ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we conclude that anthropology focuses upon the holistic study of human societies from their very beginning and into the future and in all parts of the world, and that it has a unique contribution to make to the study of the impact of climate change on human societies and how human activities have contributed to climate change, particularly since the Industrial Revolution. At the same time, it is important that anthropologists studying climate change remain conversant with the work of physical scientists, particularly climate scientists, as well as other social and behavioral scientists and scholars in the humanities. In seeking to develop a critical anthropology of climate change, we have relied on the work of numerous scholars, not only from anthropology, but also the other social sciences. Our approach has been guided by an integrated eco-social perspective that is informed by world system theory, political ecology, and critical health anthropology.
