Climate change is a hot topic – literally. Infiltrating political, economic, and academic spheres and sparking local, state-wide, national, and international conversations for years, climate change has become a major topic of importance worldwide, as well as a major topic of contention.
Contention surrounding the issue of climate change typically results from some form of climate change denial. Even though the phrase “climate change denial” seems to suggest that deniers do not believe in the existence of climate change, this is not the case. In fact, only viewing deniers as those that don’t believe in climate change is misguided because it does not recognize others that are contributing to stalled action on climate change.
There are several types and degrees of denial, as well as arguments used for denial and the reasoning behind them. At a broad level, an article in The Conversation applies Stanley Cohen’s three types of denial to the climate crisis. The outward rejection of the existence of climate change is attributed to literal denial. Using facts that support climate change and distorting them in a way that weakens or alters their support is considered an interpretive denial. When the seriousness and facts supporting climate change are understood, but a person does not act based on these factors, it is referred to as implicative denial. And while many people may turn their nose up at the thought of climate change deniers, this article posits a critical point: we all have typically been implicit deniers in one way or another by not acting enough.
So what can we do? Bringing reusable bags to stores, taking shorter showers, and other actions we might do in order to reduce direct and indirect emissions are definitely good steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle, but we all need to do more to encourage collective action towards policies and mindsets that recognize and act on climate change. Write to your representatives. Get involved with local climate efforts and get your friends to do the same. Do research on companies that are sticking to their climate agendas and support them. Start more conversations about climate change with your family and friends. Accepting climate change will not solve anything unless it is accompanied by action, and the longer we take to act, the longer we all continue to contribute to climate change denial.