Understanding Climate Change as a Social Issue

Earth's increasingly deadly and destructive climate is prompting social work leaders to focus the profession's attention on one of humanity's most pressing issues: environmental change.

Typhoons are hitting the South Pacific with greater severity and regularity. Hurricane Katrina prompted the largest forced migration of Americans since the Civil War. Civil conflicts and instability in the Middle East and Africa are being linked to climate change and its socioecological effects.

"We see it perhaps most importantly as a social justice issue," said Lawrence Palinkas, the Albert G. and Frances Lomas Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. "Generally the people most affected by climate change tend to be the poor, older adults, children and families, and people with a history of mental health problems—populations that are typically the focus of social work practice."

https://phys.org/news/2017-02-climate-social-issue.html

Arne Hoel / World Bank

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