Will this tragic walrus scene from Our Planet change people’s attitude towards climate issues?

In the Netflix series “Our Planet,” a tragic walrus scene visualizes the impact of climate change. Will it change people’s lemming attitude to problem?

Watching the now trending walrus video clip taken from Netflix’s Our Planet can make even the most stoic person feel a twinge of empathy. While the walrus is only trying to seek refuge with its herd, the fall off the cliff is its ultimate demise.

As the planet warms and the ice shrinks, these occurrences will become more common. While this video is an impactful visualization of climate devastation, will it really spark a true, meaningful revolution?

Part of the reason why this video is so impactful is due to the animal itself. Many people see a walrus as a funny, cut, blubbery animal. Watching something so tragic involving them is difficult to watch. Perhaps the ardent reaction this clip has garnered wouldn’t be so intense if the animal was something scarier, like astar nosed mole or a goliath bird-eater spider.

Many people have heard of the analogy of lemmings blindly following each other off a cliff. While the walrus video isn’t that scenario, the concept applies the current situation. When it comes to some social issue topics, people can tend to have that lemming thought process.

Right now, people are reacting to the walrus video, but will there be more than social media response?

Looking at history, global warming was discussed by scientist Svante Arrhenius in 1896. From climate change to ice melting to greenhouse gas, a different name doesn’t change the heart of the problem. For more than a century, the planet has been changing and not in a good way.

While certain videos, celebrity initiatives and programs can get people to look up from their social sharing, these responses of outrage don’t address the problem at hand. When will the image produce more than just empathy? A real, substantial change in lifestyle is the only way to potentially reduce these horrific images from continuing.

The problem remains that the real change is hard.

For example, people are more aware of the single-use plastic issues, but people still want convenience. Drinking your favorite frozen beverage from a plastic straw is much easier than toting your own reusable straw in your purse. But, seeing that plastic straw embedded in the nose of a turtle might change your perspective.

Additionally, reversing the negative impact to climate change will take time.

The ice didn’t melt in days, it took years. But in today’s world of instant gratification, people don’t want to wait. If they make a change, they want to see the difference immediately. Without that visualization, those changes might not become new habits.

Will this dying walrus video encourage people to do more than just react in words? As Earth Day approaches, everyone can only hope that one small action could lead to a lifetime of change for the planet.