A complex sentence from Leonardo Dicaprio's Speech

The following are sentences from Leonardo Dicaprio's speech 'Climate change is not hysteria - it's a fact'.

As an actor I pretend for a living. I play fictitious characters often solving fictitious problems.

I believe humankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else’s planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away.

1. What is the pattern of this highlighted sentence?

2. What are these 'as if clauses' fubctioning as - adjectival or adverbial clauses?

3. What is the subject of the verb phrase "would somehow make it go away"?

Any help is highly appreciated. Thank you.

Solution 1:

I believe humankind has looked at climate change in that same way: as if it were a fiction, happening to someone else’s planet, as if pretending that climate change wasn’t real would somehow make it go away.

I'm inclined to say that the as if expressions are manner adjuncts.

The subject of "would somehow make it go away" is "pretending that climate change wasn’t real".