According to a nine part series airing on Showtime, you should be afraid of global warming- very afraid. There are serious long lasting risks that will occur here on earth as the greenhouse gases continue to rise, but using scare tactics to inform the public concerning climate change may backfire. Research suggests fear-based pleas to the public to convince them of something inspire fatalism, polarization, and denial.
The documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” made popular the idea that humans caused natural disasters from global warming. The film also garnered division, skepticism and backlash. Since 2006 Americans who took the Gallup poll and felt that global warming was exaggerated grew from 34 percent then to 42 percent today. Even Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on what the cause of global warming could be.
Why is it that some experts believe you should be afraid of global warming while others do not? One reason is that scientists on both sides of the issue have been conducting experiments and studies that find evidence to support their theories, making it hard for the public to pick a side.
A study conducted by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change finds that global warming is a completely manageable, if not helpful, change to the planet.
The report starkly contrasts the findings of the U.N. latest International Climate Change report from March 31. The panel’s findings predict severe effects from climate change, but the reports were dialed down from the previous one that projected various global disasters caused by greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.
The Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) reports have served as the base for the Obama administrations supervisory policies regarding global warming. This year President Obama stated climate change was a fact when he delivered his 2014 State of the Union Address.
However, Vice President of Legal Affairs at the Cato Institute said the secret is we have now gone 17 years and eight months with no global warming and their theories have failed year after year.
Some of the findings in the NIPCC report were; global warming from greenhouse gas emotions will be so insignificant they would be undetectable from natural warming of the planet, the impact of slightly rising levels of CO2 on living things has been positive, and cons of trying to stop greenhouse gas emission outweigh the pros. Assuming the NIPCC did’t want to be completely biased in their finding these results were included, but these results seem to contradict the NIPCC’s original purpose.
It is difficult to choose a side given the situation. While most want to reduce skepticism among the public ShowTime seems to be aiming to increase both skepticism and paranoia with its upcoming nine-part series airing Sunday. The trailer for the series “Years of Living Dangerously” has been described as terrifying. It is filled with climate change, melting glaciers, and natural disasters such as devastating wildfire and floods. Showtime has aired the first episode of the series that has been included in this article. But be warned, watching may or may not help in any way.
Opinion By Sarah Wright