Why do so many of us continue denying the reality of climate change?
For some time now, I’ve been trying to understand why so few us grasp the urgency of the climate emergency: human reasoning seems genetically encoded to see only the short, which means that most people, even those with a reasonable level of intelligence, are in denial.
In many cases, this denial is consciously nurtured by companies that benefit from maintaining the status quo, even if it makes no economic sense. The recent US Congressional investigation showing that the oil majors have spent decades, and millions, spreading disinformation so as to maintain their profits is proof of this, although most people will simply shrug their shoulders: yes, we know… and? Will anything happen? Are we going to see CEOs going to jail, multi-billion fines or any other consequences for this criminal behavior? The answer is no. Many years later, millions of people are still parroting the twisted arguments of the oil companies, still refusing to act against the greatest threat to the human species in its entire history, and nothing happens.
In other cases, denialism arises from the feeling that any change we as individuals might try to make will be a drop in a very large ocean. The figures showing the recent contribution of a country like China to the climate emergency, for example, are also proof that such…
