Making sense of climate change—the lived experience of experts

Abstract

While numerous challenges associated with climate change exist, it remains difficult to fully comprehend its full implications on one’s life. Explanations for this range from psychological and cognitive barriers to social, political and economic impediments. This article provides the findings of a research project which investigated the lived experience of climate scientists and climate change experts to understand how they make sense of climate change. The research is based on qualitative interviews with 16 participants located in 12 different countries. The research finds that participants made sense of climate change through a diversity of ways, both professional and personal, including personal experience, emotions, exchanges with others and broader societal context. While for most, climate change started as an area of professional interest, it seems to have permeated their personal lives to a great extent. They see it as a disruption of the normal way of life and all concur about the gravity of the situation. The deeper implication of this study of the lived experiences of climate experts is that there is ground to be concerned.