If you live in Atlantic Canada like I do, you know this year has been filled with extreme weather and storm events, starting with abnormally dry weather, then fires, floods, more flooding, and a hurricane. And Atlantic Canadians are not alone. Around the world there have been increased climate anomalies, ranging from Antarctic sea ice hitting a record low for the fourth consecutive month, to Africa having its warmest June-August period on record, to the strongest hurricane in 125 years making landfall in Florida, US. We’re all being affected by a changing climate, so why do we think about climate change so differently?
According to a Yale Program on Climate Change Communication public poll, 80-90% of people in the US and Canada believe that climate change is occurring and think that it will impact plants and animals. 50-60% of US respondents and 60-70% of Canadian respondents think climate change will harm future generations, but only 30% or less in both countries think climate change will impact them directly. So, while it’s true we’re all experiencing the same weather, storms, and temperature events, we’re perceiving them very differently. Our perceptions are shaped by a variety of influences, including our values, beliefs, experiences, and political affiliations.
Social scientists have found that when peoples’ identities (which are shaped by their values, beliefs, experiences, and affiliations) are bound up in accepting or denying certain facts, arguments about those facts will be viewed as a personal attack. With that in mind, Canadian scientist Katharine Hayhoe suggests that the most important step towards having healthy, productive conversations about climate change is by focusing on the heart, not the head. We should talk about what matters to us and find out what matters to who we’re talking to. If we share common interests or connections to the same places, it’s a lot easier to talk about how we see those places changing. When we enter conversations with the intention of genuinely connecting with another person, and without an agenda, we can talk about things we see differently and seek to establish mutual understanding. Debates are entertaining, but we’re much more likely to have open, honest conversations about climate change if we enter those conversations with patience, humility, persistence, and a whole lot of compassion.
According to Hayhoe, every person has the values they need to care about climate change, and the conversation is about connecting the dots.
