Three eras of climate change

Climate change as a global challenge has evolved through a series of stages in the last few decades. We are now on the brink of a new era which will see the terms of the debate shift once again. The different eras are characterised by the scientific evidence, public perceptions, responses and engagement of different groups to address the problem. In the first era, from the late 1980s to 2000, climate change was seen as an "environmental" problem to do with prevention of future impacts on the planet's climate systems over the next fifty to hundred years, through reductions in emissions of..