Climate change is like one of those Hollywood disaster movies that pit obstructionists against ordinary people who become heroes. Those movies often end with a kiss. We don't know how the climate change story will end—will our grandchildren enjoy some end-of-movie kisses?

 

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Notes: The Climate Hub notes that behavioural studies reveal that when we are confronted by a threat such as climate change, people experience alternative emotions, and use different mechanisms to help themselves cope.

They list the following typical responses.

Some will ignore the problem.
Some will delay and deny.
Some will panic and despair.
Some will act selfishly.
Some will act altruistically.
Some will argue over differences of approach.
Some will collaborate effectively.
Some will show leadership.

They note that in the course of a crisis, each of us will move through all of these phases, cycling between resolve and despair, action and inaction, argument and effective collaboration.

We need to get as many people as possible from the lower end of this spectrum to the upper end of effective collaboration towards a shared objective.

 

Update: Bill McKibben uses a similar metaphor in this article where he ridicules those who persist in denying global warming even in the face of multiple extreme weather events. He concludes:

It looks real, but it isn’t—it’s just nature trying to compete with James Cameron. So please don’t shout "Fire!" in the global 3-D theater. Stay cool. And get a big tub of popcorn—in this epic disaster flick we’re  not even close to the finale.

 

Source: The Climate Hub

Image: Ezinemark