Social Psychology’s Contribution to a Sustainable Future

John Houghton (2011), the past chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientific assessment committee, contends that global climate change is now “the greatest problem the world faces.” The IPCC conclusions—supported by the national science academies of the eleven most developed countries in the world—are undergirded by the most “thoroughly researched and reviewed” scientific effort in human history. The consensus facts are as follows:

• A warming greenhouse gas blanket is growing.

• Sea and air temperatures are rising.

• Various plant and animal species are migrating.

• The polar sea ice is melting.

• The seas are rising.

• Extreme weather and related disaster losses are increasing.