Having outlined a theory of heterogeneous social construction , this article describes the scientific construction of climate change as a global -scale environmental problem caused by the universal physical properties of greenhouse gases

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Having outlined a theory of heterogeneous social construction , this article describes the scientific construction of climate change as a global -scale environmental problem caused by the universal physical properties of greenhouse gases . Critics have noted that this reductionist formulation serves a variety of political purposes , but instrumental and interest -based critiques of the use of scientific knowledge tend to ignore the ways in which a politics gets built into science at the upstream end . By retracing the history of climate modeling and of several scientific controversies I unmask the tacit social and epistemic commitments implied by its specific practices . The specific scientific framing of global climate change has reinforced and been reinforced by the technocratic inclinations of global climate man agement . The social organization of climate change science and its articulation with the political process raise im - portant questions about trust , uncertainty , and expertise . The article concludes with a discussion of the political brittleness of this dominant science-led and global-scale formulation of the climate change problem and the need for a more reflexive politics of climate change and of scientific knowledge based on active trust . Key Words: climate change , social constructionism , social studies of science .