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The “New Human Condition” is our translation of the philosopher Hannah Arendt’s (1906-1975) concept of the Polis, to consider the turbulent social and environmental climates that have emerged in the first decades of the twenty-first century. While it has been recognized that the role of human agency in global climate change is slowly destroying the conditions for life on earth, our agency also holds the potential to transform social and environmental perception and action to maintain and sustain the essential planetary conditions for the survival of its species. What gave Arendt’s conception of the “human condition” such convincing force in the twentieth century was the recognition that our modern agency had made unimaginable loss possible. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) comprises over a thousand scientists, but only a small percentage of humanities and social science scholars contribute to its reports. This fact alone illustrates the huge opportunity cost to the world’s societies by not engaging such scholars in these disciplines to address what is essentially a “human problem.” The natural and physical sciences have done magnificent, groundbreaking work in alerting us to the threats of global warming, but it is the humanities and social sciences that may hold the keys to addressing the core of human agency that is driving global warming. Global and Planetary Change article links: The New Human Condition and Climate Change <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1RU-X><https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1RU-X> Lessons for the anthropocene from the recent past: Tobacco use, HIV/AIDS, and social transformation <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1NgXY> <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1NgXY>GeoHumanities, GIScience and Smart City Lifeworld approaches to geography and the new human condition <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1NgXM> Charles Travis Visiting Research Fellow, School of Histories and Humanities Trinity College, The University of Dublin Ireland e-mail: [log in to unmask] Global and Planetary Change articles: The New Human Condition and Climate Change <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1RU-X><https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1RU-X> Lessons for the anthropocene from the recent past: Tobacco use, HIV/AIDS, and social transformation <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1NgXY> <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1NgXY>GeoHumanities, GIScience and Smart City Lifeworld approaches to geography and the new human condition <https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1VnMO3HcE1NgXM> GIS StoryMap: Tell the Story of Irish Public History<http://learn.arcgis.com/en/projects/tell-the-story-of-irish-public-history/> ORCID ID:0000-0002-9278-5364 / orcid.org/0000-0002-9278-5364 https://tcd.academia.edu/CharlesTravis ------------------------ Assistant Professor of Geography Department of History University of Texas, Arlington USA email: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------- An Dr Charles Travis Comhalta Taighde, Scoil na Staire agus na nDaonnachtaí Coláiste na Tríonóide, Ollscoil Átha Cliath, Éire. [log in to unmask]