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Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change

Nature Climate Change volume 3, pages 541–544 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Understanding the challenge that climate change poses and crafting appropriate adaptation and mitigation mechanisms requires input from the breadth of the natural and social sciences. Anthropology's in-depth fieldwork methodology, long engagement in questions of society–environment interactions and broad, holistic view of society yields valuable insights into the science, impacts and policy of climate change. Yet the discipline's voice in climate change debates has remained a relatively marginal one until now. Here, we identify three key ways that anthropological research can enrich and deepen contemporary understandings of climate change.

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Acknowledgements

Funding for the workshop discussion that informed this Perspective and for the writing of the Perspective was provided by the Yale Climate and Energy Institute, the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Fund, the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies and the Tropical Resources Institute at Yale.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Yale Climate & Energy Institute, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, 06511, Connecticut, USA

    Jessica Barnes & Michael Dove

  2. Center for Earth System Science, São José dos Campos, Brazil

    Myanna Lahsen

  3. University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, 95064, California, USA

    Andrew Mathews

  4. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 07102, New Jersey, USA

    Pamela McElwee

  5. Yale University, New Haven, 06511, Connecticut, USA

    Roderick McIntosh & Harvey Weiss

  6. Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

    Frances Moore

  7. College of St Benedict's, Saint John's University, St Joseph, 56374, Minnesota, USA

    Jessica O'Reilly

  8. Columbia University, New York, 10027, USA

    Ben Orlove

  9. University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NZ, UK

    Rajindra Puri

  10. NASA Greenbelt, 20771, Maryland, USA

    Karina Yager

Authors
  1. Jessica Barnes
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  2. Michael Dove
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  3. Myanna Lahsen
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  4. Andrew Mathews
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  8. Jessica O'Reilly
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Contributions

JB and MD wrote the first draft of this article. ML, AM, PM, RM, FM, JO, BO, RP, HW, and KY contributed extensive comments.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jessica Barnes.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Barnes, J., Dove, M., Lahsen, M. et al. Contribution of anthropology to the study of climate change. Nature Clim Change 3, 541–544 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1775

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