As TVs across Florida broadcast the all-too-familiar images of a powerful hurricane headed for the coast in early October 2024, people whose homes had been damaged less thantwo weeks earlier by the Hurricanewatched anxiously. HurricaneMilton was rapidlyintensifyinginto a dangerous storm fueled by the Gulf of Mexicoâ€s record-breaking temperatures.
Many residents scrambled to evacuate, clogging roads away from the region. Officials urged those near the coast who ignored evacuation warnings toscrawl their names on theirarmswith indelible ink so their corpses could be identified.
The two hurricanes were among the most destructive in recent memory. They are also stark reminders of the increasingly extreme weather events that scientists have long warned would be theconsequence of human-driven climate change.
Still, many peopledeny that climate changeis a worsening threat or that it exists at all. As its impacts grow more visible and destructive, how is this possible?
Views of Hurricane Miltonâ€s damage across Florida.
One answer lies in a unique facet of human psychology – specifically, in how people manage the fear aroused by existential threats. For many people, denying the existence of a climate crisis is not only convenient but may feel psychologically necessary.
Terror Management Theory
ThePulitzer Prize-winninganthropologistErnest Beckerput it this way: “The idea of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else … to overcome it by denying it in some way is the final destiny for man.â€
In plain terms, he was saying that most people struggle to accept their mortality and take pains to distort their perception of reality to avoid confronting it.
In the 1980s, social psychologists developed “terror management theory,†showing the lengths people go to deny death. Hundreds of experiments have tested its implications. Ina common method, participants reflect on their own death, while control groups consider less threatening topics, like dental pain. The key question: What does death awareness do to people?
After writing about death, people tend to quickly move on, pushing thoughts of it from consciousness with distractions, rationalizations, and other tactics.Healthcare professionals see this every day. For example, people often dodge screenings and diagnostic tests to avoid the frightening possibility of discovering cancer.
Skidmore College psychologist Sheldon Solomon discusses Ernest Beckerâ€s ‘The Denial of Death†and terror management theory in the context of humanityâ€s history of brutal behavior.
But hereâ€s the rub: Terror management theory suggests that when people are not thinking about death,it nevertheless holds influence. The unconscious mind lingers on the problem even after people have used strategies to quiet the fear by pushing it from awareness.
Social psychology experiments show that people often cope with the specter of death byattaching themselves to cultural ideologies, such as religious, political, oreven sports fandom. These worldviews imbue life with meaning, values, and purpose. And that can ease the terror of mortality by connecting people to an enduring and comforting web of ideas and beliefs that transcend oneâ€s own existence.
When people are made aware of death, those systems of meaningbecome even morecriticalto their psychological functioning. Existential threats make us cling even tighter to the meaning systems that sustain us.
Climate Denial as a Defense Mechanism
Much like a terror management lab experiment – or theonset of the COVID-19 pandemic– natural disasters like hurricanes Helene and Miltontrigger death anxiety.
Rising sea levels,warmingoceans,andintensifying storms– all tied to global warmingfueled by human actions– represent an existential threat.
From our perspective, it is not surprising that climate-related disasters disappear from the public consciousness almost as soon as they have passed. Google Trends data exemplifies this: Incoming storms instigated an uptick in searches for “climate change†and “global warming†in the days before Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, 2024, and Hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, 2024. Then, those searches quickly declined as people shifted their focus away from the threat.
Unfortunately, climate change isnâ€t going away, no matter how hard anyone tries to deny it.
While climate denial allows people to protect themselves from feelings of distress, terror management theory suggests that denying death is just the tip of the iceberg. For some people, accepting the reality of climate change would necessitate reevaluating their ideologies.
Terror management theory predicts that individuals whose ideologies conflict with environmental concerns may ironically double down on those beliefs to psychologically manage the existential threat posed by climate-related disasters. Itâ€s similar to how mortality reminders can lead people to engage in risky behavior,such assmokingortanning. Hurricanes may reinforce denial and commitment to a worldview that rejects climate change.
A Path Forward: Building New Worldviews
Although denial may be a natural psychological response to existential threats, the U.S. may be getting to a point where even deniers canâ€t ignore the existential threat associated with climate change.
Again and again, Americans are gobsmacked bythe devastation– fromhurricanes to severe flooding,wildfiresand more.
A terror management analysis suggests that overcoming this crisis requires weaving a solutions-focused narrative into the ideologies that people rely on for comfort. Aspsychologistswhowork interror management, we believe the fight against climate change should be framed not as an apocalyptic battle that humanity is destined to lose but as a moral and practical challenge that humanity can collectively overcome.
Tampa, Florida, meteorologistDenis Phillipshad the right idea as the two hurricanes headed for his community: Hisfact-based social media updateseschew partisan critique, encourage neighbors to support one another, and emphasize preparedness and resilience in the face of incoming storms.
As Milton approached, Phillips told residents to remember hisRule #7: Donâ€t freak out. That doesnâ€t mean doing nothing – it means evaluating risks without letting emotion interfere and taking action.
Shifting the narrative from helplessness to collective empowerment and action can help people confront climate change without triggering the existential anxieties that lead to denial – offering a vision for a future that is both secure and personally meaningful.
Jamie Goldenberg is a Professor of Psychology and Area Director of Cognitive, Neuroscience, and Social Psychology at the University of South Florida. Emily P. Courtney is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. Joshua Hart is a Professor of Psychology at Union College. This article is republished fromThe Conversation under aCreative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
