People are not good at making immediate sacrifices for an abstract benefit in the future, especially when they have a hard time understanding the problem John Tierney Everyone talks about the future weather, but so far nobody has done much about it, not even the many people and politicians convinced that climate change will be a serious problem. This situation comes as no surprise to the behavioural researchers who have been studying the human brain's penchant for making dumb choices. We can't even prepare properly for something as straightforward as our own retirement. We'll put in long hours shopping for a cellphone or a television set, but we're too busy to agonize over pension plans: in one study, most people spent less than an hour choosing theirs. We're not good at making immediate sacrifices for an abstract benefit in the future. And this weakness is compounded when, as with climate change, we have a hard time even understanding the problem or the impact of our actions today. But we also have peculiarities that could be useful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With the right prompting, we'll make sacrifices for the common good and perform acts of charity that we'd never do for any amount of pay. We'll reform our behaviour strikingly to conform with social norms. We'll even make astute cost-benefit judgments if we get simple, clear feedback