Climate change is “a problem for everyone and everything,” says renowned Texas Tech University climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe. To make that clear, we need to communicate in a different way about the facts and the solutions. “It’s not about the head, it’s about the heart.”
As a climate scientist in conservative West Texas, Hayhoe finds himself in the lion’s den. But through her church, neighborhood associations and social media, she actually enters into conversation with people who are not concerned with the climate crisis or who deny science.
In her book Hope for the Earth Hayhoe writes that the gap between climate skeptics and climate activists — and everything in between — can only be bridged by talking to each other.
We need to talk not only about how climate change will affect and already affect our lives, but also about what solutions there are to prevent the worst consequences of a warming earth.
You write that it doesn’t help to keep pouring out the scientific facts about climate change on people who don’t believe in it. That must have been a painful insight for a scientist.
“Very painful. We scientists believe that the facts will set us free. That people will take the right steps based on the facts. But we have been telling people the facts for fifty years and in those fifty years we have produced 70 percent of our CO2 emissions produced. So we have to communicate differently. We have to understand that it’s not about the head, it’s about the heart.”
We especially need to talk about the consequences of climate change on our own lives, writes Hayhoe in her book. Not so much about the melting ice caps or the fate of people on the other side of the world, but about how it affects our hobbies, our work or our immediate living environment. About the consequences of worsening drought for farmers or the consequences of warmer winters for avid skiers.
“Climate change affects our health, the safety of our living environment, the air we breathe and the water we drink. It affects every aspect of our lives.”
How can one-on-one conversations lead to the massive changes needed to fight climate change?
“I often hear from people that the time to talk is over: now is the time to act. My response to that is: how can people act together without communicating? Show me examples of major changes that have taken place without people have communicated with each other. There aren’t any.”
“Look at how our society has changed in the past. To the end of apartheid, how women got the right to vote, to the civil rights movement in the United States. How did those changes come about?”
“Not because the prime minister, the president, the king or the CEO of a big company decided that apartheid had to end. They came because normal people without much power or fame, but with the courage to follow their conscience called for change.”
In the social media age, it’s often about bubbles: the people around us already agree with us. How do you reach people who think differently about climate change?
“I often hear it: ‘Everyone around me is already worried.’ Yes, of course!Even in the US, 70 percent of people are concerned about climate change, globally 86 percent of young people are concerned.The difference is that hardly anyone is actively involved in climate change, in the US it is only 8 percent. If it stays that way, we’re never going to solve the problem.”
“So why do we need to talk? Usually it’s to show people what we can do about it. We’re all part of something bigger: a school or university, a sailing club or a group of people walking the dog together. But also of an entire country. And if we use our voices to call for change, we can make a difference.”
“Suppose you start a conversation about energy waste at work and they manage to reduce energy consumption by 15 percent. Or you talk to the canteen about reducing food waste or offering climate-friendly products. Then you make a huge change.”
Your book is called Hope for the Earth and you emphasize the importance of a message of hope. But if you go through the latest climate reports, you will come across a lot of bad news. So how do you stay hopeful?
“When everything is going well, you don’t need hope. It’s important to recognize that hope means things are going bad now and it’s likely to get worse. But hope is about the chance of a better future, however small and uncertain that may be. chance is.”
“And it is possible. Because if we stop using fossil fuels, we also end the ten million deaths a year from air pollution. Then we provide more affordable energy for the whole world, not just rich countries. We reduce food waste and making sure there is enough for everyone. We can tackle so many world problems with climate solutions.”
“Hope is therefore that small chance of a better future, a small light at the end of the dark tunnel we are in now. We have to fight as hard as we can because we know that something better is waiting for us.”
“That’s why we need hope, but realistic, rational hope. That starts with saying that climate change is real. It’s serious. It affects us already today. But we can still prevent the worst consequences. I know that, because I know that company and look at the future scenarios. And I know it depends on us which of the different scenarios we end up in. Our choices determine the future.”