What you read might make the earth warmer. To be more precise, what you read will have an impact on the laws that your government passes to regulate business and environmental concerns.
Public support for fixing the problems causing climate change is plummeting while scientific consensus about the problems and solutions is coalescing. The “big business” and the politicians who don’t want to change the status quo are winning the PR “war.” Here is the article in The Telegraph.
I think that part of the underlying problem, the reason why the scientists are losing public opinion, is that the internet and the plethora of TV news channels allow us to consume news that too narrowly supports our predisposed beliefs. For instance, if you believe that global warming is bunk then you are likely to watch TV news shows that present stories slanted in that direction. If you believe that global warming is a critically important problem that needs to be addressed ASAP then you will pay attention to an entirely different set of news sources.
Once upon a time, in the deep dark forgotten past of 20 years ago, we had a small number of TV stations and a small number of newspapers. Most of them reported from a fairly balanced viewpoint. These days, it is incumbent on each of us to seek out opinions with which we agree and opposing views. We need to make the right choices and we cannot make them if we do not have all of the facts.
The news that you read and the TV shows that you watch will affect how worked up you get about regulations on business and the environment. Will you bother to contact your elected officials? What will you tell them when and if you do?
I haven’t even read this yet (I’m about to) but I just have to say, you have the greatest blog titles.