“We live on a planet with mostly water at the surface, and that water takes decades, basically a generation, to warm up or cool off. So, what one generation does to change climate—such as add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere — the next generation must live with,” writes Dean Jim White in a recent essay in the journal “Southern Cultures.”

When natural hazards destroy homes and livelihoods, where do people go? Geographer Clark Gray searches for them using data.

With her research, intergovernmental work and TED Talks, Angel Hsu is making a difference in climate change by combining science and policy.