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23ABC News
  • 2 years ago
Many of us are living through one of the most brutal summers of our lives. Some people still question if it's because of climate change. While for others the record heat is changing opinions.
Transcript
00:00 Many of us are living through one of the most brutal summers of our lives.
00:04 Some people still question if it's because of climate change,
00:07 while for others, our record heat is changing opinions.
00:11 I haven't noticed any climate change, if that's what you're saying. No,
00:14 hot is hot. We're in the desert.
00:16 I've always been pretty concerned about climate change,
00:18 but this definitely feels like,
00:20 like we're in that point of no return that people have talked about for a long
00:23 time.
00:23 Some climate psychologists think this summer could be a turning point in climate
00:28 change communication. Long-term polling data from the Yale program,
00:32 on climate change communication shows that the majority of people in the U S
00:37 believe in climate change.
00:38 While about 10% of people don't believe in the science at all.
00:42 Researchers believe as more people experience climate change,
00:45 they will believe it.
00:47 You know, we're a little bit like the frog in the boiling water where we just
00:50 said, yeah, it's getting hotter,
00:52 but maybe we're not as perceptive about the increase and the
00:56 significance of it as, as we might be, if it were a sudden event.
01:01 So it's really not that sudden. It's been a bit gradual.
01:03 It's been heating up for many decades.
01:06 Another professor who teaches a course on the psychology of climate change says
01:10 when people feel like they're threatened by things like heat or wildfire smoke,
01:15 they're more likely to support adapting.
01:17 Researchers say the real test will be if those personal experiences cause more
01:22 people to embrace the science of climate change,
01:25 but also take actions to address it.
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