I think OP is talking about Shifting Baseline Syndrome[0].

> A shifting baseline (also known as a sliding baseline) is a type of change to how a system is measured, usually against previous reference points (baselines), which themselves may represent significant changes from an even earlier state of the system that fails to be considered or remembered.

[0]: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifting_baseline.

[1]: Earth.org article that reads nicer: https://earth.org/shifting-baseline-syndrome/