Why are the majority of people still so ignorant to environmental issues?

Answer 1

It's not so much ignorance as it is disinterest for most people. I work for an environmental agency and one thing I've learned: Everyone is an environmentalist, it's just that most people never realize that they are until something hits close to home. For example, lots of people don't care about recycling, but they will darn near riot if a landfill is proposed near their home. People support big industry until the nasty, polluting factory wants to locate in their community. Or they don't give a second thought to the industry and auto pollution or products they use until their kid or someone else they care about gets sick, then they blame the factory down the street, chemicals in the food - or Chinese toys with lead paint. That's when they become environmentalists.

Answer 2

If Darwin said it, environmental issues would be studied and discussed with religious devotion.

Perhaps the environmental issues need a higher profile champion, like the new pope.

Perhaps you could interest the ACLU into getting the courts to declare global warming unconstitutional.

Did you know that eating meat causes global warming ? Even the minority is ignorant!

Answer 3

I do not think the people are to blame. During the 1960 onwards Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace lobbied our governments on environmental issues. The governments of the day called them extremists and crackpots. This government has the power tomorrow to save our planet, but they are simply blaming us for their blunders.
Tomorrow the government could give incentives for people to use public transport. Put into action a policy to produce environmentally friendly packaging and bags. High energy light bulbs should have stopped being produced 5 years ago. So many, many things could be done before it's too late. Separating our rubbish and issuing fines is just to get government off the hook. Government policy is destroying our planet - not the people.

Answer 4

It's not so much ignorance, as it is makeing all the changes, changes that aren't going to change much as far as the Environment goes. Governments are very hypocritical, I mean one day Gorden Brown is talking about "Green issues" and introducing a new tax on travel. The next day he's aproving and supporting airport expansion. Local councils want you to separate your rubbish, and recycle. But if you have a party and your recycle bin gets full, you put the extra in a bag next to your bin, and they don't take it. Not rubbish, recycleables!! Supermarkets, still give out plastic bags, because they are cheaper. Then of course there is the fanatical environmentalists, who just go way overboard, and scare people, who then just ignore them or are put off. Not to mention the bad name they give the environmental movement. Then there are the other "exempt" countries, alot of people feel why should I have to do it when they are doing nothing. We as a race, have become so interested in our "free" time, that we are very reluctant to give up anything that infringes on that. Not to mention that Global warming has no conclusively been linked to human activity, and therefore alot of people think climate change is inevitable. I happen to be in this camp, and although I recycle and try to reduce energy consuption, I feel that battling climate change with taxes and useless legislation, is pointless. We should be spending money on adapting to climate change.

Answer 5

Many people are in fact quite knowlegeable about the environment and ecology.

There is however a great difference of poliical opinion how important various aspects of it are, and which theories the people care to believe.

When we live in a society that has forgotten how to do a civil debate, it can be wuite frustrating for some people to find that many others have differering viewpoints.

It is simple to say they are ignorant.
It requires serious education in debating, to learn how to communicate effectively with someone who disagrees with you. Almost no one wants to do this, not even politicians in Conbress & world leaders.

Thus calling everyone else ignorant becomes the norm.

Answer 6

I think it's a question of willfull ignorance and a bit of an immature "unseen, unheard= problem gone" attitude- when nothing ever disappears simply by ignoring it.
I think also British people have been unfairly made to feel as if they are terrible perpetrators- which can have the effect of tuning people off to whatever message is being attempted.
Poor communication plays a huge role- most especially when it's too confronting & accusatory and lacking tact or wit.

Answer 7

Not many are ignorant of the issues.

Many like me now realise that the whole issue has been brought about by clever manipulation of Governments to get people not so heavily reliant upon the sources of traditional power (oil, coal) as the Governments do not trust the suppliers.

Watch 'The Great Global Warming Swindle' it may open your eyes to the lies you have been fed about the harm we are doing to the planet.

Answer 8

I think its a case of the ignorant people being the loudest... For every loud ignorant person (Al Gore / Leonardo DiCaprio / Micheal Moore), there's dozens of people who know the truth and who aren't sensationalizing it for profit.

Nobody cares to hear that the world has been experiencing climate change since it first formed, or that the path of rivers is not static in nature, or that one volcanic eruption puts out more CO2 than every ounce of hydrocarbons burnt in history.

We all want to hear that we are in so much control over the planet that we've destroyed it... If we aren't in control, who is? Scary to think that no one is.

Answer 9

The awnser is that people still look at at as not in my life time also there are economic reasons ie cost in many cases.
Its clear that the momentum for change is fast picking up compared with 10 to 20 years ago but to change the populations thinking overnight is unrealistic

Answer 10

Why are the majority of environmentalist so ignorants to science?

It doesn't matter how important you think the issue is, you can't expect everyone around you to agree.