We are usually very careful when it comes managing risks, no matter how low are the chances of something bad happening. Unfortunately, we don’t apply the same strategy when it comes to climate change, even though the risks of doing nothing far surpass the individual risks we are facing each day.
Our way of managing risks
If we are afraid our home might burn down someday, or if we believe we may be involved in a car accident, then we’re sure to get insurance for them. We know there is a chance of an accident happening, no matter how small it, so we prepare for it. The irony is that we seem fixed on taking all preventive measures in order to reduce risks that may be highly improbable, but we fail to do anything about global warming, which, as most studies estimate, will have catastrophic consequences to people on the entire planet.
Why global warming is not on our list of priorities
We care so much about our health or our car, and that is why we buy insurances for them. But global warming is just something we hear on TV, or read in a few articles we stumble upon when navigating over the internet. And with the contrarians disputing the strong evidence provided by 97% of the scientific community, there are many doubts concerning our contribution to climate change. People who don’t believe in human induced global warming advocate doing nothing. People who don’t really care and who go on with their lives just ignore the problem, considering it as being non-existing. Even people who do thing global warming is happening and that it poses great risks fail to do something about it.
What we are facing
It’s funny that we get insurance for things that may have 1 in 10000 or even 1 in a million chance of happening, but be aren’t concerned of the fact that climate change is a reality that will have dire consequences in the not so distant future. We can be facing disastrous heat waves, food shortages and world unrest. If the current trends continue, we are likely to be heading towards destroying our entire civilization, yet most of us don’t even care. Come hell and high water is our best so far. Climate change is a reality, not an improbable scenario. We should open our eyes and start searching for viable solutions, unless we are willing to head towards catastrophic consequences that we are really not prepared to face.