Aug 14, 2026 05:43 PM
How do you squeeze climate change inside the human brain?
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/enviro...uman-brain
TAKEAWAY: Some of the reasons that explain why many people do not seem to care about climate change include: our brain’s focus on solving today’s problems; the fact that climate change feels big and intangible; the relative slowness of the changes; and our desire to keep our lifestyle the same. Some people’s apathy can be explained by the fact that they are less emotional in general; that they are politically conservative; or that they feel powerless to stop it. Recent research shows that how we present climate data can better convey what is happening with our environment.
INTRO: The loudest alarm blaring all over the world right now is that of climate change—but the brains of many seem to have habituated to it.
Climate experts find themselves trapped in irony: they can predict disastrous consequences for the planet we live on, yet most people’s eyes glaze over when reading the resulting headlines. We keep scrolling and living our lives. Forests get broiled by apocalyptic infernos, turning our skies red and ravaging entire towns, and we keep scrolling. Summers become human barbecues, with more and more of us dying of heat, and we keep scrolling. Our world has become less hospitable and we seem apathetic to it.
Where does climate apathy come from? Researchers have attempted to answer this question using highly artificial experiments. The most promising of these studies shows us that how we present the alarming data we have can make a difference.
Because as much as climate change seems to be a problem with the outside world, it turns out to also expose the myriad of problems plaguing our inner world: the human brain... (MORE - details)
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/enviro...uman-brain
TAKEAWAY: Some of the reasons that explain why many people do not seem to care about climate change include: our brain’s focus on solving today’s problems; the fact that climate change feels big and intangible; the relative slowness of the changes; and our desire to keep our lifestyle the same. Some people’s apathy can be explained by the fact that they are less emotional in general; that they are politically conservative; or that they feel powerless to stop it. Recent research shows that how we present climate data can better convey what is happening with our environment.
INTRO: The loudest alarm blaring all over the world right now is that of climate change—but the brains of many seem to have habituated to it.
Climate experts find themselves trapped in irony: they can predict disastrous consequences for the planet we live on, yet most people’s eyes glaze over when reading the resulting headlines. We keep scrolling and living our lives. Forests get broiled by apocalyptic infernos, turning our skies red and ravaging entire towns, and we keep scrolling. Summers become human barbecues, with more and more of us dying of heat, and we keep scrolling. Our world has become less hospitable and we seem apathetic to it.
Where does climate apathy come from? Researchers have attempted to answer this question using highly artificial experiments. The most promising of these studies shows us that how we present the alarming data we have can make a difference.
Because as much as climate change seems to be a problem with the outside world, it turns out to also expose the myriad of problems plaguing our inner world: the human brain... (MORE - details)
