Why don’t more people care about climate change?

I often find myself upset and frustrated by other people’s reaction, or lack of reaction, to climate change. When the topic is brought up in the lunchroom or over dinner, I can see the eyes glazing over and sense the complete lack of engagement with this issue. It seems as though there is no ‘appropriate’ setting to discuss climate change — it’s always deemed too serious or depressing. This makes me feel reluctant to bring it up at all, and leaves us all ignoring the issue, pretending it’s not there.

"Upset and frustrated" that more people don't care about climate change.

All the people in my life are good people. They are educated, intelligent and have morals. But it never fails to amaze me how these same people refuse to connect on a meaningful level with issues such as climate change. They don’t talk about it, and if they do, it’s quickly brushed off as someone else’s problem. Worse still, displaying any ‘eco behaviours’ in front of them often leads to comments which discount the value of that behaviour, branding it as pointless.

It’s not as though the facts aren’t there for us all to see: the global scientific community has been warning us for years about the potentially catastrophic impacts of climate change, which are linked to our intensive use of fossil fuels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned of “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts” if carbon emissions are not halted fast.

Read the Medium story by Fiona McVitie - “Why don’t more people care about climate change?”