The Nature of the Problem

There are various opinions on anything related to climate change and it is important to understand why the juxtaposition of climate and humanity provides such fertile soil for a diversity of interpretations and perspectives. Climate change is an unprecedented problem that exhibits some dimensions of familiar problems. By definition, climate change involves change, but it is not easy to identify either climate or change, either empirically or conceptually. This article provides some of the interpretations and perspectives of climate change, and explains what it is about climate and humanity that supports them. Although it provides a view of the nature of the problem, its conclusion is that it is extremely difficult for men to arrive at common understandings about climate change. It explains that even among those who agree that climate change is a problem there are serious differences about solutions, reflecting in part disagreements about causes.