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Thom's blog
Why aren't we doing more to save our planet?
Considering the stark warnings that scientists have given about climate change, it's hard to understand how another round of new climate-deniers got elected to Congress. Well, neuroscience may have finally solved that riddle. According to a new analysis over at The Guardian, our brains aren't wired to deal with large, slow-moving threats, and businesses and organizations may be better equipped to get people involved in the fight to save our planet.
As Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University explained, “Our brain is essentially a get-out-of-the-way-machine.” He added, “Many environmentalists say climate change is happening too fast. No, it's happening too slowly. It's not happening nearly quickly enough to get our attention.”
Although global warming is an urgent problem, most people don't see the total effect of rising temperatures around the globe. One person may experience a severe drought or super storm, but they don't see the full spectrum of weather weirding going on at any one moment simultaneously around the world. Because they can't see it all, most people – even those who support climate action – simply don't grasp how fast our planet is actually changing.
So, people aren't motivated to take immediate action on climate change, but businesses have a completely different mindset. Unlike human beings, organizations have to plan long in to the future, and they have to consider how floods, droughts, storms, and warmer temperatures may effect their operations.
While some corporations – like oil companies – tend to ignore the obvious, may companies are working to improve their carbon footprint. Businesses and nonprofit organizations can help push millions of people to act more sustainably and more consciously, and could help us save the one-and-only planet we call home.
-Thom
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