Climate Change Literacy: Why it is Important

Climate change now touches on all academic disciplines and on every aspect of society. It has become linked to nearly every environmental and socio-economic problem. As a result, how the concept of climate change is defined or understood depends to a large extent on the perspective of individuals or organizations with a particular interest or concern about the consequences of global warming, whether it’s social justice, climate anxiety, disclosure of physical and financial risks, climate refugees, fossil fuels divestment, sustainability, and so on. In the natural sciences, however, climate change has an exact and relatively simple definition: a shift in the statistics of weather. With a large array of social, political and economic issues tied to climate change, a basic level of climate change literacy is important to at least articulate the role of climate change. Most professions (e.g., lawyers, accountants, engineers, policy makers, etc.) find this challenging, because with few expectations climate change is not part of their formal education.

• College Avenue Campus CB 112
• Presenter: Dr. David Sauchyn