While this concept, known as psychological distance, seems intuitive, researchers in the journal One Earth On April 21, they state that most people consider climate change to be an important and current issue, even if its impacts are not immediately visible. “There is no consistent evidence that perceiving climate change as psychologically distant hinders climate action, with studies reporting mixed results,” write the authors, led by Dr. Anne M. van Valkengoed of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Raddressing climate change inaction van Valkengoed and her colleagues collected results from opinion polls that surveyed people about their views on climate change, some of which included more than 100,000 people from 121 different countries. The polls showed that over 50 % participants actually believe that climate change is happening now or in the near future and that it will affect their local areas, not just distant places. The team also looked at the results of several studies designed to test the relationship between psychological distance and climate action. Of the 26 studies reviewed, only nine found positive association between psychological distance and climate action. In fact, some studies have shown that perceiving climate change as affecting distant places and communities made people want to take more action. The researchers also found that 25 out of 30 studies failed to show that experimentally reducing psychological distance increases climate action. (medindia, Karishma Abhishek)