Psychology Day UN

Climate Change: The 2018 Psychology Day meeting, was held in the United Nations headquarters in New York City. This program focused on explaining which psychological research can be used to mitigate the impact of climate change and natural disasters on individuals around the world. The program also tried to address challenges which climate change presents to humanity. Additionally, the program discussed methods to change attributes towards climate change prevention. The permanent mission of Maldives, the permanent mission of Palau and the permanent mission of the Dominican Republic were all present at this meeting. As island nations, climate change threatens the security and stability of these nations. This is particularly true for the nation of the Maldives, whose country being comprised entirely of islands, may not exist within the next century due to rising sea levels, possible making the islands inhospitable. Climate change also has an impact on the United States. Speaker Daniel Dodgen stated the various regions of the United States have been exposed to the effects of climate change, leading to effects such as coastal flooding, drought, and an increasing number of hurricane storms. While many Americans are willing to take steps to address climate change, most do not, as their community and the people they associate with do not. In seeing that no one in their community is seemingly concerned about climate change, people will being to assume that climate change is not a threat to their way of life. Speaker Irina Feygina, states that people can be interested in climate change prevention, particularly if it applies to their values and worldviews. Some of these ideas have been applied towards the production of World War 2 style propaganda posters which depict participation in climate change prevention as a patriotic duty of all American citizens. These measures have had success in rallying some of the more conservative parts of American society, to take action against climate change. These individuals are normally are less concerned with the topic of climate change, but thanks to the work of various psychologists humanity is slowly being unified in its stance against climate change. This psychology day meeting emphasized that this is the last generation of human beings with the ability of possibly reversing the effects of climate change. To do so would require the mobilization of society throughout the world and particularly in the developed world to take action against climate change. The work of psychologists such as Irina Feygina and Daniel Dodgen will be essential towards the goal of establishing a united front against climate change.