The psychology and sociology of climate change.

In this first posting, I am hoping to define; why I have started writing this blog, its remit, and how people can help me along the way.

During 2009 I  met a growing number of people who do not believe that climate change is man made. Anecdotally this is nothing to be worried about as I had moved into a new job in which I promote the positive aspects of tackling climate change. The number of people that I talk to on the subject has increased, so it is not a surprise that I meet more people that deny its existence. However, several recent national polls have shown that it is not just the people I meet, it is a substantial part of western society and this has worried me.

I want to explore my own belief system and that of others, I want to know why I believe that it is happening, yet others do not. This blog will hopefully act as a literature review as I work my way around some of the books and journal articles on the psychology and sociology of climate change. It is not meant to be a discussion of whether or not it is happening, but it may include explorations on how we interpret the science.

In the right hand column you should see links to things that I have read. I hope to write responses to all of them, but I realise that there is far more information out there than I will have time to go through.

The reason that I am doing this publicly, is because I left university years ago and I am lacking a supervisor to guide me through the process of learning about a new subject. I am dependent on the readers of this blog to help me so if you see that there is an essential piece of literature missing, I would be very grateful if you pointed it out.