Peak indifference
is the moment at which a far-off problem becomes so obvious that the
number of people alarmed about it begins to grow of its own accord; a
new Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the George Mason
University Center for Climate Change Communication surveyfinds that
46% of Americans believe that they are living through adverse effects
from climate change right now (up 9% in a year) and 72% of Americans
say climate change is ’“extremely,” “very,” or “somewhat” important to
them personally’ (the highest figure ever recorded); 57% acknowledge the
scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change (also the highest
level ever).
After peak indifference, the activist’s job changes: once people start
self-converting to believers because they are experiencing undeniable
negative consequences of inaction, the next job is to convince people
who know there’s a problem that it’s not too late to do something about
it. After peak indifference, you have to fight nihilism. (via Naked Capitalism)
