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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy we couldn't care less about the natural world
By George Monbiot
That didn't take long. The public interest in the state of the natural world stimulated by the winter floods receded almost as quickly as the waters did.
A YouGov poll showed that the number of respondents placing the environment among their top three issues of concern rose from 6% in mid-January to 23% in mid-February. By early April though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had just published two massive and horrifying reports the proportion had fallen back to 11%.
CarbonBrief has plotted the results on this graph:
Sustaining interest in this great but slow-burning crisis is a challenge no one seems to have mastered. Only when the crisis causes or exacerbates an acute disaster such as the floods is there a flicker of anxiety, but that quickly dies away.
Why is it so difficult to persuade people to care about our wonderful planet, the world that gave rise to us and upon which we wholly depend?
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2014/may/09/why-we-couldnt-care-less-about-the-natural-world
JEB
(4,748 posts)If it's not on their screens they are unaware.
I have been saying for several years... but I don't mater and what I have to say is way less important than the daily fads.
K&R for exposure.
hatrack
(59,574 posts)He just stepped right out in front of me, gazing slack-jawed at The Magic Shiny Thing.
So, yeah, if people can't even tear themselves away to pay attention to immediate threats to life and limb, why would they bother about ten or twenty years down the road?
Scuba
(53,475 posts)NCarolinawoman
(2,825 posts)put the ENVIRONMENT as an issue I care about. It's often not even listed!
ronnie624
(5,764 posts)you just don't understand the 'realities' of American politics. You need to jump on the partisan bandwagon and start playing for the team. That's the key to the salvation of our species.
chervilant
(8,267 posts)And, if you're not a sycophant, what are you even doing on this forum?!?
(Sarcasm, indeed...)