Perceptions of impending catastrophes

Let’s face it. The media seems to have a vested interest in “catastrophizing” the events that rise and fall throughout our days on this planet.

But why?

Because that’s what readers, viewers and hearers want, even if we complain we cannot take any more negative bad news.

Take last Sunday/Monday’s rainfall.

For days before the downpour hit, alarms were sounded using trendy terms such as “atmospheric river” to describe the moisture pattern and “debris flows” about the potential for fire-scarred hillsides to send torrents of mud, brush and dead tree limbs crashing through homes and businesses. Evacuation orders were in place and some schools canceled classes.

The potential catastrophe didn’t happen.

The amount of rain was a record for October, and there was some localized flooding, but all in all the Santa Cruz Mountains and the rest of the county escaped rainfall Armageddon.

So was all the frantic warning for naught?

Not really. Deadly mudslides have been a fact in California, and the CZU Complex fire left hillsides unprotected and the storm, while not of epic proportions, was a strong one. But because we’ve had so many drought years, interspersed with a few decent rainy seasons, just the specter of a major rainfall event led to breathless accounts by TV anchors and online posters that the end was nigh.

In the end, it was just a lot of rain – much like we used to experience almost all rainy seasons in Santa Cruz County.

But how many of us were glued to news reports about the possible horrors the impending storm was going to wreak? And once the threat of rainfall disaster passed this week, it wasn’t as if the sense of impending catastrophe had somehow lifted. Nope. We quickly were told that despite the heavy rains, a rarity in October, the potential of a drought catastrophe remains.

Weather and climate experts quickly surfaced who wondered if reservoirs will ever be filled to the brim again, or if enough snow will fall in the Sierra to ensure adequate runoff will take place next spring.

Who can truly know?

What about the pandemic? After every bit of encouraging news about vaccine efficacy or new treatments, comes the inevitable warnings that we face new terrors, from yet unidentified variants, or from hordes of unvaccinated people spreading the virus in public settings.

The truth is that in our county and in our state, and now much of the U.S., vaccines seem to be winning the battle over COVID-19. Death and hospitalization rates continue to drop and despite the torrent of publicity about antivaxxers, nearly three quarters of eligible Californians are now vaccinated.

But the cliff’s edge is always at the horizon. Take inflation. Average gas prices in the greater NorCal Bay Area Thursday reached a new alltime high of $4.75 per gallon.

For working people and those who cannot afford electric vehicles this one falls on the wrong side of the cata-meter. But for others who fear the impending catastrophe of fossil-fueled climate change, this development is a necessary transition. A matter of perspective.

How about the perceived villainy of the Facebook empire in corrupting our youth, spreading hate and misinformation as it reaps billions in profits? This is a catastrophe with something of a silver lining for “dinosaur” news operations that actually serve the public interest by vetting and balancing the rush of information that so quickly and virally spreads over the internet.

So can we blame the constant drip of bad news on the media, both traditional and digital? Not entirely. Positive developments, acts of kindness, noble human endeavors have an audience, but nowhere near the curious eyes of those seeking solace that others have it worse than we do.

The problem isn’t just that there are terrible things happening around the world but also that our brains are simply wired to pay more attention to unpleasant news. Psychologists call this “negativity bias” and have found it’s one of the first things we develop as children.

And while this bias may have helped our ancestors pay attention to potentially lifethreatening events, our sense of well-being today is threatened by the unceasing catastrophes we just won’t turn away from.