“Maybe what we have here isn't just a failure to communicate."
Addressing climate change requires a shift in cultural attitudes
about greenhouse gas emissions on a scale similar to the rise
of abolitionism in the 19th century, according to a new study.

“The conversation over climate disruption, in other words, must
morph from a collection of scientific or moral facts to a set of
established social facts, said University of Michigan researcher
Andy Hoffman, professor of sustainable enterprise at the Ross
School of Business.
“Hoffman's analysis, published in the journal Organizational
Dynamics, compares current cultural norms on climate science
to historical societal views on smoking and slavery.
"At core, this is a cultural question…., The change in attitudes
about smoking in the 20th century is similar. The issue was not
just whether cigarettes cause cancer. It was whether people
believed it. The second process is wholly different from the
first."
“For years, researchers raised the alarm over data linking
smoking to lung cancer, only to see the public ignore it.
Gradually awareness shifted, and now the public widely
accepts the fact that smoking and second-hand smoke causes
cancer, with bans on public smoking increasing and smoking
rates and deaths on decline.
"They have become 'social facts,' and with that shift, action
becomes possible."
“Abolition offers an even more telling example of the difficulties
associated with changing deeply set economic structures.
“In the 1700s slavery was a primary source of energy and
wealth worldwide, especially for the British Empire. Abolitionism
challenged that way of life and threatened to trigger economic
collapse. It took more than 100 years, several uprisings and a
civil war to change cultural norms and abolish slavery.
“Just as few people saw a moral problem with slavery in the 18th
century, Hoffman said, few in the 21st century see a moral
problem with burning fossil fuels.
“The shift in value requires a new cultural perspective, he added.
“The problem, …. is that often society fails to define or
acknowledge a problem until it has the beginnings of a solution.
More: www.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2010/10/culture-shift