How Much do People Care about Climate Natural Disasters?

Abstract

Scientists agree about the urgency of the problem of climate change. Most citizens, however, pay little attention to gradually increasing temperature levels. Growing numbers of natural disasters in the world might then play a fundamental role as the key signal to alert humanity to the severity of the problem of the changing climate. But is that potential mechanism working? In this empirical examination (N>2 million over three decades in 93 countries), we show for the first time that a typical person's happiness and life satisfaction is barely affected by natural disasters in their region. Yet these are the individuals -- as opposed to the minority literally flooded or literally badly affected by hurricanes -- who effectively shape how governments act. This study's ``psychological near-irrelevance'' result is deeply troubling.