Time to freak out? How the existential terror of hurricanes can fuel climate change denial

As televisions across Florida broadcast the all-too-familiar images of a powerful hurricane heading toward the coast in early October 2024, people whose homes had been damaged by Hurricane Helene less than two weeks earlier watched with concern. Hurricane Milton quickly became a dangerous storm fueled by record-breaking temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.

Many residents had to evacuate quickly, clogging roads outside the region. Officials asked those near the coast who ignored evacuation warnings to have their names scribbled in indelible ink on their arms so their bodies could be identified.

The two hurricanes were among the most devastating in recent memory. They are also a stark reminder of the increasingly extreme weather events that scientists have long warned would result from human-caused climate change.

Yet many people deny that climate change is a growing threat or that it even exists. How is this possible when its effects are becoming increasingly visible and destructive?

One answer lies in a unique aspect of human psychology—specifically, how people deal with the fear that existential threats provoke. For many people, denying a climate crisis is not only practical, but can also feel psychologically necessary.

Terror management theory

Pulitzer Prize-winning anthropologist Ernest Becker put it best: “The thought of death, the fear of it, haunts the human animal like nothing else…overcoming it by denying it in some way is the final thing Fate of man.”

In plain language, he said that most people find it difficult to accept their mortality and go to great lengths to distort their perception of reality to avoid confronting it.

In the 1980s, social psychologists developed “terror management theory,” which shows how far people will go to deny death. Hundreds of experiments have tested its effects. In one common method, participants reflect on their own death, while control groups consider less threatening topics such as toothache. The key question: What does death awareness do to people?

After people write about death, they tend to move on quickly, pushing thoughts of it out of consciousness through distractions, rationalizations, and other tactics. Healthcare professionals see this every day. For example, people often avoid screenings and diagnostic tests to avoid the frightening possibility of discovering cancer.

But here’s the problem: Terror management theory suggests that people who don’t think about death still have influence. The unconscious mind deals with the problem, even though people have used strategies to dispel the fear by pushing it out of consciousness.

Social psychology experiments show that people often deal with the specter of death by attaching themselves to cultural ideologies, such as religious, political, or even sports fandom. These worldviews give meaning, values ​​and purpose to life. And that can ease the terror of mortality by connecting people to an enduring and comforting web of ideas and beliefs that transcend one’s own existence.

When people are made aware of death, these meaning systems become even more important to their psychological functioning. Existential threats make us cling even more tightly to the meaning systems that support us.

Climate denial as a defense mechanism

Much like a counterterrorism laboratory experiment – ​​or the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic – natural disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Milton trigger fear of death.

Rising sea levels, warming oceans and intensifying storms – all linked to global warming caused by human activity – pose an existential threat.

From our perspective, it is not surprising that climate-related disasters almost immediately disappear from public consciousness. Google Trends data illustrates this: Incoming storms triggered a spike in searches for “climate change” and “global warming” in the days leading up to landfall by Hurricane Helene on September 26, 2024 and Hurricane Milton on October 9, 2024. Then these searches dropped quickly as people shifted their focus away from the threat.

Unfortunately, climate change is not going away, no matter how hard anyone tries to deny it.

While climate change denial allows people to protect themselves from feelings of distress, terror management theory suggests that death denial is just the tip of the iceberg. For some people, accepting the reality of climate change would require a reassessment of their ideologies.

Terror management theory predicts that individuals whose ideologies conflict with environmental concerns may, ironically, double down on these beliefs to psychologically cope with the existential threat of climate-related disasters. It’s similar to the way mortality reminders can lead people to engage in risky behaviors like smoking or tanning. Hurricanes can increase denial and commitment to a worldview that rejects climate change.

A Path Forward: Building New Worldviews

Although denial may be a natural psychological response to existential threats, the United States may be reaching a point where even deniers can no longer ignore the existential threat associated with climate change.

Americans continue to be amazed by the devastation, from hurricanes to severe flooding, wildfires and more.

A terror management analysis suggests that overcoming this crisis requires integrating a solution-oriented narrative into the ideologies that people rely on for comfort. As psychologists working on terror management, we believe that the fight against climate change should not be seen as an apocalyptic battle that humanity will lose, but as a moral and practical challenge that humanity can overcome together.

Tampa, Florida, meteorologist Denis Phillips had the right idea as the two hurricanes headed toward his community: His fact-based social media updates eschew partisan criticism, encourage neighbors to support one another, and emphasize preparedness and resilience in the face of impending storms .

As Milton approached, Phillips urged residents to remember his Rule No. 7: Don’t freak out. This doesn’t mean doing nothing – it means assessing risks without letting emotions in and taking action.

Shifting the narrative from helplessness to collective empowerment and action can help people confront climate change without triggering the existential fears that lead to denial – and provide a vision for a future that is both safe and personally meaningful is.

This article was republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization that brings you facts and trusted analysis to help you understand our complex world. It was written by: Jamie Goldenberg, University of South Florida; Emily P Courtney, University of South Floridaand Joshua Hart, Union College

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The authors do not work for, advise, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic employment.