Overview

"If we believe the climate crisis is real, why is it so difficult to change our behavior and our consumer tendencies? Minding the Climate investigates this problem in the neuroscience of decision-making. Ann-Christine Duhaime, MD, points to the evolution of the human brain during eons of resource scarcity. The brain adapted to prioritize short-term survival over more uncertain long-term outcomes. But the resulting behavioral architecture is poorly suited to the present, when scarcity is a lesser concern and slow-moving challenges like environmental issues present the greatest danger. Duhaime details how even our acknowledged best interests are thwarted by the brain's reward system: if a behavior isn't perceived as immediately beneficial, we probably won't do it--never mind that we ""know"" we should. Luckily, we can sway our brains, and those of others, to alter our behaviors. Duhaime describes concrete, achievable interventions that have been shown to encourage our neurological circuits to embrace new rewards. Such small, incremental steps that individuals take, whether in their roles as consumers, in the workplace, or in leadership positions, are necessary to mitigate climate change. The more we understand how our tendencies can be overridden by our brain's capacity to adapt, Duhaime argues, the more likely we are to have a future."

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Ann-Christine Duhaime, MD, is a senior pediatric neurosurgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she also serves as associate director of the Center for the Environment and Health. In addition, she is Nicholas T. Zervas Professor of neurosurgery at Harvard Medical School and faculty associate of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. Suzie Althens records from her professional studio in Alaska, near the beautiful Matanuska Glacier. She narrates regularly for major publishers and specializes in audiobooks and e-learning. Suzie is enthusiastic about narrating nonfiction as it provides opportunities to share amazing memoirs, medical discoveries, and inspiration, but she also enjoys mysteries and women's fiction. Suzie narrates children's encyclopedias and donates time to narrate children's fiction for Learning Ally, a nonprofit organization, when she has the opening to woo the reluctant young reader.

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