The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP26, wraps up this week. We’re left with lingering questions. Are the biggest polluters willing and able to cap their greenhouse gas emissions? And more existentially: how long do we have? What’s going to happen? How can we cope? At JSTOR Daily, we’re constantly acquiring new content that looks at the climate crisis from different angles, but in the meantime, these previously published stories consider what the past has to teach us and what the future may bring. We hope it will help foster dialogue among all our readers, whom we consider students of the world. As always, the stories here and the underlying scholarship are free to everyone. We’ll be updating this syllabus and welcome reader suggestions for coverage.
Lessons from History about Global Warming
How 19th Century Scientists Predicted Global Warming
December 17, 2019
Today’s headlines make climate change seem like a recent discovery. But Eunice Newton Foote and others have been piecing it together for centuries.
A Historic Look at Climate Change Research
September 21, 2014
Plant ecologist Charles F. Cooper wrote prescient and succinct words on the topic of climate change back in 1978.
To Study Today’s Ecosystems, Look to History
September 4, 2021
An unlikely source of data about the decline of trout in modern Spain: a book from the 1850s.
How Charles Keeling Measured the Rise of Carbon Dioxide
April 20, 2021
The climate scientist created a new method to measure atmospheric carbon dioxide. It's still used today.
How Early Sci-Fi Authors Imagined Climate Change
March 18, 2021
A century before the modern “cli-fi” genre, many authors envisioned unsettling worlds shaped by man-made climate chaos.
Witnessing the Ecological Effects of Climate Change
Are Peepers Starting to Peep Earlier?
July 29, 2021
The call of the common frog species Pseudacris crucifer is a reliable marker of spring. Will climate change affect that?
Will We Lose Fall Foliage to Climate Change?
October 8, 2021
The brilliant hues of autumn are created by a variety of factors that shift year by year. A warming planet is already one of them.
New York City, Underwater
October 6, 2021
Climate change is transforming the Big Apple. How long will it be until America’s largest city is all but wiped off the map?
Climate Change, Fungal Change
April 12, 2016
Climate change is having an effect on the fungal communities in the soil that trees and other plants depend on.
Environmental Challenges Ahead for Coffee Beans
November 5, 2019
The issues aren’t limited to extreme weather events or pest attacks.
Will National Parks Disappear Due to Climate Change?
September 25, 2018
Temperatures and droughts have spiked at much higher rates in parks than elsewhere.
Africa’s Mighty Baobabs
July 30, 2018
Sub-Saharan Africa's iconic baobab trees are experiencing die-offs at an alarming rate. What makes these distinctive trees so unique?
Climate Change Vs. Your Wine
January 29, 2018
One crop in particular is likely to have problems as climate change progresses. Savor that glass of rosé, for as the climate changes wine grapes will be among the first to suffer.
Will Fish Lose Their Sense of Smell in Acidic Oceans?
August 7, 2018
Increasing levels of dissolved CO2 disrupt fish’s olfactory skills, study finds.
What Tree Rings Tell Us About the Climate
January 22, 2016
Tree rings provide scientists with helpful clues regarding the planet's climate patterns, past and present.
Weathering the Emotional Storm
Coping with Climate Anxiety
October 21, 2021
A psychologist suggests ways of giving young people hope for the future of the planet—and themselves.
Extreme Cold and Public Opinion on Climate Change
March 4, 2021
To some, the idea that the Earth is warming seems incompatible with how they experience cold weather events.
How We Perceive Climate Change: A Global Analysis
January 8, 2016
A country to country analysis of how global populations perceive the threat of climate change.
Human Impacts of Climate Change
Where Drug Trafficking and Climate Change Collide
March 26, 2021
With mounting pressure from cartels and worsening environmental conditions, Mexico’s Indigenous Rarámuri communities face a fraught future.
Climate Change and the Criminal Justice System
September 24, 2021
Climate change will affect prison infrastructure, the kinds of crimes committed, and defense arguments made in court, according to one legal scholar.
Climate Change and Syria’s Civil War
September 12, 2019
Some scholars and scientists are calling climate change the invisible player in Syria's ongoing civil war. But is that too simplistic an explanation?
How Language and Climate Connect
July 10, 2019
While we’re losing biological diversity, we’re also losing linguistic and cultural diversity at the same time. This is no coincidence.
Why Climate Change Is a National Security Issue
October 25, 2018
Viewing climate change through a national security lens makes a certain amount of sense -- but it won't entirely solve the problem.
Climate Change is Turning Dehydration into a Deadly Epidemic
September 7, 2017
A mysterious kidney disease is striking down laborers across the world and climate change is making it worse. Meet the doctors who are trying to stop it.
Climate Change and Migration
December 15, 2015
Multiple research bodies show how climate change and natural disasters cause migration and refugees crises.
Resilience and Glimmers of Hope
Will Chocolate Survive Climate Change? Actually, Maybe
August 31, 2021
The forecast has been bad for domesticated cacao. But some environments in Peru might hold the key to the future of the world's sweet tooth.
Could a Trillion Trees Really Save the Planet?
July 24, 2019
Scientists think that planting trees could reverse climate change, but planting trees isn't as simple as it sounds.
Climate Change’s Winners?
June 21, 2016
Climate change may be helping some species thrive. But as evidenced by cephalopods and swans, where one species wins, another loses.
Can Cows Help Mitigate Climate Change? Yes, They Can!
December 19, 2018
Livestock emit greenhouse gases. They also can sequester carbon and boost biodiversity.
Can Re-Clamming Our Harbors Keep Superstorms at Bay?
October 30, 2018
Hurricanes like Sandy destroy coastlines. Clams and oysters help keep them together.
Geoengineering: A Real Weapon Against Climate Change?
March 26, 2015
Does geoengineering deserve stronger consideration as a strategy to combat climate change?
Can a Single Volcano Cool the Earth?
December 27, 2017
Even one volcano can have impacts that affect the planet. There have been eruptions that affected the temperature over the entire hemisphere.
It’s the End of the World as We Know It. Is there Any Room for Optimism?
August 24, 2017
Climate scientists tend to be optimistic and have faith that humanity can engineer our way out of the climate change we’ve created.
On the Side of Climate Solutions: An Interview with Paul Lussier
February 7, 2018
How to energize people, work with business, and develop solution-focused rhetoric and strategy before it’s too late.
Support JSTOR Daily! Join our new membership program on Patreon today.
