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I think Magnifico has part of it Alien - people (particularly Americans whose media are pretty shocking at it) are sick of being scared into consequent crises which turn out to be nothing. I think that is one part of it which makes them think "Oh riiiiighhhht, now we have to change the way we live because the world is going to end... how ridiculous". The disbelief is impure as they do not look at the evidence, instead they think that it is a big conspiracy of science/media because they see other scares as virtual hoaxes.
Secondly I think people feel that they are good people and all the resources they use can be justified. Anything that says that they should behave differently in their resource use or severe consequences will ensue, is perceived as an attack on their way of life and therefore their morality. This cannot occur unchallenged and therefore discrediting the message appears to be the best way to continue their ways of life.
Thirdly I think people are simply not convinced, but these are generally the same people who will question everything until it is absolutely known, a philosophical dilemma as all knowledge has an element of uncertainty.
Fourthly there are those who read the science, however come to different conclusions as the authors.
Fifth, I think there are those who are secretly convinced but work for think tanks with big budgets. Their job is to discredit the science as much as possible or just make stuff up that can become a meme for the first 3 above.
(I list these in order of the number of people I perceive in each group)
As for those of us that are convinced, those that believe (not in the faith sense) that anthropogenic climate change is a reality fall into a few camps. Firstly there are those that feel corporate control is becoming too strong and would do anything to fight against corporations, particularly those are seen as polluters (hippies/communists/anarchists etc).
Secondly there are those that simply read the science and come to similar conclusions, rightly or wrongly.
Thirdly climate change has become a catch call for those that feel disenfranchised in other ways, who are outside of the normal political/social systems and will protest virtually anything that is going against the grain.
An anecdote: I used to work for an organisation whose job it was to feed fish to the poor. The organisation was full of scientists measuring climatic changes and effects, food sovereignty, food security, government policy and animal genetics through hybridisation. They were all concerted environmentalists/humanitarians in their job. But man, when they were off work they were ordering the biggest grain fed imported steaks, flying all over the world and not caring about the pollution, most owned multiple vehicles most of which were gas guzzlers... frankly it was shocking. Somehow they disconnected their way of life with what they knew in their work. The cognitive dissonance was both scary and fascinating!
God that was long, sorry!
No, we need to change our lifestyle, but not necessarily because of global warming, which may or may not be accurate just as the theory that we're heading into another ice age proved to be inaccurate.
We need to change our lifestyle because of obvious environmental degradation which is easily observable by the naked eye (ie air quality, etc..).
@ blobbles Great post man!!
I thought the poles were reversing...they tend to move a few meters (or more?) every year. If the earth is anything like a magnet, a few degrees of shift, then WHAMMO, the magnets flip...and ANZACs can finally have their Bing Crosby white xmas...assuming we survive the pole reversal...
@Blobbles: I pretty much agree with all that you wrote. The last paragraph is particularly important, I think - many people seem to see doing their jobs as simply hey-I've-gotta-make-a-living, and really don't take much personal responsibility for the results of their actions (at work or elsewhere). This is not hard to understand: first of all, indeed they DO have to make a living; secondly, and more importantly, the nature of employment in the kind of world society we have is pretty much a matter of following orders given by those who have power over others, not because they've been given that power in any consensual or democratic manner, but simply because the system determines that if you can get power over others then you have the right to exercise it (yes, regulated by law, of course - hence there is legal & illegal business, etc. - but still, the principal is pretty much grab what you can). That is, when ethics and/or a sense of personal responsibility for the effect of one's actions on others is pitted against the need to 'make a living', with the principal that everybody is either a winner or a loser (actually, of course, this means everybody is both), it is obvious that the need of the individual to survive will take precedent.
So its' "I'm alright, Jack" & you go worry about yourself - never mind that both of us are, collectively, ruining the planet (global warming, etc.) & then naturally people have to justify themselves to themselves and to others - if they can. It all discourages even-handed consideration, inquiry and ho9nesty either with self or with others.
Now go about your business & don't bother me, there's nothing I can do, my contribution is only a drop in the bucket, I'm only following orders, it's human nature, you can't fight city hall, who do you think you are talking about all these big issues, blame the generals I just follow orders & pull the trigger, it's all in God's hands, you can't change the world, and I don't have to believe anything that I don't want to, even if it's true.
Lots of earlier societies have harmed or destroyed themselves by screwing up their environments. I first learned of this long ago, studying archaeology (Robert McC. Adams, _The Land Behind Baghdad_), but it's well-known. We are not a bit smarter than the classic Maya or the Mesopotamians of Sasanian dynasty. We just have more powerful technology and can harm ourselves more thoroughly, all the while denying the obvious.
When I came to Kunming for the first time 7 years ago there were not as many cars as there are now, and most of them were small. In a four week period I counted only 3 large SUVs. Taxi drivers (and others) accelerated slowly to conserve fuel.
Times have changed. Not only are there more cars on the road here, but they seem to be getting bigger. Taxi drivers now behave like they're in the grand prix, with their right foot getting to the gas as quickly as possible.
Many years ago, when the Lexus was first introduced to Canada, I spoke with the General Manager of the Lexus division in Toronto and asked him about the big engines in their cars, when everybody was trying to conserve. He told me "People who buy these cars don't care about the money, they wan't performance". That's something like I'm seeing here now, except people are concerned with image, hence the bigger cars with their bigger fuel consuming (and polluting) engines.
Watch and learn
This may seem rather irresponsible - but I sometimes believe we should continue to consume the earth's resources at an alarming unsustainable rate, pollute our environments, and generally defecate all over our own beds. Eventually nation will rise against nation, neighbor against neighbor, family against family in the pursuit of rare resources until we finally extinguish the flame of the human race.
The earth will (hopefully) re-balance itself - minus the vindictive, irresponsible, abusive parasites that scar the lands and pollute its waterways, rivers, lakes, and oceans...and we'll also concurrently and simultaneously also have global peace and tranquility (twilight zone-ish episode...a man used Aladdin's magical lamp to wish for global peace, so the genie obliterated the entire human race)...
