THE PSYCHOLOGY BEHIND CLIMATE CHANGE

 

Climate Change is a fundamental problem. If we speak about Global Warming, we get a kind of guilty feeling. That feeling does not motivate us to act but rather more likely causes us to ignore it and change the subject. It is similar as if you address a 15-year-old with his chores: “Stephan you forgot to bring the garbage out.” Stephan uncomfortably replies: “Oh sorry, but I walked the dog.” Sure, Stephan, you walked the dog, but you did not handle all your tasks. As Stephan does not handle all his responsibilities, we do not either.

 

 Moreover, it is an ethical problem; the first ones to experience harsh direct impacts of Global Warming will be developing countries even though most of the damage is being created, by more advanced states.

 

 There are so many not challenging solutions, which could help prevent Climate Change. In spite of that, people often prove that they will not care about something if it does not affect them directly at this very moment. Just like these problems, we push them aside until the moment comes, in which it will affect us (I failed the math test).

 

Another psychological problem is that we do not seem to care for evidence. We, humans, are more likely to look at the expressions of the one talking. Keeping it honest, most scientists might be good speakers when it comes to the language of science. Regardless, this language can seem tedious and may not be enough to inspire people to invest the necessary time into something actively; even though the scientific wording might be the most honest.

 

 

From my point of view, false information is probably the most dangerous threat to human existence. It can easily lead to unawareness and thereby, indirectly to a further acceleration of human-made Climate Change. How to avoid False Information? Personally, I believe that the best things to prevent false information are to ensure you followed following simple steps; first of all, read peer-reviewed Sources from specialized scientists or read articles from organizations. Be sure that they base their research on science and that their findings do not contradict other (authentic) studies. I would suggest reading news from Universities, highly recommended newspapers, like the New York Times or Journal Nature, or organizations, like National Geographic. Read primary and secondary sources to ensure a better understanding of the topic. Backcheck your information with several other reliable sources. Do “background checks” on your sources. Did they use false information before? Are they qualified as a highly recommendable resource on scientific matters? Do they belong to an industry, which could benefit from it? Do they base their work on studies from scientists, or do they find their work on opinion and, or do not state on which studies and research they based their conclusion. Keep in mind a view can be held for a long time, without being affected by the truth.

Based on PERSONAL OPINION

An important topic in education should be Global Warming. Sorrowfully, our school systems lack any details over Climate Change. I was a student in Canada and Germany, and I must say there are vast differences between those two educational systems and both are far from being perfect. Unfortunately, they both lack in Climate science education, and I do not mean that students should know every tiny detail about Global Warming. Nevertheless, they should, by the time they enter grade 5 or 6, have a general idea about what climate change is, what is causing it, and how we may tackle it. Even if teachers confront the topic of Global Warming, it is only taught indifferently. I am not blaming any teachers for that; I would say that those teachers, who are teaching about Climate Change are heroes. Notwithstanding, teachers should have more material/support to actively and adequately teach climate science. We should have a lesson at the very least every week for one hour every school day, which would be efficiently educating us about our future/ future threats (especially Climate Change) and how we should deal with them. Keeping it honest you could even make a whole course for it. In my personal opinion, education on the topic Global Warming should be mandatory, because that will be an essential part of our lives. There is enough data just waiting to be explained and to be worked with. To be fair, there are teachers out there, who try to educate about Global Warming and try to raise general awareness; I fully support that. However, those teachers do that freely and should not be bothered taking over these critical parts. Unless the school district is behind it, there will not be enough time and space for the students to understand these topics effectively. I, personally, must have said that it would only be reasonable to teach young generations about certain phenomena in great detail. It should be considered that they will have to experience enormous impacts. Furthermore, they will be confronted with solving these phenomena very soon. Wouldn’t it be a sound judgement to help them prepare for their future?

Based on PERSONAL EXPERIENCE and OPINION

If you are interested in more Information about the psychology behind Global Warming, I would suggest watching these two videos (video1 and video2) by Vox in association with the University of California.

 

(This chapter ( The Psychology behind Climate Change) is based on BBC, Britannica(2), University of Queensland, research letter, MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT and VOX(2))