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What a great video ;), this certainly gets the message accross. The ACT ON CO2 campaign launched its Bedtime Stories TV advert on 9 October 2009 on British TV.Running on television, press, outdoor posters, cinema and online the campaign is designed to raise awareness of climate change, convey the imminence and the need for urgent action. Its our children who will suffer if we don”t change how the story ends. To find out what you can do visit Act on CO2
Blog Action Day is an annual event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. Its aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.
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So what role can psychologists contribute to changing minds about climate change?
A long-anticipated APA report on climate change is urging psychologists to give policymakers their behavioral tools to head off a climate change catastrophe.
Some of its findings are:
• The well-researched psychological principle that people tend to discount future gains and losses plays a large part in their unwillingness to take climate change seriously. “Many think of climate change risks…as both uncertain and also as being mostly in the future and geographically distant, all factors that lead people to discount them,” the report states.
• Psychosocial factors, such as patterns of consumption and population growth, play a big part in climate change. Psychologists are well-versed in the motivations behind these factors, making them ideal agents for changing these behaviors.
• Many people are uneducated about climate change, confused about the facts or don’t believe their actions can make a difference. Furthermore, those who do try to act to protect the environment don’t always do so effectively.
• It’s not clear exactly how climate change will affect people psychologically, but it’s likely to be devastating. According to the report, “[h]eat, extreme weather events, and increased competition for scarce environmental resources…will affect interpersonal and intergroup behavior.”
The task force suggests that information about environmental sustainability be infused into psychological curriculum so that budding psychologists are equipped with the right tools to encourage environmentally friendly behavior. Clinicians should prepare for potential therapy issues, such as increased stress and anxiety that may result from climate change.
Source: APA Monitor
The task force’s full report and set of policy recommendations are available at www.apa.org/science/climate-change.
