We Need A Change In Climate Mindset

If We Are Going To Make A Difference

When I studied Geography at A-Level, I was fascinated by the powerful forces that shape our world. From learning about glaciers, waterfalls, deserts, and coasts, I developed an interest in Geography that led me to study it at University.

At University one of my lecturers was researching the environmental impacts of transport and was a leading light in this new area of study. He took us to the Netherlands to see for ourselves how promoting bikes and public transport could help us to move towards a more sustainable future.

This was back in 1996 long before climate change was hitting the headlines in the way that is it now. So much knowledge has been gathered about the long-term detrimental effects of pollution and yet 28 years later we still haven’t made significant steps towards a more environmentally friendly world.

It’s All In The Mindset

I remember watching Greta Thunberg with interest as she started to hold school strikes outside the seat of the Swedish government in Stockholm. She was a brave new light at a time when global warming was really starting to bite.

‘I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act.’ Great Thunberg

Climate change is unavoidable and references to it are made in the News every day. Recently it was announced that February was the warmest since records began globally. It is certainly worrying that, as each year passes, more temperatures are record-breaking and desertification is seen to be growing.

One of the News items that grabbed my attention last week was the fact that chocolate is becoming less easy to grow. In parts of the world where cacao beans are used to grow comfortably, trees are becoming less fruitful due to heightened temperatures.

Smaller Easter eggs and tinier bars of chocolate may be good for our diets but when will this end? Is chocolate heading towards extinction too?

I imagine that more people would take notice if chocolate was really going to become a thing of the past. However, faraway ice sheets melting and distant communities being flooded don’t impact people’s lives In quite the same way.

So what can we do? Well, the first thing we need to change is the way that we think about climate change. Spending so much time and energy arguing about it certainly doesn’t help. We need to accept it and then move forward.

Climate change is here to stay and we need to be brave and acknowledge that fact. There is literally no point trying to deny it.

If we can shift towards acceptance then collectively we can work faster at countering its ramifications and eventually undoing it.

In A Nutshell

As a geographer, I have always been aware of the fragility of ecosystems and landscapes. It is not hard to imagine how impactful continuous widespread pollution can be.

Now we need to move past debates about whether or not climate change exists and start being really proactive in dealing with it.

Let’s shift our mindsets away from denial and towards acknowledgement.

If we can do this, then we can start to make decisions and policies that might actually slow global warming down and prevent more species extinctions. We have the power to make a difference and can eventually clear up the mess that we made.