Driving to the gym one evening, I caught an interview on the radio about some heavy, potentially unstoppable and unsolvable climate change insight that the researcher was talking about. After a while, the average person forgets the detail and nuance of what is going on and why it is so alarming. Every such interview I have heard follows the same pattern. We are just now finding out that some highly abnormal and grossly concerning stuff is going on. On planetary time scale we don't know how random or predictable this thing is. We haven't seen anything like this as long as anyone has kept record of seeing such things. We should be optimistic about our future and do the equivalent of eating more veggies for dinner to help the climate along so the earth does not self-destruct.
The information sharing might be well-intended but the way it's done in a highly alarmist manner coupled with a ton of holes in logical reasoning really does nothing to help the cause. It al turns into the boy who cried wolf. Even folks like me who are doing what little they can every day to limit their footprint and consumption, are not being truly edified by all this information. In the hottest, most unbearable days of summer, people might take a minute or two to wonder what is going on. But for the most part, they are worried about paychecks, bills, family and such. They are looking for ways to work around the excessive, unprecedented heat problem - because it stands in the way of problems that are more impactful to them.
People will work from home instead of commute, keep their kids indoors and do what they can to stay cool. If they had heard the story on the radio that talked tried to explain what was going on with the earth, they would not pause the flow of their life and have a family summit to discuss what actions they would each take. I wish there was a way to make things a bit real and actionable for regular people and more importantly give them feedback on how their efforts are moving the needle - there has to be a sense that what we do actually matters. Media is no longer a trusted source of information - the spin and bias is blatantly obvious. This makes all their claims even if vetted and accurate sound dubious.
The interviews revealed that language describing climate change as a crisis and an urgent threat was met with suspicion by many participants. The disconnect between crisis rhetoric and the participants’ own beliefs and experiences drove doubt about the motivations of the people making these claims, sowing suspicion and deeper mistrust.
Interviewees widely rejected the national news media as a credible source for climate information. They see these outlets as presenting information that suits their own agendas. Interviewees generally expressed greater openness toward hearing from scientists on climate change because of their subject matter expertise. Still, participants stressed the importance of hearing factual statements from scientists rather than beliefs that may be shaped by their own political leanings or their research funders.
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