What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming ─ Toward a New Psychology of Climate Action

Why does knowing more mean believing—and doing—less? A prescription for change

Today, about 98 percent of scientists affirm that climate change is human made, and about 2 percent still question it. Despite that overwhelming majority, though, about half the population of rich countries, like ours, choose to believe the 2 percent. And, paradoxically, this large camp of deniers grows even larger as more and more alarming proof of climate change has cropped up over the last decades.

This disconnect has both climate scientists and activists scratching their heads, growing anxious, and responding, usually, by repeating more facts to “win” the argument. But, the more climate facts pile up, the greater the resistance to them grows, and the harder it becomes to enact measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare communities for the inevitable change ahead. Is humanity up to the task? It is a catch-22 that starts, says psychologist and climate expert Per Espen Stoknes, from an inadequate understanding of the way most humans think, act, and live in the world around them. With dozens of examples, he shows how to retell the story of climate change and apply communication strategies more fit for the task.

Stoknes, a leader in the emerging climate-psychology field, helps readers understand the psychology behind our diverse reactions to climate change, exposes the barriers to accepting and acting upon what we know about climate change, and guides us to designing campaigns and approaches that work with, not against, human nature. Whether you are working on the front lines of the climate issue, immersed in the science, trying to make policy or educate the public, or just an average person trying to make sense of it all or cope with the despair that comes with such a looming issue, What We Think About When We (Try Not to) Think About Climate moves beyond the psychological barriers that block progress and opens new doorways to change.

In a masterful decoding of the way we think about climate, Stoknes offers readers on all levels of the climate spectrum—from deniers to scientists to activists—new ways forward and antidotes for climate “depression.”