In order to understand climate change today, the potential for future climate change, and the risks those pose, we must understand the processes, patterns, events, rates, and consequences of climate change in the past. Additionally, climate change is not just a scientific concern; it concerns and affects the well-being of individuals and society. For scientific findings to benefit humanity they need to be communicated effectively, trusted, and understood by human systems decision-makers and the public-at-large. Chapter 1 addresses two main questions: Why does climate change matter? How does examining climate change in geoscience and social contexts help our understanding? Chapter 1 explores a wide range of natural science and social science concepts which serve as a foundation for the rest of the textbook.