02: The Solution to Climate Change: Jokes — Zev Burton

The vast majority of this blog has been and will be covering humor in times of conflict or for the expressed purpose of preventing war in the future. However, this does not mean that the benefits of humor in international relations should be limited to merely battle — for example, the global issue of climate change, one of the more dire threats to the human race as a whole, is a place where comedy should be encouraged.

This concept appears counter-intuitive, as climate change has caused myriads of environmental, migratory, and human rights issues that could take up an entire library, let alone a single publication. The fear of climate change has sparked a new term: eco-anxiety, which the American Psychological Association defined as the “chronic fear of environmental doom.” Eco-anxiety stems from the depression and anxiety that people can’t do anything to stop climate change from occurring. Like the battlefield of war, the battlefield of climate change is not good fodder for comedy.

Or is it?

Recent research has been hinting that the power of humor to combat eco-anxiety goes beyond just temporary distraction. A team of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder has published several papers as to how comedy can influence the way we feel about climate change. First, they had students participate in a number of comedy workshops related to climate change, including coming up with their own skits (and if you’ve ever watched college students come up with their own skits, the image itself is humorous).

After the workshops, 90 percent of the students said they felt more hopeful about climate change. Perhaps more importantly, 83 percent of participants said that they felt their commitment to taking action on climate change was more substantial and more likely to last. It appears that, as the researchers concluded, that comedy helps people “positively process negative emotions regarding global warming” and “sustain hope.”

The one major flaw in this study is that the participants only felt like their commitment to climate change activism would last-but would it actually last?

Fortunately, our heroes at the University of Colorado Boulder asked the same question. They analyzed a series of stand-up shows at the university called “Stand Up for Climate Change” and tracked how the audience responded over the three years after the series.

The researchers concluded that “While science is often privileged as the dominant way by which climate change is articulated, comedic approaches can influence how meanings course through the veins of our social body, shaping our coping and survival practices in contemporary life.” Point being: comedy makes people more aware of climate change, brings an emotional element to the conversation, and makes the audience think about solutions.

Originally published at https://zevburton.com on September 6, 2020.