Saving Earth
 |
Description
Book Introduction
AI's Picks for "People to Watch in 2024"
Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People
UN Earth Environment Awards
Fortune Magazine: The World's Greatest Leaders
Can ordinary people take meaningful action to combat the climate crisis?
Can we contribute to saving us and the Earth?
Katharine Hayhoe, a professor emeritus at Texas Tech University who the New York Times called “one of the greatest communicators on climate change,” says it is absolutely possible.
This book provides an interesting glimpse into just how this is possible.
Professor Heyho is the chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, an American environmental non-profit organization with branches in over 80 countries around the world. He is a popular climate scientist who has been selected as one of AI's "People to Watch in 2024," one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People, one of the UN's Earth Environment Awards, and one of Fortune's World's Greatest Leaders.
Although she is a climate scientist, she spends a lot of time explaining why climate change is an important issue for our lives.
The reason is that through countless conversations, I have come to understand what is the most important thing that can bring people together.
That is, 'talking about climate change'.
You might ask, how can simply talking be the solution?
And talking about climate change can be frustrating and depressing, and what starts as a friendly conversation can easily devolve into name-calling and shouting, or the enormity of the problem can overwhelm us.
Even if you want to talk about it, you may not know where or how to start.
However, Professor Heyho argues that if we start a conversation like that, we can find clues to solutions and, furthermore, we can change the world by taking climate action.
This book is full of various related cases.
There are also many examples of how climate educators, climate activists, and scientists are connecting with ordinary people on climate issues.
Inspired by the popular TED Talk that states, “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change is talk about it,” this book illuminates the complex and divisive reality surrounding the climate crisis while also providing readers with hope and optimism for the future.
Above all, this book gives readers great hope for the future, teaches them the importance of climate communication, and empowers them to positively influence the solution to the massive problem of the climate crisis.
Although it is a difficult subject, readers will find it an engaging read and well worth the time invested.
As we read witty and thought-provoking writing, we find ourselves becoming problem solvers.
In this book, Professor Heyho wittily presents interesting topics related to climate science, including the core content of 26,500 independent pieces of evidence that the Earth is warming, the psychology of those who deny the climate crisis, attitudes based on progressive and conservative values, and the negative effects of information overload.
Her message is simple and clear.
The important thing is that true change and hope come when we don't just stop at knowing, but take even small actions.
Climate change stands between us and a precarious and exciting future, but together we can save ourselves, she emphasizes.
Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People
UN Earth Environment Awards
Fortune Magazine: The World's Greatest Leaders
Can ordinary people take meaningful action to combat the climate crisis?
Can we contribute to saving us and the Earth?
Katharine Hayhoe, a professor emeritus at Texas Tech University who the New York Times called “one of the greatest communicators on climate change,” says it is absolutely possible.
This book provides an interesting glimpse into just how this is possible.
Professor Heyho is the chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, an American environmental non-profit organization with branches in over 80 countries around the world. He is a popular climate scientist who has been selected as one of AI's "People to Watch in 2024," one of Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People, one of the UN's Earth Environment Awards, and one of Fortune's World's Greatest Leaders.
Although she is a climate scientist, she spends a lot of time explaining why climate change is an important issue for our lives.
The reason is that through countless conversations, I have come to understand what is the most important thing that can bring people together.
That is, 'talking about climate change'.
You might ask, how can simply talking be the solution?
And talking about climate change can be frustrating and depressing, and what starts as a friendly conversation can easily devolve into name-calling and shouting, or the enormity of the problem can overwhelm us.
Even if you want to talk about it, you may not know where or how to start.
However, Professor Heyho argues that if we start a conversation like that, we can find clues to solutions and, furthermore, we can change the world by taking climate action.
This book is full of various related cases.
There are also many examples of how climate educators, climate activists, and scientists are connecting with ordinary people on climate issues.
Inspired by the popular TED Talk that states, “The most important thing you can do to fight climate change is talk about it,” this book illuminates the complex and divisive reality surrounding the climate crisis while also providing readers with hope and optimism for the future.
Above all, this book gives readers great hope for the future, teaches them the importance of climate communication, and empowers them to positively influence the solution to the massive problem of the climate crisis.
Although it is a difficult subject, readers will find it an engaging read and well worth the time invested.
As we read witty and thought-provoking writing, we find ourselves becoming problem solvers.
In this book, Professor Heyho wittily presents interesting topics related to climate science, including the core content of 26,500 independent pieces of evidence that the Earth is warming, the psychology of those who deny the climate crisis, attitudes based on progressive and conservative values, and the negative effects of information overload.
Her message is simple and clear.
The important thing is that true change and hope come when we don't just stop at knowing, but take even small actions.
Climate change stands between us and a precarious and exciting future, but together we can save ourselves, she emphasizes.
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
introduction
The climate is changing, and humans are responsible.
The impacts are so serious, we need climate action now! 10
Part 1│What is the problem and how to solve it?
Chapter 1: Democratic Supporters and Climate Change Ignorant Group 19
Chapter 2: Why I Care About Climate Change 35
Chapter 3: How to Talk to Your Friends About Climate Change 48
Part 2: Why Facts Alone Aren't Enough
Chapter 4: Why Humans Are Responsible? 71
Chapter 5: I'm Right and You're Stupid 89
Chapter 6: How to Overcome Fear 110
Chapter 7: The Guilt Complex 124
Part 3│Danger Amplifier
Chapter 8: Distant Dangers 145
Chapter 9 Now, Here 160
Chapter 10: No Time to Waste 178
Chapter 11: There Is No Planet B 189
Part 4│We Can Fix It
Chapter 12: Collecting the Most Important Criminal's Fingerprints 211
Chapter 13: Carbon and the Commons 231
Chapter 14: Climate Potluck Party 243
Chapter 15: Energy Transition and Carbon Neutrality 258
Chapter 16: Various Climate Solutions 275
Chapter 17: Time to Speed Up 294
Part 5│You Can Make a Difference
Chapter 18: Why You Matter 307
Chapter 19: Your Carbon Footprint is the Food You Eat 325
Chapter 20: Why It's Important to Talk About Climate Change 336
Chapter 21: Listen First, Then Listen Again 352
Chapter 22: Finding Hope and Courage 374
Acknowledgments 385
Note 390
The climate is changing, and humans are responsible.
The impacts are so serious, we need climate action now! 10
Part 1│What is the problem and how to solve it?
Chapter 1: Democratic Supporters and Climate Change Ignorant Group 19
Chapter 2: Why I Care About Climate Change 35
Chapter 3: How to Talk to Your Friends About Climate Change 48
Part 2: Why Facts Alone Aren't Enough
Chapter 4: Why Humans Are Responsible? 71
Chapter 5: I'm Right and You're Stupid 89
Chapter 6: How to Overcome Fear 110
Chapter 7: The Guilt Complex 124
Part 3│Danger Amplifier
Chapter 8: Distant Dangers 145
Chapter 9 Now, Here 160
Chapter 10: No Time to Waste 178
Chapter 11: There Is No Planet B 189
Part 4│We Can Fix It
Chapter 12: Collecting the Most Important Criminal's Fingerprints 211
Chapter 13: Carbon and the Commons 231
Chapter 14: Climate Potluck Party 243
Chapter 15: Energy Transition and Carbon Neutrality 258
Chapter 16: Various Climate Solutions 275
Chapter 17: Time to Speed Up 294
Part 5│You Can Make a Difference
Chapter 18: Why You Matter 307
Chapter 19: Your Carbon Footprint is the Food You Eat 325
Chapter 20: Why It's Important to Talk About Climate Change 336
Chapter 21: Listen First, Then Listen Again 352
Chapter 22: Finding Hope and Courage 374
Acknowledgments 385
Note 390
Detailed image
Into the book
Amazingly, I've seen countless times where people refuse to accept simple facts because of political bias.
The simple fact is that the climate is changing, humans are responsible, the impacts are severe, and we must take climate action now.
--- p.11
But when things like politics, ideology, identity, and morality become entangled with science? When, as cognitive linguist and philosopher George Lakoff puts it, our frames become intrusive? The outcome of every situation becomes unpredictable.
And what if the science dictates urgent and widespread action? That, too, is when the mudslinging begins.
--- p.94
The writers of the 2014 Emmy Award-winning climate change documentary series "Years of Living Dangerously" thought the dramatic conflict between Anna and her father would make for great TV.
They brought in actor Ian Somerhalder to interview Anna and her daughter about how they had been fighting over the issue for years, including not speaking to each other for six months.
The writers also brought in me, a Christian and climate scientist, and former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis.
Bob, who had been in denial about climate change himself, was convinced by his son that climate change is real and dangerous.
He later founded the conservative environmental group RepublicEn, which advocates for free-market solutions to climate change.
--- p.102
The window of time to prevent truly dangerous levels of climate change is rapidly closing.
No matter what you've heard, there's no magic number, date, or threshold that will save us from the impacts of climate change.
Trying to quantify how much global average temperature change is necessary to reach that level of danger is like trying to quantify how many greenhouse gases must be emitted into the atmosphere before reaching that level—how many cigarettes must be smoked before you get lung cancer.
We know that the more you smoke, the higher your risk.
But we also know that there is no single threshold that defines perfect health or the end of it all.
It's not like we smoke 9,999 cigarettes without any problems, and then develop lung cancer overnight when we smoke the 10,000th cigarette.
As for smoking and greenhouse gas emissions, the sooner we stop, the better, as all science tells us.
--- p.179
The more carbon we emit, the faster climate change occurs and the greater the risk to all of us.
The reason we can't give exact dates or figures for risk isn't because scientists don't know much about what impacts different levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will have.
This is because each person assesses risk differently and is affected by climate change differently.
So, what's the magic number? It has to be as low as possible.
As far as humans are concerned, the perfect temperature is the one we have experienced for the past several thousand years.
The lower the level of greenhouse gases humans emit, the more likely we are to break free from vicious cycles like methane emissions from thawing permafrost.
Let us remember the words of Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, and Joyce Msuya, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, in the preface to the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C:
“Everything about warming is important.
“Every year matters, every choice matters.”
--- p.181
As the mercury soars, people's anger also boils over.
Psychologist Craig Anderson has been studying this phenomenon since the 1980s.
In his 2001 paper, “Heat Waves and Violence,” he wrote, “High temperatures increase aggression both directly by increasing hostility and indirectly by increasing aggressive thoughts.”
So hot cities have higher rates of aggressive crime than cold cities, and violent crime tends to spike in the summer.
--- p.194
Climate change doesn't just affect us physically.
This also affects our mental health.
The Oxford Dictionary defines 'eco-anxiety' as "extreme concern about present and future harm to the environment caused by human activities and climate change."
Moreover, the dictionary added that it is not considered a mental illness because it is “a rational response to current climate science reports.”
I understand.
For the same reason, I don't read climate novels based on apocalyptic climate scenarios.
Reality is bad enough.
I don't need anything more than that.
The term 'eco-concern' saw a 4,000% increase in usage in 2019, as many young people reported feeling increasing anxiety, panic and fear related to climate change.
This is explained by psychologist Britt Ray.
“If you’ve heard the bleak climate research, you’ve probably felt fear, fatalism, or despair.
If you have been affected by a climate disaster, these emotions can run much deeper and can lead to shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, strained relationships, substance abuse, and a loss of personal identity and control.”
--- p.203
The point is this.
Climate change is not just a scientific problem.
And it's not just an environmental issue.
This is a health issue, a food issue, a water issue, and an economic issue.
It is a problem of hunger, a problem of poverty, and a problem of justice.
Climate change is a human problem.
By following this train of thought, we arrive at a simple yet potentially revolutionary realization.
The point is that we don't need to adopt new values to care about a changing climate.
The burden of inspiring people to care about deforestation and the melting of the perennial ice caps is gone.
There's no need to teach people how to hug a tree, respect polar bears (hugging is discouraged), or practice recycling.
And goodbye to partisan division.
I am reminded of what former President Ronald Reagan said in 1984.
“Protecting our environment is not a partisan challenge.
This is common sense.
Our physical health, social well-being, and economic well-being will be maintained only if we cooperate as thoughtful and efficient stewards of our natural resources.”
--- p.206
Who has greater responsibility and, therefore, the ability to influence major changes? According to the Carbon Majors Report, published by the Colorado-based Climate Accountability Institute, the world's top 100 fossil fuel companies have been responsible for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.
To be more specific, eight of those companies—from top to bottom: Saudi Aramco, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, Iran's National Petroleum Corporation, and Pemex—are responsible for 20% of the global greenhouse gases emitted from fossil fuels and cement production since the Industrial Revolution.
Not only that, these eight companies are also the richest companies in the world.
These corporations have become wealthy at the expense of everyone affected by climate change.
nAnd some of them want to continue doing business the same way even when climate change is clear.
The website of the civic group 'Exxon Knew' makes the facts very clear.
“ExxonMobil knew about climate change half a century ago.
They have deceived the public, misled shareholders, and robbed humanity of a generation’s worth of time to reverse climate change.”
--- p.220~221
But there is a problem.
If not all countries participate, institutional arrangements that reduce fossil fuel demand and, consequently, lower prices may indirectly contribute to increased fossil fuel consumption in unregulated countries.
German economist Hans-Werner Shinn called this the "Green Paradox."
This partly explains why global carbon emissions continue to rise despite increasing implementation of climate policies.
In China, coal consumption rose sharply in the early 2000s before largely plateauing due to health concerns.
However, China's coal production continues to increase.
While China is investing trillions of dollars in green technologies like wind, solar, and even nuclear fusion at home, it is also building hundreds of coal-fired power plants in other countries like Pakistan and Vietnam, where it can sell coal.
So our potluck party really should be global.
Otherwise, you won't succeed.
--- p.257
The fossil fuel divestment movement began in 2010.
American college students are urging universities and institutions to divest their fossil fuel investments and redirect those funds to clean energy and community resilience initiatives.
The movement has spread from religiously-based groups like the Church of England to dozens of cities like Copenhagen, Christchurch, Paris, and Sydney, and even to countries like Ireland.
Leaders like Bishop Desmond Tutu and environmental activist Bill McKibben have been strong advocates for a coal phase-out, and groups like 350.org and Fossil Free are mobilizing people to urge institutions to phase out fossil fuels.
As Bill said, one of the most important things an individual can do right now is to stop being an individual.
Working together to improve our global shared resources on a large scale is incredibly effective, and the fossil-free movement is a prime example.
--- p.296
I have heard many good conversations, good lectures, and good sermons in my life.
The speakers taught me things I didn't know and gave me ideas I want to remember and apply to my life.
As I listen, the ideas seem quite clear.
But when we go home and try to implement those changes in our real lives, we often fail.
It feels like I'm taking a ballroom dance class with my college friends.
While the instructor was explaining the steps, the chachacha seemed too simple.
But after five minutes, no matter what I did, I couldn't tell which foot was going where... and then, without fail, my foot would get stepped on anyway.
I hope this book isn't like a sermon or a dance class.
If all of this made sense to you as you read, but when you tried to put some of these ideas into practice, they just slipped away like a slippery watermelon you played with at summer camp, then this chapter is for you.
You will know which step to take next.
--- p.365~366
Based on scientific facts, it is too late for us to avoid all the effects of climate change.
Some of that impact is already here.
Some things are inevitable because of choices we made in the past, and that's why we may fear them.
Science also explains that many things we do, from turning on the lights to eating lunch, are making the problem worse.
That's why we feel guilty.
But the message of my research is clear.
It is not too late to avoid the most serious and dangerous effects.
Our choices will determine what happens.
The future we face collectively will be shaped by our own actions.
Climate change stands between us and a precarious and exciting future.
We cannot afford to be paralyzed by fear or shame.
We must act with strength, love, and sound mind.
Together, we can save ourselves.
The simple fact is that the climate is changing, humans are responsible, the impacts are severe, and we must take climate action now.
--- p.11
But when things like politics, ideology, identity, and morality become entangled with science? When, as cognitive linguist and philosopher George Lakoff puts it, our frames become intrusive? The outcome of every situation becomes unpredictable.
And what if the science dictates urgent and widespread action? That, too, is when the mudslinging begins.
--- p.94
The writers of the 2014 Emmy Award-winning climate change documentary series "Years of Living Dangerously" thought the dramatic conflict between Anna and her father would make for great TV.
They brought in actor Ian Somerhalder to interview Anna and her daughter about how they had been fighting over the issue for years, including not speaking to each other for six months.
The writers also brought in me, a Christian and climate scientist, and former Republican Congressman Bob Inglis.
Bob, who had been in denial about climate change himself, was convinced by his son that climate change is real and dangerous.
He later founded the conservative environmental group RepublicEn, which advocates for free-market solutions to climate change.
--- p.102
The window of time to prevent truly dangerous levels of climate change is rapidly closing.
No matter what you've heard, there's no magic number, date, or threshold that will save us from the impacts of climate change.
Trying to quantify how much global average temperature change is necessary to reach that level of danger is like trying to quantify how many greenhouse gases must be emitted into the atmosphere before reaching that level—how many cigarettes must be smoked before you get lung cancer.
We know that the more you smoke, the higher your risk.
But we also know that there is no single threshold that defines perfect health or the end of it all.
It's not like we smoke 9,999 cigarettes without any problems, and then develop lung cancer overnight when we smoke the 10,000th cigarette.
As for smoking and greenhouse gas emissions, the sooner we stop, the better, as all science tells us.
--- p.179
The more carbon we emit, the faster climate change occurs and the greater the risk to all of us.
The reason we can't give exact dates or figures for risk isn't because scientists don't know much about what impacts different levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will have.
This is because each person assesses risk differently and is affected by climate change differently.
So, what's the magic number? It has to be as low as possible.
As far as humans are concerned, the perfect temperature is the one we have experienced for the past several thousand years.
The lower the level of greenhouse gases humans emit, the more likely we are to break free from vicious cycles like methane emissions from thawing permafrost.
Let us remember the words of Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, and Joyce Msuya, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, in the preface to the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C:
“Everything about warming is important.
“Every year matters, every choice matters.”
--- p.181
As the mercury soars, people's anger also boils over.
Psychologist Craig Anderson has been studying this phenomenon since the 1980s.
In his 2001 paper, “Heat Waves and Violence,” he wrote, “High temperatures increase aggression both directly by increasing hostility and indirectly by increasing aggressive thoughts.”
So hot cities have higher rates of aggressive crime than cold cities, and violent crime tends to spike in the summer.
--- p.194
Climate change doesn't just affect us physically.
This also affects our mental health.
The Oxford Dictionary defines 'eco-anxiety' as "extreme concern about present and future harm to the environment caused by human activities and climate change."
Moreover, the dictionary added that it is not considered a mental illness because it is “a rational response to current climate science reports.”
I understand.
For the same reason, I don't read climate novels based on apocalyptic climate scenarios.
Reality is bad enough.
I don't need anything more than that.
The term 'eco-concern' saw a 4,000% increase in usage in 2019, as many young people reported feeling increasing anxiety, panic and fear related to climate change.
This is explained by psychologist Britt Ray.
“If you’ve heard the bleak climate research, you’ve probably felt fear, fatalism, or despair.
If you have been affected by a climate disaster, these emotions can run much deeper and can lead to shock, post-traumatic stress disorder, strained relationships, substance abuse, and a loss of personal identity and control.”
--- p.203
The point is this.
Climate change is not just a scientific problem.
And it's not just an environmental issue.
This is a health issue, a food issue, a water issue, and an economic issue.
It is a problem of hunger, a problem of poverty, and a problem of justice.
Climate change is a human problem.
By following this train of thought, we arrive at a simple yet potentially revolutionary realization.
The point is that we don't need to adopt new values to care about a changing climate.
The burden of inspiring people to care about deforestation and the melting of the perennial ice caps is gone.
There's no need to teach people how to hug a tree, respect polar bears (hugging is discouraged), or practice recycling.
And goodbye to partisan division.
I am reminded of what former President Ronald Reagan said in 1984.
“Protecting our environment is not a partisan challenge.
This is common sense.
Our physical health, social well-being, and economic well-being will be maintained only if we cooperate as thoughtful and efficient stewards of our natural resources.”
--- p.206
Who has greater responsibility and, therefore, the ability to influence major changes? According to the Carbon Majors Report, published by the Colorado-based Climate Accountability Institute, the world's top 100 fossil fuel companies have been responsible for 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions since 1988.
To be more specific, eight of those companies—from top to bottom: Saudi Aramco, Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, Iran's National Petroleum Corporation, and Pemex—are responsible for 20% of the global greenhouse gases emitted from fossil fuels and cement production since the Industrial Revolution.
Not only that, these eight companies are also the richest companies in the world.
These corporations have become wealthy at the expense of everyone affected by climate change.
nAnd some of them want to continue doing business the same way even when climate change is clear.
The website of the civic group 'Exxon Knew' makes the facts very clear.
“ExxonMobil knew about climate change half a century ago.
They have deceived the public, misled shareholders, and robbed humanity of a generation’s worth of time to reverse climate change.”
--- p.220~221
But there is a problem.
If not all countries participate, institutional arrangements that reduce fossil fuel demand and, consequently, lower prices may indirectly contribute to increased fossil fuel consumption in unregulated countries.
German economist Hans-Werner Shinn called this the "Green Paradox."
This partly explains why global carbon emissions continue to rise despite increasing implementation of climate policies.
In China, coal consumption rose sharply in the early 2000s before largely plateauing due to health concerns.
However, China's coal production continues to increase.
While China is investing trillions of dollars in green technologies like wind, solar, and even nuclear fusion at home, it is also building hundreds of coal-fired power plants in other countries like Pakistan and Vietnam, where it can sell coal.
So our potluck party really should be global.
Otherwise, you won't succeed.
--- p.257
The fossil fuel divestment movement began in 2010.
American college students are urging universities and institutions to divest their fossil fuel investments and redirect those funds to clean energy and community resilience initiatives.
The movement has spread from religiously-based groups like the Church of England to dozens of cities like Copenhagen, Christchurch, Paris, and Sydney, and even to countries like Ireland.
Leaders like Bishop Desmond Tutu and environmental activist Bill McKibben have been strong advocates for a coal phase-out, and groups like 350.org and Fossil Free are mobilizing people to urge institutions to phase out fossil fuels.
As Bill said, one of the most important things an individual can do right now is to stop being an individual.
Working together to improve our global shared resources on a large scale is incredibly effective, and the fossil-free movement is a prime example.
--- p.296
I have heard many good conversations, good lectures, and good sermons in my life.
The speakers taught me things I didn't know and gave me ideas I want to remember and apply to my life.
As I listen, the ideas seem quite clear.
But when we go home and try to implement those changes in our real lives, we often fail.
It feels like I'm taking a ballroom dance class with my college friends.
While the instructor was explaining the steps, the chachacha seemed too simple.
But after five minutes, no matter what I did, I couldn't tell which foot was going where... and then, without fail, my foot would get stepped on anyway.
I hope this book isn't like a sermon or a dance class.
If all of this made sense to you as you read, but when you tried to put some of these ideas into practice, they just slipped away like a slippery watermelon you played with at summer camp, then this chapter is for you.
You will know which step to take next.
--- p.365~366
Based on scientific facts, it is too late for us to avoid all the effects of climate change.
Some of that impact is already here.
Some things are inevitable because of choices we made in the past, and that's why we may fear them.
Science also explains that many things we do, from turning on the lights to eating lunch, are making the problem worse.
That's why we feel guilty.
But the message of my research is clear.
It is not too late to avoid the most serious and dangerous effects.
Our choices will determine what happens.
The future we face collectively will be shaped by our own actions.
Climate change stands between us and a precarious and exciting future.
We cannot afford to be paralyzed by fear or shame.
We must act with strength, love, and sound mind.
Together, we can save ourselves.
--- p.384
Publisher's Review
What is happening in this world right now,
It is very important to understand how it affects us!
New climate action, hope, and healing to save us and the planet
National bestseller
The lives affected by climate change and the power of those resisting it.
Overwhelming and friendly narrative
“The climate is changing, humans are responsible, the impacts are dire, and there is hope if we act now.” Professor Katharine Hayhoe (Texas Tech University, USA), a climate scientist and one of AI’s “People to Watch in 2024,” summarized the core of the climate crisis that we must never forget.
But in reality, most people ignore this simple fact for various reasons.
Even if the climate crisis appears before us right now and threatens to engulf us, it will only last for a moment.
Even painful experiences are quickly forgotten.
We've heard countless news reports about the unpleasant and humid summer of 2024, which saw the longest tropical nights on record, as evidence of climate change (a crisis), but those difficult times have faded from our memories.
Scientists predict that there is a 100 percent chance that the coming summer will bring us even more difficult times.
And that's not all.
In California, USA, it snowed during the summer, and in Los Angeles, the worst wildfires in history displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
No place in the world is safe from climate change.
So why are we so lukewarm about responding to climate change?
Deep down, I ask myself, “What on earth does the climate crisis have to do with me?!”
Why do they take such a double standard when faced with a crisis?
What is the cause of this contradiction, and how can it be resolved?
Professor Hayhoe, whom the New York Times called "one of the greatest communicators on climate change," explores the duality of our minds and teaches us how to open our minds to the abstract and complex truths of climate change.
According to the Yale Program on Climate Communication, as of 2020, more than 70% of Americans agreed that global warming was happening and that it could harm plants and animals (those not as relevant to us as our own lives), and future generations (those who will live in the future, not now).
65% of people agree that global warming will harm people in developing countries (people who live far away), and 61% even said it would harm people in the United States (not themselves).
But when Yale researchers asked, “Do you think climate change will harm you personally?” the percentage who answered yes dropped sharply to just 43%.
So most of us imagine that climate change will affect the world we live in, people far away, and even our grandchildren and neighbors, but we leave ourselves out.
That's because of the psychological distance.
The human tendency to ignore certain types of threats is called 'psychological distance'.
The concept of psychological distance explains why such information doesn't make us more concerned about climate change or more willing to support or participate in climate action.
Why psychological distance arises
There are several reasons why climate change creates psychological distance.
First, climate change is more abstract than concrete.
Unlike air pollution, climate change is caused by heat-trapping gases we can't see, feel, or smell.
And most people may be confused because they experience global weirding (abnormal extreme weather caused by global warming) rather than global warming in their daily lives.
Extreme cold waves may also be due to the Arctic Oscillation caused by global warming, but it is difficult to consider them as climate change caused by global warming.
To complicate matters further, climate change is expressed in terms of global average temperature.
Global average temperature is calculated by adding up daily records from thousands of weather stations around the world over at least several decades.
It can be a very vague concept compared to the weather right here right now.
In the Paris Climate Agreement, countries around the world agreed to keep the average temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels by 2100 and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
However, for Koreans living in a country where the average daily temperature difference exceeds 10 degrees, the meaning of a 1 degree difference in average temperature may not be that great.
For every 1 degree Celsius rise in the average global temperature, the air's moisture-holding capacity increases by 7%, leading to extreme floods and wind damage, prolonged droughts and wildfires, and extreme cold snaps.
According to Professor Heyho, this is as significant as a one-degree rise in body temperature.
If the body temperature rises by 1.5 degrees from normal body temperature (36.5 degrees) to 38 degrees, the illness can become critical.
Climate change is also not just a scientific problem.
It's not just an environmental issue.
This is a health issue, a food issue, a water issue, and an economic issue.
It is a problem of hunger, a problem of poverty, and a problem of justice.
So climate change is a problem that affects human life as a whole.
It depends more on political inclination than scientific knowledge.
Research suggests that people's refusal to acknowledge climate change stems from political polarization and identity.
This is fueled by the misconception that the impacts of climate change are not a major problem for us and that there is nothing constructive humans can do to fix it.
This is not just an American problem.
An analysis of people in 56 countries found that political affiliation and ideology were far more powerful predictors of opinions on climate change than education, values, and life experiences.
In a survey across 56 countries, researchers found that people's opinions about climate change have less to do with education or knowledge and more to do with "values, ideology, worldview and political leanings."
Conservatives are more likely than liberals to view climate change as a natural phenomenon rather than a human responsibility.
But through countless lectures and conversations, Professor Heyho has learned, not only for himself but for everyone, what is the most important thing that can bring people together.
Ironically, the thing we are most reluctant to do (and fear most of) is to talk about climate change.
It's about speaking out about why climate change matters and how we can fix it, and advocating for and driving change within our sphere of influence.
Connecting with one another as parents, children, family members or friends, students, employees or bosses, shareholders, stakeholders, constituents or citizens is how we transform ourselves, transform others, and ultimately transform the world.
This is contagious.
As Catherine was leaving a lecture at the London School of Economics, a man approached her.
He said he followed her lead in her TED talk, which said, "The most important thing you can do to combat climate change is to talk about it."
Catherine figured he must have spoken to at most 70 or 80 people.
However, the list he showed contained the names of over ten thousand people.
The impact of the man's 'climate talk' actions was truly astonishing.
The London borough where he lives voted to declare a climate emergency, and two years later, it divested from fossil fuels and invested in renewable energy.
Let's start by talking about the impact of climate change on common interests.
Simply bombarding someone with a ton of data, facts, and scientific knowledge only makes them more defensive, more rational, and more distant than before.
When it comes to climate change or other issues with moral implications, we tend to believe that others should care about us for the same self-evident reasons.
Otherwise we assume they are all immoral.
However, most people have their own moral code and act according to it.
They are not immoral, they are just different from us.
If we recognize these differences, we can talk to them.
There are effective conversation topics.
It starts from what we have in common.
Knitting, sports, and other things are also good materials.
The answer lies in thinking about why climate change matters to us as individuals, and why it matters to us as individuals, rather than to humanity as a whole or the planet itself.
The reason we should care about the climate crisis is because it affects everything we care about.
The future of our children and our families, the places we live, the food we eat, our economy, our national security, justice, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the future of our civilization—the list is endless.
It's nearly impossible for anyone not to find something that can be linked to climate change.
According to Professor Heyho, there are 26,500 independent pieces of evidence for climate change and global warming.
It's not just that fruit trees are blooming earlier and butterflies are migrating north.
These include rising average temperatures, rising ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, shrinking continental ice sheets, shrinking polar ice sheets, decreasing snow cover, increasing extreme weather events, and increasing ocean acidification.
If Greenland's ice sheet becomes unstable and melts completely, sea levels could rise by up to 7 meters, and if the Arctic permafrost melts significantly, heat-absorbing methane would be released in such large quantities that the goals of the Paris Agreement would never be achieved.
We are conducting a truly unprecedented experiment with this planet.
We must end this absurd experiment as soon as possible.
“The climate crisis isn’t just about polar bears or the distant future.
It's about the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the places we call home." - Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, TED Talk
The Secret Formula for Climate Crisis Dialogue
Professor Heyho outlines three secret formulas for successful climate crisis dialogue:
"Build connections, connect, encourage." Talking about climate change doesn't require a PhD, bulletproof vest, or antidepressants; it requires emotional empathy.
It starts with respecting and agreeing with one another, bonding around genuinely shared values, and making connections between those values and the changing climate.
When extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts, typhoons, and cold waves approach, we can become trapped in fear or despair about the climate crisis.
So how can we escape from this? The author believes that we can escape by acting with love.
Love begins with telling the truth.
Love also offers compassion, understanding, and acceptance, the opposite of guilt and shame.
Love also gives us courage.
What wouldn't we do for those we love? And finally, love opens the door to that most fleeting and popular emotion: hope.
According to the sayings of St. Augustine, Hope has two beautiful daughters.
Their names are Fury and Courage.
Anger that things continue as they are, and the courage to find something that doesn't stay the way it is.
When we have hope, we can find the anger that cannot stand the unchanging present despite the climate crisis, and the courage to find solutions that can change the current situation.
* Climate Action Plan by Professor Katharine Hayhoe (Space.com)
1.
Let's talk about why climate change is an important issue and what people can do.
2.
Join our climate action group.
3.
Let's take a look at where you spend your money.
4.
No matter where you work or where you go to school, spark ideas for change.
5.
Hold politicians accountable.
6.
Reduce your personal ecological footprint.
It is very important to understand how it affects us!
New climate action, hope, and healing to save us and the planet
National bestseller
The lives affected by climate change and the power of those resisting it.
Overwhelming and friendly narrative
“The climate is changing, humans are responsible, the impacts are dire, and there is hope if we act now.” Professor Katharine Hayhoe (Texas Tech University, USA), a climate scientist and one of AI’s “People to Watch in 2024,” summarized the core of the climate crisis that we must never forget.
But in reality, most people ignore this simple fact for various reasons.
Even if the climate crisis appears before us right now and threatens to engulf us, it will only last for a moment.
Even painful experiences are quickly forgotten.
We've heard countless news reports about the unpleasant and humid summer of 2024, which saw the longest tropical nights on record, as evidence of climate change (a crisis), but those difficult times have faded from our memories.
Scientists predict that there is a 100 percent chance that the coming summer will bring us even more difficult times.
And that's not all.
In California, USA, it snowed during the summer, and in Los Angeles, the worst wildfires in history displaced hundreds of thousands of people.
No place in the world is safe from climate change.
So why are we so lukewarm about responding to climate change?
Deep down, I ask myself, “What on earth does the climate crisis have to do with me?!”
Why do they take such a double standard when faced with a crisis?
What is the cause of this contradiction, and how can it be resolved?
Professor Hayhoe, whom the New York Times called "one of the greatest communicators on climate change," explores the duality of our minds and teaches us how to open our minds to the abstract and complex truths of climate change.
According to the Yale Program on Climate Communication, as of 2020, more than 70% of Americans agreed that global warming was happening and that it could harm plants and animals (those not as relevant to us as our own lives), and future generations (those who will live in the future, not now).
65% of people agree that global warming will harm people in developing countries (people who live far away), and 61% even said it would harm people in the United States (not themselves).
But when Yale researchers asked, “Do you think climate change will harm you personally?” the percentage who answered yes dropped sharply to just 43%.
So most of us imagine that climate change will affect the world we live in, people far away, and even our grandchildren and neighbors, but we leave ourselves out.
That's because of the psychological distance.
The human tendency to ignore certain types of threats is called 'psychological distance'.
The concept of psychological distance explains why such information doesn't make us more concerned about climate change or more willing to support or participate in climate action.
Why psychological distance arises
There are several reasons why climate change creates psychological distance.
First, climate change is more abstract than concrete.
Unlike air pollution, climate change is caused by heat-trapping gases we can't see, feel, or smell.
And most people may be confused because they experience global weirding (abnormal extreme weather caused by global warming) rather than global warming in their daily lives.
Extreme cold waves may also be due to the Arctic Oscillation caused by global warming, but it is difficult to consider them as climate change caused by global warming.
To complicate matters further, climate change is expressed in terms of global average temperature.
Global average temperature is calculated by adding up daily records from thousands of weather stations around the world over at least several decades.
It can be a very vague concept compared to the weather right here right now.
In the Paris Climate Agreement, countries around the world agreed to keep the average temperature increase well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels by 2100 and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
However, for Koreans living in a country where the average daily temperature difference exceeds 10 degrees, the meaning of a 1 degree difference in average temperature may not be that great.
For every 1 degree Celsius rise in the average global temperature, the air's moisture-holding capacity increases by 7%, leading to extreme floods and wind damage, prolonged droughts and wildfires, and extreme cold snaps.
According to Professor Heyho, this is as significant as a one-degree rise in body temperature.
If the body temperature rises by 1.5 degrees from normal body temperature (36.5 degrees) to 38 degrees, the illness can become critical.
Climate change is also not just a scientific problem.
It's not just an environmental issue.
This is a health issue, a food issue, a water issue, and an economic issue.
It is a problem of hunger, a problem of poverty, and a problem of justice.
So climate change is a problem that affects human life as a whole.
It depends more on political inclination than scientific knowledge.
Research suggests that people's refusal to acknowledge climate change stems from political polarization and identity.
This is fueled by the misconception that the impacts of climate change are not a major problem for us and that there is nothing constructive humans can do to fix it.
This is not just an American problem.
An analysis of people in 56 countries found that political affiliation and ideology were far more powerful predictors of opinions on climate change than education, values, and life experiences.
In a survey across 56 countries, researchers found that people's opinions about climate change have less to do with education or knowledge and more to do with "values, ideology, worldview and political leanings."
Conservatives are more likely than liberals to view climate change as a natural phenomenon rather than a human responsibility.
But through countless lectures and conversations, Professor Heyho has learned, not only for himself but for everyone, what is the most important thing that can bring people together.
Ironically, the thing we are most reluctant to do (and fear most of) is to talk about climate change.
It's about speaking out about why climate change matters and how we can fix it, and advocating for and driving change within our sphere of influence.
Connecting with one another as parents, children, family members or friends, students, employees or bosses, shareholders, stakeholders, constituents or citizens is how we transform ourselves, transform others, and ultimately transform the world.
This is contagious.
As Catherine was leaving a lecture at the London School of Economics, a man approached her.
He said he followed her lead in her TED talk, which said, "The most important thing you can do to combat climate change is to talk about it."
Catherine figured he must have spoken to at most 70 or 80 people.
However, the list he showed contained the names of over ten thousand people.
The impact of the man's 'climate talk' actions was truly astonishing.
The London borough where he lives voted to declare a climate emergency, and two years later, it divested from fossil fuels and invested in renewable energy.
Let's start by talking about the impact of climate change on common interests.
Simply bombarding someone with a ton of data, facts, and scientific knowledge only makes them more defensive, more rational, and more distant than before.
When it comes to climate change or other issues with moral implications, we tend to believe that others should care about us for the same self-evident reasons.
Otherwise we assume they are all immoral.
However, most people have their own moral code and act according to it.
They are not immoral, they are just different from us.
If we recognize these differences, we can talk to them.
There are effective conversation topics.
It starts from what we have in common.
Knitting, sports, and other things are also good materials.
The answer lies in thinking about why climate change matters to us as individuals, and why it matters to us as individuals, rather than to humanity as a whole or the planet itself.
The reason we should care about the climate crisis is because it affects everything we care about.
The future of our children and our families, the places we live, the food we eat, our economy, our national security, justice, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the future of our civilization—the list is endless.
It's nearly impossible for anyone not to find something that can be linked to climate change.
According to Professor Heyho, there are 26,500 independent pieces of evidence for climate change and global warming.
It's not just that fruit trees are blooming earlier and butterflies are migrating north.
These include rising average temperatures, rising ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, shrinking continental ice sheets, shrinking polar ice sheets, decreasing snow cover, increasing extreme weather events, and increasing ocean acidification.
If Greenland's ice sheet becomes unstable and melts completely, sea levels could rise by up to 7 meters, and if the Arctic permafrost melts significantly, heat-absorbing methane would be released in such large quantities that the goals of the Paris Agreement would never be achieved.
We are conducting a truly unprecedented experiment with this planet.
We must end this absurd experiment as soon as possible.
“The climate crisis isn’t just about polar bears or the distant future.
It's about the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the places we call home." - Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, TED Talk
The Secret Formula for Climate Crisis Dialogue
Professor Heyho outlines three secret formulas for successful climate crisis dialogue:
"Build connections, connect, encourage." Talking about climate change doesn't require a PhD, bulletproof vest, or antidepressants; it requires emotional empathy.
It starts with respecting and agreeing with one another, bonding around genuinely shared values, and making connections between those values and the changing climate.
When extreme weather events like heat waves, droughts, typhoons, and cold waves approach, we can become trapped in fear or despair about the climate crisis.
So how can we escape from this? The author believes that we can escape by acting with love.
Love begins with telling the truth.
Love also offers compassion, understanding, and acceptance, the opposite of guilt and shame.
Love also gives us courage.
What wouldn't we do for those we love? And finally, love opens the door to that most fleeting and popular emotion: hope.
According to the sayings of St. Augustine, Hope has two beautiful daughters.
Their names are Fury and Courage.
Anger that things continue as they are, and the courage to find something that doesn't stay the way it is.
When we have hope, we can find the anger that cannot stand the unchanging present despite the climate crisis, and the courage to find solutions that can change the current situation.
* Climate Action Plan by Professor Katharine Hayhoe (Space.com)
1.
Let's talk about why climate change is an important issue and what people can do.
2.
Join our climate action group.
3.
Let's take a look at where you spend your money.
4.
No matter where you work or where you go to school, spark ideas for change.
5.
Hold politicians accountable.
6.
Reduce your personal ecological footprint.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: February 17, 2025
- Page count, weight, size: 416 pages | 634g | 145*210*30mm
- ISBN13: 9791198966414
- ISBN10: 1198966416
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