The phenomenon of global warming is so important that it has become the center of attention these past few decades. Also referred to as global climate change and the greenhouse effect, climate change is the main environmental issue of this century. But why does it attract so much attention from social researchers? The sociological literatures nowadays constantly publish and research on this topic because the scientists are immensely concerned about what such environmental change may do to the human society.
The opinions regarding the future with climate change vary greatly, with some thinking of the world as a warmer, better place and others predicting an extreme weather where the sea level will rise and flood parts of the world and the agricultural patterns will shift greatly. Regardless of the opinion, there is a consensus regarding the change in climate. According to this consensus, both ecological and social systems will change as a result of climate changes. The point here is, climate change is something we need to be concerned about.
These past decades, there is a battlefield on the mass media, opposing the biggest climate change predictions among the public. Many researchers have looked into what people think on climate change and what they think should be done in respect to it. The debate over climate warming is getting a greater voice from the social sciences, which need to work together in solving the environmental problems. All things considered, both scientific and technical components are critical in facing climate change, but this problem is also a sociocultural one. The purpose of this research paper is to point out to the lack of freedom of social scientists when it comes to global warming.
Social scientists look at this issue with the help of their belief systems. Unfortunately, such things are often overlooked in determining climate changes because the social scientists are often absent from the debates held in public that speak of global warming. The reason for this happening is the policymakers' lack of awareness of the social sciences' insights. According to the National Research Council, the global warming research needs an implementation of the knowledge of subject-matter experts that will present the scientific findings, decision scientists who will summarize these aspects, social scientists who will propose strategies based on the public's beliefs and program designers to orchestrate the delivery of messages and the whole process of coordination.
Social studies are important for waking the conscience in people. Many customers, even when informed, continue avoiding the simplest energy efficiency opportunities. These people avoid the efficient lighting and make self-serving judgment due to lack of knowledge on what can happen.
Fortunately, the social scientists are improving and achieving more in terms of demonstrating to people the problems of the future. If this succeeds, the odds for better climate will increase as a result of efficient responses from people. Neglecting to point the issue to people and explain how everything will change may only lead to a disastrous defeat on the world due to climate change.
Up to this moment, social scientists have worked on many models and concepts that work on adjusting the behavior of the society. Still, making a difference is a hard process. According to the American Sociology Association President Burawoy, academy rules are based on those articles in social science fields that do not include the topic of climate change and technology adoption.2 So, what can social scientists do to speed up the awareness process?
Contributing to the climate change problems and solutions' social debate is one way to do this. Additionally, the scientific and technical scientists should allow social scientists to participate in the problem solving when it comes to climate change, which will allow these people to move from the strictures of their profession and work together with others to enrich the research on climate changes.
