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Review Article
Climate change: essential knowledge for
developing holistic solutions to our climate crisis
M. A. Maslin
Department of Geography, University College London, Pearson Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
Correspondence: M. A. Maslin (m.maslin@ucl.ac.uk)
Understanding anthropogenic climate change is essential for anyone working in the life
sciences. Firstly because climate change has already started to impact the Earth bio-
sphere and human health and these changes need to be documented and acknowl-
edged. Secondly, many of the solutions to climate change, both mitigation and
adaptation, will be through the life sciences, everything from massive reforestation and
sustainable agriculture to preventing the spread of disease and protecting individual
human health. Anthropogenic climate change is, therefore, one of the defining challenges
of the 21st century, along with poverty alleviation, environmental degradation and global
security. Climate change is no longer just a scientific concern but encompasses econom-
ics, sociology, geopolitics, national and local politics, law and health to name a few.
Hence, to understand climate change fully then not only does one have to review the
science but also the politics and geopolitics, which have created the issue and can
provide the solutions. Climate change ultimately makes us examine the whole basis of
modern society and ultimately asks questions about humanity’s relationship with the rest
of the planet.
Introduction
The impacts of human actions on our home planet are now so large that many scientists are declaring
a new phase of Earth’s history. The old forces of nature that transformed Earth many millions of
years ago, including meteorites and mega-volcanoes, are joined by another: us. We have entered a new
human-dominated epoch of geological time called the Anthropocene [1,2].
The scale of human impacts on Earth’s workings is immense. Globally, human activities move
more soil, rock and sediment each year than is transported by all other natural processes combined.
We have cut down nearly 3 trillion trees, about half of those on the planet [3]. Factories and farming
remove as much nitrogen from the atmosphere as all Earth’s natural processes. These changes rival
those in Earth’s geological history [4].
Humanity has also made enough concrete to cover the entire surface of the Earth in a layer 2 mm
thick. Enough plastic has been manufactured to Clingfilm it as well. We produce 4.8 billion tonnes of
our top five crops, plus 4.8 billion head of livestock, annually. There are 1.2 billion motor vehicles, 2
billion personal computers and more mobile phones than the 7.5 billion people on Earth. If you
weighed all the land mammals on Earth, 30% of that weight is us humans, 67% would be the farm
animals that feed us, and just 3% are mammals living in the wild. A sixth mass extinction in Earth’s
history looms.
Adding to the human impact on the planet is climate change. The Fifth Assessment Reports (AR5)
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 2013 and 2014 state that the
evidence for climate change is unequivocal [5–7]. There is now evidence for a 1°C rise in global tem-
peratures and over a 20 cm rise in sea level in the last 100 years. Depending on how much we control
future greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the global mean surface temperature could rise between 2.8°C
and 5.4°C by the end of the 21st century. In addition, global sea level could rise by between 52 cm
Version of Record published:
24 April 2019
Received: 13 December 2018
Revised: 4 April 2019
Accepted: 5 April 2019
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and 98 cm and there will be significant changes in weather patterns with more extreme climate events [6]. At
the UNFCCC COP21 meeting in Paris at the end of 2015, an agreement was reached to avoid the worst effects
of climate change by keeping global temperature rise below 2°C and if possible limit global warming to 1.5°C.
To achieve a 2°C target, climate models indicate that global carbon emissions must peak by 2020, reach zero
between 2060 and 2080 and then become negative through to 2100. To achieve a 1.5°C target then we must do
the same but global carbon emissions need to be zero by 2050 at the latest [8]. Hence, climate change chal-
lenges the fundamental way we generate energy, grow food and consume natural resources. But we must find
solutions to climate change, which do not increase our already huge impact on the Earth and also deal with the
issues of global inequality and security. We require win–win solutions by taking a holistic approach to the chal-
lenges of the 21st century. This inevitably leads to the conclusion that major changes are required this century
to the way we organise society.
The role of greenhouse gases
The temperature of the Earth is determined by the balance between energy from the Sun and its loss back into
space. About one-third of the solar energy is reflected straight back into space (Figure 1). The remaining
energy is absorbed by both the land and the ocean. This warms them and they then radiate this acquired
warmth as long-wave infrared or ‘heat’radiation. Atmospheric gases such as water vapour, carbon dioxide,
methane and nitrous oxide are known as GHGs as they can absorb some of this long-wave radiation, thus
warming the atmosphere. This effect has been measured in the atmosphere and can be reproduced time and
time again in the laboratory. We need this greenhouse effect because without it, the Earth would be at least 35°C
colder, making the Earth’s average surface temperature −20°C [5]. While many of these gases occur naturally
in the atmosphere, humans are responsible for increasing their concentration through burning fossil fuels,
deforestation and other land-use changes. For example, records of air bubbles in ancient ice show us that
carbon dioxide and other GHGs are now at their highest concentrations for more than 800 000 years [5].
Causes of anthropogenic climate change
There is clear evidence that the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide have been rising ever since the beginning
of the industrial revolution [5]. The first measurements of CO
2
concentrations in the atmosphere started in
1958 at an altitude of ∼4000 metres, on the summit of Mauna Loa mountain in Hawaii. The measurements
were made here to be remote from local sources of pollution. The record clearly shows that atmospheric con-
centrations of CO
2
have increased every single year since 1958. The mean concentration of ∼316 parts per
million by volume ( ppmv) in 1958 has risen to over 410 ppmv now (see Figure 2). The annual variations in
the Mauna Loa observatory are mostly due to CO
2
uptake by growing plants. The uptake is highest in the
Figure 1. The Greenhouse effect (adapted from [9]).
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Northern Hemisphere springtime; hence, every spring, there is a drop in atmospheric carbon dioxide, which
unfortunately does nothing to the overall trend towards ever-higher values.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was created to monitor and
develop an international agreement on reducing global GHG emissions [9]. Four-fifths of global carbon
dioxide emissions come from burning of fossil fuels for energy production, industrial processes and transport
[7]. North America, Europe and Asia emit over 90% of the global industrially produced carbon dioxide [7].
One-fifth of global carbon dioxide emissions are as a result of land-use changes. These emissions primarily
come from the cutting down of forests for the purposes of agriculture, urbanisation and roads. South America,
Asia and Africa are responsible for over 90% of present-day land-use change emissions [7].
The developed countries have historically emitted most of the GHGs. They have been emitting since the start
of the industrial revolution in the latter half of the 18th century. Though this historic carbon burden is import-
ant, between 2015 and 2044, the world could emit another trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmos-
phere [10]. This is the same amount that was put in between 1750 and 2017. This is partly because rapidly
developing countries such as China, India, South Africa and Brazil are increasing their emissions of GHGs
since economic development is closely associated with energy production. For example, in 2007, China becomes
the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, overtaking the U.S.A. [7]. However, when considered per
capita, the U.S.A. emissions are four times higher than those of China [11]. Half trillion tonnes of carbon has
been put into the atmosphere since the industrial revolution represents only half our total emission. It seems
that ∼50% of our emission have been absorbed by the Earth with ∼25% going into the oceans and ∼25% going
into the land biosphere (Figure 3). However, scientists are concerned as this removal of our pollution is unlikely
to continue fully in the future. This is because as global temperatures rise the oceans will warm and will be able
to hold less carbon dioxide. As we continue to deforest and convert land for farming and urbanisation, there
will be less vegetation to absorb carbon dioxide again reducing the uptake of our carbon pollution.
Evidence for climate change
Understanding future climate change is about understanding how science works and the principle of the
‘weight of evidence’. Science moves forward by using detailed observation and experimentation to constantly
test ideas and theories. Over the last 30 years, the theory of climate change must have been one of the most
comprehensively tested ideas in science. The IPCC [5] presents six main lines of evidence for climate change.
1. We have tracked the unprecedented recent increase in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other
GHGs since the beginning of the industrial revolution (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Variation of atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1958 measured at Mauna Loa in Hawaii.
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2. We know from laboratory and atmospheric measurements that such GHGs do indeed absorb heat when
they are present in the atmosphere. The positive and negative effects on the radiative balance of the Earth
have been calculated from 1750 [5] which are consistent with observed temperature rises.
3. We have tracked a significant increase in global temperatures of at least 0.85°C (Figure 4) and a sea-level
rise of 20 cm over the past century.
4. We have analysed the effects of natural events such as sunspots and volcanic eruptions on the climate, and
though these are essential to understand the pattern of temperature changes over the past 150 years, they
cannot explain the overall warming trend.
5. We have observed significant changes in the Earth’s climate system including reduced snowfall in the
Northern Hemisphere, retreat of sea ice in the Arctic, retreating glaciers on all continents, and shrinking of
the area covered by permafrost and the increasing depth of its active layer. All of which are consistent with
a warming global climate.
6. We continually track global weather and have seen significant shifts in weather patterns and an increase in
extreme events all around the world. Patterns of precipitation (rainfall and snowfall) have changed, with
parts of North and South America, Europe and northern and central Asia becoming wetter, whereas the
Sahel region of central Africa, southern Africa, the Mediterranean and southern Asia have become drier.
Intense rainfall has become more frequent, along with major flooding. We’re also seeing more heat waves.
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) between 1880 and 2018,
the 19 warmest years on record have all occurred within the past 20 years; and 2016 was the warmest year
ever recorded.
Future changes in climate
Continued burning of fossil fuels will inevitably lead to a further warming of our climate. The complexity of the
climate system is such that the extent of such warming is difficult to predict, particularly as the largest unknown
Figure 3. Global carbon stores and fluxes [9].
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is how much GHG we as a global society will emit over the next 85 years [12]. The IPCC developed a range of
emissions scenarios or representative concentration pathways (RCPs) to examine the possible range of future
climate change. These include key assumptions about the increase in the amount and type of world trade and
the growth of the World’s population [13]. Three RCPs are realistic scenarios including a ‘business as usual’one
(RCP 8.5) and one that examines what needs to be done in terms of GHG emissions to keep climate change
beneath 2°C (RCP 2.6). Using the three main realistic RCPs over the next 85 years, the climate model projec-
tions suggest the global mean surface temperature could rise by between 2.8°C and 5.4°C by the end of the 21st
century (Figure 5a). Sea level is projected to rise by between 52 cm and 98 cm by 2100, threatening coastal
cities, low-lying deltas and small islands (Figure 5b). Extents of snow cover and sea ice are projected to continue
to reduce, and some models suggest that the Arctic could be ice-free in late summer by the latter part of the
21st century. Heat waves, extreme rainfall events and flash flood risks are projected to increase, posing potential
threats to health, ecosystems, and human settlements and security [6,14]. Even if global GHG emissions were to
be cut immediately, there would still be some level of ongoing warming for decades and some sea-level rise con-
tinuing for centuries because the climate system is slow to respond fully to imposed changes (IPCC 2018).
These changes will not be spread uniformly around the world [8]. Some regions will warm faster than the
global average, while others will warm more slowly. Faster warming is expected near the poles, as the melting
snow and sea ice expose the darker underlying land and ocean surfaces which then absorb more of the sun’s
radiation instead of reflecting it back to space in the way that brighter ice and snow do. Indeed, such ‘polar
amplification’of global warming is already being seen. The expansion of tree and shrub cover already being
observed in some tundra regions is expected to continue as the climate warms further, and permafrost is
projected to continue to thaw. Changes in precipitation are also expected to vary from place to place. In the
high-latitude regions (central and northern regions of Europe, Asia and North America), the year-round
average precipitation is projected to increase, whereas in most subtropical land regions, it is projected to
decrease by as much as 20%. This would increase the risk of drought and, in combination with higher tempera-
tures, threaten agricultural productivity. However, this may be offset to some extent by the effects of rising
carbon dioxide on plants, which can enhance growth and also reduce their water requirements. In many other
regions of the world, species and ecosystems may experience climatic conditions at the limits of their optimal
or tolerable ranges or beyond. They may also be subject to competition from invasive species becoming estab-
lished in newly favourable climates. Human land-use conversion for food, fuel, fibre and fodder, combined
with targeted hunting and harvesting, has resulted in species extinctions some 100–1000 times higher than
background rates. Climate change will exacerbate this changing ecosystem composition and the accelerating
extinction rates [15]. As well as impacting on biodiversity, such ecological changes may feed back into the pro-
cesses of climate change by reducing the strength of the natural carbon sink, which is currently offsetting some
of the human emissions of carbon dioxide [6].
Figure 4. Variation of the Earth’s surface temperature over the last 150 years.
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Ocean acidification
Sea-level rise is usually considered the main effect on the marine system due to climate change but direct mea-
surements of the ocean’s chemistry have shown that it is also causing ocean acidification [16,17]. This is because
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the water of the surface ocean [5]. This is controlled by two main
factors, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the temperature of the ocean [17]. The oceans
have already absorbed about a third of the carbon dioxide resulting from human activities, which has lead to a
steady decrease in ocean pH levels. With increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide in the future, the amount of
dissolved carbon dioxide in the ocean will continue to increase (Figure 6). Some marine organisms, such as
corals, foraminifera, coccoliths and shellfish, have shells composed of calcium carbonate, which dissolves more
readily in acid. Laboratory and field experiments show that under high carbon dioxide, the more acidic waters
cause some marine species to have misshapen shells and lower growth rates, although the effect varies among
species. Acidification also alters the cycling of nutrients and many other elements and compounds in the ocean,
and it is likely to shift the competitive advantage among species, and have impacts on marine ecosystems and
the food web [6,16,17]. This is a major worry as fishing is still a major source of food, with ∼95 million tonnes
caught by commercial fishing and another 50 million tonnes produced by fish farms per year.
Potential health impacts of climate change
The potential health impacts of climate change are immense and managing those impacts will be an enormous
challenge [18,19]. Climate change will increase deaths from heat waves, droughts, storms and floods. However,
Figure 5. Past and projected future changes in (A) global temperature and (B) global sea level [5].
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higher global temperatures will also be a challenge for many societies, particularly those that rely heavily on
subsistence agriculture. As higher air temperatures and humidity will make working outside more difficult and
increasing the likelihood of hyperthermia; already it is estimated that 3.4 billion weeks of outside labour were
lost in 2017 [19]. This will also impact the health of anyone who has to work outside regularly including con-
struction workers and farm workers [18,19].
The major effect of climate change in terms of global health is the potential increase in water and food inse-
curity that could impact billions of people [14,18]. The most important threat to human health is access to
fresh drinking water. At present, there are still 1 billion people that do not have regular access to clean safe
drinking water [20]. Not only does the lack of water cause major health problems from dehydration but also a
large number of diseases and parasites are present in dirty water. Rising human populations, particularly
growing concentrations in urban areas, are putting great stress on water resources. The impacts of climate
change –including changes in temperature, precipitation and sea levels –are expected to have varying conse-
quences for the availability of fresh water around the world. For example, changes in river run-off will affect
the yields of rivers and reservoirs and thus the recharging of groundwater supplies [21,22]. An increase in the
rate of evaporation will also affect water supplies and contribute to the salinisation of irrigated agricultural
lands. Rising sea levels may result in saline intrusion in coastal aquifers. Currently, ∼1.7 billion people, one-
quarter of the world’s population, live in countries that are water-stressed [23].
Human health is threatened by the lack of access to affordable basic food. Future changes in temperatures,
precipitation and length of growing season will all affect the production of food and other agricultural goods.
Extreme weather events must also be considered and now the contribution of climate change can be calculated
through attribution studies [24]. For example, the 2010 Russian heat wave led to serve droughts that reduced
grain production so much that Russia banned their export to ensure there was enough for their own country
[24]. Between 2007 and 2011, drought affected much of Syria resulting in the loss of 75% of crops and 85% of
livestock [24]. With an increasingly globalised economy, very few countries are self-sufficient in basic food and
hence food imports are very important. However, access to basic food is also about cost and food prices since
2004 have increasing by 80% due to the price of oil, increased overall demand, biofuel production, and natural
disasters [25]. The expansion of meat-eating in developing countries such as India and China is an important
forcing factor because beef cattle require 8 kg of grain or meal for every kilogram of flesh they produce. In
2008–2009, there was a 60% rise in the price of food and in 2011–2012, there was a 40% jump in price these
price spikes have been attributed to food speculation on the global markets [25].
Direct impact of climate change on the U.K.
Climate change is making the climate of the U.K. more seasonal and increasing the variability of our weather
[26]. U.K. winters are becoming warmer and much wetter but with short sharp intense cold periods like the
2018 ‘Beast from the East’. Future predations are that winters will be more like those of 2000, 2007 and 2013/
2014 when the U.K. was hit with devastating floods. U.K. summers are becoming warmer and drier and future
Figure 6. Past and projected future changes in ocean pH showing possible changes in ocean acidification [5].
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summers will be hot and very dry and more like the droughts and heat waves of 1976, 2003, 2007 and 2018.
The UKCP [26] also suggests that if GHG emissions are not reduced then U.K. summers could be at least 5°C
hot on average by 2050. Sea-level rise will threaten coastal cities and communities and it will increase the sever-
ity of flooding and the impact of storm surges. For details on predicted changes in the U.S.A., please refer to
the Fourth National Climate Assessment [27].
IPCC 1.5°C global warming report
The IPCC [8] special report on keeping global warming to below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels reviews the
potential impacts of climate change up to 2°C warming and demonstrates there would already be highly signifi-
cant changes to Arctic regions, coastal areas, agricultural production and human health. The report also provides
global GHG emission pathways that would allow the World to keep warming below 1.5°C (Figure 7) while main-
taining sustainable development and eradicating poverty. Though the major challenge is to reduce emissions
from energy generation, land-use changes are an essential element of any global solution. The IPCC [8] special
report directly links the UN Sustainability Goals [28] and the mitigation and adaption to climate change.
All the model pathways to a future 1.5°C World contain significant contributions from agriculture and for-
estry. These include conversion of up to 8 million km
2
of pasture and up to 5 million km
2
of non-pasture agri-
cultural land used for food and feed crops into a minimum of 7 million km
2
for energy crops. These energy
crops will produce solid and liquid fuel that will replace fossil fuels. IPCC [8] also include aggressive global
reforestation targets to take the current 1 million km
2
reduction in forest and shift it to a 10 million km
2
increase in forests by 2050. The IPCC [8] state that such large transitions pose profound challenges for sustain-
able management of the various demands on land for human settlements, food, livestock feed, fibre, bioenergy,
carbon storage, biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Options to reduce carbon emissions from human
land-use could include sustainable intensification of land-use practices, ecosystem restoration and changes
towards less resource-intensive diets. This would mean overcoming significant socio-economic, institutional,
technological, financing and environmental barriers. But considering that humans have cut down over half the
trees on Earth, over 3 trillion trees, there is ample opportunity and land on which to reforest [3]. Despite the
rising population of the Earth, projected to hit 10 billion by 2050 [29], there is a net migration from the rural
areas into urban areas. Hence, the World is getting wilder as people are living on more dense population. This
provides more areas that can be considered for rewilding.
Perfect storm
Climate change is at the centre of what Prof. Sir John Beddington (previous U.K. Government Chief Scientific
Adviser) called the ‘perfect storm’[30]. By 2030, global food and energy demand will have increased by 50%
Figure 7. Past and future carbon emissions illustrating the reduction in emission required to reduce the effects of global
warming [5–8].
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and water requirement will have increased by 30%. This is partly due to the rise in global population but is
also caused by the rapid development of lower income countries and a huge increase in consumption.
According to the UN predictions, global population will grow to 10 billion people by 2050 and then it will sta-
bilise and may even drop slightly. However, that means there will be another 2 billion people on the Planet in
the next 35 years [29].
Given this background, the challenge set by politicians at COP21 in Paris is truly daunting. Because to
achieve the 1.5°C target, climate models indicate that global carbon emissions must peak by 2020, reach zero
by the latest 2050 and then become negative through to 2100 [8]. This is made harder as there are multiple
global challenges in the 21st century that require action including extreme poverty, environmental degradation,
global security as well as climate change. So solutions should always contain an element of win–win. For
example, supporting a huge increase in renewable energy not only reduces emissions but also helps to provide
energy security by reducing the reliance on imported oil, coal and gas. It also reduces air pollution and thus
enhances human health [19]. Reduced deforestation and reforestation should not only draw-down additional
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but help to retain biodiversity, stabilise soils and local rainfall and provide
livelihoods for local people via carbon credits. Measures that reduce car use will increase walking and cycling,
which in turn reduce obesity and heart attacks [14]. Ensuring that women are educated to at least secondary
school level all around the world, empowers them to take control of their own fertility, which in turns helps
stabilise population growth and pressures on development [29].
Solutions
Reducing GHG emissions is a major challenge for our global society. This should not be underestimated
because despite 30 years of climate change negotiations, there has been very little deviation in GHG emissions
from the ‘business as usual’pathway. The failure of the international climate negotiation, most notably at
Copenhagen in 2009, set back meaningful global cuts in GHG emissions by at least a decade; though some of
this momentum has been regained at Paris in 2015. There is also a strong economic argument for taking
action. It is estimated that tackling climate change now would cost between 2–3% of World GDP, as opposed
to over 20% if we put off action till the middle of the century [31]. Even if the benefits were not so great, the
ethical case for paying now to prevent the deaths of tens of millions of people and avoiding a significant
increase in human misery must be clear [18].
The fundamental issue at the heart of climate change and humanity’s increasing environmental footprint in
the planet is consumption. To create a new way of living, the core dynamic of ever-greater production and con-
sumption of goods and resources must, therefore, be broken, coupled with a societal focus on repairing the
environmental damage of the past. Two increasingly discussed ideas do just this.
Universal basic income (UBI) is a policy whereby a financial payment is made to every citizen, uncondition-
ally, without any obligation to work, at a level above their subsistence needs [32]. Small-scale trials of UBI
show that educational attainment is higher, healthcare costs go down, entrepreneurship levels go up, as does
self-reported happiness increases. However, UBI does more than this: it could break the link between work and
consumption [32].
The requirement for most of us to sell our labour and be ever more productive is compensated for by enab-
ling us to increase our consumption. Given this dynamic, it makes little sense to forgo environmentally dam-
aging behaviour when we know we have to work harder in the future regardless of our choices. Consumption
is the pay-back for being ever more productive at work. People often tell themselves that they deserve that
lunch of foodstuffs sourced from thousands of miles away, new car, or long-haul holiday. They say: I’m
working hard, I’ve earned it.
By breaking this link between work and consumption UBI can if carefully managed over time, dramatically
lessen environmental impacts [4]. People could work less and consume less, and still, meet our needs. Fear for
the future would recede, meaning we would not have to work ever-harder for fear of having no work in the
future, particularly as automation and intelligent machines will reduce the numbers of jobs available.
As a systemic change, UBI eliminates extreme poverty and reduces dependency, giving people the agency to
say ‘no’to undesirable work and ‘yes’to opportunities that often lie out of reach. Nobody would be under any
obligation to do environmentally damaging types of work –those in the fossil fuel industries would have the
security of income to retrain. Overall, with UBI, people would be able to plan for the future and would be able
to ‘afford the luxury’of taking action now to avoid negative environmental impacts on future generations.
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With UBI, we could all think long-term, well beyond the next payday [32]. We could care for ourselves, others,
and the wider world, as living in a sustainable future demands [4].
Environmental repair could come from the simple but profound idea that we allocate half the Earth’s surface
primarily for the benefit of other species. Half-Earth is less utopian than it first appears, as we have become an
urban species. Mass-scale forest restoration is already underway, with commitments across 43 countries to
restore 292 million hectares of degraded land to forest, 10 times the area of the U.K. [33].
And at a deeper level, our views on nature are forged by the society we live in. The idea of pristine nature in
separate National Parks emerged in opposition to the pollution of the Industrial Revolution. Acknowledging
our immense impacts re-establishes that humans are part of nature, and so rewilding projects, where large
areas are managed to allow natural processes to run, are increasingly popular. Slowly, a new nature aesthetic is
being born.
But can we really escape booming production and consumption? The fate of species encountering vast new
resources is exponential growth and then collapse, epitomised by the rapid expansion and eventual death of
bacteria growing in a Petri dish. While rarely recognised, we humans have recently become the exception to
this rule: birth rates on all continents are declining or have already stabilised. The global population will not
double in size again, and will probably stop growing altogether by mid-century [29]. This is all because of
more information, in the form of girl’s education –which is a key determinant of family size. Humans are
unique in four billion years of life on Earth by being able to stablize our own population. In this case, progres-
sive goals and planetary stewardship go hand-in-hand.
Build on this, UBI would give people the right to choose when it comes to fulfilling their own basic needs
and rewilding Earth does the same of other species’needs. With carefully designed policies that unleash
dynamics that push society towards a new mode of living for a new epoch, we can do what is necessary: to
reduce human suffering, enable people to flourish and not destroy the life-supporting infrastructure of Earth in
the process.
International agreements will also have to acknowledge and deal with the role world trade plays in driving
carbon emissions. Climate change policies and laws based around international negotiations must also be
implemented at both regional and national level to provide multi-levels of governance to ensure these cuts in
emissions really do occur [34]. Novel ways of redistributing wealth, globally and well as within nation-states,
are needed to lift billions of people out of poverty without huge increases in consumption, resource depletion
and GHG emissions. Support and money are also need to help developing countries to adapt to the climate
changes that will inevitably happen [6]. World trade has been instrumental in the rapid expansion of global
wealth but more focus is required on its negative impacts, both in terms of driving carbon emission and exacer-
bating food, water and resource insecurity [35].
Conclusions
The science of climate change is clear and world leaders have now decided to act to avoid the worst effects by
keeping global temperature rises to less than 2°C and if possible below 1.5°C. To achieve this aim cheap and
clean energy production is required, as all economic development is based on increasing energy usage.
Countries need to focus on localised renewable energy production to cut down on both the use and transport
of fossil fuels. Fossil fuel subsidies should be made illegal and sanctions applied to countries, which continue to
skew the world’s energy markets. The International Monetary Fund report estimated direct fossil subsidies are
£1.3 trillion per year and if the cost of air pollution and climate change are added this rises to £5.3 trillion per
year which is ∼6.5% of global GDP [36]. The International Energy Agency estimates $20 trillion will be
invested in energy over the next 15 years –what we must do is to ensure that it is not in fossil fuels. We must
not pin all our hopes on global politics and clean energy technology, so we must prepare for the worst and
adapt. If the right policies are implemented now, a lot of the costs and damage that could be caused by chan-
ging climate can be mitigated [18].
Climate change, therefore, challenges the very way we organise our society. Not only does it challenge the
concept of the nation-state versus global responsibility, but the perceived advantages of ever increasing world
trade [35]. Climate change also needs to be seen within the context of the other great challenges of the 21st
century: global inequality, population growth, environmental degradation and global security. To meet these
21st-century challenges, we must change some of the basic rules of our society to allow us to adopt a much
more global and long-term approach, and in doing so develop solutions that benefit everyone.
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology10
Emerging Topics in Life Sciences (2019)
https://doi.org/10.1042/ETLS20180116
Summary
•Understanding anthropogenic climate change is essential for anyone working in the life
sciences.
•Climate change has already started to impact the Earth biosphere and human health and
these changes need to be documented and acknowledged.
•Many of the solutions to climate change, both mitigation and adaptation, will be through the
life sciences, everything from massive reforestation and sustainable agriculture to preventing
the spread of disease and protecting individual human health.
•Anthropogenic climate change is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, along
with poverty alleviation, environmental degradation and global security.
•Climate change is no longer just a scientific concern but encompasses economics, sociology,
geopolitics, national and local politics, law and health.
•Climate change ultimately makes us examine the whole basis of modern society and ultim-
ately asks questions about humanity’s relationship with the rest of the planet.
Abbreviations
AR5, Fifth Assessment Reports; GHG, greenhouse gas; IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change;
NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; RCPs, representative concentration pathways;
UBI, universal basic income
Competing Interests
The Author declares that there are no competing interests associated with this manuscript.
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