Researchers from Ohio State University (USA) found that human society was not ready for collective action that will protect people from a climate catastrophe on a large scale. Instead, they focus more on specific disasters such as floods and fires. This was announced in a press release on Phys.org.
Scientists analyzed the studies published to date on the behavioral adaptation of people to climate change. In most cases, individual strategies for coping with specific threats were considered, that is, an individual household had to independently manage risks and pursue its own benefits. According to experts, at present, society is focused on "the wrong things and solving the wrong problems."
Individual coping strategies include building private flood barriers, installing air conditioning systems to combat the heat, drilling new boreholes to replace dry ones, placing farmland in more favorable conditions, and reducing water use.
Instead of these methods, the authors of the work propose such approaches as the creation of eco-villages with "green" infrastructure for people with pro-social behavior, the abandonment of irrigated crops due to depletion of groundwater, as well as the cooperation of politicians with non-profit organizations. These efforts will transform the adaptive behavior of people and prepare societies for climate change.