Mathematics is often characterized as an apathetic, objective, and abstract field that leads many students to wonder what the point of it is. When all you do in math classes is memorize formulas and identities, it is difficult to find meaning in numbers.

Although math can feel pointless at times, it is still an incredibly useful tool for understanding the world around us. Math has many applications to disciplines such as biology and economics, and can catapult climate change research through modeling global temperatures, sea levels, and many other components of our planet's systems and natural processes [1]. While these applications are interesting to math geeks like me, they can feel impersonal to the general public. A temperature rise of a couple degrees by itself seems harmless and trivial; however, once the impact of rising temperatures on people is taken into account, it becomes much more significant and personal. Although it may not be very intuitive, the abstract world that is mathematics plays an important role in understanding the societal impacts of environmental changes and working towards climate justice.

According to Yale Climate Connections, climate or environmental justice is a movement that “acknowledges climate change can have differing social, economic, public health, and other adverse impacts on underprivileged populations” [2]. For example, people with chronic illnesses or disabilities are more likely to have trouble swiftly evacuating from wildfires and are more vulnerable during periods of severe heat.

Many of these climate justice concerns can be better understood using mathematical models. For example, scientists use functions to model the impact of sea level rise on island communities. They design linear and quadratic functions to predict sea levels on certain islands using historical data. Scientists can also take the geography of islands into account—for instance, the Republic of Maldives may be modeled as a triangular prism. By working with slopes and similar triangles, they can determine the specific regions of the Maldives that will become uninhabitable [3]. Taking this a step further, the projections of sea level rise can be used to quantify changes in agricultural yields, emigration, and tourism—all of which affect society and people's livelihoods.

In addition to identifying the societal impacts of climate change, math modeling can also directly address problems brought about by a changing climate. Climate change has drastically increased wildfire risk, especially in the western United States. According to National Geographic, a promising solution to preventing ravaging wildfires is implementing controlled burns, which involve igniting planned fires to keep a forest healthy [4]. However, it is difficult to know exactly where prescribed burns will be the most productive. The solution to this issue lies in mathematical modeling. By considering which communities are hardest hit by wildfires, as well as economic and geographic factors, the ideal locations for controlled burns become a solvable optimization and graph theory problem.

As illustrated by the above examples, the relationship between climate change and social issues is incredibly complex. However, mathematics can serve as a tool to simplify these connections and make predictions that support climate justice efforts. Thus, I believe that mathematics is an essential tool in building a brighter future and achieving climate justice.

Instead of the cold, apathetic calculations stereotypically associated with the field of mathematics, when students approach math with social and environmental justice concerns in mind, it becomes much more appealing and meaningful. In this way, mathematics can be brought to life by exploring its potential in the field of climate justice.

[1] “Social Justice Math.” Radical Math, 2007. radicalmath.org/main.php?id=SocialJusticeMath#3.

[2] Simmons, Daisy. “What Is 'Climate Justice'?”. Yale Climate Connections, July 29, 2020. yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/07/what-is-climate-justice/.

[3] Khadjavi, Lily S., and Gizem Karaali. Mathematics for Social Justice: Resources for the College Classroom. Providence, RI: MAA Press, 2019.

[4] “Controlled Burning.” National Geographic Society, July 15, 2019. nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/controlled-burning/.