By Steven Cohen, Ph.D., Director of the M.S. in Sustainability Management program, School of Professional Studies
In New York City, this week is Climate Week. There are scores of events scheduled all over the city, day and night, throughout the week. It is both exciting and a little overwhelming. I will be speaking at three of these events: one on sports and sustainability, another on climate adaptation, and a third on waste management. On Tuesday night, the 108 students in my Sustainability Management course will be discussing the role of government in facilitating the transition to a renewable resource-based economy. More and more people are paying attention to environmental sustainability and its subfield: the issue of global warming.
The level of interest in these issues is growing exponentially, and the issues of climate change and environmental pollution are at the center of awareness in New York, the United States, and globally. Climate change is sometimes neglected by the media as we focus on issues of war and peace, the economy, and fantasies about the fate of dogs and cats in Ohio. But it always returns because we all like to breathe, and no one wants their home destroyed by floods or fires.
In fact, research indicates that it is the reality of extreme weather events that is driving increased understanding of climate change. This past June, the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago reported the results of its survey project with The Associated Press–NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That study indicated that:
“As more Americans experience extreme climate events like hurricanes, droughts, floods, unusual temperatures and wildfires, their views on climate may change. The gap in belief between those who have experienced extreme climate events and those who haven’t widened from last year’s poll. In 2023, there was a 19-percentage point difference in climate change belief and 11-percentage point difference in it being primarily human-driven. This year, the gap was 33 percentage points and 22 percentage points, respectively. More than half of those who experienced extreme climate events directly attributed that experience to influencing their views. Those who experienced extreme climate events were also more likely to consider climate change an important issue this election season, and want actions to be taken to reduce emissions and provide communities with funding to adapt.”
The survey reported that 82% of the people who experienced extreme weather events believed climate change was real, compared to 49% who had never experienced these events. When many of us first understood climate change in the late 20th century, we were basing our knowledge on models that predicted the future. Getting climate change on the political agenda was difficult because greenhouse gas pollution was created everywhere, and its impact was in the future. This contrasted with air, water, and toxic pollution, which was created locally and could be seen and smelled. In the year 2000, we had not yet suffered the impact of climate change, but in the year 2024, many of us have. Today, we are experiencing the impacts of climate change predicted by climate scientists over a quarter-century ago. These impacts are getting more visible each year. Environmental risk is not only on the political agenda but also on the minds of corporate leaders and investors and is starting to influence economic decision-making. People have lost their homes, businesses, and way of life due to the impact of climate-induced extreme weather events.
The data indicates that the number of costly extreme weather events has grown over the past decade. If that trend continues, understanding of climate change will continue to grow as more people suffer climate impacts. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration:
“Last year, the U.S. experienced 28 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. This surpasses 2020 — which had 22 events — for the highest number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. on record… The 28 events from 2023 include:
- 17 severe weather/hail events.
- 4 flooding events.
- 2 tropical cyclones (Idalia in Florida and Typhoon Mawar in Guam).
- 2 tornado outbreaks.
- 1 winter storm/cold wave event.
- 1 wildfire event (Maui Island of Hawaii).
- 1 drought and heat wave event.
The total cost for these 28 disasters was $92.9 billion, but that may rise by several billion dollars when the costs of the December 16-18, 2023, East Coast storm and flooding event are fully accounted for.”
The number of billion-dollar disasters continued in 2024 at a pace very similar to 2023, with 20 disasters already recorded as of September 10, 2024.
While some politicians in the United States still oppose policies designed to mitigate climate change, a deeper understanding of the issue has entered our culture and is starting to transcend politics. As a student of environmental policy for about half a century, I often marvel at how environmental protection has evolved from a fringe issue to the center of our political and cultural life. Part of this is due to our population growth and the fact that more people are in the pathway of exposure to the risks of extreme weather. Part is due to worsening environmental risks from the toxicity of our technology. And part is due to the success we have enjoyed when we applied technological fixes to environmental problems: cleaner air due to improved auto and power plant technology and cleaner water due to improved sewage treatment.
I have long resisted the idea that the solution to our environmental crisis was to do without and sit alone in the dark with a candle. I am confident that we can build sustainable cities built on the principles of the circular economy. New technologies and applied and carefully regulated artificial intelligence make that possible and, in my view, likely. There is money to be made in the transition to a green economy, and many entrepreneurs are seeing the opportunities and building businesses around them. The sustainable city will be an exciting, healthy, and stimulating place to live and work, and denial and sacrifice will play no role in the lifestyles we will be creating.
The attention paid to environmental issues during Earth Day, the multitude of U.N,-sponsored Conference of the Parties (COPs), and this week’s Climate Week in New York, stimulates interest and understanding and focuses our attention on the health of our planet and its people. This is necessary and important. My hope is that before much longer, it will no longer be necessary as we incorporate our understanding of environmental well-being deep into our culture and values. I have hope that this will happen because the presence of environmental values is deeper in young people than in old people. As my generation dies off, we will be replaced by people who have grown up during the climate crisis and have a more profound and internalized understanding of the impact of humans and our technology on the planet. Anyone who has worked on environmental issues for a while is aware of the difference in attitudes and growing political support. It is not that we have achieved unanimous agreement on what we should do to protect the environment. Interest groups continue to manipulate scientific facts, and environmental advocates sometimes fail to understand the economic pressures that many people confront in their daily lives. The trap of promoting political polarization persists, but I hope that, before long, we will resume the type of consensus-driven environmental policy the United States enjoyed in the 1970s.
As we speak, listen, and learn during Climate Week in New York, I look forward to the time when every week is climate week, and we can celebrate the growth of a renewable resource-based circular economy. We will know we have succeeded when no one considers the problem of climate change politically salient any longer, and we can focus our attention on other impacts of our ever-expanding technology on people and the planet. Biodiversity, invasive species, forever chemicals, microplastics, and whatever else comes next will command our attention, and climate change will recede into the background as a problem largely addressed.
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia School of Professional Studies or Columbia University.
About the Program
The Columbia University M.S. in Sustainability Management program offered by the School of Professional Studies in partnership with the Climate School provides students cutting-edge policy and management tools they can use to help public and private organizations and governments address environmental impacts and risks, pollution control, and remediation to achieve sustainability. The program is customized for working professionals and is offered as both a full- and part-time course of study.
