Three-quarters of Americans think climate change is an important issue, a recent Pew Research Center survey found. But they don’t see it as an immediate threat and so aren’t keen to act to change the status quo. The issue ranked last on a list of 20 compelling issues, behind things like terrorism and the economy. Now a task force set up by the American Psychological Association concludes that getting people to ‘go green’ requires policymakers, scientists and marketers to look at psychological barriers to change and what leads people to action. Why are psychologists delving into this issue? The main influences of climate change are behavioral – population growth and energy consumption, the group said in a statement. ‘What is unique about current global climate change is the role of human behavior,’ said task force chair Janet Swim of Pennsylvania State University. ‘We must look at the reasons people are not acting in order to understand how to get people to act.’ The task force said several factors are to blame for the lack of public urgency: * Uncertainty – Research has shown that uncertainty over climate change reduces […]