Responding To Climate Change

The inevitability of changes occurring to the climate at both global and local scales is now a well-established reality. Confidence is currently higher than in previous assessments with regard to projected patterns of warming and other features of a regional scale, including changes in wind patterns, precipitation and some aspects of extremes and sea ice. For poor countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, climate change adds another layer of complexity to already existing development challenges, such as high levels of poverty and inequality, rapid population growth, underdeveloped financial markets and weak governance systems. 

Climate research at the Earth Institute spans multiple disciplines. While climate scientists study the effects of increased temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide on the world’s oceans and weather patterns, engineers are seeking ways to produce cleaner energy and provide steady supplies of fresh water. Social scientists, policy experts and lawyers are studying human behaviour in the face of change as a way to improve how we make decisions, and the policy and legal tools we can use to implement measures that address the climate challenge. The Columbia Climate centre integrates research from throughout the University and across disciplines to translate the best climate knowledge into practical solutions

In humankind’s pursuit of well-being, we both influence and respond to climate. Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases affect the heat balance of the Earth, and the resulting changes in precipitation patterns, temperature extremes and rising sea levels affect how society develops. The dynamic interaction between humans and climate is not new, but the scale of the interaction has reached unprecedented proportions.