(PhysOrg.com) -- Despite scientific evidence of climate change,
it will take a significant cultural shift in attitudes to
address the situation, says a University of Michigan researcher
The shift would be much like what has happened with recent
cigarette smoking bans and even similar to the abolition of
slavery in the 19th century. "The present reality is that we
tend to overlook the social dimensions of environmental issues
and focus strictly on their technological and economic aspects,"
said Andy Hoffman, the Holcim (U.S.) Professor of Sustainable
Enterprise at the Ross School of Business and School of Natural
Resources and Environment. "To properly address climate change,
we must change the way we structure our organizations and the
way we think as individuals. "It requires a shift in our values
to reflect what scientists have been telling us for years. The
certainty of climate change must shift from that of being a
'scientific fact' to that of being a 'social fact.'" In an
article published in the current