What makes people stop caring about climate change ?

I'm finishing a David Attenborough documentary and just about calmed down after watching an iguana run for dear life from about 20 snakes. Suddenly, the music starts to slows down. David then tells me about how we need to save the planet and that we are currently on track to lose the 10 major rainforests and the 3 million species alongside them. In that moment (maybe you've had a similar one), I questioned 'Why aren't we doing more about this? Wheres the urgency?'. I went to bed, ready to implement change. But then woke up, thought about it, and my drive to save the planet had faded.

Lets find out why.

Until recent decades, we have not been able to see the visible impacts of climate change on our planet. I think it's difficult to imagine the effects it will have on future generations, even with the abundance of evidence outlining each step of how the disaster will unfold. Why is this? 

I think it's a lot to do with psychology of how we react to large and complex issues. Ask yourself this; why do individual deaths have a strong emotional impact, but as the number of deaths increases, so does our apathy? This BBC article gives us a great insight into why this happens, with one study suggesting that "as statistical numbers associated with a tragedy get larger and larger, we become desensitised and have less of an emotional response to them."

I think such complex issues like climate change have a similar effect on our phycology. 

It's clear that people are aware of climate change, but what things will help us empathise with effects more? Here are some ideas :

  • Documentaries - Sometimes it's easy to forget that we share this planet with a wide range of different species and their importance of maintaining a rich biodiversity. 
  • Images - Powerful images can impact our emotions dramatically and bring people together. 
  • Local Case Studies - Showing smaller, more intimate case studies might help people empathise with the effects more. 
Hopefully you found this interesting, I will leave you with my favourite photo :

A minister addresses Cop26 while standing in seawater, Tuvalu, Communication and Foreign Affairs/Reuters


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