Change is hard. Threats that seem nebulous are difficult to react to in ways that radically alter our lives.

I think that most people would recognize that climate change data is complex, and not always easy to wrap one’s head around. At the same time, we are continuing to find out that things are changing that will likely have major effects on the Earth and its inhabitants. What to do?

The American Psychological Association (APA) has studied the psychological factors that have an effect on our responses to the threat of climate change.

Despite warnings from scientists and environmental experts that limiting the effects of climate change means humans need to make some severe changes now, people don’t feel a sense of urgency.

[From Psychological factors help explain slow reaction to global warming, says APA task force]

Not really a surprise here. Scientists and government leaders who insist we need to change our lives in ways that change our habits, consumer-oriented culture, lifestyle and priorities are not generally well-received. For why should we trust sources that haven’t always been accurate in terms of assessing risks and predicting specific outcomes? And why should we mess our lives up so much if there might not actually be a climate change crisis coming down the pipe? (For the sake of argument, ignore the compelling evidence, data trends and scientific consenus – in fact, the APA has shown that our brains often deal with the climate change threat in exactly this way, by undervaluing risks and/or moving into “denial” mode).

In my view, the most important contribution of the study is in answer to the question, “How can psychologists assist in limiting climate change?”

Most people hate the idea of being manipulated. Think incentives instead of manipulation. Economic incentives, strong social marketing, etc…

The full report (pdf format) can be found at http://www.apa.org/releases/climate-change.pdf