“Climate Change is Not My Problem”

Before taking this class based on the subject of climate change I never really looked into the weather patterns as factors of global warming so I didn’t expect my sister to either when I asked her input on climate change. I described to her the plot of the novel we read in class, Odds Against Tomorrow, and what Cli-Fi is. Prior to trying to strengthen her knowledge of climate change she claims the only thing she really knew was that major ice caps are melting and polar bears had the possibility of going extinct in the near future.

Thinking about a possible natural disaster that could destroy part of the world is scary. My sister has a prominent fear of the ocean so when she found out the major cities could flood, even our hometown of San Diego, she freaked. She was unaware that so much damage could be done to our planet overall. She only believed that the temperature would probably increase a few degrees and that animals such as polar bears would suffer greatly. My sister seemed worried by all these possible events but not worried enough. Frequently I would hear my sister say, “but this won’t affect me I won’t be alive then” or “if I don’t have to experience it then it’s not my problem”. In reality, it is her problem. I am worried about these type of reactions she had because climate change is affecting all of us right at this moment.

However, the thing that struck me the most shocking was when she said she didn’t think global warming was occurring due to humans and industrialization. She believes that global warming is something nature created on its own and will stop eventually. My roommate also has this mentality that climate change is mother natures own fault. Even when I tried to explain things such as fossil fuels and the enormous amount carbon dioxide released in to the air everyday it didn’t seem to really change how they felt on the subject of climate change. They claim it seems “too unrealistic”. The plot for all these short stories and novels are too extreme and unlikely to happen. I came to the conclusion that my sister and roommate must not be affected by these scare tactics often used in Cli-Fi. Personally, I am more likely to worry about climate change and be affected when it has something to do with horrible disasters of some sort. So how to we get the message and effects of climate change across to those not affected by scare tactics?

I think people just don’t understand how bad global warming can be unless they actually experience it themselves. Although, many people experience global warming everyday and have no idea that certain situations occur because of global warming. For example, last year San Diego experienced extreme wild fires and our school shut down for a few days due to these fires. After doing research for this class I didn’t know that the true cause of these fires were due to climate change and neither did my sister. When I personalized my explanation about climate change it seemed to hit home for her.

2 thoughts on ““Climate Change is Not My Problem”

  1. Your title is so true. So many people believe it isn’t their problem and that climate change doesn’t affect them, so they don’t want to do anything about it. I uses to think like this as well. Everyone is guilty of it even in the tiniest of factors. Thanks to Stephen it really opened our eyes and I think our whole class has benefitted from this and now none of us can say it isn’t our problem. It is everyone’s problem.

  2. I agree completely with your arguments. It comes down to accountability, everyone needs to realize that we are all in this together. We should still care if the population isn’t all dramatically affected at this moment. We do not know exactly what the future has in store for us but we need to come together and start helping our future selves. It will affect us, our children, and everyone we know.

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