The Most Important Thing You Can Do To Fight Climate Change

What can we conclude from these last couple of weeks of studying climate change?

• The climate is changing
• Humans are causing the majority of the change
• It's impacting people negatively, right now and will get worse if left unchecked
• We already have the technology to solve the problem 

This leads to the obvious question: if it is so serious and we have the tools to solve the problem, why aren't we taking that action? Clearly the problem lies in our hearts and minds, not our technology.

Attitudes and Beliefs 

Let's examine the public's attitudes, beliefs and choices. These images came from The Climate Chat, but the information from Climate Change and the American Mind,(Leiserowitz  et al, 2020)

Text from image:  Seven in 10 Americans understand the climate is changing. Close to six in 10 recognize that humans are the cause.

Text from image:  Close to seven in 10 Americans say they are worried about climate change. Roughly half think climate change is harming Americans right now, 2021.     

Text from image:  In 47 states, a majority of adults believe the president should do more to address climate change  (2020).

Text from image:  Highest belief in Global Warming, most concerned, most Motivated to lowest belief in Global warming, least concerned, least motivated.  Alarmed 31%, Concerned 26%, Cautious 16%, Disengaged 7%, Doubtful 10%, Dismissive 10%.

Text from image:  Only around one in 10 voters have contacted a government official about climate change in the last twelve months, 2019. Only four in 10 Americans say they talk about climate change with their family and friends, 2019.

What can we conclude from these statistics? 

• • A large majority of Americans think that climate change is a problem
  • But a smaller percentage of them think that it is harming Americans right now 
  • Americans want the President and the government to do something about the problem
  • But most Americans do not talk about the problem or contact their elected representatives

Difficult  Conversations

Atmospheric scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe is involved in all aspects of climate change.  As a scientist, she studies the processes that influence weather and climate over large scales.  She is also one of the world's strongest advocates for the importance of science communication.  Dr. Hayhoe is also an evangelical Christian who believes that her faith requires her to act on climate change because of its disproportionate impacts on the poor and vulnerable (Optional Link: I’m a Climate Scientist Who Believes in God. Hear Me Out). Among U.S. religious groups, white evangelical Protestants are the least likely to accept that human activities are contributing to climate change.  Dr. Hayhoe believes that talking to people is the most impactful thing that you can do about climate change, but understands from her own experiences with her fellow evangelical Christians that these conversations can be difficult.

Optional:

Watch Dr. Hayhoe's TED Talk below, about the importance of talking about climate change, and the importance of connecting over shared values like family, community and religion.

A study on the importance of talking about climate change came out in 2019.  It found that children are particularly effective at changing their parents' minds about climate change, with the biggest shifts occurring between daughters and their fathers.  Even Greta Thunberg, who started the school strike movement, was met with skepticism from her parents, but “After a while, they started listening to what I actually said,” Thunberg told the Guardian newspaper. “That’s when I realized I could make a difference.

Optional Link: Children Change Their Parents’ Minds about Climate Change: Study of students schooled on the issue showed them going on to shift their elders’ attitudes

Climate Conversation

What makes for a good conversation about climate? Lucky for us, there has been extensive research on climate communication and we can glean the following best practices (from Climate Change Psychology: 5 Insights) Improving Public Engagement With Climate Change: Five “Best Practice Insights From Psychological Science You can find the full article here:

1. The human brain privileges experience over analysis

• • How we feel is more important than analysis in determining our decisions and response
  • Tip: Put yourself in your audience’s shoes

2. People are social beings who respond to group norms

• • Humans tend to follow the normal behavior that they see, rather than the ideal behavior that the group says should be done
  • Tip: Channel the power of the group

3. Out of sight, out of mind: Reduce psychological distance

• • Humans tend to take future risk less seriously than current problems and the same with distant problems vs. local problems
  • Tip: focus on local and current climate problems

4. Framing the big picture: Nobody likes losing but everyone likes gaining

• • If we only focus on the losses and costs of climate change, then people think it might be worth the gamble to do nothing.
  • Tip: Emphasize solutions and benefits

5. Playing the long-game: Tapping the potential of human motivation

• • People are not just motivated by external rewards like money. They have inner values and desires to be contributing members of society
  • Tip: What does your audience aspire to do, become, accomplish, and connect to that