A neurosurgeon explores how our tendency to prioritize short-term consumer pleasures spurs climate change, but also how the brain’s amazing capacity for flexibility can—and likely will—enable us to prioritize the long-term survival of humanity.

Increasingly politicians, activists, media figures, and the public at large agree that climate change is an urgent problem. Yet that sense of urgency rarely translates into serious remedies. 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. In particular, Ann-Christine Duhaime, MD, points to the evolution of the human brain during eons of resource scarcity. Understandably, 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, novel 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. This is what happens when we lament climate change while indulging the short-term consumer satisfactions that ensure the disaster will continue.

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.

"A waft of fresh air in a stifling ecosystem running out of new ideas. It is an apposite scholarly intervention amid a civilisational impasse…Blending a scientist’s discipline, a surgeon’s precision, and an activist’s passion, Duhaime unveils innovative vistas for vanquishing an intractable problem." - Economic & Political Weekly

"Duhaime covers many issues in a thoughtful way, including the gap between people’s stated intentions to perform pro-environmental behaviors and whether they actually do so; the limits of survey-based research about attitudes, beliefs, and behavior versus seldom-done field studies; and all the ways in which reward is pertinent for behavioral change. She succeeds in suggesting that neuroscience is indirectly relevant to understanding our current climate predicament." - Science

"Surprising…Using insights provided by research at the intersection of neuroscience, environmental sciences and a number of other fields, Minding the Climate invites us to think about what a ‘sustainable brain’ might look like and how to achieve it." - New Books Network

"A unique look at how to meaningfully address catastrophic climate change…Duhaime’s original angle sets her work apart from the pack, and she easily translates complex neurology for nonspecialists. Climate-minded readers will find this full of insight." - Publishers Weekly

"Minding the Climate is a groundbreaking work on how we might leverage our brains to fight climate change." - The Hindu