Two general points of particular importance for sociologists emerge from the foregoing observations.
First, climate changes involve interactions of social and ecological variables at different spatial scales within
specific social, cultural, and economic contexts. Although some social scientists truly do work at the macro-scale
of world systems, for most sociologists, the sweeping global conclusions in reports by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (Confalonieri et al. 2007) will probably serve as the backdrop for local studies. Second,
social choices about built and natural environments, as well as the allocation of environmental and economic
resources among different groups, are very important in causing climate changes and determining the magnitudes
of human vulnerabilities. In terms of how people are vulnerable, I only mentioned temperature above, which is
one of the most studied relationships between climate and health and one in which the linkages are easiest to
establish. (Even in this area, however, most studies rely on rather crude estimates of mortality to represent health
effects and only a few social variables [e.g., age, disability, race] have been included in risk assessments.) There
are other important dimensions of change and variability – humidity, precipitation, wind, sea levels, and storms of
all types. Many of the health effects potentially related to these climate changes, such as food and water shortages,
displacement, or increased exposure to pollution, have more complex relationships with social variables and are
largely unexplored areas (McMichael et al. 2006).
Research on climate and people can benefit from sociological inquiries drawing on a variety of theories
and methodologies in the social sciences. In my research on urbanization and extreme heat, I have found it useful
to apply the same theories used by other environmental justice researchers. Political economy and political
ecology underscore that urban spaces are arranged by powerful economic and political actors to create landscapes
of many persistent social and environmental inequalities. Residential segregation manifests underlying social
stratification processes, discrimination, and the manipulation of consumer tastes and lifestyles that influence risk
and vulnerability to hazards. Vulnerabilities are linked to social inequalities, cultural traditions, laws, and social
exchange networks that determine access to social and material resources that people may or may not have to
manage or cope with the impacts of environmental stressors. Those with the least access to these resources are the
most vulnerable to hazards (i.e., illnesses and death) of climate and climate change. Vulnerability can be measured
at different spatial and social scales and it can focus on many dimensions of climate – temperature, drought,
extreme weather events, and so forth.
I have analyzed US Census, social survey, and housing quality data to study the exposure of urban
neighborhoods to thermal hazards but most of the data and methodologies for my studies were borrowed from
other disciplines, such as geography (weather stations and Geographical Information Systems), geology (remotely
sensed images of vegetation and surface temperature), and atmospheric sciences (Weather Research Forecasting
models). My collaborators and I have used conventional statistical techniques to analyze the data but we also
realize that system dynamics and agent-based models are better suited to projecting and simulating future
outcomes and scenarios of change. Moreover, community participation research in specific places will help us to
incorporate local indigenous knowledge into conceptual models. This brings me to my final point about what we
need to know and how we can know it.
What do we need to know: What are the major sociological research questions?
I do not discount the idea that there are some important questions about the human dimensions of climate
change that sociologists can study on their own. I believe, however, that a major part of our research agenda
should be to initiate and co-lead interdisciplinary collaborations with biophysical scientists. As a practical
matter, the biophysical and medical sciences will receive almost all the funding and attention for studying
climate change and associated health risks. Therefore, if sociologists want to be at the main table, we need to