The environmental issue of climate change has been a problem for a long time, ever since the industrial revolution. In order for this issue to come to an end there should be some kind of social change in the society. This social change to become more climate friendly will occur when people within society become more aware about the environment around them and the effect that their choices have on the environment. In this paper we will be using our sociological perspective to examine the environmental issue of climate change.

According to Emilie Durkheim, culture and society exist outside of the individual, are independent of the individual, and outlive the individual. He referred to this external collective force as the collective conscience that drives your behaviours without you even being aware of it.(Page41 TEXTBOOK) Therefore taking a look closer to this idea it means that every individual should somehow influence the collective behaviour first and then it will work its own way. Just as language exists outside of us but still influences us,.( page 41 textbook) The charismatic inspiration of certain people can influence us as well so therefore we as a collective would be able to make some changes in society that will affect our behaviour towards the issue of climate change.

In order for a movement to begin there is a need for a charismatic leader to start the social movement, for example Martin Luther King. When a charismatic leader is in charge many people will follow them because of their accomplishments in life and their personality and beliefs/values. People tend to feel that they need to express their feelings openly when a collective surrounds them rather than being alone (cite txt). For that a charismatic figure should unite them and give them guidelines. According to Max Weber to achieve a peaceful outcome charisma should be balanced with rationalization (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weber).

Most of the people in society fall into the category of Digital immigrants; people tend to lack the proper information about what is really going on around them due to not having technology available to them while they were growing up. With the new generation of Digital Natives there is more hope that the climate issue will change because society is being updated every minute about what is going on around them throughout the world. From the transformation of a society full of

digital immigrants to a society of digital natives we are able to see a social movement occurring, this movement that will be seen will be the result of society as a whole beginning to care more about the planet that they live on.

For a change to take place the change must be one that involves something material. High human population drives high consumption of the fossil fuels like coal, petroleum and gas. A movement has to start with an idea or object that will teach people that consumption is not good for the environment and that the more we consume the more product that is being used, therefore resulting more and more in the environment being depleted/destroyed. Many people these days are concerned with having the best products and having more than what they need. People tend to purchase many unnecessary things without thinking about the consequences. If we continue to purchase certain products constantly manufactures will continue to produce them in large amounts because they see that there is a demand for that specific product. Society as a whole needs to come together through social movement organizations to make everyone aware of this detrimental effect that consumerism has on the environment. Another contribution to high rates of consumerism may be due to immigration. With more people moving out of their country in to a new one they cause the amount of products being consumed and services being used to increase.

According to the Equilibrium theory, changes in one part of society requires changes in other parts of society in order for it to return to its natural state of balance and harmony (cite txt book page 480). This being said if we want to see a change in environmental issues so that there is less climate change there must also be a change in society’s values and norms. If society starts appreciating the environment more and become more aware about their consumption of unnecessary goods they will create a social norm. This social norm will cause there to be a creation of rules that define what behaviours are culturally acceptable and what behaviours are not.

In order for the collective part of society to achieve their outcome they must put stress on the government. This stress that is to be put on the government can be done through social movement organizations through the use of petitions and protests. Petitions and protests would make everyone aware of the environmental issue and would also start to reinforce/encourage the social movement that must

take place. By the government introducing new laws that have consequences/punishments people will become more aware of their actions and the result will be they rehabilitate themselves. People of society will rehabilitate themselves in to a new generation. This new generation will be one that is more environmentally conscious, a generation that consumes less goods, and will have some different values and norms than the previous generation.

The environmental issue of climate change is the outcome of deviance. Because we as a whole don't really care about what is happening to the environment we tend to deviate since there are no consequences because they may or may not be against the law. As a very good example we can look into the Alberta Oil sands, those big corporations deviate everyday because they are interested in their business to work. And the government wouldn't be able to do anything because these companies feed them with money everyday same situation with the people. Since the oil sands benefit us more than they disadvantage us we will keep our eyes closed to everything they do. That's why the Digital Natives will be the ones that will resist it and make a change within the collective behaviour. Because they have all the means and resources that tell them the real situation in the world that we live in.