The Climate Tipping Point

-By Katelyn Boisvert, a sophomore majoring in Environmental Sciences, and Zola Berger-Schmitz, a junior in Political Science and Music

Recent polls reflect increasing belief that climate change is a problem, yet it still seems few are doing anything about it. This observation results from a phenomenon we have termed the “Climate Tipping Point,” that is the point where climate awareness leads to human initiated action.
 
Increasing climate change awareness is an important first step but needs more motivation to tip a person to action. There is a gap in the percentage of people who view climate change as a problem and those that believe human action is necessary to combat it. We call this the climate action gap. We can’t make progress to mitigate climate change and adapt our behavior without spanning this gap.