By Juliet

The human mind can do amazing things. It has worked out ways to cure diseases, travel into space, pull off amazing feats of design, and much more. So why, when faced with the prospect of our seeing our lives turned upside down by climate change, instead of accepting and embracing the challenge it presents us with, do we choose to ignore the threat?

This question was explored by economist Graciela Chichilnisky on Radio 4’s ‘Start the Week’ programme recently. She’s researched how humans react to the prospect of catastrophic risk, and the influence of fear on how we make decisions. Her findings are really interesting when put in the context of climate change and why we, as a species, seem to prefer to deny it rather than face the consequences...

The problem with humans

Chichilnisky’s research has shown that humans are able to plan for risks like, for example, our house burning down because we are able to accept that there is a possibility that it might happen. This has a lot to do with the fact that it poses a very immediate risk, and therefore has tangible consequences with which we can easily associate.

However, something like climate change – that could result in the extinction of our species – is so huge that we simply refuse to engage with it. Instead, we rationalise that the chances of it occurring are so infinitesimally low that there’s no point in planning for it. The fact that such catastrophic events are so rare also means we have little or no exposure to them. As a result, we can’t comprehend the repercussions and how they might affect us.

We are also inherently selfish. When something will obviously affect us, we are far more inclined to do something about it. We tend to assume that unlikely events won’t happen in our own lifetime (even though the likelihood of something happening that occurs only every 100 million years on average is actually the same every year). Therefore, we take the short-sighted view that it would be pointless – a waste of our time, resources, money – to try to guard against it.

Another crucial factor is when fear is introduced into the equation. The greater the fear associated with the risk, the more rudimentary our response to it. It’s fight or flight time.

So how do we improve our prospects?

Chichilnisky advises that, most importantly, we have to stop denying risk and look it in the face. We must see it as a huge change that can happen, even if the probability is low. By assuming it won’t happen to us, we forget that the fallout will be far more destructive if we fail to plan for it. This is very appropriate in the case of climate change. Though it may be predominantly talked about in terms of its scientific veracity, its consequences are wholly human and we must remember that.

We need to stop arguing over whether it’s happening (most scientists agree that it is and, according to Chichilnisky, the Pentagon has identified it as the most potentially catastrophic risk facing national security in the US) and start seriously focusing on how to minimise the damage that is becoming an ever likelier prospect.

And I’m quite sure there’s hope. Humans might generally be quite selfish by nature, but we’re actually really good at mobilising in the face of pretty terrible adversity. Take the earthquake in Haiti. Though it exposed the terrible conditions that we’ve allowed others to live in, when it came down to it, people worked together to help make sure other people survived. Countless people walking past others caught in the rubble stopped to help, and many were saved thanks to these acts.

If we carry on the way we are climate change will, eventually, put us in exactly this situation. It would be a lot easier if, rather than waiting until we’re trapped amidst the rubble, we face our fears and tackle it before it’s too late.