the usefulness of alarmism?

This picture is from the blog "Its Getting Hot in Here".


When I was in North America, I noticed that among climate activists in the US and Canada, the story of emergency (and impending doom) is more prominent than in Australia, (the doom bit being most prominent in Canada).

However, my friend Kristin (Super climate campaigner from the US) emphasises the importance of POSITIVE, happy stories.

Negative stories are only empowering if they are combined with awareness of how grassroots social change has occurred in the past, and drawing from that, a tangible, believable plan to take action (and to win).

The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK has just released a report cautioning against alarmist language, arguing that such language moves the attitude of the public from apathy to despair, without stopping halfway (at action), as Al Gore says. If you want to read the report, you can download it here. They argue that in order to implement the Precautionary Principle effectively requires a calm and rational attitude to the challange of global warming. I think my dad would agree with this. The medical/ pharmaceutical professions, which have implemented the precautionary principle extensively in relation to clinical trials etc perhaps are good models to follow.

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On the other hand, here is an email from the Chesapeake (North Eastern US) Climate Action Network, an email list that i am still on. It raises an interesting point- that environmentalists and scientists have spoken of ecological disaster with an attitude of calmness that does not match the urgency of the need for change.

This, for me, suggests something about human communication in general- the importance of body language, and the way that our messages are embodied in a holistic way in the way we speak with other people, (something that Husserl's phenomenological theories taught me).


Grist: If Global Warming Is An “Emergency” Then Let’s Act
Like It’s An Emergency

Why I Helped Occupy the Entrance to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

By Mike Tidwell