Why aren't we doing more (and better) to slow down climate change and mitigate its effects, before it's too late?

Abstract

There is no doubt that anthropogenic Climate Change is already a reality among all of us and that some of its serious consequences (sea level rise, loss of biodiversity, melting of continental and sea ice, proliferation of extreme weather phenomena...) are already affecting humanity and the entire biosphere in general. We also know that the occurrence of major catastrophic and irreversible changes on a planetary scale (such as the collapse of the West Antarctic ice sheet, the loss of the Greenland ice sheet or major alterations in ocean circulation) is becoming increasingly likely as disturbances in the climate system continue unabated. Moreover, these processes are accelerated by the important role played by the so-called “self-reinforcing†cycles, in increasing the greenhouse effect. All this makes current climate change one of the greatest global problems facing humankind. However, the international agreements and the measures developed so far to deal with it are not bearing the expected result and, therefore, it is worth asking why we are not doing more than we do and better than we do, to slow it down and mitigate its effects before it is too late. This paper aims to contribute to answering this important question by collecting and commenting on some possible explanations.