Global Crisis, Local Crises: Knowledge, Ethics, and Climate Vulnerability

Abstract: When did climate change become a crisis? The scientific understanding of the complexity and threat of climate change has developed over 150 years. The moral imperative of climate action is largely connected to vulnerable communities, who are also least responsible for the problem of climate change. The sources of that vulnerability, however, precede the global crisis of climate change. Slow progress on addressing climate change globally may leave the world with few options other than major technological interventions such as geoengineering. Climate change is actually a set of simultaneous and overlapping crises, including ones generated by current and proposed mitigation solutions and approaches that further exacerbate crisis for vulnerable communities.