Alarm bell sounds in Grand Central but people take no notice

I WAS at Grand Central this week and the alarms went off at full blast for five minutes straight.

I WAS at Grand Central this week and the alarms went off at full blast for five minutes straight. Everyone looked around and because no one seemed concerned, they continued shopping like nothing was happening.

Psychologists call this the "bystander effect".

During chaotic moments, people look to others to determine what is appropriate.

When people look at the crowd and see no one else is reacting, it sends a signal that no action is needed.

Last year's UN Climate Change report said we are at high risk of heating the planet so much it will become uninhabitable for most humans.

UN Environment executive director Erik Solheim described it as "a deafening, piercing smoke alarm going off in the kitchen. We have to put out the fire". However as we look around, our leaders carry on with business as usual.

The World Economic Forum has said we are "sleepwalking into catastrophe."

I pray the huge surge in climate protests can wake us all up in time.

ALISON FEARNLEY, Toowoomba

Originally published as Alarm bell sounds in Grand Central but people take no notice