TY - JOUR
T1 - The silent killer
T2 - Consequences of climate change and how to survive past the year 2050
AU - Huckelba, Anna Laura
AU - Van Lange, Paul A.M.
PY - 2020/5/6
Y1 - 2020/5/6
N2 - There is strong scientific consensus that the climate is drastically changing due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and that these changes are largely due to human behavior. Scientific estimates posit that by 2050, we will begin to experience some of the most damaging consequences of climate change, which will only worsen as the world becomes more populated and resources become scarcer. Considerable progress has been made to explore technological solutions, yet useful insights from a psychological perspective are still lacking. Understanding whether and how individuals and groups cope with environmental dilemmas is the first step to combatting climate change. The key challenge is how can we reduce a tendency to inaction and to understand the psychological obstacles for behavioral change that reduce climate change. We provide a social dilemma analysis of climate change, emphasizing three important ingredients: people need to recognize their own impact on the climate, there is conflict between self-interest and collective interests, and there is a temporal dilemma involving a conflict between short-term and longer-term interest. Acknowledging these features, we provide a comprehensive overview of psychological mechanisms that support inaction, and close by discussing potential solutions. In particular, we offer recommendations at the level of individuals, communities, and governments.
AB - There is strong scientific consensus that the climate is drastically changing due to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and that these changes are largely due to human behavior. Scientific estimates posit that by 2050, we will begin to experience some of the most damaging consequences of climate change, which will only worsen as the world becomes more populated and resources become scarcer. Considerable progress has been made to explore technological solutions, yet useful insights from a psychological perspective are still lacking. Understanding whether and how individuals and groups cope with environmental dilemmas is the first step to combatting climate change. The key challenge is how can we reduce a tendency to inaction and to understand the psychological obstacles for behavioral change that reduce climate change. We provide a social dilemma analysis of climate change, emphasizing three important ingredients: people need to recognize their own impact on the climate, there is conflict between self-interest and collective interests, and there is a temporal dilemma involving a conflict between short-term and longer-term interest. Acknowledging these features, we provide a comprehensive overview of psychological mechanisms that support inaction, and close by discussing potential solutions. In particular, we offer recommendations at the level of individuals, communities, and governments.
KW - Climate change
KW - Human cooperation
KW - Social dilemma
KW - Temporal dilemma
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084841068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85084841068&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/su12093757
DO - 10.3390/su12093757
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084841068
SN - 2071-1050
VL - 12
SP - 1
EP - 22
JO - Sustainability
JF - Sustainability
IS - 9
M1 - 3757
ER -