31 Climate change in the Dewey classification system

Climate change is a hot topic for discussion today (pun is entirely incidental!), and we can expect to be getting a large number of works on this subject. Funnily enough, there doesn’t seem to be one single heading under which all these could be collated. Let’s have a look.

On the face of it, we would expect the topic “Climate change”  to be filed under the broad head of Climate, rather than Change. The first number that occurs to us is probably Climate, which occurs under the Earth sciences (550), which takes us successively to 551 and finally 551.6 Climatology and weather. However, there is no entry under this number (sub-section) for climate change as we understand it. If we wished to put the item in this class specifically, we may have to make do with the closest approximation: perhaps 551.609 Historical, geographic and persons treatment, on the premise that climate change is mainly about how it’s been undergoing change over eras and centuries (especially since the Industrial evolution), and how it’s going to change in the coming decades unless world leaders take responsible action. Another number that may be suggested is 551.63 Weather forecasting and forecasts, but I think this would narrow down the scope too much (from general climate to weather), and would be useful more for specific discussions of the increased variability of the climate as expressed in specific phenomena like monsoons, heat waves etc. in specific regions (the effects of climate change).

However, to me the number 551.609 is not quite satisfactory as it does not reflect the special focus of the topic, which is the sudden and unprecedented acceleration in all sorts of effects in the global atmosphere that is leading to the unpleasant changes in the large scale climate phenomena, with all the consequences for humanity. A mere retelling of the history of climate does not appear to reflect this sense of urgency and impending doom. This  number, therefore, would be at best kept for older accounts that describe the changes over time, without much emphasis on the international and national policy and other efforts that are urgently called for to mitigate, or adapt to, the effects of climate change.

Another possibility occurs in the number for the physical science of climate phenomena, which would be under 551.5 Meteorology. Here is where the specific phenomena are discussed: rainfall and snow, storms and hurricanes, monsoons and clouds. These numbers may be suitable for works that focus clearly on the science of climate. Where would the notion of change fit in? Since we are principally concerned with global warming as a prelude or cause of change in global climate patterns, we would probably be looking at 551.52 Thermodynamics etc., specifically 551.525 Temperatures: atmospheric warming, for instance.

So far for the physical science of climate change. When we think of the topic in relation to the contributing factors and world policy, however, we will probably look at the economics or the ecology of the environment and natural resources, which would tend to take us to 333.7 – 333.9 Natural resources and energy, or specifically to 333.7 Land, recreational and wilderness areas, energy (renamed in dc22; it was previously more general, Land and natural resources in dc20). This is where works “interdisciplinary works on the environment” are to be filed, and this is where there seems to be a plausible entry point for books on climate change. This number may therefore be suitable for works which treat of climate change as an environmental and social issue, rather than as a scientific topic for research, methodology and technological control. The number 333.72 Conservation and protection is also available, as it includes a “class here” instruction for works on “environmentalism, comprehensive works on conservation and protection of natural resources” (of which atmosphere is presumably an important one).  If you really wanted to stretch it, perhaps you could even consider 333.92 Air, but then it appears this number is meant to consider these as resources for use (in the line up of all natural resources like land, water, minerals, etc.) rather than as an environmental sink.

We were also considering climate change as a part of ecology, which would take us to 577 Ecology (in dc22); here, the only remotely connected entry seems to be under 577.2 Specific factors affecting ecology. We see 577.27 Effects of humans on ecology, then 577.276 Air pollution, “Including pollution by gases contributing to greenhouse effect (global warming), to ozone layer depletion” and a note “Class here pollution by combustion gases”, which presumably refers to gaseous oxides of carbon, nitrogen sulphur, etc.

A broader hint is provided under the entry 333.7, “See Manual at 363 vs. 302-307, 333.7, 570-590, 600”, and under 333.72, Environmentalism, “See Manual at 333.72 vs. 304.28, 320.58, 363.7”. These other suggested numbers provide yet more possible options. Thus,  363.7 Environmental problems provides a completely new alternative location under the broad rubric of Social problems and services, specifically under 363.73 Pollution, 363.73874 Greenhouse gases. However, the note under this number very helpfully refers us to other numbers for a “specific aspect of greenhouse effect (global warming) not provided for here”, “e.g. changes in earth’s temperature 551.5253, effect on ecology 577.276”.

The number 304.28 is a very interesting topic, under 304.2 Human ecology; 304.28 Environmental abuse, “(i)ncluding greenhouse effect”. The Note in the Introduction says “Use 333.72 for works on environmentalism discussing the broader concept of preventing and protecting the supply as well as the quality of natural resources and for works about the environmental movement that focus on the concerns it shares with the long established conservation movement”; and use 304.28 for works “that emphasize the effects upon society of overuse, misuse, or pollution of the environment”. “Use 320.58 for works that emphasize the potential ideologies of environmentalism. Use 363.7 for works on preserving and restoring the quality of the social living space… If in doubt, prefer in the following order: 333.72, 304.28, 363.7”.

There is a general instruction in the Introduction (para 5.4 in DDC22, Vol.1), which is that “a work is classed in the discipline for which it is intended, rather than the discipline from which the work is derived”. Another principle, which I feel is closely related, is given in para 5.7, termed the rule of application:  “Class a work dealing with interrelated subjects with the subject that is being acted upon”. This rule is to take precedence over any other rule. Accordingly, a work that is concerned with the effects of climate change would be classed with the resource affected by climate change, that is the ecological subjects provided under 577 or the natural resources under 337. On the other hand, if climate change itself is being discussed as a consequence of other actions, then I feel the work would go (as per the above rules) under a climate heading, i.e. 551.

We can see that even a sharply defined and dynamic topic like Climate Change is amenable to multiple options under the DDC, even though one of the strengths of this scheme is precisely that it provides concise, specific, headings for interdisciplinary subjects so that we would not have to construct our own composite numbers (an option that is liberally provided in the Universal Decimal system, through the co-ordinating colon : connector for any two or more individual numbers). Probably the people at Dewey have not got around to this as far as Climate Change is concerned (there is not even a proper entry in the index, which provides a different aspect of “climatic change”): perhaps we will see it very soon in DDC 23 or 24! In anticipation of such a development, we should be making an educated guess now about the most likely location or section under which such a specific heading will be provided. To me, the natural location for interdisciplinary works on Climate Change, with a heavy tilt to policy and instruments, mitigation and adaptation, would be under 333.7, atmosphere as one among the natural resources, or perhaps right under 333.92 Air.

As before, more than getting every nuance right, it is a probably more helpful to get all our books and resources on this subject grouped together in one location. On looking at my collection, I find that the majority of works have ended up (rather tamely!) under the catch-all number 333.7. This is understandable, because most of them treat the subject in the context of a whole lot of other environmental and policy issues, like development strategies, international competition, optimal consumption and life styles, income distribution, technologies, trade and barriers, population control, energy, water, forests, and so on. However, some books that deal with only the physics or technology of the subject have gone under 551.525, while a few which are about mitigation and adaptation have gone under 363.7. Given an ultimatum to choose, I think it would be my instinct to put most of them under the inter-disciplinary number 333.7,  while works that focused more on measures to retrieve the atmosphere and reduce its carbon load would perhaps go under 333.72. I would probably avoid 363.7, because this would scatter the works over too wide a swath of numbers, and 363 would probably be naturally expected to hold works on various aspects of social welfare, and not works on environmental conservation (in comparison to 333.7).  

Incidentally, 333.7 itself has been modified in DDC 22, where it is labelled “Land, recreational and wilderness areas, energy”. In DDC 20, on the other hand, it had the definition “Natural resources and energy”, which has been retained in DDC 22 for the “centred entry” 333.7-333.9. Despite all this, 333.7 continues to be the recommended number for “interdisciplinary works on the environment” in both versions, while DDC 22 indicates 333.72 specifically for “environmentalism, comprehensive works on conservation and protection of natural resources”.