How Globalization Shapes Our Climate and What We Can Do About It

I Gave a Guest Lecture on Globalization and Climate

Someone once told me that posting regularly on social media would lead to growth and being noticed where you weren’t before. They also warned me I shouldn’t have any particular expectation about what this attention would look like, but to be aware that it would happen.

Well, a few weeks ago, I decided to run an experiment. I would post regularly about climate change, paleontology, and science communication on LinkedIn. I even started a newsletter there, From the Lab to the World, where I share my favorite stories.

I soon found that the warning I received was completely true. Within a week, I gained 1,000 LinkedIn followers and was invited to give a Guest Lecture at UC Irvine by a professor who’s worked hand in hand with the United Nations for decades.

That was unexpected!

After talking to Dr. Bermudez over Zoom, we narrowed down the topic of my talk. I would cover the intersection between globalization and climate change and how often those who suffer the consequences the most are those who did the least to cause it.

“Easy,” I thought. 

But Dr. Bermudez had a special request. Her students seem to come to class with a very pessimistic attitude, making them feel like nothing can be done to create a better world. Could I highlight how people their age are making a difference?

The talk was a success, and the students asked meaningful questions afterward. Dr. Bermudez wrote me later that evening, telling me that students had loved the topic and were eager to connect with me, so I gave them my website.

I believe this is a topic that can inspire others, so here’s a summary of the talk I gave.

Imagine walking into a store and picking up a simple cotton T-shirt. You check the tag — “Made in Bangladesh.” What that tag doesn’t tell you is the journey this shirt took before reaching your hands. 

The cotton might have been grown in India, shipped to a factory in Bangladesh, and then sent to a distribution center in Europe before landing in a store in the U.S. Well, this global supply chain is a snapshot of how interconnected our world has become.

Globalization touches almost every aspect of life, from what we wear to how we communicate. It has brought incredible advancements, allowing technology and ideas to spread faster than ever. 

But there’s a flip side: this same system drives carbon emissions and environmental damage and deepens inequalities, especially when it comes to climate change.

What do I mean by that? Well, let’s dive deeper.

When a coal plant in one country releases greenhouse gases, those emissions don’t stay put. Instead, they circulate in the atmosphere, contributing to rising temperatures worldwide. A warming planet means stronger hurricanes, more intense wildfires, and rising sea levels that threaten coastal cities and small island nations.

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But not everyone experiences these effects the same way. Wealthier nations, responsible for the majority of historical emissions, often have the resources to adapt. For example, building seawalls, investing in clean energy, or relocating communities when disaster strikes. 

Meanwhile, places that have contributed the least to climate change, like the Pacific Island nations, are facing existential threats.

Take Tuvalu, a small island in the Pacific. Rising sea levels are swallowing parts of its coastline, forcing people to consider migrating elsewhere.

These communities aren’t just losing land; they’re losing history, culture, and a way of life. The irony? Their carbon footprint is tiny compared to major polluting nations.

How Globalization Can Help — or Hurt

Here’s the double-edged sword and the positive news the students needed so much: while globalization has fueled the climate crisis, it also provides tools to fight it. 

Think about the international push for renewable energy. Wind and solar technologies developed in one country can be rapidly adopted elsewhere, thanks to shared research and open collaboration.

The Paris Agreement is a great example of this.

(Note that I gave this talk the day after the US announced its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement when my talk was already put together. Whether this was great or poor timing, I’m not sure.) 

Nearly 200 countries came together to set targets for reducing emissions. While not perfect, it shows that collective action is possible. 

At the same time, global movements — primarily powered by social media — are bringing people together in ways that weren’t possible before. For example, Greta Thunberg’s climate strike started with one student outside the Swedish Parliament. Within months, it had spread to millions of young people demanding change worldwide.

But there’s still a gap. Many developing countries don’t have access to the funding or technology needed to transition to clean energy, whether globalization makes them aware of it or not. 

So, instead of just talking about climate solutions, wealthier nations need to help make them accessible. That means sharing technology, supporting sustainable development, and rethinking how resources are distributed. They have a bigger responsibility for the cause and should contribute their share to fixing the consequences. 

But since I’m talking about an optimistic view of what can be done moving forward, what can we do moving forward? 

Well, it’s easy to feel like these are problems that are too big for anyone to solve. And they are. However, globalization also means that individual actions can scale up faster than ever. Here are some ways you can make a difference: 

• Advocate. Speak up about climate policies in your community. Many major policy shifts started with local efforts that grew into national movements.

• Innovate. Whether it’s reducing waste, designing greener buildings, or using technology to improve sustainability, solutions come from creative problem-solving.

• Connect. Collaborate with people across borders, industries, and backgrounds. Some of the best ideas emerge when different perspectives come together.

The climate crisis isn’t just a scientific issue; it’s about people, choices, and the kind of world we want to live in. Globalization has shaped this problem, but it also gives us the tools to tackle it. The real question is, how do we choose to use them?