{"id":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issue/climate-change","schemaVersion":2,"name":"Climate Change","category":"Nature","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issue/climate-change","json":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issue/climate-change.json","ask":"","position":"Climate change is real, caused by human greenhouse gas emissions and land use change, and a wicked problem that will be managed rather than solved. But representations of climate change as an existential threat to humanity have broken loose from scientific assessments. Long-run emissions trends track macroeconomic forces and technological change, not the stringency of climate rhetoric or targets. Weather-related disaster impacts upon humans and the economy hinge far more upon wealth, resilient infrastructure, and government capacity than they do upon the level of warming, emphasizing the critical importance of adaptation measures and human development. Catastrophism persists not because the evidence demands it or because of any meaningful political results it produces, but because professional incentives and political identity reward vivid rhetoric.","faq":[{"question":"Is climate change real?","answer":"Yes. Earth’s global average temperature is warming, primarily because human activities have increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations."},{"question":"How much of climate change is caused by humans?","answer":"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that essentially all observed global warming since the late 19th century is attributable to human influence. Greenhouse gas emissions have caused substantial net warming that dwarfs the effects from natural factors."},{"question":"Can climate change be reversed?","answer":"Climate change can be slowed and eventually stabilized through decarbonization. However, due to the long residence time of carbon dioxide and some other greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, reversing climate change after stabilization has been achieved will be very difficult without carbon removal at vast scales."},{"question":"Will the world still be livable in 2050?","answer":"Climate change will create serious challenges but will not make the world uninhabitable by 2050. Pathways for the Earth’s future warming diverge relatively later in the 21st century, such that climate and weather variability in 2050 will feel relatively indistinguishable in most regions from the climate of today."}],"experts":[{"name":"Ted Nordhaus","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/people/ted-nordhaus"},{"name":"Alex Trembath","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/people/alex-trembath"},{"name":"Seaver Wang","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/people/seaver-wang"}],"startHere":[{"title":"Why I Stopped Being A Climate Catastrophist","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/why-i-stopped-being-a-climate-catastrophist","date":"2025-08-11"},{"title":"There Is No Climate Tipping Point","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/journal/climate-change-banned-words/climate-tipping-point-real","date":"2023-04-17"},{"title":"Do Climate Attribution Studies Tell the Full Story?","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/do-climate-attribution-studies-tell-the-full-story","date":"2025-01-07"}],"latest":[{"title":"The Original Environmental Economist: RIP Uncle Bill","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/the-original-environmental-economist-rip-uncle-bill","date":"2026-11-01","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"The Limits of Climate Attribution Science","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/the-limits-of-climate-attribution-science","date":"2026-10-07","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"About Last Summer","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/about-last-summer","date":"2026-10-05","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"California Punts on a Needed Wildfire Reform","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/california-punts-on-a-needed-wildfire-reform","date":"2026-09-11","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"Climate Change Alone Doesn’t Explain Today’s Wildfires","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/food-agriculture-environment/climate-change-alone-doesnt-explain-todays-wildfires","date":"2026-08-28","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"Decoupling Syndrome","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/decoupling-syndrome","date":"2026-08-03","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"The Climate Hushing Is Coming from Inside the House","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/the-climate-hushing-is-coming-from-inside-the-house","date":"2026-07-08","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"Who Killed The Liberal Patriot?","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/who-killed-the-liberal-patriot","date":"2026-05-06","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"Against Climate Lawfare","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/against-climate-lawfare","date":"2026-03-23","type":"Analysis"},{"title":"The Cruelty Is the Point","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/food-agriculture-environment/the-cruelty-is-the-point","date":"2026-03-20","type":"Analysis"}],"policyHub":"https://thebreakthrough.org/policy?topics=radiation-protection","policyAreas":[{"slug":"radiation-protection","name":"Radiation Protection","records":1,"url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/policy?topics=radiation-protection"}],"policyRecords":[{"id":264277,"title":"Solar and Nuclear Both Must Live. Energy Technology Fanaticism Needs to Die.","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/solar-and-nuclear-both-must-live-energy-technology-fanaticism-needs-to-die","type":"Analysis","date":"2026-02-25","stance":"none","subject":"","subjectUrl":"","summary":"","authors":"Alex Trembath; Ted Nordhaus"},{"id":264005,"title":"The Public Confidence Game","url":"https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/the-public-confidence-game","type":"Analysis","date":"2026-02-09","stance":"none","subject":"","subjectUrl":"","summary":"","authors":"Ted Nordhaus"}],"dateModified":"2026-11-12T08:26:15-08:00"}