Photo: Adam Welz
People aren’t talking about climate change enough. 65% of people in the US “rarely” or “never” talk about climate change. Only 20% say they hear people they know talk about climate change at least once a month.
Nearly 2 billion adults around the world have never even heard of climate change. One would hope that those who do know about it are at least talking about it.
As Ezra Klein wondered back in 2010, “Can we solve global warming without talking about global warming?”
What can you do about this?
Just speak up! Break that climate silence!
This is easy and powerful.
When you talk with a friend about the severity and urgency of solving climate change, it makes a real impression. When we hear something from someone we know and trust, it goes way farther than hearing the message from any other source. In other words, you can reach the people you know more effectively than the rest of the world can.
No need to get in an argument or anything, obviously – that doesn’t do anyone any good. I think the sweet spot for talking about climate change is a balance of being realistic about our situation, non-judgmental, and optimistic through the fact that each of us can (and does, one way or the other) make a difference every day.
I challenge you to have a conversation with someone today about climate change and/or sustainability. (I’d love to hear about it too if you’d like to share!)
Ryan Hagen writes to help reverse global warming and bring more sustainability into the world. He is the founder of Crowdsourcing Sustainability and sends out an informative and uplifting sustainability newsletter every two weeks. This post was originally featured in the newsletter.
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