A recent University of Michigan study reveals a gap in sociology: the lack of focus on climate change. Societies are driving this crisis and dealing with its consequences, but sociology as a discipline appears to be under-engaged in the issue, says Sofia Hiltner, a PhD student in sociology at the University whose research is published in The American Sociologist .

The study points to the critical need for a sociological perspective on the fight against climate change. There is no mention in leading sociology journal articles (0.9 %), conference proceedings (1.5 %), faculty biographies (2.8 %), and course listings at leading US departments (0.2 %) about climate change.

"This deficit threatens the importance of sociology for human well-being. It also limits our understanding of the climate crisis as a social problem and our ability to imagine responses," said Hiltner, a predoctoral fellow at the Center for Population Studies at the Institute for Social Research. (Tevah Platt, University of Michigan, more at phys.org)