By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now
There’s a big disconnect when it comes to climate change in the U.S. It seems that we’re too busy arguing along partisan political lines or trying to dig our way out of the recession to notice that the world… as we know it… is melting.
Let’s look at some of the recent headlines from a few credible news sources.
Massive Arctic Ice Cap Is Shrinking, Study Shows; Rate Accelerating Since 1985 — This story from Science Daily posted Tuesday documents how the Devon Island Ice Cap in the Canadian Arctic is losing mass because of warmer overall summer temperatures.
Glaciers Shrinking at Montana’s Glacier National Park — Come to find out, the park named for its many glaciers is now down two, with 25 to go. The story gets full treatment in Audubon Magazine online this week. The reason the park has lost two glaciers: Oh…warmer summers, on average for the last decade or so. See when it’s warmer the ice melts, and then one day, poof, it’s gone.
World’s glaciers melting at accelerated pace, leading scientists say — In this story, from The Guardian in January top scientists report that glaciers from The Alps to the Andes are retreating faster than ever.
So, um, what’s not to get here?
Oh yeah. It wasn’t we humans who caused all this. This is just a normal cycle of cool, warm, cool, warm phases that the Earth goes through. Check that. And this particular phase just happens to be on steroids, happening within a vastly shorter span of time than ever before, concurrent with rising carbon in the air since the onset of the industrial age (circa 1850), because it’s, it’s, it’s — perhaps caused by humans burning fossil fuels?
Yet, despite headlines like those above, a Gallup Poll in March found that fewer Americans today (50 percent) believe the “effects of global warming are already occurring” than did two years ago (61 percent).
And among self-described political conservatives, only 30 percent believe the effects of global warming are already happening.
I’m wondering what Americans are thinking. Could this skepticism be part of a belief that, yes, we know there’s climate change but we aren’t so very worried because someone will be able to fix it? Does our doubt about the imminent threat of climate change reflect a lack of confidence in our scientists, media and government — all of whom are the message bearers here?
It certainly reflects a rift with what scientists say about tipping points, those junctures at which ecosystems are so changed that a cascade of events inevitably follows, which is why so many climate experts are urging quick action and talking about a three to five year window in which to begin reducing carbon emissions. (A good book to read more about tipping points in nature ecosystems is the recent release Last Chance by Larry J. Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation.) But then, you can’t even get to a discussion of tipping points with someone who doesn’t believe climate change is happening, even though glaciers are melting before their eyes.
Is this denial a part of the Tea Party “revolt”? Sarah Palin is cheered when she jeers about climate change and a significant segment of the population seems to delight in thumbing their noses at experts. But there’s nothing really new about that. There are always nose-thumbers. Besides, the Tea Partiers seem more unified on the issue of slowing federal spending.
Perhaps the deniers are a segment of a larger pool of Americans who are just railing mad about the Obama Administration’s “liberal agenda” (which I put in quotes because, personally, I see unemployment benefits and regulated health care as nonpartisan) and part of the Obama plan includes fighting climate change. Or so it seems on most days.
Looking at the components, though, that doesn’t quite add up. Are people upset that the EPA is poised to regulate carbon? Clearly, but I’m not sure they could tell you why, exactly. Are people worried that the Department of Transportation and the EPA are raising fuel economy standards? Maybe. But then they’d be against lower gasoline bills?
Are climate skeptics worried that taxing or auctioning carbon credits or whatever it comes down to — if Congress ever steps in and passes a climate bill — will raise their electricity costs? Is that what drives climate denial, Americans’ fear of higher utility bills — when so much else is at stake?
It’s certainly concerning that our electric bills could rise in this turgid economy, but estimates put these potential increases within the budgets of most families. So the equation Higher Electric Bills vs. The Collapse of Eco-systems, the Loss of Coastal Cities, Billions in Storm Damage and later, the Collapse of Economic Systems, seems a little absurd.
On the other hand, if climate change does devastate economies, isn’t that what many conservatives – I’m thinking of the 70 percent who don’t believe climate change is happening now — are concerned about, overspending and economic collapse?
So if the loss of pika and polar bears aren’t high on your list of concerns, you could chalk up your support of climate change action to concern about the economy. Many corporations already do. Those that are pursuing genuine sustainability plans see the writing on the wall. That’s why dozens of Fortune 500 corporations are trying to lower their carbon footprint. Some for show, but others because it makes fiscal sense.
Yet a large piece of the public seems to be running behind this curve. If we’re to believe Gallup.
Maybe Gallup needs to ask a different question, say, “Would you be in favor of drilling in the Arctic and continued reliance on fossil fuels if it meant your grandchildren would swept away in catastrophic flooding or frizzled in relentless heatwaves?
Maybe that’s the question to ask.
I think, in the end, the denier phenomenon boils down to two natural human tendencies. The first, the tendency to bristle at authority. That’s probably a good instinct. (In a democracy anyway.) The second, to aim for stasis. We want things to continue as they are. But that’s not always adaptive. If you told people there would be an earthquake tomorrow in their neighborhood, would all of them leave, or would a few remain behind? Some just wouldn’t believe it.
(Next week, the Earth Day Week: GRN will feature a story on what you can do to seriously and effectively fight climate change, from your own back porch. And we’re not talking about turning off the water while you brush your teeth. You already do that, right?)
Copyright © 2010 Green Right Now | Distributed by GRN Network