Subject Guides: Anthropology: Humans & Climate Change

Potential Resources

Sample subject terms to use in URSUS:

Climatic changes -- Social aspects
Environmental refugees
Forced migration
Human beings -- Effect of climate on
Human rights
Human security

Selection of Relevant Texts:

Climate Refugees by Collectif Argos; Jean Jouzel (Preface by); Hubert Reeves (Introduction by)
Call Number: GF71 .C57 2010
ISBN: 978026251492
Climate Change and Displacement by Jane McAdam (Editor)
Call Number: HV640 .C53 2012
Climate Change and Migration by Gregory White
Call Number: JV6225 .W45 2011
Disentangling Migration and Climate Change by Thomas Faist (Editor); Jeanette Schade (Editor)
Call Number: ebook
Climate Wars by Harald Welzer
Call Number: QC981.8.C5 W4513 2012
Bioarchaeology of Climate Change and Violence by Ryan P. Harrod; Debra L. Martin
Call Number: ebook
Cities and Climate Change by UN-Habitat Staff
Call Number: Folio GF71 .C45 2011
Climate, Affluence, and Culture by Evert Van de Vliert
Call Number: GF71 .V65 2009
International and Cultural Psychology by Inka Weissbecker
Call Number: ebook
Adapting to an Uncertain Climate by Tiago Capela Lourenço (Editor); Ana Rovisco (Editor); Annemarie Groot (Editor); Carin Nilsson (Editor); Hans-Martin Füssel (Editor); Leendert van Bree (Editor); Roger B. Street (Editor)
Call Number: ebook
The Climate Connection: Climate Change and Modern Human Evolution by Renèe Hetherington; Robert G. B. Reid
Call Number: GF71 .H48 2010
The impacts of climate change on human health in the United States: A scientific assessment by U.S Global Change Research Program
Call Number: online

This is a selection of journals related to the human dimensions of climate change. To search for additional journals of interest, try URSUS' Journal Search or a subject search on Human Ecology -- Periodicals, Climatic Changes -- Periodicals, Climatology -- Periodicals, or Environmental policy -- Periodicals.

Anthropology Plus
Covers the literature of anthropology, archaeology, and related fields
Environment Complete
Article literature in areas of agriculture, ecosystem ecology, energy, renewable energy sources, natural resources, marine & freshwater science, geography, pollution & waste management, environmental technology, environmental law, public policy, social impacts, urban planning, and more.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Full-text newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press, providing researchers access to essential, often overlooked perspectives. The database now also contains Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals from 1959-1989.
GreenFile
Literature addressing all aspects of human impacts on the environment.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Digital archive of more than 1,000 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, some dating from the 19th century.
PAIS
Index to the literature of public and social policy, and other aspects of the social sciences.
Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Provides access to a variety of literature in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities.

Climate Refugees
"[E]xplore[s] the global human impact of climate change and its serious destabilizing effect on international politics. The film turns the distant concept of global warming into a concrete human problem with enormous worldwide consequences ... The film features a variety of leading scientists, relief workers, security consultants, and major political figures, including John Kerry and Newt Gingrich. Whether human-caused or a product of nature, the changing climate is already creating humanitarian disasters and will inevitably lead to worldwide political instability."
Glacial Balance
"... journey along the spine of the Andes mountain range, from Colombia to Argentina, getting to know the individuals and lives of those who are affected by the dwindling tropical glacier reserve, the canaries in the mine regarding climate change... we are accompanied by scientists who give us a perspective on what is happening in the natural world and what we can expect."
The Last Days of Shishmaref
"A documentary on the first victims of global warming. The filmmakers travel to a small village in northwest Alaska, home to an Inupiaq Eskimo community, where homes are literally falling into the sea. The entire village is expected to disappear within 10 years."
There Once Was an Island = Te henua e nnoho
"Told from the perspective of three main characters, this film gives a human face to the direct impacts of climate change in the Pacific community of Tak. Two visiting scientists offer advice but in the wake of a flood the islanders must decide whether to stay with their island or move to an unfamiliar land, leaving their culture and language behind."
Years of Living Dangerously
"... explores the human impact of climate change. From the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy to the upheaval caused by drought in the Middle East, [this show] combines the blockbuster storytelling styles of top Hollywood movie makers with the reporting expertise of Hollywood's brightest stars and today's most respected journalists."

University of Maine's Electronic Dissertations and Theses
Provides access to the scholarly, educational, and creative works of the University of Maine community, primarily from 1996-present, with additional scattered issues prior to this time. Where there is an abstract only (and no full text), you will find the print dissertation in UMaine's Special Collections Department.
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global
Searchable citations of dissertations, many with full text available.
DART-Europe E-Theses Portal
Access nearly 600,000 European theses and dissertations.
WorldCat
Online catalog of materials held by over 72,000 libraries worldwide; includes citations of dissertations and theses. Can place an ILL request within WorldCat results.

Maine's Climate Future, 2020 Update
This report demonstrates the progression of accelerating change in the climate in Maine and its effects, reflecting dramatic evidence for accelerating climate change around the globe with the often dire consequences of those changes. This report looks at examples of evidence of effects in Maine drawn from the scientific literature and news media accounts of Maine people and their experiences.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Reports
The IPCC prepares comprehensive Assessment Reports about knowledge on climate change, its causes, potential impacts and response options. The IPCC also produces Special Reports, which are an assessment on a specific issue and Methodology Reports, which provide practical guidelines for the preparation of greenhouse gas inventories.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
With 196 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and its successor, the 2016 Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement has been ratified by 195 of the UNFCCC Parties. The ultimate objective of these treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.

Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future
Also known as the Brundtland Report, this commission was convened by the United Nations in 1983 to address the global nature of sustainability issues.

Report of the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change
Includes The Anchorage Declaration, which describes a series of recommendations to address climate change on the national and international level.

Additional Resources on the Web

Glacier Hub
GlacierHub seeks to expand and deepen the understanding of glaciers. It provides information about current scientific research, it tells stories of people who live near glaciers or who visit them, and it offers accounts of the efforts of communities and organizations to address the challenges brought by glacier retreat.
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Newsroom
News on the intergovernmental climate process, along with reports of how governments, people, companies and cities across the world are taking action.
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
Independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to advance strong policy and action to address the twin challenges of energy and climate change.