The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that it is very likely that most of the increase in global temperatures since the mid-20th century is attributable to human greenhouse gas emissions. The burning of fossil fuels and changes in land use have driven atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations to levels that far exceed the range of natural variability.

As the earth warms in response to the additional carbon dioxide, we as a society are faced with fundamental questions about how we affect our environment, and how our environment affects us. The Human Impacts and Vulnerability group aims to understand the role that human behavior plays in driving climate change, the impacts of climate change on individuals and communities, and the tools that society can use to reduce the size of our anthropogenic footprint.

Developing an understanding of the interaction between humans and the environment is a fundamentally interdisciplinary undertaking. As such, the members of this group include geographers, economists, and sociologists.