Climate change as social drama : global warming in the public sphere /
Scientists agree that anthropogenic climate change is real and that it is a very serious threat on multiple levels for the entire planet (IPCC 2013). Economic, social, political and biological systems are all said to be in trouble. Moreover, there is a limited window of opportunity for dealing with...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge ; New York :
Cambridge University Press,
2015.
|
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Scientists agree that anthropogenic climate change is real and that it is a very serious threat on multiple levels for the entire planet (IPCC 2013). Economic, social, political and biological systems are all said to be in trouble. Moreover, there is a limited window of opportunity for dealing with the problem. At the same time the public around the globe is mostly apathetic. Even in countries such as Norway where high levels of environmental concern and political involvement are the norm, climate change often seems more like "background noise" than a problem demanding radical collective action (Norgaard 2011). Contrary to what one might think, a similar situation pertains in the United States. Here, despite an effective right-wing campaign to discredit climate science (Oreskes and Conway 2010), surveys now show that a majority of people believe that climate change is happening and needs to be addressed, including, now, a majority of Republicans (Maibach et al 2013). Yet many of these same surveys indicate most Americans are unwilling to make meaningful sacrifices to deal with the problem. |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | vii, 242 pages ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-237) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781107103559 (hardback) 110710355X (hardback) 9781107503052 (paperback) 1107503051 (paperback) |