Climate Change and the “Risk Society”
What term describes long-term changes in average weather patterns across regions and the globe?
What is climate?
What term describes the historical decline in birth and death rates that began in the 19th century and continued into the 20th?
What is the demographic transition?
This sociological concept refers to the process of learning new norms and values, especially useful for helping the public understand their environmental impact.
What is resocialization?
What term refers to efforts that encourage business leaders to adopt sustainable and environmentally friendly practices?
What is corporate social responsibility?
This annual event was created to promote environmental awareness but has also been critiqued for not fully addressing global inequalities.
What is Earth Day?
What is the official name of our current geological era referring to the period in which human activity is shaping the Earth’s climate and environment?
What is Anthropocene?
As countries experience demographic transition, poorer nations face pressure in providing enough food and preventing disease, while wealthier nations do this to the environment as their resource use increases.
What is placing increased stress/strain on the environment?
According to this idea, people don’t respond strongly to climate change until its effects are visible, but once they are visible it may be too late for effective action.
What is the Giddens Paradox?
Industrialization and this global economic system have contributed to climate degradation through cheap energy, high consumption, and resistance to sustainability efforts.
What is global capitalism?
Viewing behaviors that harm the environment as socially unacceptable reflects this idea, which treats excessive waste as a norm violation.
What is wastefulness as deviance?
This sociological concept explains how communities must weigh daily conveniences (like transportation or energy use) against the potential harm their choices create.
What is the risk society?
This residential area tends to have less racial and socioeconomic diversity and contributes to increased pollution and biodiversity loss.
What is the suburb?
Greta Thunberg is an example of how this force can draw public attention to environmental risk. What is it?
What is culture?
Campaigns like “Keep America Beautiful” shift attention away from corporate pollution and place responsibility on individuals. This is an example of corporations using what strategy to influence public perception?
What is redirecting environmental blame / narrative control?
This theory argues that policies and markets can adapt to create greener, more sustainable environmental systems.
What is ecological modernization?
This phrase describes how the poorest and most racially segregated communities disproportionately experience environmental harms (ex.pollution or flooding).
What is concentrated disadvantage?
What concept describes how the push for constant economic growth drives companies to adopt practices that cause large scale and unsustainable environmental harm?
What is the treadmill of production?
Journalistic norms that aim for objectivity can sometimes minimize the urgency of environmental issues. This is often referred to as a ‘lack of bias’ in what institution?
What is the media?
Politicians often prioritize immediate concerns such as gas prices or the job market, causing them to postpone addressing this long-term, complex issue.
What is climate change?
This problem occurs when people rely on others to take eco-friendly actions while avoiding the cost or inconvenience themselves.
What is the free-rider problem?
Climate change impacts are not shared equally, with poorer nations facing greater harm than wealthier ones. Sociologists use this concept to describe that unequal global pattern. What is it, and how can it be seen in real-world climate effects?
What is global stratification?
Sociologists argue that this global economic system encourages poorer nations to extract natural resources for wealthier countries’ consumption. What is it? and how does it contribute to worldwide environmental risk?
What is global capitalism?
What two major systems for explaining the world often come into tension? and why might cooperation between them matter for climate action?
What are science and religion?
This controversial pipeline project raised environmental concerns due to incomplete impact assessments and sparked debate over whether it violated Sioux treaty rights. What is it, and why did it become a major political flashpoint?
What is the Dakota Access Pipeline?
Despite major international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol, Paris Agreement, and Glasgow Climate Pact, many nations fail to meet their emissions targets. What factors make enforcing global climate action so difficult? and how do differences between first and third world nations contribute to this challenge?
What is the challenge of enforcing international climate agreements?... etc