16 July 2026The recent heatwaves in Europe caught both populations and public authorities off guard—but not scientists, who have been warning about global warming for decades. Why, then, have they not been listened to more closely?
One of the founding moments in the modern history of environmental warnings was the publication of Silent Spring in 1962 by Rachel Carson (1907–1964).
Since then, warnings have multiplied: acid rain, ozone layer depletion, climate change, desertification, biodiversity loss, and chemical pollution. Yet despite the accumulation of scientific knowledge, these warnings are often challenged, ignored, or met with skepticism.
Environmental warnings do not always go unheeded. Silent Spring, for example, led to the widespread banning of DDT. The work of chemists Mario Molina and Frank Rowland contributed to the gradual phase-out of CFCs, the main substances responsible for ozone depletion. In both cases, relatively simple substitute solutions quickly became available, which may have reduced the cost of change while also creating economic actors supportive of the transition.
However, even these changes did not occur without resistance. In most cases, we must ask why it remains so difficult for environmental warnings to be heard.
An article by :
- Guy Richard (INRAE, DEPE),
- Jean-Michel Salles (CNRS Research Director, CEE-M)
- Michel Colombier (IDDRI).
Read the article >>> (in french)