countries have thus far implemented various policies designed in such […]
• Global Change Biology in Terms of Global Warming A risk assessment method showed that the current population could persist for at least 2000 years at hatchling sex ratios of up to 75% male.
• Global Warming and Environmental Refugees Moreover, since environmental refugees have to leave their homelands, the developed countries are responsible for their relocation; thus, have to provide refugees with all the necessary financial and emotional support to ease their adaptation process […]
• Global Warming Issues Review and Environmental Sustainability Whether it is the melt down of Arctic ice, the damage of the Ozone layer, extra pollution in developing countries; all sums up to one thing in common and that is global warming.
• The Inconvenient Truth About Global Warming The film illustrates to a great degree how it was the greed of the oil and gas tycoons that have led to the dismantling of the electric car idea, but that they were not alone […]
• Global Warming: Ways to Help End Global Warming An innovative understanding of global warming has included it in the agenda of firms and governments. 5 trillion dollars are shouldering the responsibility of collecting and distributing information on the firms’ exposure to carbon emission-related […]
• The Influence of Global Warming and Pollution on the Environment This essay is going to address global warming from a psychological point of view with an emphasis on the psychological and social reasons that make it important to tackle this problem which is threatening the […]
• How Global Warming Has an Effect on Wildlife? According to one of the most detailed ecological studies of climate change, global warming is already directly affecting the lives of animals and plants living in various habitats across the world.
• Global Warming Concepts Analysis In a grim and powerful assessment of the future of the planet, the leading international network of climate scientists has concluded for the first time that global warming is ” unequivocal”.
• Global Warming: “An Inconvenient Truth” by D. Guggenheim It is natural to feel overwhelmed by the intricacies and complexities of the many environmental problems confronting society and by the belief that an individual is at the mercy of all the variables that threaten […]
• Business vs. Global Warming: Discussion The temperature of the globe is rising and its consequences are knocking at the door of humanity. High temperature will increase the rate of evaporation of vast water reservoirs in sea, oceans, and rivers.
• Atmospheric Pollution and Global Warming Green forests help in soaking the suspended particles in the air and thus clean the air for all of us to breathe.
• Medical Anthropology: Global Warming and Health According to Singer and Baer, corporate globalization has the most negative effect on human health as it influences the creation of global warming and contributes to the spread of severe diseases such as cancer and […]
• The Paris Agreement: Solution to Global Warming The Paris Agreement of December 2015 in France marked a significant milestone in the history of global environmental work since the majority of world leaders under the United Nations have gathered to prevent the future […]
• Masdar City: A Step to Solving Global Warming According to Mezher, Dawelbait, and Tsaia, the UAE is a country in which the influence of negative environmental impacts is acute due to the industrial features of development in the state and intensive oil refining.
• “Merchants of Doubt” Documentary on Global Warming When applying some of Rawls’ concepts of justice to the situation described in Merchants of Doubt, it becomes clear that the actions of tobacco companies and such public figures and scientists as Frederick Singer who […]
• Global Warming and Possible Solutions The effects of Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey on the United States and surrounding areas have caught a lot of attention from the media due to the size of the affected area.
• The Paris Agreement and Next Steps in Limiting Global Warming The article outlined the findings of the research by Rose et al, who investigated the short-term implications of the agreement and argued that it was capable of bringing a meaningful change to the world.
• Global Warming, Its Consequences and Prevention The main point of this research is to identify various possibilities and consequences that might be caused by global warming and to discuss theories of this phenomenon’s prevention.
• Advertisement Analysis: Global Warming This instigates the interest to try to understand the essence of the advertisement message. Immediately after viewing the advertisement, a vivid person would develop a desire to associate with the advertisement since the setting of […]
• The Visions of the Global Warming It is possible to note that the overall warming of the environment is evident. It is important to observe the recent trends to be able to understand the cause and effect relations between them.
• Gender Views on Global Warming in McCright’s Study He supports his point by stating that even though the female gender tends to believe the scientific consensus more, the men, on the other hand, have a better understanding when it comes to the issues […]
• Global Warming From a Social Ecological Perspective It is logical to assume that the more people participate in solving the issue, the greater the chances of success will be.
• Polar Transformations as a Global Warming Issue Changes in vegetation due to global warming will be varying as the regions are covered with three main vegetation types: polar desert, boreal forest, and the tundra.
• Global Warming and Anthropocene in Anthropology One of the most notable aspects of today’s living in the West is that, along with making possible the invention of new technologies, the ongoing scientific process also results in encouraging people to choose in […]
• Global Warming and Alternative Energy Awareness Therefore, it is essential for life cycle managers to consider how the design and the development of the database will affect its disposal.
• Global Warming and Climate Change: Fighting and Solutions The work will concentrate on certain aspects such as the background of the problem, the current state of the problem, the existing literature on the problem, what has already been attempted to solve the problem, […]
• “Making Sense of Global Warming” by Eugene Sadler-Smith Thus, the article suggests a tool for approaching the issue of global warming, but Sadler-Smith highlights the fact that this aspect does not exhaust the possible ways in which the HRD can contribute to the […]
• Global Warming in the Film “Politics of Doubt” Many scientists say that the menace of global warming is tremendous as the climate statistics show that the planet atmosphere temperature has been increasing since the 1980’s.
• Global Warming and Man-Made Carbon Dioxide Factor It is a proved fact that carbon dioxide is one of the gasses that contribute to the creation of the greenhouse effect.
• Global Warming: People Impact on the Environment One of the reasons for the general certainty of scientists about the effects of human activities on the change of climate all over the globe is the tendency of climate change throughout the history, which […]
• Are the Effects of Global Warming Really That Bad? Regarding the thesis statement, the author indicated that global warming is a critical issue and the further changes in the temperatures could cause further detrimental effects to the environment and the lives of people.
• Global Warming in “The Island President” Documentary Jon Shenk’s 2011 documentary The Island President depicts the tragedy of the small island nation of the Maldives endangered by the global rise in sea level.
• Meat Consumption and Its Input on Global Warming However, reduction, shift to other sources of protein, and consumption of organically manufactured proteins, are some of the alternatives that environmentalists suggest to save the environment and reduce global warming.
• Global Warming Impacts on Canadian Arctic Security The onset of global warming has resulted in a significant rise in temperatures and the melting of ice in the Arctic region.
• Energy Development and Global Warming It is based on these factors that this paper will delve into the various factors that prove the existence of global warming and will attempt to create a method by which such a problem can […]
• Global Warming Results for Economics Thus, two articles in The Economist magazine recently that offer a slightly revisionist view of climate change and climate change models are very relevant to the operation of national economies.
• Global Warming and Agriculture The first and the most obvious result of the global warming is the decrease of the harvest in the majority of regions all over the world.
• The Ability of People Handling Global Warming On the other hand, opponents of global warming squabble that global warming is harmful to all the living creatures in the world.
• Global Warming and Climate Change Transportation processes have led to the prevalence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as the fuels used to power most modern forms of transport are carbon-based.
• Power Plants Role in Escalating Global Warming It shall highlight the extent to which global warming is caused by power plants and delineate the consequences it has had on the world as well as the potential dangers it poses to the world.
• Impact of Global Warming on Wine Makers This paper will consider the ways in which the wine industry can adjust to the global warming phenomenon and continue producing high quality wines for the market.
• On Why Global Warming Is a Reality Some of the debated issues include “the causes of global warming and whether the increase in the earth’s atmospheric temperature is normal or exceptional”. However, scientific research indicates that the temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere […]
• Global Warming and Its Effects on the Environment This paper explores the impacts of global warming on the environment and also suggests some of the measures that can be taken to mitigate the impact of global warming on the environment.
• Global Warming Refugees: A Reality of the Twenty-First Century It is necessary to understand particular causes of migration to be able to develop efficient measures to help people. Therefore, it is clear that people are unlikely to come up with an efficient solution and […]
• Potential Causes of Global Warming A greenhouse effect refers to the phenomena where water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other major gases in Earth help in sustaining the atmospheric temperatures near the surface of the Earth.
• An Analysis of the Global Warming Phenomenon Based on the First Law of Thermodynamics In addition, this energy must be equal in magnitude to that leaving the earth’s atmosphere since the earth is an open system. Therefore, the overall energy in the universe must be equal to the energy […]
• Global Warming: Impacts, Adaptations and Mitigation In addition, the use of efficient energy methods also leads to a reduction and control of global emission and concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• The Role of the Arctic in Increasing the Effect of Global Warming Changes in climatic conditions in the Arctic affect the rest of the world because they increase global warming and contribute to the rising of the sea level.
• Differing Views on Global Warming Issues It is crucial to bring on board the views of those who view global warming as a myth that need not to be addressed.
• China and Global Warming Bearing in mind that global warming is such a threat to livelihood, it is imperative for China to start looking into ways of reducing its industrial activities for the sake of others living on planet […]
• Global Warming: Justing Gillis Discussing Studies on Climate Change Over the years, environmental scientists have been heavily involved in research regarding the changes in climate conditions and effects that these changes have on the environment.
• What Is The Scientific Consensus On The Rate Of Global Warming And Its Causes? Thus, basing on the scientific information at hand, it means that the more the quantity of gases emitted into the atmosphere the thicker the layer of the blanket and the warmer the earth.
• Global Warming Effects on the Cayman Islands The effects of global warming are the social and ecological changes because of increment of global temperature. Causes of the greenhouse gases due to the human activities are shown below: On the other hand, human […]
• Global Warming and Excess Carbon in the Atmosphere The changes in climate that have occurred are not sufficient to make the assertions that the world is in danger. The challenge is that the climate change supporters have gone to extents of politicizing the […]
• The Seriousness of Global Warming The problem touches upon the rise of temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere as well as the influence of gaseous emissions and combustion gases, which are the reasons for the ecologists and scientists’ concern.
• Concepts of Global Warming: Survival of Living Organisms This is because; the backbone of most global economies is agriculture and industrialization, factors that depend on the stability of the existing environmental conditions.
• Global Warming Causes and Unfavorable Climatic Changes Others believe that the reason behind the occurrence of global warming is the negligence of people in the release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
• Global Warming and Coral Reefs The frightening evidence of the devastating tendencies in coral reef reduction can be illustrated by the case of the coral cover of the Rio Bueno, a coral reef site on the North East of Jamaica […]
• Global Warming Effects: Greenhouse Gas and the Earth’s Atmosphere The burning of these fuels release tones of green house gases into the atmosphere which significantly contribute to the sustained increase in the surface temperature of the earth.
• Climate Change, Coming Home: Global Warming’s Effects on Populations To add to all the problems is the fact that the Earth is seeing a major depletion in the natural resources and fossil fuels which are the established source of energy that must be greatly […]
• Climate Change: The Complex Issue of Global Warming By definition, the greenhouse effect is the process through which the atmosphere absorbs infrared radiation emitted from the Earth’s surface once it is heated directly by the sun during the day.
• Is Global Warming Good or Bad? In my opinion, global warming causes adverse effects that outweighs the positives and therefore, efforts should be invested to manage it through mitigation in order to lessen greenhouse gases emissions, adapting to its effects and […]
• Climate Changes: Human Activities and Global Warming Thus, in regard to reduced ranges of temperatures, it is evident that the region experienced some of the harshest conditions in the wake of 1970s as well as the dawn of 1980s.
• Global Warming Should Not Cause Panic From the above evidence provided by different scholars it evident that global warming is something that should not cause a lot of worries and panic to the people.
• Global Warming: Causes, Effects and the Future Science of the greenhouse effect has been known for quite a long time where the similarity between the radioactive properties of the earth’s atmosphere and of the glass in a green-house has been pointed out […]
• Can a Switch to Renewable Energy Sources Help Combat Global Warming? This paper will argue that since fossil fuels have been the primary contributors to the global warming problem, a switch to renewable energy sources will help to mitigate global warming and possibly even reverse the […]
• Global Warming: Facts and Arguments In fact, the argument is that human activities are not substantial to cause global warming. They believe that changing human economic activities to reduce the impact of global warming is very expensive and is not […]
• Global Warming Impact on International Business: Apple and HP The author posits that many nations in Europe perceive the upsides of global warming to include warmer summer and winters an attraction for more tourists, a favorable weather for growing Blueberries for local and international […]
• Global Warming: Consequences and Effects As a result of man’s increased activities such as the burning of fossil fuels, global temperatures are increasing rapidly, with severe consequences to climate patterns, the wildlife, flora and fauna, and the health of mankind […]
• Effects of Global Warming on Human Health, Human Welfare, and Human Settlements Populations that live in risk prone areas are more likely to suffer loss of land to the increasing sea level and risks of dangerous waves; when the temperatures increase; they lead to melting of the […]
• Are Human Activities Behind the Exacerbating Level of Global Warming? Despite this controversy, reliable research has shown that the production of greenhouse gases by the activities of humans is the leading cause of global warming.
• Global Warming: Since the Middle of the Twentieth Century and Next Global warming refers to the rise in the normal temperature of the earth’s near-surface atmosphere and water bodies ever since the middle of the twentieth century and its predictable continuation.
• Causes of Global Warming Global warming is the increase in the earth’s atmospheric temperatures due to a corresponding increase in the emissions of greenhouse gases, for example carbon dioxide and chlorofluorocarbons, which creates a ‘greenhouse’ effect: the retention of […]
• Global Warming Outcomes and Sea-Level Changes The outcome of global warming has been exhibited by the melting of ice and snows in areas such as the Antarctic which has changed the average sea level of the whole world because the ice […]
• Global Warming Exploration and Its Facts Despite the controversy that surrounds the causes of global warming, human beings are slowly beginning to appreciate the fact that much of the heating up of the earth’s surface is attributable to their activities.
• Effects of Global Warming: Currently and Future One of the effects is the rise of the seal level due to the melting of the ice at the poles.
• ESD Plan as a Mitigation Strategy and Solution for Global Warming The balance of input of energy into the earth and its eventual loss control the earth’s temperature. Support segments will also avail their insights of the plan and comment on its closure or extension.
• Effects of Global Warming on the Environment Global warming refers to the increase in the mean temperature of the air near the surface of the earth and oceans, which started in mid-20th century as well as its anticipated prolongation.
• Health Effects of Global Warming Studies which have been conducted in the United States about the effects of global warming on human health and mortality have mainly concentrated on either the rise in days with extremely hot weather or the […]
• Human Factor in Global Warming This has brought out the need of examining the link between global warming and radiation of the earth, factors which manipulate the conversion of the sun rays on the earth and the effects of human […]
• Possible Causes and Solutions to Global Warming It provides an investigation of possible causes of the occurrence and particularly forms a critical view of the effects of population growth to global warming.
• Global Warming: Accumulation of Greenhouse Gases The increase in plant growth triggered by the global warming stimulates reduction of carbon dioxide and thus decreases the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
• Global Warming: Reasons, Outcomes, and How to Prevent It One of the first signs of global warming is changes, noticeable to ordinary people: winters become milder and milder, lots of glaciers start melting, and the level of seas starts rising.
• How Could Global Warming Impact Miami and Surrounding Areas?
• How Aesthetic but Non-eco Friendly Choices Influence Global Warming?
• Does Global Warming Exist?
• How Do Anthropogenic Aerosols Have an Impact on Global Warming?
• Does Air Pollution Help Reduce Global Warming?
• How Are Human Activities the Primary Sources Contributing to Global Warming That Has Occurred Over the Past 50 Years?
• Can Earth End Because of Global Warming?
• How Can the Problem of Global Warming Be Solved?
• Does Fossil Fuel Combustion Lead to Global Warming?
• How Will China’s Options Determine Global Warming?
• Are Humans Responsible for Global Warming?
• How Could Global Warming Affect Our Health?
• Does Global Warming Effect Hurricane Frequency and Intensity?
• How Does Deforestation Cause Global Warming and Negatively Impact the Environment?
• Can China Contribute More to the Fight Against Global Warming?
• How Does Global Warming Affect Alaska?
• Does Global Warming Mean the End of the World?
• How Does Global Warming Affect Modern Day?
• Where Is the Evidence for Dangerous Human-Caused Global Warming?
• How Does Global Warming Affect the Environment?
• Does Human-Produced Carbon Dioxide Contribute to Global Warming?
• How Does Global Warming Affect Tropical Rainforest?
• Can Nuclear Power Solve the Global Warming Problem?
• How Did Globalization Go Bad From Terrorism to Global Warming?
• Does Increased Carbon Dioxide Emissions Cause Global Warming?
• How Does Global Warming Affect Climate Change?
• Did Global Warming and Climate Change Cause the Degradation of Lake Chad?
• How Will Global Warming and Building Envelope Change Buildings Energy Use in Central Europe?
• Can Subsidize Alternative Energy Technology Development Lead To Faster Global Warming?
• How Could Global Warming Cause an Ice Age?
• Deforestation Research Ideas
• Extinction Research Topics
• Greenhouse Gases Research Ideas
• Desert Research Ideas
• Ecosystem Essay Topics
• Global Issues Essay Topics
• Wildlife Ideas
• Environmentalism Essay Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, October 26). 197 Global Warming Essay Titles & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/global-warming-essay-examples/

"197 Global Warming Essay Titles & Examples." IvyPanda , 26 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/topic/global-warming-essay-examples/.

IvyPanda . (2023) '197 Global Warming Essay Titles & Examples'. 26 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "197 Global Warming Essay Titles & Examples." October 26, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/global-warming-essay-examples/.

1. IvyPanda . "197 Global Warming Essay Titles & Examples." October 26, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/global-warming-essay-examples/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "197 Global Warming Essay Titles & Examples." October 26, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/global-warming-essay-examples/.

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

Essay on Global Warming

• Updated on  
• Apr 27, 2024

Being able to write an essay is an integral part of mastering any language. Essays form an integral part of many academic and scholastic exams like the SAT, and UPSC amongst many others. It is a crucial evaluative part of English proficiency tests as well like IELTS, TOEFL, etc. Major essays are meant to emphasize public issues of concern that can have significant consequences on the world. To understand the concept of Global Warming and its causes and effects, we must first examine the many factors that influence the planet’s temperature and what this implies for the world’s future. Here’s an unbiased look at the essay on Global Warming and other essential related topics.

Short Essay on Global Warming and Climate Change?

Since the industrial and scientific revolutions, Earth’s resources have been gradually depleted. Furthermore, the start of the world’s population’s exponential expansion is particularly hard on the environment. Simply put, as the population’s need for consumption grows, so does the use of natural resources , as well as the waste generated by that consumption.

Climate change has been one of the most significant long-term consequences of this. Climate change is more than just the rise or fall of global temperatures; it also affects rain cycles, wind patterns, cyclone frequencies, sea levels, and other factors. It has an impact on all major life groupings on the planet.

Also Read: Essay on Yoga Day

Also Read: Speech on Yoga Day

What is Global Warming?

Global warming is the unusually rapid increase in Earth’s average surface temperature over the past century, primarily due to the greenhouse gases released by people burning fossil fuels . The greenhouse gases consist of methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, carbon dioxide, water vapour, and chlorofluorocarbons. The weather prediction has been becoming more complex with every passing year, with seasons more indistinguishable, and the general temperatures hotter.

The number of hurricanes, cyclones, droughts, floods, etc., has risen steadily since the onset of the 21st century. The supervillain behind all these changes is Global Warming. The name is quite self-explanatory; it means the rise in the temperature of the Earth.

Also Read: What is a Natural Disaster?

What are the Causes of Global Warming?

According to recent studies, many scientists believe the following are the primary four causes of global warming:

• Deforestation 
• Greenhouse emissions
• Carbon emissions per capita

Extreme global warming is causing natural disasters , which can be seen all around us. One of the causes of global warming is the extreme release of greenhouse gases that become trapped on the earth’s surface, causing the temperature to rise. Similarly, volcanoes contribute to global warming by spewing excessive CO2 into the atmosphere.

The increase in population is one of the major causes of Global Warming. This increase in population also leads to increased air pollution . Automobiles emit a lot of CO2, which remains in the atmosphere. This increase in population is also causing deforestation, which contributes to global warming.

The earth’s surface emits energy into the atmosphere in the form of heat, keeping the balance with the incoming energy. Global warming depletes the ozone layer, bringing about the end of the world. There is a clear indication that increased global warming will result in the extinction of all life on Earth’s surface.

Also Read: Land, Soil, Water, Natural Vegetation, and Wildlife Resources

Solutions for Global Warming

Of course, industries and multinational conglomerates emit more carbon than the average citizen. Nonetheless, activism and community effort are the only viable ways to slow the worsening effects of global warming. Furthermore, at the state or government level, world leaders must develop concrete plans and step-by-step programmes to ensure that no further harm is done to the environment in general.

Although we are almost too late to slow the rate of global warming, finding the right solution is critical. Everyone, from individuals to governments, must work together to find a solution to Global Warming. Some of the factors to consider are pollution control, population growth, and the use of natural resources.

One very important contribution you can make is to reduce your use of plastic. Plastic is the primary cause of global warming, and recycling it takes years. Another factor to consider is deforestation, which will aid in the control of global warming. More tree planting should be encouraged to green the environment. Certain rules should also govern industrialization. Building industries in green zones that affect plants and species should be prohibited.

Also Read: Essay on Pollution

Effects of Global Warming

Global warming is a real problem that many people want to disprove to gain political advantage. However, as global citizens, we must ensure that only the truth is presented in the media.

This decade has seen a significant impact from global warming. The two most common phenomena observed are glacier retreat and arctic shrinkage. Glaciers are rapidly melting. These are clear manifestations of climate change.

Another significant effect of global warming is the rise in sea level. Flooding is occurring in low-lying areas as a result of sea-level rise. Many countries have experienced extreme weather conditions. Every year, we have unusually heavy rain, extreme heat and cold, wildfires, and other natural disasters.

Similarly, as global warming continues, marine life is being severely impacted. This is causing the extinction of marine species as well as other problems. Furthermore, changes are expected in coral reefs, which will face extinction in the coming years. These effects will intensify in the coming years, effectively halting species expansion. Furthermore, humans will eventually feel the negative effects of Global Warming.

Also Read: Concept of Sustainable Development

Sample Essays on Global Warming

Here are some sample essays on Global Warming:

Essay on Global Warming Paragraph in 100 – 150 words

Global Warming is caused by the increase of carbon dioxide levels in the earth’s atmosphere and is a result of human activities that have been causing harm to our environment for the past few centuries now. Global Warming is something that can’t be ignored and steps have to be taken to tackle the situation globally. The average temperature is constantly rising by 1.5 degrees Celsius over the last few years.

The best method to prevent future damage to the earth, cutting down more forests should be banned and Afforestation should be encouraged. Start by planting trees near your homes and offices, participate in events, and teach the importance of planting trees. It is impossible to undo the damage but it is possible to stop further harm.

Also Read: Social Forestry

Essay on Global Warming in 250 Words

Over a long period, it is observed that the temperature of the earth is increasing. This affected wildlife, animals, humans, and every living organism on earth. Glaciers have been melting, and many countries have started water shortages, flooding, and erosion and all this is because of global warming. 

No one can be blamed for global warming except for humans. Human activities such as gases released from power plants, transportation, and deforestation have increased gases such as carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants in the earth’s atmosphere.                                              The main question is how can we control the current situation and build a better world for future generations. It starts with little steps by every individual. 

Start using cloth bags made from sustainable materials for all shopping purposes, instead of using high-watt lights use energy-efficient bulbs, switch off the electricity, don’t waste water, abolish deforestation and encourage planting more trees. Shift the use of energy from petroleum or other fossil fuels to wind and solar energy. Instead of throwing out the old clothes donate them to someone so that it is recycled. 

Donate old books, don’t waste paper.  Above all, spread awareness about global warming. Every little thing a person does towards saving the earth will contribute in big or small amounts. We must learn that 1% effort is better than no effort. Pledge to take care of Mother Nature and speak up about global warming.

Also Read: Types of Water Pollution

Essay on Global Warming in 500 Words

Global warming isn’t a prediction, it is happening! A person denying it or unaware of it is in the most simple terms complicit. Do we have another planet to live on? Unfortunately, we have been bestowed with this one planet only that can sustain life yet over the years we have turned a blind eye to the plight it is in. Global warming is not an abstract concept but a global phenomenon occurring ever so slowly even at this moment. Global Warming is a phenomenon that is occurring every minute resulting in a gradual increase in the Earth’s overall climate. Brought about by greenhouse gases that trap the solar radiation in the atmosphere, global warming can change the entire map of the earth, displacing areas, flooding many countries, and destroying multiple lifeforms. Extreme weather is a direct consequence of global warming but it is not an exhaustive consequence. There are virtually limitless effects of global warming which are all harmful to life on earth. The sea level is increasing by 0.12 inches per year worldwide. This is happening because of the melting of polar ice caps because of global warming. This has increased the frequency of floods in many lowland areas and has caused damage to coral reefs. The Arctic is one of the worst-hit areas affected by global warming. Air quality has been adversely affected and the acidity of the seawater has also increased causing severe damage to marine life forms. Severe natural disasters are brought about by global warming which has had dire effects on life and property. As long as mankind produces greenhouse gases, global warming will continue to accelerate. The consequences are felt at a much smaller scale which will increase to become drastic shortly. The power to save the day lies in the hands of humans, the need is to seize the day. Energy consumption should be reduced on an individual basis. Fuel-efficient cars and other electronics should be encouraged to reduce the wastage of energy sources. This will also improve air quality and reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Global warming is an evil that can only be defeated when fought together. It is better late than never. If we all take steps today, we will have a much brighter future tomorrow. Global warming is the bane of our existence and various policies have come up worldwide to fight it but that is not enough. The actual difference is made when we work at an individual level to fight it. Understanding its import now is crucial before it becomes an irrevocable mistake. Exterminating global warming is of utmost importance and each one of us is as responsible for it as the next.  

Also Read: Essay on Library: 100, 200 and 250 Words

Essay on Global Warming UPSC

Always hear about global warming everywhere, but do we know what it is? The evil of the worst form, global warming is a phenomenon that can affect life more fatally. Global warming refers to the increase in the earth’s temperature as a result of various human activities. The planet is gradually getting hotter and threatening the existence of lifeforms on it. Despite being relentlessly studied and researched, global warming for the majority of the population remains an abstract concept of science. It is this concept that over the years has culminated in making global warming a stark reality and not a concept covered in books. Global warming is not caused by one sole reason that can be curbed. Multifarious factors cause global warming most of which are a part of an individual’s daily existence. Burning of fuels for cooking, in vehicles, and for other conventional uses, a large amount of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, and methane amongst many others is produced which accelerates global warming. Rampant deforestation also results in global warming as lesser green cover results in an increased presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere which is a greenhouse gas.  Finding a solution to global warming is of immediate importance. Global warming is a phenomenon that has to be fought unitedly. Planting more trees can be the first step that can be taken toward warding off the severe consequences of global warming. Increasing the green cover will result in regulating the carbon cycle. There should be a shift from using nonrenewable energy to renewable energy such as wind or solar energy which causes less pollution and thereby hinder the acceleration of global warming. Reducing energy needs at an individual level and not wasting energy in any form is the most important step to be taken against global warming. The warning bells are tolling to awaken us from the deep slumber of complacency we have slipped into. Humans can fight against nature and it is high time we acknowledged that. With all our scientific progress and technological inventions, fighting off the negative effects of global warming is implausible. We have to remember that we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors but borrow it from our future generations and the responsibility lies on our shoulders to bequeath them a healthy planet for life to exist. 

Also Read: Essay on Disaster Management

Climate Change and Global Warming Essay

Global Warming and Climate Change are two sides of the same coin. Both are interrelated with each other and are two issues of major concern worldwide. Greenhouse gases released such as carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants in the earth’s atmosphere cause Global Warming which leads to climate change. Black holes have started to form in the ozone layer that protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays. 

Human activities have created climate change and global warming. Industrial waste and fumes are the major contributors to global warming. 

Another factor affecting is the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and also one of the reasons for climate change.  Global warming has resulted in shrinking mountain glaciers in Antarctica, Greenland, and the Arctic and causing climate change. Switching from the use of fossil fuels to energy sources like wind and solar. 

When buying any electronic appliance buy the best quality with energy savings stars. Don’t waste water and encourage rainwater harvesting in your community. 

Also Read: Essay on Air Pollution

Tips to Write an Essay

Writing an effective essay needs skills that few people possess and even fewer know how to implement. While writing an essay can be an assiduous task that can be unnerving at times, some key pointers can be inculcated to draft a successful essay. These involve focusing on the structure of the essay, planning it out well, and emphasizing crucial details.

Mentioned below are some pointers that can help you write better structure and more thoughtful essays that will get across to your readers:

• Prepare an outline for the essay to ensure continuity and relevance and no break in the structure of the essay
• Decide on a thesis statement that will form the basis of your essay. It will be the point of your essay and help readers understand your contention
• Follow the structure of an introduction, a detailed body followed by a conclusion so that the readers can comprehend the essay in a particular manner without any dissonance.
• Make your beginning catchy and include solutions in your conclusion to make the essay insightful and lucrative to read
• Reread before putting it out and add your flair to the essay to make it more personal and thereby unique and intriguing for readers  

Also Read: I Love My India Essay: 100 and 500+ Words in English for School Students

Ans. Both natural and man-made factors contribute to global warming. The natural one also contains methane gas, volcanic eruptions, and greenhouse gases. Deforestation, mining, livestock raising, burning fossil fuels, and other man-made causes are next.

Ans. The government and the general public can work together to stop global warming. Trees must be planted more often, and deforestation must be prohibited. Auto usage needs to be curbed, and recycling needs to be promoted.

Ans. Switching to renewable energy sources , adopting sustainable farming, transportation, and energy methods, and conserving water and other natural resources.

Relevant Blogs

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu.

Digvijay Singh

Having 2+ years of experience in educational content writing, withholding a Bachelor's in Physical Education and Sports Science and a strong interest in writing educational content for students enrolled in domestic and foreign study abroad programmes. I believe in offering a distinct viewpoint to the table, to help students deal with the complexities of both domestic and foreign educational systems. Through engaging storytelling and insightful analysis, I aim to inspire my readers to embark on their educational journeys, whether abroad or at home, and to make the most of every learning opportunity that comes their way.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

This was really a good essay on global warming… There has been used many unic words..and I really liked it!!!Seriously I had been looking for a essay about Global warming just like this…

Thank you for the comment!

I want to learn how to write essay writing so I joined this page.This page is very useful for everyone.

Hi, we are glad that we could help you to write essays. We have a beginner’s guide to write essays ( https://leverageedu.com/blog/essay-writing/ ) and we think this might help you.

It is not good , to have global warming in our earth .So we all have to afforestation program on all the world.

thank you so much

Very educative , helpful and it is really going to strength my English knowledge to structure my essay in future

Thank you for the comment, please follow our newsletter to get more insights on studying abroad and exams!

Global warming is the increase in 𝓽𝓱𝓮 ᴀᴠᴇʀᴀɢᴇ ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴇʀᴀᴛᴜʀᴇs ᴏғ ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ🌎 ᴀᴛᴍᴏsᴘʜᴇʀᴇ

Leaving already?

8 Universities with higher ROI than IITs and IIMs

Grab this one-time opportunity to download this ebook

Connect With Us

45,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. take the first step today..

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

September 2024

January 2025

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

How Much Will Global Warming Cool Global Growth?

Does a permanent rise in temperature decrease the level or growth rate of GDP in affected countries? Differing answers to this question lead prominent estimates of climate damages to diverge by an order of magnitude. This paper combines indirect evidence on economic growth with new empirical estimates of the dynamic effects of temperature on GDP to argue that warming has persistent, but not permanent, effects on growth. We start by presenting a range of evidence that technology flows tether country growth rates together, preventing temperature changes from causing growth rates to diverge permanently. We then use data from a panel of countries to show that temperature shocks have large and persistent effects on GDP, driven in part by persistence in temperature itself. These estimates imply projected future impacts that are three to five times larger than level effect estimates and two to four times smaller than permanent growth effect estimates, with larger discrepancies for initially hot and cold countries.

We are grateful to David Hémous, Ben Jones, and James Stock for thoughtful paper discussions, and to Adrien Bilal, Marshall Burke, Tamma Carleton, Steve Cicala, Graham Elliott, James Hamilton, Solomon Hsiang, Oscar Jorda, Ezra Oberfield, Richard Rogerson, Barbara Rossi, Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, Christopher Sims, John Van Reenen, and participants at numerous conferences and seminars for helpful comments. Jean-Felix Brouillette, Valeska Kohan, and Walker Lewis provided excellent research assistance. Any views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve System, its staff, or the National Bureau of Economic Research.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

Download Citation Data

Mentioned in the News

More from nber.

In addition to working papers , the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter , the NBER Digest , the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability , the Bulletin on Health , and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship  — as well as online conference reports , video lectures , and interviews .

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• v.7(11); 2021 Nov

Climate change/global warming/climate emergency versus general climate research: comparative bibliometric trends of publications

Rafael m. santos.

a School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada

Reza Bakhshoodeh

b Department of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Western Australia, Perth, 6009, Australia

Associated Data

Data will be made available on request.

This article presents and discusses the scientific publication record from 1910 to 2020 on two topics: "climate" (CL) and "climate change/global warming/climate emergency" (CC/GW/CE). The goal is to comparatively visualize how these two distinct publication records have evolved over time, from different classification perspectives, using publication ratios as the key indicator. It is found that research output related to the Earth's contemporary changing climate overtook that of general climate research in 2010, and the publication ratio (CC/GW/CE)/(CL) has been expanding in the last decade. There are significant differences in the publication countries and sources between the two topics. Differentiation factors that affect the level of research output and engagement on the climate challenge include island versus landlocked nations, specialized versus general scientific journals, academic versus institutional organizations. The future of the publication records is discussed, such as the emergence of new terms to refer to the climate challenge, such as “climate emergency”.

Bibliometric analysis; Scientometrics; Human influence on climate; Natural control of climate; Improving climate monitoring; Climate variability; Climate models; CO 2 .

1. Introduction

The climate of a region is its average or typical weather over a long period of time; for example, the climate of Antarctica is freezing cold, and Hawaii is warm and sunny. Climate change, therefore, is a long-term change in the typical or average weather of a region; in the last few decades, industrial and human activities have led to gradually accelerating changes in the climate, including an annually incremental increase in the average surface temperature, which has been defined as climate change ( IPCC, 2014 ). Climate change also has noticeable negative impacts on other parts of the planet, like changes in ecosystems and desertification, rise in sea level, flooding, and drought ( Hisano et al., 2018 ; Ouhamdouch et al., 2019 ). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change as “a change in the state of the climate that can be identified… by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period” ( IPCC, 2018 ). Climate Change (CC), Global Warming (GW) and more recently Climate Emergency (CE) have been, in the past decade and longer, terms synonymous with the greatest sustainability challenge of the 21 st century ( Munasinghe, 2010 ; Kyte, 2014 ; Princiotta and Loughlin, 2014 ; Martens et al., 2016 ).

Climate change mitigation is a technological measure aiming to reduce the amount of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) ( Fawzy et al., 2020 ), and can be divided mainly into: (i) mitigation technologies, which focus on reducing fossil-based CO 2 emissions, including nuclear power, renewable energies, and carbon capture and storage ( Ricke et al., 2017 ; Bustreo et al., 2019 ); (ii) negative emissions technologies, which aim to capture and sequester atmospheric carbon to reduce carbon dioxide levels, and include approaches such as BECCS (bioenergy with carbon capture and storage), DACCS (direct air carbon capture and storage), enhanced rock weathering, and ocean fertilization ( Goglio et al., 2020 ; Khalidy and Santos, 2021 ; Lezaun, 2021 ); and (iii) geoengineering techniques that change the Earth's radiative energy budget to stabilize or reduce global temperatures, such as stratospheric aerosol injection, and marine cloud brightening ( Lockley et al., 2019 ; Osman et al., 2020 ). Controlling and reversing climate change is expected to be a major concern and undertaking for mankind in the forthcoming decades.

Bibliometric analysis is a popular technique commonly employed to investigate the internal relationships in the body of scientific outputs in the literature. This method is helpful for researchers who are interested in but unfamiliar with a specific field to understand the status of this field quickly. Various bibliometric studies have explored different topics related to climate change ( Demiroglu and Hall, 2020 ), global warming ( Marx et al., 2017 ), climate change's impact on human health, agriculture, and water resource management ( Wang et al., 2014 ; Janssen et al., 2006 ; Li et al., 2011 ; Wei et al., 2015 ), and various scientific ( Oliveira et al., 2020 ) and technological ( Sobreira et al., 2020 ) questions. Studies that merge traditional bibliometrics with scientific topics also term these types of studies scientometrics ( Janmaijaya et al., 2018 ; Sobreira et al., 2020 ). Such studies often rely on the most comprehensive literature databases available, including Web of Science and Scopus ( Sobreira et al., 2020 ; Salmerón-Manzano and Manzano-Agugliaro, 2017 ; Macchi Silva et al., 2019 ). It is also common for such studies to span several decades ( Janmaijaya et al., 2018 ; Oliveira et al., 2020 ), and cover regional ( Marx et al., 2017 ; Demiroglu and Hall, 2020 ) to global ( Salmerón-Manzano and Manzano-Agugliaro, 2017 ; Oliveira et al., 2020 ) topics.

In the last years, scientific publications and reports by scholars that study different aspects of climate change have rapidly increased ( Aleixandre-Benavent et al., 2017 ). Aleixandre-Benevant et al. (2017) evaluated that the number of publications increase by over six-fold between 2005 and 2014. They used social networks to conclude that the United States is at the center of much of the research, and found relationships between keywords to find to which fields of research climate change research is primarily interconnected with (main keywords were: CO 2 , adaptation, model, temperature, and impact). According to the results of Fu and Waltman (2021) , the number of publications on climate change topics in a country reflects the priorities set by its government to cover some of the existing issues. Geography and level of economic development were other factors associated with the scientific output of various countries or regions. Fu and Waltman (2021) also point to how the purpose of the research has been shifting in the last two decades from that concerned with the causes and effects of climate change to measures to reverse or incentivize the reversal of climate change. Due to the growing scientific and public attention to climate change, researchers have used the bibliometric method to characterize the intellectual landscape of climate change, including the impact of climate change on migration ( Milán-García et al., 2021 ), tourism ( Fang et al., 2018 ), and infectious diseases ( Li et al., 2020 ).

An important aspect of bibliometric studies is the choice of search string used to retrieve publications from databases ( Haunschild et al., 2016 ). Using too restrictive or specific keywords (e.g., simply “climate change”) can lead to an incomplete search record, so authors frequently use combinations and variations of keywords. For example: Aleixandre-Benevant et al. (2017) utilized [“climate change” OR “climate changes” OR “climatic change” OR “climatic changes”]; Fu and Waltman (2021) utilized [“climate chang∗” OR “climatic chang∗” OR “climate variabilit∗” OR “climatic variabilit∗” OR “global warming” OR “climate warming” OR “climatic warming”]; and Tan et al. (2021) utilized the largest combination among these three, [“climate change∗” OR “climatic change∗” OR “climatic variation” OR “climatic oscillation” OR “environmental risk∗” OR “environmental exposure” OR “environmental externalities” OR “ecological risk∗” OR “eco-risk∗” OR “climatic risk∗” OR “ecological management∗” OR “ecological governance” OR “ecological control” OR “environmental governance, environmental management∗” OR “environmental control” OR “environmental improvement” OR “eco-environmental risk∗” OR “low carbon” OR “carbon emission∗” OR “cost of emission reduction” OR “emission reducing potential” OR “emission reduction”]. Evidently, the search of Tan et al. (2021) would lead to inclusion of papers not related to climate change, such as those related to general climate research and those related to all forms of environmental impact and pollution. Fu and Waltman's search string also runs the risk of including general climate research via the term “climate variability”, but is the only one of the three to have included the term “global warming”. Haunschild et al. (2016) present a detailed discussed on how truncation and other operators can be used to narrowed down a bibliometric search to a specific area of research (climate change in their case), and also how additional keywords can then be used to split a large dataset into sub-sets based on specific sub-areas of the research field (e.g., the effects of climate change on ice and snow using the search terms [“∗ice∗” OR “∗glacier∗” OR “∗snow∗” OR “∗frost∗”] or on oceanic currents using the search terms [“∗el nino∗” OR “∗elnino∗” OR “∗southern oscillation∗” OR “∗enso∗” OR “∗Walker circulation∗” OR “∗north atlantic oscillation∗” OR “∗nao∗”]). Two things can be concluded from inspecting the various search strings used by authors of bibliometric studies: (i) it is critical to find a good balance between inclusion and exclusion of articles, and this is done by careful selection of search terms, focusing on the ones known to be frequently associated with the research topic, and by the use of the truncation (∗) operator; and (ii) there has not been a bibliometric study that has attempted to separate and analyze the unique research records related to climate change research from those related to general climate research. These are two important motivators on our present work.

In this article, we aim to comparatively explore the bibliometric and scientometric data on two topics: general “climate” research and “climate change/global warming/climate emergency” research. The former relates to research that builds on our understanding of what naturally governs the Earth's climate, and how the climate regulates natural processes on the Earth's surface; the latter relates to research that investigates what is causing the Earth's climate to change rapidly, primarily as a result of anthropogenic drivers, and what effects climate change has on the Earth's systems, and what could be done to mitigate or adapt to this. An inspiration we have used for this work is the historical importance of the work of British engineer Guy Callendar, who in 1938 pointed to the anthropogenic contribution to global temperature rise ( Callendar, 1938 ), at a time before climate change research took off. That is, climate change research originated from general climate research, and at some point in the 20 th century, as will be presented later on in this article, became a unique field of research with a unique publication record.

Apart from the novel comparative topical theme, another differentiator of this article is its use of publication ratio values. We define the publication ratios as the number of publications in a category in one record over that in another record, which help us to distinguish and contrast CC/GW/CE versus general climate (CL) research. This approach differs from other comparative studies (e.g., Baek et al. (2020) , Arana Barbier (2020) , Wang et al. (2021) ), in that the traditional approach for comparing records is to plot or tabulate the data of each record separately, and then compare the trends seen in each record. The publication ratio method allows more direct and precise comparisons, as are shown in this article. Yet another differentiator is that this article is hypothesis-driven; that is, hypotheses (presented below) are posed to guide the collection and analysis of the bibliometric and scientometric data. The testing of hypotheses allows for evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of the data analysis performed, and thus acts as a verification mechanism that often is lacking in traditional literature reviews. past studies on climate change do not attempt to isolate or exclude papers that relate to general climate research. To this end, we hereafter explore the publication trends of two records (CL and CC/GW/CE), since the topical terms appeared in the journal records in the early part of the 20 th century, to test the following hypotheses:

• 1. It is possible to substantially distinguish the scientific literature that pertains to the study of the aforementioned climate challenge (or solutions for mitigating it) from studies that address gaining a better understanding of the earth's climate itself, using topical keyword searches.
• 2. The scientific literature has become so enriched in works addressing the climate challenge that it surpassed climate research in terms of the number of publications sometime in the late part of the 20 th century.
• 3. The scientific literature that pertains to the climate challenge is at least partly distinct from that on climate research in terms of the venue of publication, country of origin of studies, and organizations that have conducted these works.

The present study is global in scope and covers a century of data, as it looks to highlight key moments in the publication record and scientific advancement histories, in addition to the temporal and various categorical trends. The following research questions have been formulated to contrast CL research versus CC/GW/CE research via hypothesis testing: (i) what are the dynamics of the conceptual structure of CC/GW/CE versus CL research; (ii) when the scientific record has become more enriched in CC/GW/CE versus CL research; (iii) in which countries the climate challenge has become the dominant topic and are there any relationships between countries and the dominant scientific topic?

2. Methodology

Web of Science (WoS) was used to search the scientific literature and collect the relevant publication data for analysis. The searches were conducted on August 7 th , 2021 (for 1900 to complete 2020 data); all data were collected within a short time on those days to obtain a snapshot of the publication record. Figure 1 shows the protocol used for this bibliometric study, which is classified into five steps detailed below.

Protocol used for the bibliometric study.

Step one: The search used a time span of 1900–2020 and all indexes within the Web of Science Core Collection, namely: Science Citation Index Expanded: SCI-EXPANDED (1900–2020), Social Sciences Citation Index: SSCI (1900–2020), Arts & Humanities Citation Index: A&HCI (1975–2020), Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Science: CPCI–S (1990–2020), Conference Proceedings Citation Index - Social Science & Humanities: CPCI-SSH (1990–2020), and Emerging Sources Citation Index: ESCI (2015–2020). The two search strings used were: (i) TOPIC: ("climat∗ chang∗" OR "global warming∗" OR "climat∗ emergenc∗"); and (ii) TOPIC: ("climate" NOT ("climat∗ chang∗" OR "global warming∗" OR "climat∗ emergenc∗")). The former search string was used to collect papers related to research on the climate challenge (CC/GW/CE), and the latter search string was used to collect papers related to general research on the Earth's climate (CL). That is, these search strings tested Hypothesis 1.

Step two: In the results section, the document type was refined to ‘Article’. These searches yield 245,391 on the CC/GW/CE topic and 228,280 papers on the CL topic. The use of the NOR logical operator in the CL search string ensures that the two records are unique; that is, there are no repeating papers.

To verify if the search string used for CC/GW/CE research may have missed a substantial portion of research papers that did not use the three searched keywords, a third search was conducted using the following search string: TOPIC: ((("greenhouse gas∗" OR "GHG∗") NOT ("climate" OR "climate change" OR "global warming" OR "climate emergency"))). This search yielded 29,943 articles. This represents 11.56% of articles obtained with the combined search strings. In the Discussion and Conclusions section, the omission of these articles from the data analysis is explained.

Step three: The search results were at first analyzed using the Analyze Results feature of WoS. On the analysis page, it is possible to download tab-delimited text files containing a set of publication data according to the WoS category selected. Data files were obtained for the following four categories: publication years; organizations-enhanced; source titles; countries/regions. The data from these text files were then imported into Microsoft Excel for further processing and analysis. These data and analyses enabled testing Hypotheses 2 and 3. More details on the data handling procedure are provided in the Data Analysis section.

One additional procedure used was to recover keywords from the search records. This was done using the Export feature of WoS on the search results page to generate Excel files containing various attributes of each paper, including the keywords. Keywords were compiled from the top 100 cited papers from both topics (CC/GW/CE and CL) as of August 7 th , 2021. These keywords were used to generate word clouds using the software Wordle ( Feinberg, 2020 ).

Step four: A bibliometric analysis including keywords co-occurrence, countries collaboration, most relevant words, beamplots and affiliations was also performed on the full search results, which was exported from WoS as a bibtex or CSV file, using the bibliometrix package ( Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ) in RStudio software Version 1.2.5001 ( R Core Team, 2019 ). The bibliometrix R-package provides a set of tools for quantitative research in bibliometrics and scientometrics. It is written in the R language ( Ihaka, 1998 ), which is an open-source environment and ecosystem ( Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ). The codes used in this paper are provided at the end of the Supplementary Materials. Beamplot percentile data was obtained from author profiles found within Web of Science.

These data and analyses enabled testing Hypotheses 2 and 3, which are shown in the Supplementary Materials. This package uses the meta-data in the Web of Science citations to calculate and rank country production, journal sources, and country collaborations.

Step five: The previous steps (step one to four) were for all selected databases. In this step, each database was separately selected for analysis. Therefore, steps 2 to 4 were repeated again, and the results from each search were imported to Excel and Rstudio for further analysis.

3. Publication record highlights

From 1910 to 1970, the publications record for CC/GW/CE shows only eight entries, with 1971 being the first year with multiple (three) records. In fact, a line can be drawn at 1970 with the publication of Berton's paper titled “Carbon dioxide and its role in climate change” ( Benton, 1970 ). This is the first of the papers on record to specifically address contemporary anthropogenic climate change. It does not mean that only in 1970 the role of humans on climate change was understood; such hypothesis dates to decades earlier. But it may be one of the first papers to consistently use the term “climate change” to describe the observed phenomena (increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases and increasing global surface temperatures, as discussed in the paper). Another evidence of this shift in terminology is that two of the three 1971 papers, those by Frisken (1971) and Kopec (1971) , address the pressing climate challenge. This is in contrast with the first paper on this record, the 1910 Nature article by Lockyer titled “Does the Indian climate change?” ( Lockyer, 1910 ), which discusses short term observations of changing frequency of monsoons to conclude that the climate on the sub-continent varies from year to year, with both short- and long-term trends, but the influence of humans on these trends is not addressed, in fact, the opposite (the natural control of climate) is inferred. Notably, both Frisken (1971) and Kopec (1971) highlight that by the early 1970's it is well accepted that humans can have a significant effect on the climate by air emissions, but that at that time (when CO 2 atmospheric concentration have just surpassed 320 ppm ( Benton, 1970 )), the role of nature was still deemed stronger than the role of humans.

One way to contrast the publication record of CC/GW/CE versus that of CL is to compare their most cited works. Tables S-1 and S-2 in the Supplementary Materials also present the classification of 50 top cited papers for each record. Briefly reviewing these papers (i.e., reading the paper's aims and conclusions) helps understanding if the two data records contain the required topical selection of CC/GW/CE versus CL. Based on the results from these tables, for CC/GW/CE records, 45 papers are correctly classified, two are unusually misclassified, and three of them are outliers. While for CL records, 41 papers are correctly classified in CL subject, eight are misclassified, and one is an outlier. Within the top 5 most cited papers of each record, seven of the ten papers are correctly classified, two are unusually misclassified, and one is an outlier, as follows. Table 1 presents the publication history of the first authors of the five most cited journal articles from each record (according to Tables S-1 and S-2), in terms of the three most cited papers authored or co-authored by these first authors, on any topic (in some cases, the same topic as the record, and in some cases on other topics). Notable, the first most cited paper of each of these authors is also their highly cited paper according to Tables S-1 and S-2.

Table 1

The first three most cited journal articles of the five first authors of the highest cited papers from the two records (CC/GW/CE and CL), as tabulated in Tables S-1 and S-2.

Rayner et al. (2003) present sea ice and sea surface temperature and nighttime marine air temperature data sets, starting from 1871. That is, the study covers parameters pertinent for climate change research and the contemporary post-industrial revolution period attributed to anthropogenic climate change; after 18 years since their first publication in 1985, the first author reached their most cited paper in 2003. Parmesan and Yohe (2003) showed that climate change effects on living systems could be discerned from non-climatic effects by looking for systematic trends over diverse species and geographic regions; after 16 years since their first publication in 1987, the first author had reached their most cited paper in 2003. Kottek et al. (2006) provide a climate classification map update valid for the second half of the 20 th century, which was updated from the original 1961 Wladimir Köppen map. One motivation for this update was that climate changes have occurred and thus up-to-date global temperature and precipitation data sets were required to update the geographical distribution of the various climate zones (equatorial, arid, warm temperate, snow, and polar, and the various sub-classifications); one year after the first author's first publication on 2005, they reached their most cited paper in 2006. Thomas et al. (2004) showed how climate change leads to species-level extinction. They concluded that 18%–35% of species would be committed to extinction by 2050 because of climate change, in part because of habit loss due to changes in biome; after 20 years since the first author's first publication in 1984, they had reached their most cited paper in 2004. Allen et al. (2010) studied the effect of climate change and drought on trees mortality risks. They concluded that there is a direct relationship between tree mortality rates and heat severity and climate change; after 16 years since the first author's first publication in 1994, they had reached their most cited paper in 2010. All of these five highly cited papers are thus correctly classified under the CC/GW/CE topic. In addition, most (7 out of 10) of their second and third most cited papers are in the same research area (CC/GW/CE) as the record.

Kalnay et al. (1996) investigated how improvements to climate monitoring can avoid misinterpretation of climate variations that are not a result of climate change. The study is not concerned about studying climate change directly, even if the advances can benefit climate change research, and after 20 years since the first author's first publication in 1976, they had reached their most cited paper in 1996. Hijmans et al. (2005) developed a method for very high-resolution interpolation of temperature and precipitation climate data, which can be used to generate accurate climate surfaces (i.e., continuous grids); and after nine years since the first author's first publication in 1996, they had reached their most cited paper in 2005. This advance can help improve the analysis of climate change since more accurate values are obtained, though this was not the main aim of the study. An example was provided on how for Madagascar, the newly interpolated data set does not show direct evidence of climate change between 1930 and 1990. Another example stated that an insufficiently dense station network could lead to erroneous climate change conclusions. Phillips et al. (2006) present a model of the distribution of biological species due to geographic distribution, including climatic variables and conditions. The model was posed as being able to predict the movement of species due to climate change, such as invasive species, but this was not the study's main aim; after 37 years since the first author's first publication in 1969, they had reached their most cited paper in 2006. These are the three out of five highly cited papers correctly classified under CL. In addition, nearly all (5 out of 6) of their second, third most cited papers are also classified as CL research.

Tenenbaum et al. (2000) is the outlier. This paper does have relevance for CL research, as it pertains to the development of nonlinear algorithms to find trends in complex and large data sets, such as climate data sets, and is certainly not about CC/GW/CE. So while correctly classified, due to the use of the word “climate” in the abstract, the paper's topic is largely mathematical rather than about natural or engineering sciences. Taylor et al. (2012) is the paper that was unusually misclassified. This article does not have an abstract registered in WoS, and the article's single keyword registered in WoS is "climate" (the article itself does not have a keywords list). The article is in fact, about CC/GW/CE research; thus, the unusually incomplete record for this article caused it to be misclassified. These two papers highlight that the CL record is less robust than the CC/GW/CE record, particularly because of the CL record's less specific search string. While a weakness, the more analytical data processing presented in the Data Analysis section will show that this record is still useful for contrasting against the CC/GW/CE to yield dataset level (as opposed to paper-by-paper) trends and conclusions.

Table S-3 in the Supplementary Materials shows the top 5 cited paper in both records, which highlighted in blue (similar to the first column of Table 1 ) and 5 top papers in terms of citations which have cited these papers which are highlighted in grey. Almost all papers in each row are following the main papers’ topics (paper in the first column). For example, all articles that cited Hijmans et al. (2005) and Kalnay et al. (1996) were about climate modelling. Table S-4 in the Supplementary Materials lists the top 5 hot papers in both records which are highlighted in blue, and the top 5 hot papers in terms of citations that have cited the paper in the first column, which are highlighted in grey. According to WoS, hot papers are those that have been published in the last two years and have received enough citations to place them in the top 0.1% of papers in their academic fields. These papers demonstrate potential research hotspots and future research directions, providing readers with a more comprehensive understanding of these two studies. COVID-19 topics are one of the hottest topics due to the current situation and pandemic that most countries are dealing with; these papers cover the impact of COVID-19 on various aspects of our climate such as air pollution and microplastics. Furthermore, the majority of COVID-19-related papers are about climate change, which is classified in the CC/GW/CE record. Other hot topics in both records include air quality and wildlife conservation, such as insect extinction.

Bornmann and Marx first introduced beamplots in 2014 to better visualize the citation impact and productivity of researchers. In addition, beamplots are used to see performance variation over time to make more informed decisions about research impact and evaluation ( Bornmann and Marx, 2014 ). The beamplot represents a single frame of an author's output (the citation performance of an author's entire publication list), which reflects how it varies over time. In the beamplot, each dot represents a specific publication and its position is based on its publication year and its normalized citation percentile score (0–100). For example, a score of 90 for an article means that the article is among the top 10% most cited publications of the subject area, document type, and year.

For the first authors of the top 3 most cited papers in each record, as listed in Table 1 , the citation percentiles of their first authors were higher after publishing these articles, except in the case of Camile Parmesan, first author of Parmesan and Yohe (2003) . Figure S-1 in the Supplementary Materials shows the beamplots of these six authors from both records. For example, in the case of N.A. Rayner, who has published the highest cited paper in the CC/GW/CE record, the mean citation percentile of their papers published after their highest cited paper ( Rayner et al., 2003 ) has increased from 58% to 80%. Likewise but to a much lesser extent, for Eugenia Kalnay, who has published the highest cited paper in the CL record, the citation percentile was increased from 64.7% to 65.3%. This indicates that these authors either had more impactful research output following the publication of their most cited paper, or became better or more widely known after that date and hence received more citations to their latter work than their earlier work. The citation percentile of Camille Parmesan, who has the second highest cited paper ( Parmesan and Yohe, 2003 ) in the CC/GW/CE record, was lower after 2003, when they published their highest cited paper, than before 2003. Figure S-1 shows that their citation percentiles during 2009 and 2010 were zero, which were for five book chapters, and causes this difference between the citation percentile before and after publishing their highest cited paper in 2003. Excluding these book chapters from the beamplot analysis leads to the conclusion that the author's performance actually improved after 2003. In summary, it is commonly the case that highly cited papers, whether they be on CC/GW/CE or CL topics, typically boost an author's citation profile.

Figures  2 and ​ and3 3 present the word clouds generated for the keywords extracted from the top 100 most cited papers in each record. In contrast to the aforementioned analysis of the top 5 most cited papers in each record, which showed significant differences in the two records, the word clouds are qualitatively less precise. Table 2 also presents the top 10 words frequency for the top 100 cited papers in each record. It is understandable that research on CC/GW/CE will use many similar keywords to more general research on the Earth's climate, thus several terms are similarly enlarged on both clouds. For example, model, variability, temperature, precipitation and circulation are some of the main words on both clouds. In fact, the vast majority of words from Figure 2 also appear in Figure 3 , even if in a different size. Climate change and CO 2 are the two terms in Figure 2 that are particularly distinct from Figure 3 , which is expected given that these are key topics of CC/GW/CE research. Figure S-2 in the Supplementary Materials also shows the word dynamic of both records over time. Based on the results from this figure, “climate change” and “climate” terms had the highest increase over time in terms of occurrence in articles. The conclusion from word clouds is that they are visually interesting, but are not ideal tools to evaluate two unique but topically similar publication records. As aforementioned, the Data Analysis section presents more deeply analytical comparisons between the two records, from which clearer trends can be seen.

Word cloud of keywords from top 100 most cited papers on CC/GW/CE research.

Word cloud of keywords from top 100 most cited papers on CL research.

Table 2

Word frequency of top ten used words in Figures  2 and ​ and3 3 .

Figure S-3 in the Supplementary Materials shows the co-occurrence analysis of keywords using the bibliometrix package in Rstudio in order to find research focus ( Aria and Cuccurullo, 2017 ). Based on results from this figure, “climate change”, “climate”, and “variability” were the most frequent words among all keywords from 500 top most cited papers, which were similar to the key topics from the word clouds (Figures  2 and ​ and3 3 ).

4. Data analysis

This section is sub-divided into the four categories of data collection and analysis of the publication records: (i) year of publication; (ii) country (corresponding author's) of publication; (iii) source (i.e., journal) of publication; and (iv) organization (corresponding author's) of publication.

4.1. Year of publication

Figure 4 and Table S-5 in the Supplementary Materials present the data analysis for the year of publication, ranging from 1910 to 2020. The number of articles published per year in the two publication records (CC/GW/CE and CL) was compiled from WoS. For each year, a ratio of the number of articles in the CC/GW/CE record over the number of articles in the CL record was calculated. This ratio is plotted as a function of time in Figure 3 a. The purpose of this ratio is to help visualize when the scientific record became more enriched in CC/GW/CE versus general CL research; that is when the ratio surpasses a value of one. This occurred in 2010, and the ratio has since increased to 1.36 in 2019 and then to 1.45 in 2020 (a full-year record). Notably, before 1989, the ratio was consistently smaller than 0.1, meaning that CC/GW/CE research was scarce for much of the 20 th century. The exceptions in 1910, 1939 and 1941 are due to the very small number of CL publications on record for those decades. From 1989 onwards, the ratio increases nearly every year (in fact, it increases 28 out of 31 times, and every year since 1997).

Data for CC/GW/CE and CL records for year of publication: a) Publication ratio ((CC/GW/CE)/(CL)) as a function of time (years); b) Number of publications per year in the CC/GW/CE record versus those in the CL record (dashed line illustrates the 1:1 mark), which are labelled with the year of each ratio for the period 2006 to 2020 (over this recent period, the annual CL publications continuously increased).

The number of publications in both records rose by orders of magnitude over the last several decades, and Figure 4 b helps to visualize this climb. The CL record crossed 100 publications per year in 1975 versus 1990 for the CC/GW/CE record. The CL record crossed 1,000 publication per year also first, in 1991, followed by the CC/GW/CE record in 1996. Then both records breached 10,000 articles in a year in 2012. This coincides almost exactly with the 2010 threshold when the CC/GW/CE record overtook the CL in the number of publications per year. Points on Figure 4 b above the dashed line indicate the records from the last decade, while those below the dashed line correspond to the pre-2010 record.

Figure 5 breaks down the two data records for the number of articles per year ranging from 1910 to 2020 according to the databases that make up the Web of Science Core Collection. The purpose of this analysis is to visualize if any unusual or sudden changes in the underlying databases could contribute to the trends observed in the full data sets. This could include the effect of databases entering the coverage of the Core Collection in a particular year, or the databases changing their coverage at some point in time. Figure 5 shows that the two largest and oldest databases, namely SCI-EXPANDED and SSCI (with coverage commencing in 1900), have similar temporal trends, to each other and to the Core Collection, given that they make up the most substantial portion of the latter. The ESCI is a newer database (started in 2015), and the A&HCI is a database with a focus on research areas far from the theme of climate research, hence the smaller size of its records in this analysis; their data set trends also are also in overall agreement. Figure 5 is plotted on a log-scale to magnify trends of the smaller data sets, and variability in the two CPCI data sets is evident for both records. Likely this variability is at least partly related with variable number of conference proceedings being indexed by Web of Science each year, and underlying changes in the types of venues used for publication of peer-reviewed papers. Notwithstanding, the small numbers of these data sets (in the order of tens to hundreds of papers per year in the last decades) have insignificant impact on the trends of the much larger overall Core Collection data sets. Tables S-6 and S-7 in the Supplementary Materials show the number of articles in the CL and CC/GW/CE records per year for all databases.

Data for the number of articles per year for all databases in logarithmic scale: a) CC/GW/CE and b) CL.

4.2. Country/region of publication

Figure 6 , Figures S-4 and S-5 in the Supplementary Materials, and Table S-8 in the Supplementary Materials present the data analysis for the country (or region) of publication for the full records ranging from 1910 to 2020. The number of articles published per country/region in the two publication records (CC/GW/CE and CL), from 1910 to 2020, was compiled from WoS. For each country/region, a ratio of the number of articles in the CC/GW/CE record over the number of articles in the CL record was calculated. This ratio is plotted for each country/region in Figure S-4, ordered from largest to smallest ratio. Countries/regions with a ratio greater than one have been more engaged in CC/GW/CE research, while those with a ratio smaller than one have been more engaged in CL research. The number of countries/regions for which a ratio was calculated is 210. An additional 32 countries of regions did not have a ratio calculated, either due to no CC/GW/CE or CL articles on record (this occurs for small states such as Equatorial Guinea and Turks and Caicos). In addition, countries that no longer exist and became part of other countries were merged with their successor countries which include the Soviet Union with Russia; Western Germany with Germany; Serbia Montenegro with Serbia; Yugoslavia with Serbia; Czechoslovakia with the Czech Republic; and Swaziland with Eswatini. The number of studies in these countries before and after merging is shown in Table S-7 in the Supplementary Materials. Figure S-4 shows that slightly more than half of the countries/regions have a ratio greater than one, indicating that the climate challenge has become a dominant scientific topic in many parts of the world. It is notable that the majority of countries/regions with ratios greater than 2 are island states, such as Philippines (ratio = 2.21), Fiji (ratio = 2.92), Bahamas (ratio = 3.23), Palau (ratio = 6.25), Micronesia (ratio = 11), and Kiribati (ratio = 11). This highlights that small island states are at most risk of the catastrophic effects of climate change, particularly rising sea levels ( Vitousek et al., 2017 ; Horton et al., 2014 ; Nunn, 2009 ; King and Harrington, 2018 ; Widlansky et al., 2015 ).

Data for CC/GW/CE and CL records for country/region of publication: Number of publications per country/region in the CC/GW/CE record versus those in the CL record (dashed line illustrates the 1:1 mark), which are labeled with the names of outlier countries.

In contrast, countries and regions with a ratio lower than 0.50 tend to be those of lower gross domestic product, those in arid regions of the world, or those landlocked nations, such as Albania, Djibouti, Algeria and Turkmenistan. Other countries of interest to view ratios for are those with long publication history (USA (0.91), England (1.17), France (0.86), Germany (0.92)) and the emerging/fast growing economies (China (1.07), India (1.00), Brazil (0.76), South Africa (1.27)). The average ratio of these eight countries is very close to 1 (0.99), showing that such countries contribute with diverse research. On a case-by-case basis, it may be possible to claim which countries are more engaged in the climate challenge, but this has to also take into account the fact that a rich amount of older literature from some countries, when CL research was dominant, may be holding back their ratio, but that it does not mean that currently, these countries are just as engaged as others in CC/GW/CE research.

Figure 6 provides a different view of the country/region publication records. By plotting the number of CC/GW/CE publications for each country/region versus the number of CL publications in the same country/region, it is possible to see a focusing effect about the 1:1 dashed line. Countries that have published more, have more diverse body of literature and tend towards the 1:1 line (the USA is the highest point). Countries that have published less are more likely to be more engaged in recent research and thus have more CC/GW/CE articles than CL articles. Notable outliers with more than 10 CL publications (i.e., farthest from the 1:1 line and with a robust body of literature) are Fiji (with the ratio of 2.92) and Monaco (with the ratio of 4.82), both above the line.

4.2.1. Country collaboration

Figure S-6 shows the countries of collaboration of the first authors of the five most cited articles in the CC/GW/CE and CL records, based on the affiliations listed in these authors' articles. For the authors from the CC/GW/CE record, apart from the countries of affiliation of the authors (the USA, England and Austria), the most frequent countries of collaboration have been Germany, the USA, Australia, France and Spain. For the CL record, apart from the country of affiliation of the authors (all from the USA), the most frequent countries of collaboration have been England, Germany, Australia, Canada, China, and Japan. Notably, there is more variety in collaboration in the articles from the CL record. For example, Robert J. Hijmans has collaborated with Peru and the Philippines, which have serious problems with droughts and floods ( Elith et al., 2006 ; Fick and Hijmans, 2017 ). Perhaps unsurprisingly, these highly cited authors collaborate most with anglophone and European countries far more than with others. With climate changing affecting every country on Earth, and disproportionally threatening populations in smaller and less wealthy countries, it would be great to see in the near future deeper engagement of lead researchers directly with the scientific communities in those countries. Among the top 500 articles in the CC/GW/CE record some of these engagements are happing, as seen in Figure S-8 in the Supplementary Materials. Moreover, according to Figures S-5, S-7 and S-8 in the Supplementary Materials, the countries' scientific production and collaboration for the CC/GW/CE record are significantly more diverse than that of the CL record. As mentioned earlier, small island states are at most risk of the catastrophic effects of climate change, particularly rising sea levels ( Vitousek et al., 2017 ; Horton et al., 2014 ; Nunn, 2009 ; King and Harrington, 2018 ; Widlansky et al., 2015 ), which is reflected in the countries’ scientific production and collaboration maps for the CC/GW/CE record (Figures S-5 and S-8).

4.3. Source of publication

Table 3 , Figure 7 , present the data analysis for the source (i.e., journals indexed in WoS) of publication for a part of the records, ranging from 1910 to 2020. The sources analyzed are the top 20 venues of publications from each record in terms of the number of publications in each source. The top 20 were chosen to make the analysis manageable from a reporting and graphing perspective. The top 20 of the CC/GW/CE record represents 18.20% of all articles in this record, and the top 20 of the CL record represents a very similar 18.05% of that record. It is deemed that observations and trends made from the top 20 will be valid as a proxy for the trends of the full record.

Table 3

Top 20 sources of articles from the two records (CC/GW/CE and CL). The number of articles in each source, the percentage of the total number of articles in the full record, and the publication ratios ((CC/GW/CE)/(CL)). Bolded entries are the top 20 of each record, and bolded values reflect the entries that are top 20 on both records (i.e., “match”).

Publication ratio ((CC/GW/CE)/(CL)) for 27 journals, categorized as ‘match’ or ‘non-match’ based on appearance or not in both top 20 lists, ordered from highest to lowest ratio (one curve contains 13 entries and the other 14).

Table 3 presents the number of articles from each record that appear in these journals. A total of 27 journals appear in Table 3 , organized in alphabetic order since there is a partial overlap of the top 20 from each record; in fact, there are 13 journals that are common to both top 20's (these are referred to as ‘match’ journals), and 14 journals in each top 20 that is not in the other top 20 (these are referred to as ‘non-match’ journals). The top journal in the CC/GW/CE record is PLOS ONE, with 3,602 articles representing 1.468% of the full record. The top journal in the CL record is the Journal of Climate, with 5,279 articles representing 2.284% of the full record. Both of these journals are in both top 20 lists, with PLOS ONE having a stronger record of CC/GW/CE articles as given by a ratio (as previously calculated to compare records) of 2.20, while the Journal of Climate has a stronger record of general CL research, with a 0.42 ratio. The ‘match’ journal with the highest ratio (2.36) is Science of the Total Environment, while the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres has the lowest ratio of 0.34. The range of ratios is larger for ‘non-match’ journals. Here the highest ratio is 2.83 for the journal of Sustainability, and the smallest ratio is 0.31 for the journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. These ratios agree with the perception that can be taken about each of these journals. Journals like PLOS One, Science of the Total Environment and Global Change Biology appeal to more applied areas of research, including the applied sciences and engineering, and have wider aims and scopes, while journals such as the Journal of Climate, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmosphere and Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics appeal to more fundamental and specialized research.

Figure 7 helps to highlight the different scopes of the 27 journals listed in Table 3 . Here, the ratios for each journal are plotted and categorized according to ‘match’ or ‘non-match’ journals. The spider plot shows data arranged from largest to smallest ratio for each category (i.e., each line). Had there been no significant difference in the distribution of the articles across the various journals, both of these lines would be very close to the value of 1. It is clear that the ‘non-match’ line deviates the most from 1, with nearly every value much higher or much lower than 1. Even the ‘match’ line deviates significantly from 1. The ratio value closest to 1 from both categories is that of the journal Remote Sensing (0.94). This is not surprising as remote sensing is a climate monitoring technique that can be used both for general climate research as well as to track changes in the climate due to anthropogenic effects ( Kuenzer et al., 2011 , Levizzani and Cattani, 2019 ; Milesi and Churkina, 2020 ). What can be concluded from this analysis is that journals and authors are able to distinguish the research topics sufficiently to steer more CC/GW/CE research to certain journals and more general CL research to other journals. This helps to confirm that these two topics are distinct in practice.

4.4. Organization of publication

Table 4 , Figure 8 , present the data analysis for organization (i.e., universities, research institutes, and other research-intensive organizations, associated with the corresponding author's primary affiliation) of publication, for a part of the records, ranging from 1910 to 2020. As with sources, the organizations analyzed are the top 20 from each record, and an identical data analysis procedure was used here. The top 20 of the CC/GW/CE record represents 36.72% of all articles in this record, and the top 20 of the CL record represents a slightly higher 38.53% of that record. A total of 26 organizations appear in Table 4 , signifying that there are 14 common organizations within the top 20 (i.e., ‘match’ organizations), and 12 ‘non-match’ organizations. Here, the top three organizations are the same on both records, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) being slightly more engaged in CC/GW/CE research than the the University of California System (USA) and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France); the ratios of these three organizations are very close to 1 (1.22, 1.05, and 1.02, respectively). In fact, the ratios of these organizations are much closer to 1, on average, than those of the journals. The highest ratio among the 26 organizations is 1.87 for the United States Forest Service, and the lowest ratio is 0.43 for the National Aeronautics Space Administration. This suggests that academic organizations may have more varied research, and hence ratios closer to 1, while governmental organizations may be more focused on a particular line of research, and thus rations more different than 1. Although such a conclusion would require analysis of a large set of organizations, and is complicated by some countries having organizations that have a dual academic and institutional role.

Table 4

Top 20 organizations of articles from the two records (CC/GW/CE and CL). The number of articles from each organization, the percentage of total number of articles in the full record, and the publication ratios ((CC/GW/CE)/(CL)). Bolded entries are the top 20 of each record, and bolded values reflect the entries that are top 20 on both records (i.e., “match”).

Publication ratio ((CC/GW/CE)/(CL)) for 26 organizations, categorized as ‘match’ or ‘non-match’ based on appearance or not in both top 20 lists, ordered from highest to lowest ratio (one curve contains 14 entries and the other 12).

Figure 8 , in contrast to Figure 7 , makes it clear that organizational information is not enough to place research as belonging to one record or another. Both the ‘match’ and ‘non-match’ lines deviated by small extents away from the ratio of 1 level, with the ‘non-match’ line deviating more, as would be expected. For comparison with the earlier case, one of the ratio values closest to 1 from both categories is that of the University of California System (1.05). Notable about this organization is that it consists of nine campuses offering comprehensive education, with varying levels of research excellence (e.g., excellent (Berkeley), very good (Davis), less highly ranked (Riverside), emerging (Merced) ( Gibson et al., 2014 ). This can explain the diversity of research output, covering both CC/GW/CE and CL topics. Of course, this diversity of topic is an average since 1900, and it is possible that in recent years the research in many organizations has shifted towards the climate challenge, as the year and country trends presented earlier suggest.

5. Discussion

Here, we can revisit the three hypotheses and reach conclusions about their claims. With regards to hypothesis 1, it was possible to distinguish the scientific literature linked to CC/GW/CE research from that pertaining to CL research using the two search strings tested. This was verified by reviewing the scope of a number of highly cited papers in both records and is further supported by the trends seen with regards to years of publication, country/region of publication, and source of publication. That is, in these three categories, the publication records showed significant numerical and graphical differences, and these could at times be explained rationally, with basis on data interpretation. Evidence was found that the two publication records contained some misinterpreted publications and outliers, but it is deemed that the consistency of trends observed signify that these issues are minor and acceptable given the simplicity of the publication record assemblage method. A third search string, related to the topic of greenhouse gases, was also tested, but its data did not become part of this study's analysis. The reason for this is that such search string finds many articles that discuss the emissions of greenhouse gases (e.g., from flue gas stacks ( Su et al., 2009 ) or from livestock farming ( Herrero et al., 2013 )) and technologies to control or mitigate these emissions (e.g., via carbon sequestration ( Santos et al., 2013 ) or green energy ( Panepinto et al., 2013 )). As such, these articles fall outside the scope of the two topical records of interest here. This is further evidence that the two search strings used are effective in reaching their intended goal.

With hypothesis 1 confirmed, it is also possible to confirm hypothesis 2. The publication year data clearly shows that the scientific literature has become enriched in CC/GW/CE works in relation to CL works. This is despite both of these records experiencing massive growth over the decades (from under 100 articles per year in the first half of the 20 th century to over 10,000 articles per year in recent years). It is clear that the more pressing the climate challenge becomes, and its effects actually witnessed ( Mahé et al., 2013 ), the more research is being undertaken to forecast the avoidable or unavoidable impacts ( Ito et al., 2020 ; Döll et al., 2020 ). It is difficult to foresee for how much longer the publication ratio devised in this study will continue to rise, globally or country-by-country, as climate research will become increasingly important in the framework of a sustainable society, so it will be worth revisiting this in a decade or more. Perhaps by then another keyword could be added to complement CC/GW/CE. As of August 7 th 2021, 85.82% of this record is retrieved using only CC and excluding (via the NOT operator) the other two search terms (("climat∗ chang∗" NOT ("global warming∗" OR "climat∗ emergenc∗"))); this compares to only 8.32% of the record that only contains GW (("global warming∗" NOT ("climat∗ chang∗" OR "climat∗ emergenc∗"))), and a mere 0.0248% of the record that only contains CE (("climat∗ emergenc∗" NOT ("global warming∗" OR "climat∗ chang∗"))). A simple search for CE yields 61 articles, 53 of which published since 2019, and the oldest from 2011 ( McMichael, 2011 ) being the most cited to date. This shows that this popular term (in the greater public sphere) is not yet commonly used scientifically; will it eventually be?

Hypothesis 3 was partly confirmed. The data and its interpretation show that the two publications records have distinct differences in terms of size (i.e., the number of publications) when it comes to the originating country/region and venue (journal) of publication. Yet, the two records are nearly indistinguishable when the criteria used are the organizations responsible for producing the work. As was explained, research organizations have broad research interests, and it is understandable that the same departments and research groups that perform CC/GW/CE research also tend to perform CL research. Of course, this would not be the case at the researcher level since expertise for these two topics of research is sufficiently different. WoS allows data analysis at the researcher (i.e., corresponding author level). However, in addition to the number of entries being very large (there are over 100,000 corresponding authors listed in the most recent CC/GW/CE and CL records), there is ambiguity with common author names (i.e., same last name and the same first letter of the first name), making any possible analysis less accurate. Such analysis would thus require close scrutiny at the article level.

6. Conclusions

This article presented and discussed the scientific publication record from 1910 to 2020 on two topics: "climate" and "climate change/global warming/climate emergency". The goal is to comparatively visualize how these two distinct publication records have evolved over time, from different classification perspectives, using publication ratios as the key indicator, which were presented as three hypotheses. To test our hypotheses, we defined publication ratios as the number of publications in a category in one record over that in another record, which allowed us to distinguish and contrast CC/GW/CE versus general CL research. The hypotheses can also be expressed as the following questions: (i) what are the dynamics of the conceptual structure of CC/GW/CE versus general CL research; (ii) when has the scientific record in CC/GW/CE versus general climate (CL) research become more enriched; (iii) which countries have made the climate challenge the dominant topic, and are there any links between countries and the dominant scientific topic? The following are the answers to these questions, which present the study's conclusions:

• - The journal name and scope had a direct relationship with the number and ratio of publications in these two records; for example, journals like PLOS One, Science of the Total Environment, and Global Change Biology appealed to more applied areas of research, including the applied sciences and engineering, and have wider aims and scopes, while journals such as the Journal of Climate, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmosphere, and Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences appealed to more fundamental and specialized research.
• - Governmental organizations focused more on a specific line of research (publication ratios farther from a value of 1), whereas academic organizations' research areas were broader and covered a wide range of topics (publication ratios closer to 1).
• - It was discovered that research output related to the Earth's current changing climate surpassed that of general climate research in 2010, and the publication ratio (CC/GW/CE)/(CL) has been increasing over the last decade.
• - Among other countries, island states such as the Philippines, Fiji, Bahamas, Palau, Micronesia, and Kiribati had the highest ratios, highlighting the fact that small island states are most vulnerable to the catastrophic effects of climate change, particularly rising sea levels.
• - Ideas for future bibliometric studies that employ our hypothesis-driven approach and the use of publication ratios as the key trends indicator include: (i) inspecting more closely how non-scientific publications, such as those indexed by databases such as SSCI and A&HCI, have been evolving in covering the topics of climate change, global warming and the climate emergency; (ii) comparing the scientific literature that studies the causes and effects of climate change to the scientific literature that develops ways of mitigating or adapting to climate change or being resilient to it; (iii) identifying important topical gaps in the literature review record (e.g., well-cited articles or articles published in high impact journals that have not been covered in literature reviews); among other possibilities.

Declarations

Author contribution statement.

Rafael M. Santos: Conceived and designed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Wrote the paper.

Reza Bakhshoodeh: Performed the experiments; Analyzed and interpreted the data; Contributed reagents, materials, analysis tools or data; Wrote the paper.

Funding statement

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Data availability statement

Declaration of interests statement.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

No additional information is available for this paper.

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the University of Guelph Library and the University of Western Australia Library for the Web of Science access provided, which made this study possible.

Appendix A. Supplementary data

The following is the supplementary data related to this article:

• Aleixandre-Benavent R., Aleixandre-Tudó J.L., Castelló-Cogollos L., Aleixandre J.L. Trends in scientific research on climate change in agriculture and forestry subject areas (2005–2014) J. Clean. Prod. 2017; 147 :406–418. [ Google Scholar ]
• Allen C.D., Macalady A.K., Chenchouni H., Bachelet D., Mcdowell N., Vennetier M., Kitzberger T., Rigling A., Breshears D.D., Hogg E.T. A global overview of drought and heat-induced tree mortality reveals emerging climate change risks for forests. For. Ecol. Manag. 2010; 259 :660–684. [ Google Scholar ]
• Arana Barbier P.J. Situation of trust in grounded theory versus structural equation modeling: a comparative bibliometric study for management. Invest. Bibl. 2020; 34 :37–53. [ Google Scholar ]
• Aria M., Cuccurullo C. bibliometrix: an R-tool for comprehensive science mapping analysis. J. Inf. 2017; 11 (4):959–975. [ Google Scholar ]
• Baek S., Yoon D.Y., Lim K.J., Hong J.H., Moon J.Y., Seo Y.L., Yun E.J. Top-cited articles versus top Altmetric articles in nuclear medicine: a comparative bibliometric analysis. Acta Radiol. 2020; 61 :1343–1349. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Benton G.S. Carbon dioxide and its role in climate change. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 1970; 67 :898. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Biesmeijer J.C., Roberts S.P.M., Reemer M., Ohlemuller R., Edwards M., Peeters T., Schaffers A.P., Potts S.G., Kleukers R., Thomas C.D., Settele J., Kunin W.E. Parallel declines in pollinators and insect-pollinated plants in Britain and The Netherlands. Science. 2006; 313 :351–354. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bornmann L., Marx W. Distributions instead of single numbers: percentiles and beam plots for the assessment of single researchers. J. Assoc. Inf. Sci. Technol. 2014; 65 :206–208. [ Google Scholar ]
• Breshears D.D., Cobb N.S., Rich P.M., Price K.P., Allen C.D., Balice R.G., Romme W.H., Kastens J.H., Floyd M.L., Belnap J., Anderson J.J., Myers O.B., Meyer C.W. Regional vegetation die-off in response to global-change-type drought. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2005; 102 :15144–15148. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bustreo C., Giuliani U., Maggio D., Zollino G. How fusion power can contribute to a fully decarbonized European power mix after 2050. Fusion Eng. Des. 2019; 146 :2189–2193. [ Google Scholar ]
• Callendar G.S. The artificial production of carbon dioxide and its influence on temperature. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 1938; 64 :223–240. [ Google Scholar ]
• Chen I.C., Hill J.K., Ohlemuller R., Roy D.B., Thomas C.D. Rapid range shifts of species associated with high levels of climate warming. Science. 2011; 333 :1024–1026. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Demiroglu O.C., Hall C.M. Geobibliography and bibliometric networks of polar tourism and climate change research. Atmosphere. 2020; 11 :498. [ Google Scholar ]
• Döll P., Trautmann T., Göllner M., Schmied H.M. A global-scale analysis of water storage dynamics of inland wetlands: quantifying the impacts of human water use and man-made reservoirs as well as the unavoidable and avoidable impacts of climate change. Ecohydrology. 2020; 13 [ Google Scholar ]
• Elith J., Graham C.H., Anderson R.P., Dudik M., Ferrier S., Guisan A., Hijmans R.J., Huettmann F., Leathwick J.R., Lehmann A., Li J., Lohmann L.G., Loiselle B.A., Manion G., Moritz C., Nakamura M., Nakazawa Y., Overton J.M., Peterson A.T., Phillips S.J., Richardson K., Scachetti-Pereira R., Schapire R.E., Soberon J., Williams S., Wisz M.S., Zimmermann N.E. Novel methods improve prediction of species' distributions from occurrence data. Ecography. 2006; 29 :129–151. [ Google Scholar ]
• Fang Y., Yin J., Wu B. Climate change and tourism: a scientometric analysis using CiteSpace. J. Sustain. Tourism. 2018; 26 :108–126. [ Google Scholar ]
• Fawzy S., Osman A.I., Doran J., Rooney D.W. Strategies for mitigation of climate change: a review. Environ. Chem. Lett. 2020; 18 :2069–2094. [ Google Scholar ]
• Feinberg, J. 2020. Jonathan Feinberg. http://mrfeinberg.com/ .
• Fick S.E., Hijmans R.J. WorldClim 2: new 1-km spatial resolution climate surfaces for global land areas. Int. J. Climatol. 2017; 37 :4302–4315. [ Google Scholar ]
• Frisken W. Extended industrial revolution and climate change. EOS Trans. Am. Geophys. Union. 1971; 52 :500–508. [ Google Scholar ]
• Fu H.-Z., Waltman L. 2021. A Large-Scale Bibliometric Analysis of Global Climate Change Research between 2001 and 2018. arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.08214. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gibson J., Anderson D.L., Tressler J. Which journal rankings best explain academic salaries? Evidence from the University of California. Econ. Inq. 2014; 52 :1322–1340. [ Google Scholar ]
• Goglio P., Williams A.G., Balta-Ozkan N., Harris N.R., Williamson P., Huisingh D., Zhang Z., Tavoni M. Advances and challenges of life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse gas removal technologies to fight climate changes. J. Clean. Prod. 2020; 244 :118896. [ Google Scholar ]
• Haunschild R., Bornmann L., Marx W. Climate change research in view of bibliometrics. PLoS One. 2016; 11 (7) [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Herrero M., Havlík P., Valin H., Notenbaert A., Rufino M.C., Thornton P.K., Blümmel M., Weiss F., Grace D., Obersteiner M. Biomass use, production, feed efficiencies, and greenhouse gas emissions from global livestock systems. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Unit. States Am. 2013; 110 :20888–20893. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Hijmans R.J., Cameron S.E., Parra J.L., Jones P.G., Jarvis A. Very high resolution interpolated climate surfaces for global land areas. Int. J. Climatol. 2005; 25 :1965–1978. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hisano M., Searle E.B., Chen H.Y. Biodiversity as a solution to mitigate climate change impacts on the functioning of forest ecosystems. Biol. Rev. 2018; 93 :439–456. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Horton B.P., Rahmstorf S., Engelhart S.E., Kemp A.C. Expert assessment of sea-level rise by AD 2100 and AD 2300. Quat. Sci. Rev. 2014; 84 :1–6. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ihaka R. Statistics Department, The University of Auckland; Auckland, New Zealand: 1998. R : Past and Future History (Technical Report). Interface '98. [ Google Scholar ]
• IPCC . In: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Core Writing Team. Pachauri R.K., Meyer L.A., editors. IPCC; Geneva, Switzerland: 2014. p. 151. [ Google Scholar ]
• IPCC . In: In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5°C above Pre-industrial Levels and Related Global Greenhouse Gas Emission Pathways, in the Context of Strengthening the Global Response to the Threat of Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty. Matthews J.B.R., editor. 2018. Annex I: glossary. [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ito A., Reyer C.P., Gädeke A., Ciais P., Chang J., Chen M., François L., Forrest M., Hickler T., Ostberg S. Pronounced and unavoidable impacts of low-end global warming on northern high-latitude land ecosystems. Environ. Res. Lett. 2020; 15 [ Google Scholar ]
• Janmaijaya M., Shukla A.K., Abraham A., Muhuri P.K. Scientometric study of neurocomputing publications (1992–2018): An aerial overview of intrinsic structure. Publications. 2018; 6 [ Google Scholar ]
• Janssen M.A., Schoon M.L., Ke W., Börner K. Scholarly networks on resilience, vulnerability and adaptation within the human dimensions of global environmental change. Global Environ. Change. 2006; 16 :240–252. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kalnay E., Kanamitsu M., Kistler R., Collins W., Deaven D., Gandin L., Iredell M., Saha S., White G., Woollen J., Zhu Y., Chelliah M., Ebisuzaki W., Higgins W., Janowiak J., Mo K.C., Ropelewski C., Wang J., Leetmaa A., Reynolds R., Jenne R., Joseph D. The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 1996; 77 :437–471. [ Google Scholar ]
• Khalidy R., Santos R.M. The fate of atmospheric carbon sequestrated through weathering in mine tailings. Miner. Eng. 2021; 163 :106767. [ Google Scholar ]
• King A.D., Harrington L.J. The inequality of climate change from 1.5 to 2 °C of global warming. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2018; 45 :5030–5033. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kistler R., Kalnay E., Collins W., Saha S., White G., Woollen J., Chelliah M., Ebisuzaki W., Kanamitsu M., Kousky V., Van Den Dool H., Jenne R., Fiorino M. The NCEP-NCAR 50-year reanalysis: monthly means CD-ROM and documentation. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 2001; 82 :247–267. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kopec R.J. Global climate change and the impact of a maximum sea level on coastal settlement. J. Geogr. 1971; 70 :541–550. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kottek M., Grieser J., Beck C., Rudolf B., Rubel F. World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorol. Z. 2006; 15 (3):259–263. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kuenzer C., Bluemel A., Gebhardt S., Quoc T.V., Dech S. Remote sensing of mangrove ecosystem: a review. Rem. Sens. 2011; 3 :878–928. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kyte R. Gaidar Forum Moscow, Russian Federation; 2014. Climate Change Is a Challenge for Sustainable Development. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2014/01/15/climate-change-is-challenge-for-sustainable-development URL. [ Google Scholar ]
• Levizzani V., Cattani E. Satellite remote sensing of precipitation and the terrestrial water cycle in a changing climate. Rem. Sens. 2019; 11 :2301. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lezaun J. Hugging the shore: tackling marine carbon dioxide removal as a local governance problem. Front. Climate. 2021; 3 :684063. [ Google Scholar ]
• Li F., Zhou H., Huang D.-S., Guan P. Global research output and theme trends on climate change and infectious diseases: a restrospective bibliometric and Co-word biclustering investigation of papers indexed in PubMed (1999–2018) Int. J. Environ. Res. Publ. Health. 2020; 17 :5228. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Li J., Wang M.-H., Ho Y.-S. Trends in research on global climate change: a Science Citation Index Expanded-based analysis. Global Planet. Change. 2011; 77 :13–20. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lockley A., Mi Z., Coffman D.M. Geoengineering and the blockchain: coordinating carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation management to tackle future emissions. Front. Eng. Manag. 2019; 6 :38–51. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lockyer W.J. Does the Indian climate change? Nature. 1910; 84 :178. [ Google Scholar ]
• Macchi Silva V.V., Ribeiro J.L.D., Alvarez G.R., Caregnato S.E. Competence-based management research in the web of science and scopus databases: scientific production, collaboration, and impact. Publications. 2019; 7 [ Google Scholar ]
• Mahé G., Lienou G., Descroix L., Bamba F., Paturel J.-E., Laraque A., Meddi M., Habaieb H., Adeaga O., Dieulin C. The rivers of Africa: witness of climate change and human impact on the environment. Hydrol. Process. 2013; 27 :2105–2114. [ Google Scholar ]
• Martens P., Mcevoy D., Chang C.T. Sustainability Science. Springer; 2016. Climate change: responding to a major challenge for sustainable development. [ Google Scholar ]
• Marx W., Haunschild R., Bornmann L. Global warming and tea production—the bibliometric view on a newly emerging research topic. Climate. 2017; 5 :46. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mcdowell N., Pockman W.T., Allen C.D., Breshears D.D., Cobb N., Kolb T., Plaut J., Sperry J., West A., Williams D.G., Yepez E.A. Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought? New Phytol. 2008; 178 :719–739. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Mcmichael P. Food system sustainability: questions of environmental governance in the new world (dis)order. Global Environ. Change. 2011; 21 :804–812. [ Google Scholar ]
• Meehl G.A., Covey C., Delworth T., Latif M., Mcavaney B., Mitchell J.F.B., Stouffer R.J., Taylor K.E. The WCRP CMIP3 multimodel dataset - a new era in climate change research. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 2007; 88 :1383–1394. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mesinger F., Dimego G., Kalnay E., Mitchell K., Shafran P.C., Ebisuzaki W., Jovic D., Woollen J., Rogers E., Berbery E.H., Ek M.B., Fan Y., Grumbine R., Higgins W., Li H., Lin Y., Manikin G., Parrish D., Shi W. North American regional reanalysis. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 2006; 87 :343–360. [ Google Scholar ]
• Milán-García J., Caparrós-Martínez J.L., Rueda-López N., De Pablo Valenciano J. Climate change-induced migration: a bibliometric review. Glob. Health. 2021; 17 :1–10. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Milesi C., Churkina G. Measuring and monitoring urban impacts on climate change from space. Rem. Sens. 2020; 12 :3494. [ Google Scholar ]
• Munasinghe M. Addressing the sustainable development and climate change challenges together: applying the sustainomics framework. Procedia Social Behavl. Sci. 2010; 2 :6634–6640. [ Google Scholar ]
• Nunn P.D. Responding to the challenges of climate change in the Pacific Islands: management and technological imperatives. Clim. Res. 2009; 40 :211–231. [ Google Scholar ]
• Oliveira C.Y.B., Oliveira C.D.L., Müller M.N., Santos E.P., Dantas D.M., Gálvez A.O. A scientometric overview of global dinoflagellate research. Publications. 2020; 8 :50. [ Google Scholar ]
• Osman A.I., Hefny M., Maksoud M.A., Elgarahy A.M., Rooney D.W. Recent advances in carbon capture storage and utilisation technologies: a review. Environ. Chem. Lett. 2020; 19 :797–849. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ouhamdouch S., Bahir M., Ouazar D., Carreira P.M., Zouari K. Evaluation of climate change impact on groundwater from semi-arid environment (Essaouira Basin, Morocco) using integrated approaches. Environ. Earth Sci. 2019; 78 :1–14. [ Google Scholar ]
• Panepinto D., Genon G., Brizio E., Russolillo D. Production of green energy from co-digestion: perspectives for the Province of Cuneo, energetic balance and environmental sustainability. Clean Technol. Environ. Policy. 2013; 15 :1055–1062. [ Google Scholar ]
• Parmesan C. Ecological and evolutionary responses to recent climate change. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Systemat. 2006; 37 :637–669. [ Google Scholar ]
• Parmesan C., Yohe G. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature. 2003; 421 :37–42. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Phillips S.J., Anderson R.P., Schapire R.E. Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions. Ecol. Model. 2006; 190 :231–259. [ Google Scholar ]
• Phillips S.J., Dudik M. Modeling of species distributions with Maxent: new extensions and a comprehensive evaluation. Ecography. 2008; 31 :161–175. [ Google Scholar ]
• Princiotta F.T., Loughlin D.H. Global climate change: the quantifiable sustainability challenge. J. Air Waste Manag. Assoc. 2014; 64 :979–994. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• R core team . R Foundation for Statistical Computing; Vienna, Austria: 2019. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/ URL. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rayner N.A., Parker D.E., Horton E.B., Folland C.K., Alexander L.V., Rowell D.P., Kent E.C., Kaplan A. Global analyses of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and night marine air temperature since the late nineteenth century. J. Geophys. Res.: Atmosphere. 2003; 108 :37. [ Google Scholar ]
• Reynolds R.W., Rayner N.A., Smith T.M., Stokes D.C., Wang W.Q. An improved in situ and satellite SST analysis for climate. J. Clim. 2002; 15 :1609–1625. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ricke K., Millar R., Macmartin D.G. Constraints on global temperature target overshoot. Sci. Rep. 2017; 7 :1–7. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Rubel F., Kottek M. Observed and projected climate shifts 1901-2100 depicted by world maps of the Koppen-Geiger climate classification. Meteorol. Z. 2010; 19 :135–141. [ Google Scholar ]
• Rubel F., Kottek M. The thermal zones of the earth" by Wladimir Koppen (1884) Meteorol. Z. 2011; 20 :361–365. [ Google Scholar ]
• Salmerón-Manzano E., Manzano-Agugliaro F. Worldwide scientific production indexed by scopus on labour relations. Publications. 2017; 5 [ Google Scholar ]
• Santos R.M., Verbeeck W., Knops P., Rijnsburger K., Pontikes Y., Van Gerven T. Integrated mineral carbonation reactor technology for sustainable carbon dioxide sequestration: ‘CO 2 Energy Reactor. Energy Procedia. 2013; 37 :5884–5891. [ Google Scholar ]
• Sobreira C., Klu J.K., Cole C., Nic Daéid N., Ménard H. Reviewing research trends—a scientometric approach using gunshot residue (GSR) literature as an example. Publications. 2020; 8 :7. [ Google Scholar ]
• Steyvers M., Tenenbaum J.B. The large-scale structure of semantic networks: statistical analyses and a model of semantic growth. Cognit. Sci. 2005; 29 :41–78. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Su F., Lu C., Cnen W., Bai H., Hwang J.F. Capture of CO 2 from flue gas via multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Sci. Total Environ. 2009; 407 :3017–3023. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tan X.-C., Zhu K.-W., Sun Y.-L., Zhao W.-Y., Chen F. Bibliometric research on the development of climate change in the BRI regions. Adv. Clim. Change Res. 2021; 12 (2):254–262. [ Google Scholar ]
• Taylor K.E. Summarizing multiple aspects of model performance in a single diagram. J. Geophys. Res.: Atmosphere. 2001; 106 :7183–7192. [ Google Scholar ]
• Taylor K.E., Stouffer R.J., Meehl G.A. An overview of CMIP5 and the experiment design. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 2012; 93 :485–498. [ Google Scholar ]
• Tenenbaum J.B., De Silva V., Langford J.C. A global geometric framework for nonlinear dimensionality reduction. Science. 2000; 290 :2319–2323. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Tenenbaum J.B., Kemp C., Griffiths T.L., Goodman N.D. How to grow a mind: statistics, structure, and abstraction. Science. 2011; 331 :1279–1285. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Thomas C.D., Cameron A., Green R.E., Bakkenes M., Beaumont L.J., Collingham Y.C., Erasmus B.F., De Siqueira M.F., Grainger A., Hannah L. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature. 2004; 427 :145–148. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Uppala S.M., Kallberg P.W., Simmons A.J., Andrae U., Bechtold V.D., Fiorino M., Gibson J.K., Haseler J., Hernandez A., Kelly G.A., Li X., Onogi K., Saarinen S., Sokka N., Allan R.P., Andersson E., Arpe K., Balmaseda M.A., Beljaars A.C.M., Van de Berg L., Bidlot J., Bormann N., Caires S., Chevallier F., Dethof A., Dragosavac M., Fisher M., Fuentes M., Hagemann S., Holm E., Hoskins B.J., Isaksen L., Janssen P., Jenne R., Mcnally A.P., Mahfouf J.F., Morcrette J.J., Rayner N.A., Saunders R.W., Simon P., Sterl A., Trenberth K.E., Untch A., Vasiljevic D., Viterbo P., Woollen J. The ERA-40 re-analysis. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 2005; 131 :2961–3012. [ Google Scholar ]
• Vitousek S., Barnard P.L., Fletcher C.H., Frazer N., Erikson L., Storlazzi C.D. Doubling of coastal flooding frequency within decades due to sea-level rise. Sci. Rep. 2017; 7 :1–9. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Walther G.R., Post E., Convey P., Menzel A., Parmesan C., Beebee T.J.C., Fromentin J.M., Hoegh-Guldberg O., Bairlein F. Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature. 2002; 416 :389–395. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang B., Pan S.-Y., Ke R.-Y., Wang K., Wei Y.-M. An overview of climate change vulnerability: a bibliometric analysis based on Web of Science database. Nat. Hazards. 2014; 74 :1649–1666. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wang Y., Xie Y., Zhou R., Hu X., Li X. A comparative bibliometric analysis of Chinese and foreign articles in environmental footprint family (EFF) research. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Control Ser. 2021; 28 :26280–26293. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Wei Y.-M., Mi Z.-F., Huang Z. Climate policy modeling: an online SCI-E and SSCI based literature review. Omega. 2015; 57 :70–84. [ Google Scholar ]
• Widlansky M.J., Timmermann A., Cai W. Future extreme sea level seesaws in the tropical Pacific. Sci. Adv. 2015; 1 (8) [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

How ‘climate mainstreaming’ can address climate change and further development goals

Visiting researcher, Department of Population Medicine, University of Guelph

LSE Fellow, Department of Gender Studies, University of Guelph

Disclosure statement

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Guelph provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA.

University of Guelph provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

View all partners

Canada’s first National Adaptation Strategy urges Canadians to consider climate change impacts in their everyday decisions.

The strategy calls such an approach “climate mainstreaming.” The approach states that:

“as climate impacts become more severe and frequent, and the costs mount, incorporating adaptation considerations in health, social, environmental, infrastructure and economic decisions-making is critical to ensure that our collective efforts keep pace.”

Similar statements are outlined in the 2023 press release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee stated, “mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits.”

Global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut 43 per cent from 2019 to 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5 C. At the 2023 United Nations climate conference (COP28) in Dubai, parties were deemed off track in meeting their Paris Agreement goals.

A rapid and meaningful expansion of climate mainstreaming — the integration of climate considerations into all development programs and policies — is vital for addressing the urgent global climate crisis.

Read more: Climate justice is a critical issue for the tourism industry

Why mainstream climate change?

Mainstreaming climate considerations ensures that responses to climate change are systemically embedded in all policies and actions, rather than treated as a separate issue. This integration allows for more comprehensive and cost-effective interventions by addressing multiple issues at once.

For instance, within an ongoing program focused on improving food safety in informal, outdoor markets through enhanced hygienic practices, mainstreaming might entail additional activities related to climate adaptation such as raising awareness among food vendors about the importance of refrigeration during heatwaves to prevent bacterial growth .

Failing to mainstream climate considerations can hinder climate action as well as result in maladaptation, which occurs when well-intentioned development actions inadvertently increase climate impacts. For example, seawalls can protect people and property from damage in the short term. However, if they are not part of a long-term plan that can adapt to changing conditions, they can trap communities in risky situations and increase their exposure to climate risks over time .

While attention to climate mainstreaming calls for the prioritization of climate considerations across all policy arenas, progress remains slow and uneven due primarily to an institutional resistance to change. Climate action is often seen as the responsibility of a single sector rather than the collective, and incremental changes are inferior to transformative ones.

Furthermore, climate mainstreaming is often narrowly interpreted as simply the addition of climate to existing structures and initiatives. Often derisively dubbed a “just add climate and stir” approach.

To help address these preconceptions, our research has explored how climate mainstreaming challenges resemble similar decades-long struggles to mainstream gender equality across international and national public policy agendas. The question we have asked is: what can climate mainstreaming learn from gender mainstreaming?

Insights from gender mainstreaming

The longer history of gender mainstreaming, including institutional investments dating back to 1990s, offers lessons about policy and institutional bottlenecks of mainstreaming. These lessons can help tackle political and institutional challenges of climate mainstreaming. The UN system, with clear gender and climate mainstreaming targets, offers a suitable arena for analysis.

In a new study published in 2024 , we reviewed documents of United Nations agencies working in the food and agriculture sector, which is strongly impacted by climate change. We found varying degrees of gender and climate mainstreaming across selected UN agencies.

Key areas where climate mainstreaming fell short compared to gender mainstreaming included: strategic planning, leadership, organizational culture and accountability.

Our review showed ways to improve climate mainstreaming. Here are three actions governments, development partners and industries can take now:

Use multiple strategies: draw upon gender mainstreaming good practices to adopt both broad climate initiatives and specific interventions.

Build institutional accountability: establish strong mechanisms to track progress in climate mainstreaming. The UN’s framework for gender mainstreaming can act as a useful model. This would help ensure transparency, monitoring and a stronger commitment to climate action.

Adopt a climate justice perspective: uphold the needs of climate change-vulnerable populations and prioritize collective human and environmental rights over economic growth. Ensure diverse stakeholders participate across all levels of decision-making.

Accountable and integrated climate justice interventions are prerequisites for a more sustainable and resilient future. Financing is another.

Financing is key

While mainstreaming is important, it is nothing without adequate financing. The 2015 Paris Agreement requires high-income countries to contribute $100 billion annually . However, this goal has not been met , and the existing funds are unevenly distributed.

Read more: A window of opportunity for climate and biodiversity

Historically disadvantaged countries are the least responsible for yet the most impacted by climate crisis . These countries are largely left to balance development and climate action investments in a generally unjust international financial system.

In 2022, official development assistance reached US$204 billion , but this still left nearly half of the humanitarian requirements unmet. Rich countries spent only 0.36 per cent of their total income on aid — slightly up from 0.33 per cent in 2021, but still much lower than the 0.7 per cent promised back in 1970.

With the financing to back it up, a climate mainstreaming perspective may just be the solution to addressing both global development and climate goals.

• Climate change
• Development
• Global warming
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Director of STEM

Community member - Training Delivery and Development Committee (Volunteer part-time)

Chief Executive Officer

Finance Business Partner

Head of Evidence to Action

• Dissertation
• PowerPoint Presentation
• Book Report/Review
• Research Proposal
• Math Problems
• Proofreading
• Movie Review
• Cover Letter Writing
• Personal Statement
• Nursing Paper
• Argumentative Essay
• Research Paper
• Discussion Board Post

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!

50 Best Ideas For Research Paper Topics

How to Write the Alzheimer’s Essay

How To Write The Best Paper On Police Brutality?

Climate Crisis Survey Reveals Scientists’ Willingness to Act – and Barriers to Action

• Triveni Sheshadri - [email protected]

Media contact:

• Inga Kiderra - [email protected]

Published Date

Topics covered:.

• Climate change

Share This:

Article content.

Increasing global temperatures. Rising sea levels. Shrinking ice sheets. Warmer ocean water. Over the last several decades, scientists worldwide have amassed compelling evidence on climate change. However, little is known about the personal beliefs and attitudes of climate scientists and scientists and academics in other disciplines about what they are or are not doing beyond research to deal with what appears to be accelerated global heating and its impacts on the biosphere.

A large-scale survey conducted by a team of international researchers led by investigators at the University of Amsterdam has found that scientists worldwide and across disciplines are extremely concerned about climate change and its cascading effects on every sphere of life. Many scientists surveyed in the study report making changes in their own lifestyles and engaging in advocacy and protest, and more are willing to do so in the future. Importantly, they also pointed to key psychological, social and institutional barriers to more advocacy and protest.

Adam Aron, professor of psychology in the School of Social Sciences at the University of California San Diego, is a co-author of the study published Aug. 5 in the journal Nature Climate Change .

“Climate change is one of the biggest threats to humanity,” said Aron whose research is now focused on the social psychology of collective action on the climate and ecological crisis. “Governments, corporations and many institutions continue to make empty promises that downplay the level of transformation that’s required to prevent climate breakdown and to equitably adapt societies to deal with the impacts that are already here.”

The researchers surveyed more than 9,000 scientists from 115 countries about their views on climate change and the extent to which they are engaged in climate action. Climate change worried the majority of respondents (83%). Many more (91%) believed that fundamental changes in social, political and economic systems are needed to mitigate the effects of climate change. When asked about their own actions to combat the climate crisis, many said they have already made significant changes to their lifestyle. They were driving less (69%), flying less (51%) and switching to a more plant-based diet (39%).

{/exp:typographee}

Barriers to engagement and action

The researchers found that the majority of scientists who responded to the survey believed in the effectiveness of climate activist groups to bring about positive change. They were also in support of more engagement on the part of the scientific community in climate advocacy and even protest. Their own responses to the crisis included climate advocacy (29%), participation in legal protest (23%) and/or acts of civil disobedience (10%). About half said they would be willing to engage in some of these in the future.

Based on these results, the authors of the study propose a two-step model of engagement. First, in order for scientists to be willing to engage, they need to break through intellectual barriers that impede climate action such as lack of belief in the effectiveness of the actions, lack of identification with activists, lack of knowledge, fear of losing credibility, and fear of repercussions. Second, they need to overcome mostly practical barriers including perceived lack of skills, lack of time, lack of opportunities, and not knowing any groups involved in climate action.

“This study makes clear that scientists from all disciplines are very worried and are calling for fundamental transformation,” Aron said.  “I hope this helps wake people up and that they get engaged, as more and more scientists are.”

About the survey

Out of the 250,000 targeted emails sent to solicit participation in the study, the research team received more than 9,000 survey responses from scientists and academics in 115 countries in various disciplines and career stages. The researchers acknowledge that respondents who were already involved in climate change may have been more likely to self-select to participate in the survey, which could affect the extent to which the reported results reflect the views of the scientific community as a whole.

Learn more about research and education at UC San Diego in: Climate Change

You May Also Like

Opentopography receives $4 million to support ai-ready access to topographic data for research and education, borderzone breakthrough: a new source of cardiac inflammation, uc san diego’s mandeville art gallery receives grant from new york-based teiger foundation, stay in the know.

Keep up with all the latest from UC San Diego. Subscribe to the newsletter today.

You have been successfully subscribed to the UC San Diego Today Newsletter.

Campus & Community

Arts & culture, visual storytelling.

• Media Resources & Contacts

Signup to get the latest UC San Diego newsletters delivered to your inbox.

Award-winning publication highlighting the distinction, prestige and global impact of UC San Diego.

Popular Searches: Covid-19   Ukraine   Campus & Community   Arts & Culture   Voices

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts

Research articles

Global warming decreases connectivity among coral populations

The authors develop a high-resolution model of coral larval dispersal for the southern Great Barrier Reef. They show that 2 °C of warming decreases larval dispersal distance and connectivity of reefs, hampering post-disturbance recovery and the potential spread of warm-adapted genes.

• Joana Figueiredo
• Christopher J. Thomas
• Emmanuel Hanert

Phenological mismatches between above- and belowground plant responses to climate warming

The authors conduct a meta-analysis to reveal mismatches in above- and belowground plant phenological responses to warming that differ by plant type (herbaceous versus woody). The work highlights a need for further research and consideration of under-represented belowground phenological changes.

• Huiying Liu
• Madhav P. Thakur

Near-term transition and longer-term physical climate risks of greenhouse gas emissions pathways

There is a balance in mitigation pathway design between economic transition cost and physical climate threats. This study provides a comprehensive framework to assess the near- and long-term risks under various warming scenarios globally and in particular regions.

• Ajay Gambhir
• Seth Monteith

Hysteresis of the intertropical convergence zone to CO 2 forcing

In idealized model experiments where CO 2 increases four-fold before returning to its original level, temperature and precipitation show almost linear responses to CO 2 forcing. In contrast, the response of the Intertropical Convergence Zone lags behind CO 2 changes, associated with delayed energy exchanges.

• Jong-Seong Kug
• Jongsoo Shin

Contextualizing cross-national patterns in household climate change adaptation

The context and motivation around adaptation are influenced by local culture and institutions. In the United States, China, Indonesia and the Netherlands, some factors (such as perceived costs) have similar influences on household adaptation to flooding, but others (such as flood experience) differ between countries.

• Brayton Noll
• Tatiana Filatova
• Alessandro Taberna

Ocean warming and accelerating Southern Ocean zonal flow

The remoteness and paucity of historic observations of the Southern Ocean limit understanding of the effects of climate change on circulation. Using observations, CMIP6 and eddy-resolving models, this Article shows that acceleration of its zonal flow emerged in recent decades as a result of uneven ocean warming.

• Jia-Rui Shi
• Lynne D. Talley

Cost and attainability of meeting stringent climate targets without overshoot

Current emissions scenarios include pathways that overshoot the temperature goals set out in the Paris Agreement and rely on future net negative emissions. Limiting overshoot would require near-term investment but would result in longer-term economic benefit.

• Keywan Riahi
• Christoph Bertram
• Behnam Zakeri

Net zero-emission pathways reduce the physical and economic risks of climate change

Mitigation pathways allowing for temperature overshoot often ignore the related climate and macroeconomic impacts. Net-zero pathways with limited overshoot could reduce low-probability high-consequence risks and economic loss.

• Laurent Drouet
• Valentina Bosetti
• Massimo Tavoni

Health co-benefits of climate change mitigation depend on strategic power plant retirements and pollution controls

Climate mitigation policies often provide health co-benefits. Analysis of individual power plants under future climate–energy policy scenarios shows reducing air pollution-related deaths does not automatically align with emission reduction policies and that policy design needs to consider public health.

• Guannan Geng
• Steven J. Davis

Climate action with revenue recycling has benefits for poverty, inequality and well-being

Climate policy analyses often ignore the possibility of progressive redistribution of carbon tax revenues and assume that mitigation cost will burden the poor in the short term. Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) estimation suggests such redistribution could reduce inequality, alleviate poverty and increase well-being globally.

• Mark Budolfson
• Francis Dennig
• Stéphane Zuber

Observed increases in extreme fire weather driven by atmospheric humidity and temperature

Climate change has led to increased fire activity in parts of the globe due to observed increases in fire weather extremes. These trends are driven predominantly by decreasing relative humidity and increasing temperature.

• Piyush Jain
• Dante Castellanos-Acuna
• Mike D. Flannigan

Climate and land-use changes reduce the benefits of terrestrial protected areas

The authors project future rates of temporal and spatial displacement of climate and land-use in protected areas (PAs), and show that more than one-quarter of the world’s PAs are highly threatened, with particular risk to PAs across tropical moist and grassland biomes.

• Ernest F. Asamoah
• Linda J. Beaumont
• Joseph M. Maina

Demand-side solutions to climate change mitigation consistent with high levels of well-being

Evaluation of mitigation actions often focuses on cost and overlooks the direct effects on well-being. This work shows demand-side measures have large mitigation potential and beneficial effects on well-being outcomes.

• Felix Creutzig
• Leila Niamir
• Diana Ürge-Vorsatz

A multi-model analysis of long-term emissions and warming implications of current mitigation efforts

Mitigation pathways tend to focus on an end temperature target and calculate how to keep within these bounds. This work uses seven integrated assessment models to consider current mitigation efforts and project likely temperature trajectories.

• Ida Sognnaes
• Glen P. Peters

Risk transfer policies and climate-induced immobility among smallholder farmers

Smallholder farmers will be impacted substantially by climate change and need to adapt. Agent-based modelling shows that interventions, particularly cash transfer paired with risk transfer mechanisms, lead to increased migration and uptake of cash crops, with higher income and lower inequality.

• Nicolas Choquette-Levy
• Matthias Wildemeersch
• Simon A. Levin

Climatic limit for agriculture in Brazil

Soybean and maize yields in the Amazon-Cerrado region of Brazil are dependent on water from rain. Warming and drying will make the climate less suitable for agricultural production; changes have already moved 28% of croplands out of their optimum climate space.

• Ludmila Rattis
• Paulo M. Brando
• Michael T. Coe

Anthropogenic emissions and urbanization increase risk of compound hot extremes in cities

Heat extremes threaten the health of urban residents with particularly strong impacts from day–night sustained heat. Observation and simulation data across eastern China show increasing risks of compound events attributed to anthropogenic emissions and urbanization.

A systematic global stocktake of evidence on human adaptation to climate change

Determining progress in adaptation to climate change is challenging, yet critical as climate change impacts increase. A stocktake of the scientific literature on implemented adaptation now shows that adaptation is mostly fragmented and incremental, with evidence lacking for its impact on reducing risk.

• Lea Berrang-Ford
• A. R. Siders
• Thelma Zulfawu Abu

Threatened salmon rely on a rare life history strategy in a warming landscape

Highlighting the importance of rare phenotypes in population persistence, the authors show that spring-run Chinook salmon late-migrant juveniles were critical for cohort success in drought and ocean heatwave years. Combined further warming and impassable dams threaten these late migrants’ survival.

• F. Cordoleani
• C. C. Phillis
• R. C. Johnson

Impact of high-speed rail on road traffic and greenhouse gas emissions

Intercity high-speed rail (HSR) can have large climate benefits with its high energy efficiency. This study explores the substitution effects of HSR on road traffic in China, which can be translated to an annual reduction of 14.76 million tons of CO 2 -equivalent emissions.

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

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.

READ FREE ONLINE

Welcome to OpenBook!

You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

Show this book's table of contents , where you can jump to any chapter by name.

...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

Switch between the Original Pages , where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter .

Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

View our suggested citation for this chapter.

Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

Get Email Updates

Do you enjoy reading reports from the Academies online for free ? Sign up for email notifications and we'll let you know about new publications in your areas of interest when they're released.

share this!

August 26, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

trusted source

written by researcher(s)

Researchers analyze 1,500 climate policies to find what works—these are the lessons for Australia

by John Quiggin, The Conversation

Almost 35 years have passed since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its first assessment report . It found human activities were substantially increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other gases in the atmosphere, which was warming the global climate.

Since then, countries around the world have introduced a slew of policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions . But what actually worked?

This question is at the heart of a landmark new paper by German researchers. They analyzed 1,500 climate policies implemented around the world over the past two decades, and found only a small fraction were effective.

Importantly, they found most emissions reduction relied on a mix of policies. The results point to a way forward for Australia, where an economy-wide carbon price is currently politically impossible.

Untangling the policy labyrinth

At a global level, emissions-reduction policies have yet to produce the sustained reduction in CO₂ emissions needed to hold global heating below 2°C.

So it's important to understand how well, or badly, emissions-reduction policies in various countries have worked.

A few ad hoc observations can be made. For example, Australia's carbon emissions fell during the brief period of the Gillard Labor government's carbon price, then rose when the Abbott government removed the policy. It is not hard to identify causality here.

Rarely is the cause for success or failure so clear-cut. Globally, in the past few decades, various policies have been introduced, modified, and in some cases, abandoned. It can be seemingly impossible to disentangle their effects.

But a new paper attempts this task.

'Difference in difference'

The research was led by Annika Stechemesser from Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. It employs a standard technique for determining the effects of a policy intervention, known as the "differences in differences" approach.

This approach compares changes in outcomes over time between two groups. If a policy was ineffective, the differences between the groups should stay the same over time. If the gap changes in the expected direction, the policy is assumed to be effective.

The method was applied most famously in a 1994 study in the United States by economists David Card and Alan Kreuger. They compared fast-food restaurants in New Jersey, where minimum wages were increased, with those in Pennsylvania, where wages were unchanged.

They found the rise in the minimum wage had no effect on the number of people employed by restaurants. The analysis led to a radical change in thinking about minimum wages.

But that analysis involved a single change. The Potsdam team sought to distinguish the effects of more than 1,500 climate policy interventions, implemented across 41 countries over two decades.

It required sorting through a huge volume of data, while applying the "differences in differences" approach. The researchers did this using artificial intelligence.

They analyzed four sectors: buildings, electricity, industry and transport. They examined eight kinds of policy interventions, primarily focused on:

• pricing policies, such as carbon taxes and permits that can be bought and sold
• regulation, such as bans, building codes and energy efficiency rules
• applying or removing subsidies, such as governments paying property owners to install rooftop solar, or removing tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry.

What the research found

The researchers identified 63 cases where climate policies had led to large emissions reduction.

Unsurprisingly, though a little disappointingly, no "silver bullet" policy emerged. Rather, most successful cases—at least in developed economies—were the result of two or more policies working together.

This might mean, for example, a fuel efficiency mandate for vehicles, combined with subsidies to help develop a network of charging stations for electric vehicles.

The study also found successful policy mixes vary across sectors. For example, in developed countries, pricing was particularly effective policy in sectors dominated by profit-oriented companies, such as electricity and industry. But a mix of incentives and regulations worked best in the buildings and transport sectors.

And countries have different needs, depending on income. In developing countries, for example, pricing interventions did not lead to large emission reductions in the electricity sector. This may change, however, as China gradually develops carbon markets .

The researchers have made the data available to the public in a handy tool . It is easily searchable by sector and country.

The strength of this approach is the ability to integrate analysis across many different countries. However, this global approach precludes a fine-grained analysis for each country.

For example, because Australia's carbon pricing scheme was so short-lived, and its effects rapidly reversed, the differences-in-differences analysis did not capture its significance.

What can Australia learn?

The research is an impressive effort to distill lessons from the mass of confusing data surrounding climate policy.

The findings would once have been unwelcome news to the economics profession, which in the past has largely advocated for one stand-alone policy applied across the economy—most commonly, putting a price on carbon.

Carbon prices are not a complete solution, but they are important. Research in 2020 showed countries with carbon prices, on average, had annual carbon emissions growth rates two percentage points lower than countries without a carbon price.

Unfortunately, in Australia, the federal Coalition is resolutely opposed to any kind of price-based measure to cut emissions. And following the Gillard government's politically bruising experience over the carbon price , the Albanese government is allergic to any mention of such policies.

So, while price-based mechanisms are, theoretically, the ideal way to cut emissions, most economists now accept there's no point holding out for it. If a combination of measures in different parts of the economy is the best we can do, it's better than nothing. The important task is to reduce emissions.

The political constraints on price-based policy mean Australia must push harder on other policy approaches—namely regulations and subsidies—to reach net-zero by 2050.

Provided by The Conversation

Explore further

Feedback to editors

Chemists achieve PFAS-free synthesis of fluorinated pharmaceutical and agrochemical compounds

Number of fish species at risk of extinction five-fold higher than previous estimates according to new prediction

Tuberculosis under the sea: A marine sponge microbe provides insights into the bacterium's evolution

Ancient gene gives spiders their narrow waist, research reveals

Catalytic process vaporizes plastic bags and bottles, yielding gases to make new, recycled plastics

Bacteria able to overcome cost of vancomycin resistance in lab setting

Uncovering the secret communication of marmoset monkeys: They have names

How a salt giant radically reshaped Mediterranean marine biodiversity

Neutron scattering instrument represents a new dawn for AI-powered atomic-scale 3D imaging

2 hours ago

New moves for self defense—how plants can inspire future soft robotic design

Relevant physicsforums posts, alaska - pedersen glacier: landslide triggered tsunami.

Aug 23, 2024

Iceland warming up again - quakes swarming

The secrets of prof. verschure's rosetta stones, shiveluch volcano erupts on kamchatka peninsula.

Aug 18, 2024

A very puzzling rock or a pallasite / mesmosiderite or a nothing burger

Aug 14, 2024

M6.8 and M6.3 east of Mindanao, Philippines

Aug 13, 2024

More from Earth Sciences

Related Stories

Evaluation of climate policy measures over two decades finds many have failed to achieve necessary emissions reductions

Aug 22, 2024

World's largest study shows carbon pricing reduces emissions

Jul 14, 2020

Carbon dioxide removal should receive additional financial support, says study

Dec 20, 2022

Taxes out, subsidies in: Australia and the US are passing major climate bills, without taxing carbon

Sep 6, 2022

Carbon taxes that focus on luxury consumption are fairer than those that tax all emissions equally: Study

Jul 13, 2023

Do rebates for carbon prices incentivize a reduction in emissions?

Mar 7, 2023

Recommended for you

Labor day crowds temporarily impact local streams, research shows

7 hours ago

Land-sea 'tag-team' devastated ocean life millions of years ago, reveal scientists

10 hours ago

Global timber supply threatened as climate change pushes cropland northwards

Study reveals crucial role of mixing Atlantic and Arctic waters in global ocean circulation

5 hours ago

NASA study tallies carbon emissions from massive Canadian fires

Aug 28, 2024

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter