Locknuts said:
Well you and I appear to be the minority. Almost every single person I have spoken to on this subject has received their information from politicians and the media. They often tell me that the IPCC says the world is dying and it's all our fault. Then I show then the actual IPCC data and reports and if they're a somewhat neutral person (I tend not to speak with hard right/left people on the issue) then they often realise that they have been misled. The media have made an art out of implying catastrophe without actually stating that it will happen. It's really quite clever if you can admire something so deceitful. On the consensus, an increasing number of papers (since about 2010 I believe) imply low climate sensitivity to Co2. This seems to be mostly due to the lower rate of warming seen since around 1998 despite higher carbon emissions. Others seem to think that the extra warming went into the oceans, but I have seen many other explanations. So while there is a consensus on the scientific basics, the actual level of urgency for action is less clear. |
The media's interest is ratings, so it's not surprising they attempt to generate as much hysteria as possible by reporting violent crimes and catastrophes for the most part.
I can't really comment on the climate sensitivity to CO2, since I've not bothered to read much on the topic recently. I do recall reading about the oceans warming, but an even better explanation discovered by the University of Colorado Boulder in that the natural CO2 *sinks* have doubled their uptake, which explains the lack of a runaway effect.
The urgency I think is to simply instill a sense of responsibility, the earlier we implement conscientious steps toward lessening our impact upon the environment, the more likely we are to succeed. If we wait, drastic measures may have to be taken.
