That is too optimistic a view on humanity. For people to "wake up" from this... they i. Have to be able to reason and select the correct explanation among man

That is too optimistic a view on humanity. For people to "wake up" from this... they i. Have to be able to reason and select the correct explanation among many possible explanations to why it happened. ii. Have to accept the (correct) explanation that flatly places the blame on themselves, rather than other soothing options. The base case in my mind is really more like inland people would point to the flooded coastal cities (including those along the south - logical consistency doesn't matter) and say it's God's punishment for being liberal. There can be many variations... you can easily invent excuses that don't involve God or politics. But the point is, it has nothing to do with them. That's the perfect kind of explanation for people to move on, because it places no blame on them.