Sociology interview about climate change

The speaker discusses their personal experiences with climate change, such as a water crisis in their arid hometown. They express concern about the long-term consequences, believing it will disrupt the area's ecology. They feel that not enough is being done to address climate change and express fear that it could be detrimental to humanity. The speaker attributes their environmental awareness to their mother's influence and their own experiences in nature. They mention getting information on climate change from sources like TikTok, their mom, and the news. The speaker considers themselves fairly knowledgeable on the topic and mentions their previous role as a conservation counselor, where they taught responsible farming techniques and the impact of fire on the environment. They believe that climate change is controversial due to ignorance, denial of human impact, and political polarization. The speaker's mom is actively involved in discussing and practicing climate change mitigation, e Have you or someone else you've known had any direct experiences with climate change? The town that I grew up in has a water crisis because it's too arid. It's been too arid in previous years. So there's like a serious water crisis going on. Yeah. Do you think that there's any long term consequences to that? I think it will mess up the ecology of the area. In the desert everything is water. So one thing scares the rest of it. That's probably not good for anybody or anything in the area. Okay. Can you tell me your opinions on global climate change? I think we're not doing enough about it. I think it's not good. Obviously. I think it's probably going to kill us if we don't do something about it. I don't know. It's pretty scary. But nobody with power seems to want to hop on the trend. So I don't know. Can we have plastic bags back? Where do you think that your opinions about this global climate change have come from? Probably my mom. My mom is like, you know, pretty into the environment. She's pretty green. Yeah, probably just my mom. The place that I come from. What makes her into the environment? What makes you think that she's into the environment? We used to camp and hike and go outside. She used to really put on me. We're messing this up. We've got to step off this. Once we ruin it, it's never coming back. This is a very unique, special thing we need to protect. Do you think that you've always had this opinion? That nature is unique and important? Or do you think it's kind of developed over time? I think I've been with that philosophy for a long time. I've just been outside and I'm like, yeah, let's do it. Let's not get rid of it for no reason other than normal. Where do you get most of your knowledge on global climate change? Maybe like TikTok or my mom. Or the newspaper, I don't know. Just whoever tells me what's up. The news maybe. How knowledgeable do you feel about this topic? Fairly knowledgeable. I used to be a conservation counselor. Which was all about teaching conservation. And expressing conservation of the environment to the younger generation. What did you teach them? What did you teach them? What did you teach them? We went over how to take care of the land properly. Responsible farming techniques was a big thing. How fire influences the land and the ecology. How to... I can't do this. Why do you think climate change is such a controversial topic in this day and age? I think people are really ignorant to the fact that it could be happening. And I think that people don't want to acknowledge the step that humans have had on this problem. We don't want to admit that we caused it. I think it's also been politicized too much. If you support it, that could be favoring one policy or one political side more than the other. Which shouldn't be the case because it's where we live. Yeah, and it's our world. Yeah. Sorry. Keep going. Does your family talk a lot about global climate change? My mom does. I think that's a topic that she holds dear to her. It's something that is important to her. She tries to talk to me about it. Don't use too much water. Don't try to carpool. She carpools. She walks to work actually. She stopped driving to work so she could save the planet. How far does she walk? It's like a quarter mile. It's like seven blocks. Maybe half a mile. Wow. So you kind of follow in her footsteps a little bit. I drive everywhere. I turn off the water when I wash my teeth. So I think that copes with it. Okay, yeah. That's good. You are a goddamn idiot. Holy fucking shit. Yeah. So do you think that you follow in her footsteps kind of regarding global climate change and with her walking to her job? Um, yeah. I actually buy gas. I buy gas. It's crazy. So do you think that you take in... Do you think that you follow into your mom's footsteps because the way she kind of... Do you think that you follow in your mom's footsteps in regard of global climate change? Yeah. I take the bus a lot. I try to bike as much as I can. I really think that we all have our part in it. Yeah, and how do you make your part a little bit lower than everyone else's? How do you kind of reduce your global footprint? Like I said, I bike a lot. I try to carpool. I ride the bus every day. I always recycle. Just stuff like that. It's like the small things that kind of matter the most? Yeah. Um... What do you think about your dad's point of view about climate change? I think he's aware. I think he does try to do his part. But I think also he's a busy dude. But I think it's still a problem that's on his mind. Yeah. Is climate change something that comes up in conversations with your friends? I would say no. Maybe with Cliff, because he knows what's up. But I think it's just a topic that a lot of us don't really want to think about because it can be scary. It's not something we really want to think about a lot. Yeah. When you think about it, what do you usually think about? Gas companies. I don't like Exxon Mobil. Why? You can put that on the record. Just because they're terrible. They make so much emissions. They also spilled all that oil in Nigeria. That was kind of lame. Yeah. Do you think that social media has played a role in your views of climate change? Maybe a little bit. But I think it just has changed the amount of information that I can absorb about this topic. But I think I came to the conclusion based on my own thinking. Do you think your social media accurately portrays both sides or is it mainly just geared towards what you think? I would say that I don't really get many posts saying I hate the environment. So I would say yeah. Most of them are like, hey, we should take care of the Earth. That's the vibe that I'm getting. You know what I mean? Yeah. Do you think that if social media didn't exist, there would be less awareness towards climate change? And do you think social media kind of played a role in that? Maybe. But I think that social media has just increased our ability to talk about it, you know? And like our ability to make others aware. I don't really think it's like a thing that has changed my perception or maybe even others' perceptions as heavily. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. And like how do you think that climate change is kind of portrayed in the media? I know you talked about how it is portrayed in like a good light towards you, but do you think towards like people who think that climate change isn't real, social media kind of like concretes that thought? Potentially. I'm not sure. I wouldn't say that I, you know, I don't know about that. I don't really know anybody who is against it, you know? I don't really know if I've ever seen anything online that would support that view, you know? Do you think that it's okay that you don't know anyone and that you've never seen that perspective? Or would you like to like get to know that perspective and just kind of see what that's all about? I'm good. I would rather just like, you know, protect the environment wholeheartedly, you know? Yeah, that makes sense. And kind of spread that message, would you say? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. In your opinion, aside from like media and social media, TikTok, all of that, is there a more effective way to educate society and like everyone around you on climate change? I think you should just talk about it more, you know? And like I think it should really become a part of our thought, especially as humans really have expanded to a crazy level. So, yeah, I think it is something we should talk about. I think that would help, yeah. Do you think that schools are doing a good job teaching it? I would say my school did not, and I can only speak on my experience. So I would say that my school did not, no. What do you think that your school lacked on? I think we just never spoke about it, you know? Like there just wasn't a lot of like humans are destroying the earth for no reason. Yeah. You know? Do you think that if your school had and if schools like are required to have that curriculum, things would change? Maybe, yeah. I mean, potentially. I think it's more about like corporate greed and corporations being kind of unchecked due to their access of money. How do you think we could change that? Realistically, I have no idea. Make, I mean, pass bills that put the environment first, you know? You know? You can't, like if you spill oil into water, you should probably like lose your ability to ship oil places. You know? Like that's a really big deal. That's like not something you can just like clean up and it goes away. That affects the area that it happened in for generations, hundreds of years. Yeah. That's true. Why do you think that, or how do you think that climate change will affect future generations? You know, I don't know. I think that the worst case scenario is that the sea level rises and you know, if it rises like 10 feet, that's a lot of land that we've just lost. You know? Imagine if it's like 100 feet. That's like multiple complete states underwater, you know? I don't know. Do you think that's going to affect the population because we're on a population rise anyways? I mean, yeah. I think it has to, you know? But how, I'm not sure, you know? What do you think, though? I don't know. I think that the human race is going to reach a point where we can't really have more people. That there's not going to be, like, I don't know. It's up to them to decide how they're going to handle that. I just have to have faith that they're going to handle it well because I don't know if I'll be there or not. How long do you think Earth has to live? Oh, thank you. I think at this rate, probably not. I mean, to us, probably a long time, but in, like, the grand scheme of things, probably just a very short while. A couple thousand years at the most. Do you think that you can say that you're proud of what you've done to impact the Earth today? I don't know if I've done that much. Maybe? But I think there's stuff that I'd like to do more of. Like what? Nothing in specific. Just, I don't know. Bike more? I don't know. You know? Hope that I can see a day where it's not as bad as it is. What do you mean by bad? Tell me a good positive. I have no questions. What can our generation do to mitigate the effects of climate change? Oh no, this is stressful. Recycle! I don't know. You need to go after the large corporations because they're the ones causing climate change and there's really nothing we can do. So it's a little bit depressing. But I think that if someone like the government writes some laws about the company, then it would fix it all. Wasn't that pretty? That was really good. Have you or someone you've known had any direct experiences with climate change? Yes. My roommate, who's unnamed, she lives in Arizona and she's told us how much hotter it's gotten in the past 10 years. It's almost unbearable in the summer. It is unbearable in the summer as a result of climate change. Do you think that you've had similar experiences with climate change? I think that it's hotter everywhere but I don't really feel too affected by it. Yeah. Do you think that any other parts of it, like the ocean is rising? Yeah, but I just don't feel affected by that. But I feel like it's affecting the world but I live in Colorado, which is in the middle of the continent so we're very land-blocked. Do you think there are going to be any long-term consequences of global climate change? Yes, the world's going to end. That's just what's going to happen. I don't really know why, but... Yep. So, okay. Do you think there's going to be any long-term consequences of climate change? Um, okay. All of the animals are going to go extinct, especially in Antarctica. Including humans! We could take shots instead. Have you or someone you know had any direct experiences with climate change? Um, yeah. I'm personally from Arizona so every summer for me gets hotter and hotter and it used to be fine when I was little and now I can't stay outside for more than an hour. I have to stay inside. I have to go to the mall and stuff like that. You can also, in Arizona, they say that Arizona has a lot of pretty sunsets and the reason why is because of pollution. Yeah, you can actually see a whole cloud layer of pollution specifically during when the sun sets. It's kind of crazy. Yeah, that's just Arizona. I also have all my family in California. They all had to evacuate multiple times because their houses burned down and the neighborhoods near it burned down. Fire! Fire! It was pretty stressful at the time but it didn't last long. But again, a lot of the significant landmarks in California are gone permanently because of climate change and it's taken a pretty significant impact on my home and my family's home. Do you think that the rate is going... Can you tell me your opinions on global climate change? Yeah, they're awesome. I love them. Okay, I think it's a very underestimated problem. I mean, we all know it's there and it's serious. But no one does anything about it. Yeah, no one does anything. The most people do is feel bad about it and pay 50 cents for a plastic bag. At the end of the day, no one's really doing anything. I mean, I've seen stuff online. I've seen cool stuff about like... I can't remember the company name now but they have these machines that can effectively pick up plastics. I don't quite know how it works but it seems pretty efficient. And so, I mean, some things are being done but then again, those are non-profits that nobody's funding either. So, there's definitely more we could be doing. It's a very scary concept that we should definitely be doing more about but no one's... At the end of the day, I don't think anyone's ever going to do anything about it unless the government is listening. What do you think that we could do... like personally to like... to make it better kind of? I don't know. At the beginning, I really thought cancel culture was going to work because, I mean, it's so extreme. I mean, it's really good at knocking out an individual person but yeah, I guess it's corporations that can just kind of walk over that still. It still takes a pretty significant... like a heavy blow but I don't know. I think cancel culture could be pretty influential at the end of the day but again, everybody feels bad because they all know... everyone's contributing to climate change whether they like it or not and everyone drives a car and everyone uses plastic bags and stuff so nobody actually feels like they're like this righteous, noble person that can truly make a change and that's going to be the biggest problem at the end of the day, this climate change. But also, I think as an individual we really can't do that much to change. There's too much that needs to change and happen in order for us to solve anything and I think that a lot of it is the celebrities. You hear about Taylor Swift's asthma and carbon emissions but we have nothing compared to her and those are the things that are really contributing but how are we supposed to fix that? Personally, I think this is a whole bunch of malarkey. Climate change is just natural weather patterns and I drive my Ram 2500, no catalytic converter on the highway every single day. Why do you think climate change is such a controversial topic in this day and age? I think a big part of it, honestly, is politics and the shame. Everyone knows that they're contributing to it but also, I feel like climate change is often associated with the Democratic Party, to be honest. It's either this or that and there needs to be more middle ground in politics but it's just not going to happen because people are too, I don't know, almost obsessed with the party that they knew and learned about growing up. It's hard to support something when only half the population votes for it and thinks there isn't an ulterior motive. How do you think that you could help the other half of the population to understand that it's happening and it's important? If we're still looking at it through politics, I think one of the best ways would somehow be influencing one of the bigger politicians, someone who has a bigger social media presence. That's really the best option because it's not going to work from someone who already believes it. It has to be someone that they already trusted before. I honestly don't know how you'd do that yet. Why do you think people are so adamant to believe that something that's proved by science isn't real? I don't know about people who don't think it's real. I can't totally agree with that but I do understand why people don't take it as seriously as they should. It's hard to think about something like that when you're just having a regular day and you have 20 things you have to do and these life-changing things. Your life. But it's hard to think about everyone's life. I don't know. Thank you. Wait. Why do you think people are so adamant to believe something that's not to believe when it's proved by science? I do think people believe. I think it also has a lot to do with the products they purchase and they think that it's not as bad as what people are saying or they just don't look into it as much because they like the product and they don't want to have a reason to not buy the product. And that's also a big contributing factor. And then because they buy the product and then maybe something will come up a couple months later that says that it's in their face about how bad it was then they feel bad and then they don't do anything. They put in less effort because they're like, oh, I already messed up and so why should I? I already messed up, right? I can't fix that. Yeah. I give up. Do you think that is why fast fashion like SHEIN is still really prominent? Yeah. It's hard to, um, especially that it's so hard because it's just online and it's just these photos and it's hard to even believe that it's real. Especially if it's on your phone. I don't even remember half of the stuff I purchased because, honestly, I've made a couple purchases. But, um, yeah. Every time I click the buy button I instantly forget everything I bought. I don't know why. It's like social media but it's just like a drug or something. But, um, yeah. I know it's hard too because you're not actually seeing how it's going behind the scenes as well. So, like, you're seeing, like, one shirt online that you could buy but there's actually, like, five million of that same exact shirt, like, behind the scenes that you don't know about. And, yeah, it's just harder to get a concept of it when they're just trying to make it more appealing to the consumer. Yeah. This activity is a lot less fun when she's just asking and she's doing really... Why do you think climate change is such a controversial topic in this day and age? Oh, I called it? Okay. I think climate change is a controversial topic because of the different viewpoints and how it affects everyday people and their well-being in life. I think putting funding, like, on a bigger scale, putting funding towards different projects to either help climate change or taking that money from climate change projects and putting it towards other things that may also have its merits has the ability to definitely affect everyday people, especially in America when individuals' voices have a much bigger... have much more power compared to other places in the world. So I think when people either defend or attack climate change funding and projects, it's very, very dependent on their personal needs. Do you think that America should be, like, the leading country kind of in this change? Yes. I think America leads the world in many other things and it's time that America takes charge on climate change, especially over Europe, who are actively, like, prioritizing it compared to America. How has social media played a role in your views of climate change? Um, I would say social media... What do you think? I mean, it's... It's almost... Honestly, it's almost maybe less... Like, it's made me more hopeful that things are going to work out, even though scientists say it's not, just because there's so much advertising, like, for non-profits about, like, how... It's kind of like business, again, that kind of messes it up, because there's all these, like, non-profits and stuff that say they're, like, really making a big, big difference and that, like, everything's going to be fine if you just give us the money. And, um... And I don't really give them money, to be honest, but it makes me feel like it's fine. It makes me feel like, oh, I guess we don't have to do anything. I guess I can, like, throw away my stuff in, like, the recycling bin or something that isn't recycling or something. I don't know. It makes me feel less bad for doing things that I know aren't good for the environment. Do you think that those non-profits then, in the end, are kind of, like, a good thing or a bad thing, like the advertisement for it? Um... I mean, of course, in terms of, like, what they're doing, they're, like, a huge... Like, they're the only people that are actually doing something and making, like, a lasting difference. But in terms of, like, the public, I do think they're kind of giving us a false sense of hope and they maybe should, like, bring back some of the reality into it of, like, it's not totally getting better, but it could get better if, you know, try and make a change with us instead of just, like, letting us do the work. I think that would help. Do you think that that could change just by advertisement or do you think that, like, something else needs to happen? Um... I really do believe in the power of marketing. I think it can be an awesome thing. I mean, people always... I don't know. Marketing has been perfected for, like, years upon years upon years because it's just business, you know? And, like, that's just how the world works now is, like, the dollar and, like, yeah, just what you can sell at the end of the day. And marketing plays a huge, huge factor in that and if they use that for something other than money, I think, yeah, I think we'd be a lot better off. Yeah. Aside from media platforms, do you think that there's a more effective way to educate society on climate change? Honestly, I don't... I don't know. The only way besides media... I think media at the end of the day is the biggest thing because it affects people who can actually make a change. But before that, I mean, everybody looks to the youth for hope and for change. And... But they're not teaching them anything. They're not teaching them anything about, like, how to really fix it. We got, like, one lesson on what goes in recycling and what goes in trash and then we were told that the ocean isn't doing so good. And... But nobody really said how to fix that. So if there was a way that they could provide these solutions throughout schooling, just, like, some general class, maybe, I don't know. But... Just take a little lesson, even. But I think that could also make a pretty big difference as well. Do you have any solutions, do you think? Um... I think... I really do believe in marketing. Marketing and government are the two biggest things because the world we live in now, it would be nice to one day just, like, walk up on a stage and be like, do this, and for everyone to say, like, OK, we will. But that's just unfortunately not how it is. It's just business. That's all people will listen to. Yeah, and whatever is entertaining. So you have to play on that to, like, really make a change. You have to appeal to people. I mean, that's how people have been learning for years. So we can't just, like, assume there's a different solution. Thank you. Thank you. Before we finish, is there anything else you want to add to our conversation? Um... Um... Another thing about marketing, in my opinion, I don't... I honestly, from what I've seen out of advertisements and stuff from nonprofits, I honestly don't think their marketing is very good. I don't mean that in a mean way, but I think it's... I mean that in a way that, um... I don't know. There's room for growth. There's always room for growth. But I think specifically there, there should be. Like, it's needed. And, um... Yeah, I think that's, like, the biggest problem. Or, yeah, in terms of making a change to the public. Thank you. Again, for your time.