Editor’s Note: Editor’s Note: Bill McGuire He is honorary professor of geophysics and climate hazards at University College London and author of: “Greenhouse World: A Resident’s Guide.” The opinions expressed in this comment are his own. Read more CNN’s view Here.
Are you afraid of climate change? Are you worried about what kind of world we are leaving behind to our children and grandchildren? In the words of David Wallace-Wells, science writer and author of “The Inhabitable World,” “No matter how knowledgeable you are, you simply don’t panic enough.”
I will put it even more strongly.
If the disintegration of our once stable climate doesn’t scare you, you don’t fully understand it. The truth is that, as far as we know and in the natural course of events, our world has never – in its entire history – warmed as rapidly as it does now. Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere have also never seen such a rapid increase before.
Think about this for a moment. We are experiencing a warming period probably unprecedented in our lifetime in the last 4.6 years. billion years.
While those of us who work in climate science know the real picture and understand the consequences for our world, most of us don’t. And that’s a problem, a big problem. After all, we cannot act effectively to overcome a crisis if we do not know its full depth and scope.
What’s happening to our world scares the hell out of me, but if I shouted the brutal, plain truth from the rooftops, would that really inspire you and others to fight for the planet and your children’s futures? Or will it leave you frozen like a rabbit in the headlights and convinced that all is lost? This is absolutely a critical question.
With politicians and companies unable or unwilling to act quickly enough to curb emissions as the science demands, all that is left for us as climate scientists is to mobilize the public—via the ballot box and consumer choices—to try and push for it. Huge changes need to be made to prevent global warming.
But would telling it like it is work, or would the burden of truth be too heavy to bear?
A major psychological study published in 2021 by the scientific journal Lancet Planetary Health found that most young people aged 16-25 in 10 countries around the world were moderately to extremely concerned about climate change, but more than half felt overwhelmed and powerless to take action. On this basis, it might seem reasonable to argue that painting an even worse picture would not work. But if that’s the case, does that mean we shouldn’t give people the full facts if it’s too scary? No way.
In fact, it is not a matter of scaring people or not, it is a matter of informing them. As a climate scientist, it is my duty to tell you about what is happening in our world, whether it creates fear or not.
Failure to do so will mean that the public remains unaware of the true extent of the climate emergency, which can only hinder participation and action.
This is already becoming an issue, with many commentators on the right of the political spectrum and some climate scientists smearing anyone who points to the worst consequences of global warming as “doomsayers.” This type of climate “appeasement” increasingly replaces denial and can be a much greater driver of inertia than fear, as it underestimates the magnitude of the problem and the urgency of taking action as an inevitable consequence.
The truth is that people to be Accept being afraid if they know there is still hope and that they can do something to make things better or at least stop things from getting worse.
A 2022 study by researchers at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom found that frightening images of wildfires and other climate-related disasters around the world are particularly effective at increasing climate anxiety, defined by the American Psychological Association as the chronic fear of environmental disaster. But rather than leading to inaction, the study showed that this could be a motivating force encouraging a sample of UK adults to take action to help reduce emissions.
The authors of the study observed that the reality of climate change should be explained without creating a feeling of hopelessness, and this is the key.
One way to do this is to encourage collective action. Many people have told me that they feel alone or that they cannot make a significant difference as individuals.
My answer is always to join a group of like-minded people and work with them to drive institutional and systemic change. In each case this had a galvanizing effect, with hope replacing despair; inertia with action.
After all, many things in life are scary or worrying, from going to the dentist to spotting a potential sign of cancer, but ignoring them almost always causes something much worse to happen.
Climate change is no different. Everyone has the right to know the facts—frightening or not—to provide them with the opportunity to act based on the reality of what we are doing to our planet, not on a neutered version.
I believe this can be transformative rather than leading to inertia.
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