This is the water, stupid!

It is said that our primitive ancestors of a simple system of calculation: “One, two, three, many.” Which describes the subject of many 2008 voters, whose concerns are the economy, the price of the Energy, Iraq, and “other problems.” Most Americans are not concerned about global warming. Maybe they will be when they turn on the tap and water comes out.

In the world, most of the glaciers are decreasing. It is the ice in places like the North Pole and Iceland. While ice loss is generally regarded as evidence of global warming, most Americans are not losing any sleep. A Gallup poll in April found that “while 61% of Americans say the effects of global warming have already begun,” only 37 percent are worried about this, about the same percentage who were concerned when Gallup started asking the same question, nineteen years.

Why not global climate change seen as a more important issue?

Many observers believe that the typical American is too busy to be bothered by more than a couple of national problems – the “one, two, three, many” phenomenon. Social scientists suggest that the average voter did not have much free time, they are too busy struggling to make ends meet. Most Americans are worried about the economy – to pay their mortgage and health insurance – and the price of gasoline. The little news most of us have access to a radio just talk – cultural issues – or cable TV – Iraq and terrorism. Although we are aware of the threat posed by global climate change, we are too harried to be able to consider the consequences.

Unless it affects the face, the typical American can not be bothered by an abstract threat. If there is a case of global warming – a massive hurricane, tornado, or forest fire – in our neighborhood, we you. From this point of view, the loss of a few thousand acres of ice in a remote corner of Montana hardly seems significant. Most of us do not see it as a sign of danger.