The psychology behind climate change denial

Climate change is a serious threat to humans, animals, and the earth’s ecosystems. Nevertheless, effective climate action has been delayed, partly because some still deny that there is a problem. In a new thesis in psychology, Kirsti Jylhä at Uppsala University has studied the psychology behind climate change denial. The results show that individuals who accept hierarchical power structures tend …

Jill Suttie – How to Raise an Environmentalist

We read it in the news every day. From climate change to overfishing to deforestation, it seems that we are on the brink of a natural disaster on an epic scale. If we cannot do something to reverse these trends, we will surely make our planet uninhabitable. But how do we encourage people—especially our kids—to care more and take action? …

Graham Readfearn – How climate science deniers can accept so many ‘impossible things’ all at once

Sometimes, climate science deniers will tell you that we can’t predict global temperatures in the future. Sometimes, they’ll say we’re heading for an ice age. Occasionally, contrarians will say that no single weather event can prove human-caused global warming. But then they’ll point to somewhere that’s cold, claiming this disproves climate change. Often, deniers will tell you that temperature records …

Farron Cousins – Obama Again Sounds Climate Change Alarm But Continues Supporting Fossil Fuel Industry

On September 8, The New York Times published an interview with President Barack Obama in which he discussed the rapidly approaching, and already present, dangers of climate change, along with the threats that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump would pose to the environment as president. Reflecting on his climate legacy in the interview, President Obama reinforced his concerns about and dedication to acting on climate change, but his rhetoric fails …

ASTRID CALDAS – No Need To Wait for the Future: Global Warming Impacts Are Happening Right Here, Right Now.

One thought hit me today, and it was not a very optimistic one. I thought that one may get so used to the fact that that month after month temperature records are being broken, that the issue of global warming would somehow become an afterthought, or a “cry wolf” phenomenon. After all, it is happening every month, right? Therefore, one would …

Alex Kirby – Climate change raises deadly health risks

Climate News Network, 18 August, 2016 More than half a million people worldwide are likely to die annually by 2050 because of the impact on agriculture of changing climate, according to an Oxford University study on the future of food. The authors say the effects are likely to be felt most acutely in south and east Asia, but that the …

Lauren McCauley – The Earth Just Experienced the Hottest Month on the Books. Period.

On Monday it was confirmed that the Earth has broken an ominous climate milestone amid a wave of troubling records: July 2016 was the hottest recorded month—ever. According to new NASA data, the global mean surface temperatures last month were 0.84° Celsius (1.51° Fahrenheit) above average and was the warmest July in their data set, which dates back to 1880. …

Nika Knight – Humans are Poisoning the Ocean—and It’s Poisoning Us Back

It’s no secret that we have trashed, poisoned, and warmed oceans at an unprecedented rate via human-caused climate change and pollution. It seems that oceans may be paying us back in kind, according to a new study that found levels of bacteria responsible for life-threatening illnesses spiking in the North Atlantic region. The study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of …

Nadia Prupis – Climate Change is Here and Now, Dire NOAA Report Warns

Environmental records of all kinds are being shattered as climate change takes effect in real time, scientists warned on Tuesday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) released its annual State of the Climate report with the dire warning that 2015 was the hottest year on record since at least the mid-to-late 19th century, confirming the “toppling of several symbolic milestones” in …