Essays About Climate Change: 7 Interesting Topic Ideas

Here, we’ll look at essays about climate change’s causes, effects, and impacts that you can use in your next essay.

Climate change is happening in real-time, and global warming activists are working hard to raise awareness around how human activities affect the health of the Earth.

From greenhouse gas emissions to fossil fuels, many causes of climate change cause temperature increases, changes in weather patterns, and other negative impacts on the environment. Many activists are working not just to teach others about how climate change affects the Earth but also to spread the word about how using renewable energy (such as solar energy) can help protect the Earth’s biodiversity, calm weather conditions, and positively impact human health by mitigating the effects of global warming.

Global warming has been a hot and controversial topic over the past few years. While activists argue that human activities cause global warming, some people hold strong to the belief that global warming is a naturally occurring phenomenon that would go on regardless of air pollution due to carbon emissions and other factors that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Thankfully, there are many things that people can do to positively affect Earth’s atmosphere, from small behaviors (like biking to work once a week instead of driving) to large actions (creating policy changes through organizations like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

Here are 7 interesting climate change essay topics.

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1. Global Climate Change Initiatives: What’s Working Now

If you’re interested in how global warming affects the planet, it can be exciting to write an essay on what people of power are doing to fight climate change. This essay is important to discuss how global warming and climate change affect the planet. You won’t need to delve too deeply into the science behind climate change, but you’ll want to be sure that your reader has a basic understanding before you start to talk about initiatives that are helping to protect the Earth. 

Climate change initiatives change constantly, so you must look at the latest global efforts to help lower carbon emissions and help preserve what’s left of the Earth’s ozone layer. Be sure to check in on research and initiatives from the United Nations and Greenpeace, and other organizations committed to fighting for the planet’s health. Check out these articles about Earth.

2. Global Warming Isn’t Just Affecting The Environment: It’s Affecting The World’s Most Vulnerable Populations

There are devastating social and political effects of climate change and how countries repeatedly draw lines in the sand against global warming—only to erase those lines when it’s politically or economically beneficial to do so. In an essay on the sociological and political effects of climate change, you can discuss how climate change effects disproportionately affect people in the most vulnerable areas of the world.

Many people in less economically stable areas of the world experience difficulty recovering from disastrous weather events linked to global warming. When writing an essay about how global warming affects vulnerable populations, it’s key to write about both how people are affected immediately (lack of access to medical care, lack of housing, food scarcity, etc.) and how people are affected long term (including how local economies change after a weather-related disaster). 

3. Global Warming And Our Landscape: How Our Oceans And Skies May Change 

Wolchover discusses the very real possibility that climate change could eliminate the way we currently know the sky—and the implications that could have on weather, the atmosphere, and the biodiversity of the Earth. In an essay on how the landscape as we know it could change, it’s important to reflect on important parts of life that we take for granted—such as glancing at the blue and white sky above—could be swept out from under us if we fail to take action to reverse climate change.

Melting glaciers and rising sea levels mean that beloved coastlines could disappear. It’s also possible that the sky could change, with clouds as we currently know them disappearing from our horizons. When writing an essay on how climate change could affect the way the Earth looks, be sure to use descriptive language, helping readers to fully picture how the world outside their front door could change if global warming continues on its predicted path. You might also be interested in these articles about climate change for students.

4. Global Warming And Extreme Weather: What To Expect In Coming Years

Many people only think about weather changes, how extreme weather events can affect humanity, and how temperature changes can cause ocean levels to rise when faced with climate change. Sadly, many people believe that climate change will lead to wars, economic stress, and health issues due to biodiversity and water supply changes.

While the thought of weather disasters is terrifying, many people feel better when they know what to expect. When writing an essay on the possible implications of climate change in the coming years, be sure to include quotes from the latest research. As climate change continues, predictions change, and your essay must include facts and figures from the most recent studies.

5. Which Nations Are—And Aren’t—Equipped To Handle The Effects Of Global Warming?

Some countries are well-prepared for global warming and understand the steps they need to take to prepare for changing weather patterns and rising sea levels. Other countries are not as well equipped. 

When writing an essay on which nations are best prepared to deal with the consequences of global warming, it’s smart to choose a few countries on which you’d like to focus. You may want to compare and contrast your own country and surrounding countries, or you may want to compare and contrast countries that are well-prepared to deal with the consequences of global warming with countries that are not well-prepared. 

In your essay on which countries are prepared to deal with global warming, you may also want to offer suggestions that countries that are not prepared could use to better protect their landscapes and citizens from climate change. Looking for more? You might be interested in these essays about natural disasters.

6. Climate Change Truths: Proof That Global Warming Is Happening

An essay on the reality of climate change can address the many factors that contribute to global warming and the evidence that climate change has negatively affected the environment, including lower populations of animals, wildfires, droughts, etc., floods.

Some people do not believe that climate change is a real phenomenon. When writing about climate change truths, it’s also important to address why some people do not believe in climate change and refute these arguments with the latest research in climate science. 

7. Civil Disobedience As A Means Of Creating Climate Change Awareness

When does the plant’s health become more important than following the law? According to experts, historically, large protests can pave a long-lasting change. According to social science research, the key is that at least 3.5% of the population needs to get involved in creating a difference.

It can be tough to decide when breaking the law is the way to get things done, but according to history, civil disobedience has a way of creating positive change. When writing about whether civil disobedience is the right way to bring about climate change awareness, research the latest news stories on how people are working to make others aware of global warming. 

You’ll also want to write about how citizens worldwide can be fined or otherwise punished for civil disobedience when covering this topic. Including this information in your essay can help your reader understand the lengths people are willing to go to raise climate change awareness. If possible, it’s also smart to include a first-person anecdote in your essay on civil disobedience and climate change, as this can help make the idea of peaceful protest for positive change more real to your reader. For more, see these articles about pollution.

The Final Word On Essays About Climate Change

Overusing natural resources, failing to take care of the planet, and refusing to explore renewable energy sources have all put the Earth in a bad place. Natural disasters and melting polar ice caps are likely to worsen as people fail to take action and change the behaviors that negatively impact the environment.

Thankfully, many groups are working to raise awareness about climate change, helping citizens make the small adjustments to life that can go a long way in improving the planet’s health. Reading essays about climate change and understanding the problem can be the first step toward understanding how to create positive change.

FAQs On Essays About Climate Change

If you’d like to learn more, in this guide, our writer explains how to write an argumentative essay.