A plague breaks out and much seems forgotten: wars, hunger, violence, the plight of refugees — climate change too. Crises around the world are becoming even more dramatic because of the pandemic. Are we simply no longer paying attention? An environmental psychologist from the University of Salzburg explains why this coronavirus, which can affect anyone, is stirring up some very particular fears.

ZEIT ONLINE: Ms Uhl-Hädicke, you research how people respond to crises. Can anything be learnt from the current situation for other scenarios?

Isabella Uhl-Hädicke: Yes, you can learn from crises — but only for cases that are similar. The coronavirus pandemic is very much front and centre right now, it emerged quite suddenly and feels threatening to many people. Other challenges like climate change, on the other hand, are coming at us more slowly.

ZEIT ONLINE: With Sars-CoV-2 too, the sense of being affected crept up rather gradually. Even though the situation in China had been dramatic for weeks, it took us a long time here to really take the disease seriously. Are humans simply slow to recognise new dangers?

"People are trying somehow to regain control."

The interview that Ulrich Schnabel conducted with Isabella Uhl-Hädicke is available to read on zeit.de!