Climate Change a Risk Worth Taking Some Action
A very good blog on climate change and risk was posted on Grist – an environmental website which I like to read to round out my perspectives. I like the fact the author discussed climate change within the context of risk. Any time you talk about risk you are talking about probabilities not absolutes.
I had similarly discussed the probability concerns of climate change in my previous blog. In that blog I pointed out the fact we do things given small probabilities. My example was buckling up whereas Dana discussed even smaller probabilities such as getting cancer and the risk mitigation placed on environmental hazards when presented with cancer risk.
Dana concludes the failure or acting on climate change is from: “This is in large part due to a lack of public comprehension of the magnitude of the risk we face; a perception problem that social scientists are trying to determine how to overcome.” The real issue once again I noted in my previous blog is society focus on NOW and the concept of Carpe Diem and the ME concept. Health related issues are certainly going to impact you in your lifetime. Climate change direct impact on you is more of a probability. In fact, the impact could be positive for you depending on your location and attitude/(lack off)care of others.
Climate change actions will require people to think much longer-term and less about themselves. For this reason climate change actions have failed not because of the lack of comprehension. I understand why some scientists are trying to put extreme cases out in order for some action. However the fact is we cannot change that the climate change impacts may take many years to play out and potentially a lifetime. As noted in my previous blog, we have too many living on so much on debt with little savings. How do you really expect them to plan beyond 10 years much less a lifetime, regardless of the dire outcomes you may present?
Without a shift in societies attitude for planning and thinking beyond themselves, we will not likely move forward in any meaningful way in any risk mitigation for climate change. When society gets healthier and reduces the debt load and increases savings, perhaps we will be ready.
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