Imagine this. You wake up to two headlines. The first says, “United Nations (UN) warns of rapid climate change: Rising sea levels, intense wildfires, and cities becoming unlivable by 2050.” It sounds serious, but, you probably think, “That’s a future problem. I’ll deal with it later.” Then comes the second headline: “Global Internet blackout possible due to major solar storm.” Suddenly, your heart skips a beat. No Internet? You are immediately imagining chaos; no work-related electronic mails, no texting one’s family, no social media, and no Netflix. It feels like life as you know it might grind to a halt.

It is strange, is it not? Climate change threatens the very future of humanity, yet, the idea of losing Internet for a few days feels far more terrifying. Why do we feel this way? Let us unpack the psychological, social, and emotional reasons behind this paradox and what it says about us.

Climate change feels far away

One reason that climate change does not hit as hard is that it feels abstract, distant, and gradual. Yes, we know that glaciers are melting and that wildfires are getting worse, but, unless it is happening in your backyard, it is easy to push it to the back of your mind. The impacts of climate change often unfold over decades, making it harder to feel the urgency in your day to day life.

Now think about an Internet blackout. It is an immediate problem. You cannot check your bank account, send an email, or message a loved one. That feels real and personal. Losing the Internet disrupts your daily routine right now.

Remember the 2023 global WhatsApp outage? It lasted just a few hours, but millions of people were frantic, flooding other platforms like Twitter with complaints and jokes. Hashtags like #WhatsAppDown and #InternetOutage trended worldwide, and it felt like the whole world stopped for a moment. Now, compare that to the UN’s dire 2023 climate report, which warned of record breaking heatwaves and rising sea levels. It made the news, but it did not create the same kind of buzz.

It is not that people do not care about climate change, it is just that it is harder to relate to something so big and long term compared to the immediate inconvenience of losing Wi-Fi.

Why climate news feels repetitive

Let us be honest: we have been hearing about climate change for decades. Rising sea levels, endangered species, and carbon footprints – it is all starting to sound like the same story on repeat. After a while, it becomes easy to tune it out. Experts call this ‘climate fatigue’ and it is a real problem. It is not that the warnings are any less urgent; it is that the constant drum beat of bad news without visible solutions leaves people feeling powerless. When every new report sounds like a variation of ‘the world is doomed’, it is natural to shut it out as a form of self preservation. This fatigue dulls our sense of urgency and makes us more likely to focus on smaller, immediate concerns, things that we feel we can control rather than tackling overwhelming, complex crises like climate change.

Take the 2023 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. It was full of urgent warnings about the planet’s future, but, after a week, people had moved on. Now, think about the 2022 solar storm scare. When a group of researchers suggested that a massive solar storm could knock out undersea Internet cables, causing a global Internet blackout, even though it was a low probability event, the media jumped on it. Headlines like “The Internet apocalypse is coming” were everywhere, and people could not stop talking about it.

Why? Because it was new, unexpected, and immediate. Climate change, on the other hand, feels like old news even though it is getting worse by the day.

The Internet is more than just a tool

For many of us, the Internet is more than a convenience; it is a lifeline. It connects us to work, family, friends, and even our sense of self. Losing it does not just mean inconvenience; it feels like being cut off from the world.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, this dependence on the Internet only grew. People worked, learned, and socialised online like never before. Streaming services became our escape, Zoom became our office, and social media became our connection to the outside world. A study from 2023 found that Internet usage had surged by 75% since the pandemic began. That is why even the thought of an outage makes people anxious.

It is not just about losing access to cat videos or TikTok. It is about losing connection to others and to the world around us. That fear of isolation is deep and primal, and it is a big reason why Internet blackouts feel so scary.

Why Internet blackouts go viral

The media knows what grabs our attention. Stories about Internet outages are often written with dramatic language: ‘Internet apocalypse’, ‘Digital armageddon’ or ‘Global shutdown.’ These phrases are designed to make you stop scrolling and click. Once the story takes off, social media algorithms push it even further, making it seem like the whole world is bracing for the end of digital life.

Compare this to how climate change is covered. Climate news tends to be heavy on data and scientific terms. It is critically important, but it does not always tug at your emotions. And, without that emotional pull, it is harder for people to engage.

For example, when the solar storm scare made headlines, people were sharing articles, debating on forums, and imagining life without the Internet. But, when the IPCC declared a ‘code red for humanity’, it barely trended on social media. The messaging matters, and unfortunately, climate change does not always come packaged in a way that sparks immediate action.

The fear of disconnection

At its core, the fear of losing the Internet is about losing connection to your friends, your family, and the world. During the pandemic, this fear became even more pronounced. With physical spaces off limits, the Internet became our go to for everything: work, school, entertainment, and even therapy. When we think about an Internet outage, we are not just worried about losing a tool, we are afraid of being isolated.

Climate change, on the other hand, does not provoke that same immediate fear. Yes, it is catastrophic, but it does not make you feel alone in the same way that losing your Internet connection does. That is why it is harder to rally the same level of emotional urgency.

What this says about us

It is ironic, is it not? We panic more about losing the Internet for a day than about the possibility of our cities being underwater in 30 years. But, it is not because we do not care, it is because our brains are wired to prioritise immediate threats over long term ones.

So, what can we do? Imagine if we treated climate change with the same urgency that we have for an Internet outage. What if the sight of a melting glacier gave us the same gut punch as seeing the Wi-Fi symbol disappear from our phones? What if we felt the same anxiety about rising sea levels as we do about losing access to Instagram?

It is a tough mindset shift, but, it is one that we need to make. The Internet can go dark temporarily, but, if we let the planet spiral out of control, there might not be a world left to reconnect to.

At the end of the day, both the Internet and the environment are vital to our lives. But, we need to start balancing our fears because while an internet blackout would be inconvenient, an ecological collapse would be irreversible.

(The writer is an electronics engineer with a background in information technology and sustainability)

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication