Why are Americans so ill informed on the topic of climate change?

I think that the proposition that Climate Change is a problem is misleading. Generally speaking, the use of the term "Problem" implies that it is something that has some sort of solution, or is something or another that can be "Solved". I get very highly suspicious whenever I hear someone use the words "Solve" and "Climate Change" together in the same sentence.

While I myself do agree that there can be no doubt as t whether or not Human beings are now contributing to the Warming Trend aspect of Climate Change; I do believe that is to fall prey victim to a ubiquitous logical fallacy of rational reasoning to assume that, merely because a factor happens to be CONTRIBUTING to an any given process, that this then must mean that the aforementioned contributing factor has enough sufficiently substantial influence and sway over the said process in order to then have the capability to put an end to the process to which it contributes.

"The tombstone of the “Reverse Climate Change” movement will likely read “Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc”, meaning “After, Therefore Because of it.” The basic argument goes like this: The Earth’s temperature warms after we emit carbon dioxide. Therefore, the temperature must be warming because we emit the carbon dioxide."

Why I Don’t Hug Trees
http://judgian12365.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/introduction/

Just because we may very well be CONTRIBUTING to one aspect (the Warming Trend) of the much larger process of global Climate Change, does NOT, in any way, shape, or form mean that we have the power to STOP Climate Change altogether.

The truth is that a forever-changing global climate is NOT, in fact, a "Problem" that needs to be "Solved". It is, rather instead, merely just a REALITY that we, the human race as a species, now must ADAPT in order to cope with.

It is by far and away, above and beyond all else, the human race's capability to adapt to widely varying and constantly changing environments that has allowed our species to spread and expand, much like some highly contagious infectious pandemic plague, to inhabit every single last biome and biosphere known t exist on this Planet Earth.

It was what permitted our ancient prehistoric ancestors to leave their birthing cradle of sub-Saharan central equatorial Africa, and to brave the harsh and inhospitable climates of the frozen wastes of Northern and Western Europe while the Continent was still very much in the grip of the midst of the last great Ice Age well over one hundred thousand years ago.

It is that extraordinary capability for adaptation that we as a modern civilization must now harness within ourselves and to apply to the inevitable an inexorable, unalterable changing of a global Climate in a state of constant and highly erratic flux.

Our species survived to whether the last Great Ice Age that ended twelve thousand years ago; we can and we must brace ourselves for the next abrupt and drastic shift in our Planet's global climatic system.

There is nothing we can do to stop it or to prevent it.

The best that we can do is to be prepared, be ready, and to adapt.

"People can do nothing to somehow stop it, prevent it, or reverse it. We can no more do so than we can walk on water. (Although, you know, there was this one guy, this one time, a long time ago…) And efforts to do so are, and I do not know how else to put this, a waste of time."

Why I Don’t Hug Trees
http://judgian12365.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/introduction/

Doing nothing with regards to our Planet's constantly changing global Climate will result in the extinction of our species just as surely as standing in the middle of an open field, or on the peak of a high mountaintop during an electromagnetic storm will get you struck by a bolt of lightning.

However, any and all vain attempts to "prevent", "end", "stop", or "reverse" global climate change are misguided and will inevitably ultimately prove to be fruitless and futile. We can no more put an end to or stop climate change than one can outrun a cyclonic tornado twister on foot.

The only way to survive either an electrical storm or a tornado would be to find shelter, either in a stably constructed building or deep underground.

Our efforts in regards to Global Climate change should therefore most certainly not be towards the direction of trying in vain to prevent or reverse it, but rather what we should, by all rational reason, be focused on instead are the many varied ways that our civilization can ready and prepare itself for the effects of a constantly changing global climate, as well as how it is that we can best adapt to the more dramatic and drastic shifts in the climate when and where they do occur.

By far an away the best way to both prepare and to adapt to abrupt shifts in climate patterns would be able to accurately predict, to the best of our ability when and where such events may occur.

Another highly effective method of preparation involves autonomy and independence.

If we are unexpectedly cut off from the rest of our global society, we can I'll afford to still be utterly and wholly dependent on far remote parts of the globe to supply everything from the food we eat and the clothes we wear to the fuel we use to heat our homes. This, in its turn, also incorporates making the places where we live and where we work more hospitable to life and to habitation, which precipitates eliminating contamination and pollution from our air, ground, and water. It also would involve preserving sufficiently substantial biodiversity, both of land animals and terrestrial plants as well ad in the Earth's Oceans; so as to guarantee that abrupt and drastic shifts in the Planet's climate do not render our home world a uninhabitable, inhospitable, barren, desolate, and lifeless ball of rock hurtling through the emptiness of the void of space.

"Human actions and interventions that interfere significantly with the patterns of the natural ecosystems, such as causing the extinctions of hundreds or thousands, even millions of species by destroying the rainforests, may, however, amplify and distort changes that will occur in the natural matrix of life on the planet."

Why I Don’t Hug Trees
http://judgian12365.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/introduction/

The only feasible way reverse climate change would be to quite literally turn time back around on itself, and everything that presently believe that we think we know how ho our universe works renders that option implausible. There is, however, a perfectly plausible way for us that we could put an end to climate change once and for all, that being to put an end to the climate itself. Unfortunately, this alternative would require us to eliminate the atmosphere of our Planet Earth, which would in turn make our own home world uninhabitable; and I for one do not believe that would really "Solve" very much of anything, really.

If we want to live on this planet, then that then means that we are pretty much stuck with the atmosphere we've already got. And for as long as there as been an atmosphere, there has been a climate; and for as long as there has been a climate, the climate has been changing; and I do not think that it is ever at all likely to stop any time in the remotely foreseeable future.

The reality of the matter is that the Planet Earth's climatic systems have always been in state of continuous flux since the first of our Planet's three or four historical atmospheres first developed; And the climate will forever continue to change for the even remotely foreseeable future, until our Solar System's star expands to engulf the innermost Planets orbiting it.

On this grand scale, the present and recent Warming Trend we have been observing over the past two hundred years, and which is no doubtless currently being contributed to by the recent industrial activities of our modern globalize Human Civilization, is but a minute and minuscule blip on the figurative monitor screen, as is the twelve thousand years or so that Human society has eve been in existence.

To believe, even for one singular solitary instant, that we can somehow stop, put an end to, or even REVERSE a process that has progressed for eons before we first appeared, and which will continue to persist and carry on for many Billions of years long after the Human Race has become extinct on this Earth; is arrogance and avarice in it's most extreme.

"I wonder why human beings, and unfortunately, Americans in particular, have such a deep-seated need to make themselves be responsible for everything, good or bad, a list that runs the gambit from saving the Earth to changing global climate. This desire for culpability exceeds beyond any religion, and is more something approaching mass-psychosis..." "...This desire to be responsible for something which, most scientists agree, will have dire consequences for nearly all of human society, is as mystifying as it is misguided, the idea behind this conception of culpability being to rouse our supposedly placid society into strong action."

Why I Don’t Hug Trees
http://judgian12365.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/introduction/

Question: "Is Global Climate Change Real?" (Is it Happening?) OR to put it in other words: "Is the Global Climate changing?"

Answer: YES. There can be no doubt.

Question: Is Global Climate Change a "Problem" (one that needs to be "Solved")?

Answer: NO

The reality of the matter is that Climate Change is no more a problem than is Universal Gravitation, Electromagnetism, or Natural Selection. All three are natural processes, all three can be contributed to by Human interference with the natural world, and all three can, do, and will have "inconvenient" detrimental side effects to our precariously unstable Human society. All of the Forces that govern the Processes of the Natural world have undesirable, unsettling, disturbing, disquieting, and inconvenient side affects.

Sir Isaac Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation pulls meteors and Asteroids, some the mass and volume of Mount Everest, others the side and approximate dimensional measurements of the state of Texas, toward the Planet Earth, drawing into a flight path headed straight directly for us. I myself find that very disquieting indeed.

So... Question: "Is Gravity A Problem that we must now solve?"

Answer: Of course not.

Just as an example, Due in no small part to the power of the forces of Electromagnetism; every time that our Sun "Burps" [Known as a "Coronal Mass Ejection", or Solar Flare], any and all electronic devices from Satellites in orbit to computers, radios, and televisions used by people in particularly vulnerable areas all around the globe can and do greatly interfere and disrupt haywire on the fritz; this resulting from the Planet Earth being in the direct path of super-massive wave upon wave of the stream of highly charged subatomic particles of potent deadly lethal cosmic radiation. Just the merest thought of that disturbs me greatly. On the other hand, such events also precipitate the occurrence of what I myself can personally attest to be one amongst the most beautiful sights that this world has to offer; the Aurora Borealis, or "Northern Lights".

So... Question: "Is Electromagnetism a Problem to be solved?"

Answer: Most definitively NO.

The Darwinian Process of Descent with Modification via Natural Selection [Known as "Evolution"] concluded many billions of years of selection, culminating in the production of the Platypus: A North American Beaver with the Tail of a Muskrat, the bill of a duck, and poisonous spiny barbs on its webbed toes, which happens to lay eggs like a bird or reptile.

The process of Descent with Modification through Natural Selection, known in shorthand as Evolution, has produced a nearly hairless bipedal terrestrial primate with a relatively large brain for its body size, but with relatively very poor olfactory and auditory senses as well as visual acuity when compared to other mammalian species. The ape's heavy dense bones do not permit flight and greatly hinder its swimming capabilities, and it's mostly hairless and thin (easily punctured) skin and fleshy musculature make it vulnerable susceptible to the elements in harsh environments, necessitating its constant construction of artificial housing structures to live in.

An inconvenient truth if ever I saw one, and, to me, a profoundly unsettling one at that.

So... Question: "Is Evolution a Problem?"

Answer: NO. Definitely Not.

The outstanding unanswered question of whether or not it is even possible or plausible for us to put an end to Global Climate Change notwithstanding, our vain and futile, and therefore thus far fruitless, attempts to do so raises what would seem to me to be a self-evidently obvious question; that being: "Do we even want to?" That is, would we desire to stop or prevent the Global Climate from changing, even if we could? The blatantly evident answer is NO.

If the climate had never changed, then life, as we know it on this planet Earth would never have existed.

Once more again, I feel I must reiterate: The only way to put an end to Global Climate Change would be to put an end to the Global Climate. The only way to eliminate the Global Climate would be to rid the Planet Earth of its atmosphere.

Here's the catch: Getting rid of the Earth's atmosphere would kill every single last living thing on the whole entire Planet Earth, instantaneously. And since that would then include the human species twelfth as well, this would not really "Solve" much of anything at all.

So, I ask again: Even if it were possible, would we even want to stop climate change, even if we could?

"but it iz so cold right now...how can it b global warmin'?" LOL Extreme weather people.. :) There is a host on the station I am on who thinks that global warming is a vast conspiracy theory that does not exist. I never really get WHY he thinks that - but it seems like it has been repeated enough to flow into the main stream. :(

I think that the proposition that Climate Change is a problem is misleading.
Generally speaking, the use of the term "Problem" implies that it is something that has some sort of solution, or is something or another that can be "Solved".
I get very highly suspicious whenever I hear someone use the words "Solve" and "Climate Change" together in the same sentence.
While I myself do agree that there can be no doubt as t whether or not Human beings are now contributing to the Warming Trend aspect of Climate Change;
I do believe that is to fall prey victim to a ubiquitous logical fallacy of rational reasoning to assume that, merely because a factor happens to be CONTRIBUTING to a any given process, that this then must mean that the aforementioned contributing factor has enough sufficiently substantial influence and sway over the said process in order to then have the capability to put an end to the process to which it contributes.
Just because we may very well be CONTRIBUTING to one aspect (the Warming Trend) of the much larger process of global Climate Change, does NOT, in any way, shape, or form mean that we have the power to STOP Climate Change altogether.
The truth is that a forever-changing global climate is NOT, in fact, a "Problem" that needs to be "Solved".
It is, rather instead, merely just a REALITY that we, the huma race as a species, now must ADAPT in order to cope with.
The reality of the matter is that the Planet Earth's climatic systems have always been in state of continuous flux since the first of our Planet's three or four historical atmospheres first developed;
And the climate will forever continue to change for the cen remotely foreseeable future, until our Solar System's star expands to engulf the innermost Planets orbiting it.
On this grand scale, the present and recent Warming Trend we have been observing over the past two hundred years, and which is no doubtless currently being contributed to by the recent industrial activities of our modern globalized Human Civilization, is but a minute and minuscule blip on the figurative monitor screen, as is the twelve thousand years or so that Human society has eve been in existence.
To believe, even for one singular solitary instant, that we can somehow stop, put a end to, or even REVERSE a process that has progressed for aeons before we first appeared, and which will continue to persist and carry on for many Billions of years long after the Human Race has become extinct on this Earth; is arrogance and avarice in it's most extreme.

the wanting of the unwilling to acknowledge reality is at the crux, supplemented by the likes of the Koch Bros. who spend tens of millions to keep the unwilling uniformed

"Being ill int he issue of climate change is really a big issue due to being stubborn of many companies and chemist who sabotage nature... in this country, many Chemists that are inside the Coal_fired Power Plant sabotage their own company even those Accountants due to money, power and fame.

They stole accounts and control the companies not just they are there because of cruelty due to drug addiction and free trade sex not just due to prostitution... one of them is Mauban Coal-Fired Power Plant who stole names and identities of others that was used to stole and sabotage many countries."-PWker

When you get people saying that there can't be climate change because they got record snows, it is almost impossible to explain to them who weather works because they have no way of relating that. We have damaged this country so much because of our under funding education, specifically math and science. They have no understanding that increased temps cause more moisture in the atmosphere that must come back down somewhere. If it was not snow, it would be rain.

The real reason they don't want to fully inform the nation is because once they know the damages and the harsh effects it will have on our daily lives people will start to panic, cause massive possible riots and chaos in the hierarchy we have fought to establish.

The real reason they don't want to fully inform the nation is because once they know the damages and the harsh effects it will have on our daily lives people will start to panic, cause massive possible riots and chaos in the hierarchy we have fought to establish.

Because people are easily duped, and large corporations stand to profit by duping people. It's as simple as that.

Q: Global Warming Real?
A: YES!

Q: Man-made?
A: No so much.

But I'll say this. Deforestation will kill us all.

It should come as no surprise that in a country where corporations have more power than politicians, there is still debate over this issue.

People are in a state of denial, because climate change is an inconvenient truth. If climate change could be resolved by throwing troops at it, they would accept it as fact. We humans can be quite lazy in our thinking and our actions, when asked to change the status quo.

Sadly, those who profit from polluting our environment are the ones pumping money into trying to discredit science. Big oil, coal, and natural gas money fund politicians and give them talking points to burp out. Throw in the fact that a vast majority of Americans are grossly ignorant and lazy, and you've magically solved the riddle.

"You haven't persuaded the public," replied Elizabeth Shogren of National Public Radio. Emanuel immediately countered, smiling and pointing at Shogren, "No, YOU haven't." Scattered applause followed in the audience of mostly scientists, with one heckler saying, "That's right. Kerry said it."

There it is. The climate scientists have done their job, reporters and media have not done theirs. Unless you consider the amount of money spent on disinformation.

There is a "paid for campaign" to misdirect and misinform. You could and can look at your politician and news directors and ask, "How much have you taken to look the other way?"

And I will say, " I hope you enjoy your graft and pay-off as you watch your children cry in their empty glass of milk. Welcome to your future, welcome to all our futures."

You can see my comment on the, "It's the inequality, stupid"; however, the state, as well as reward for being a scientist or engineer in this country is terrible. Take heart teachers, firemen, and nurses that we are in the same boat you are; and, we, at least the truly honest and knowledgable ones of us, are with you!

i talked to a friend the other day just happenes to be a republican .doesnt believe humans are doing anything to the planet the right gets there info from rush and the other nutty people out there. i told him to look at the population around the world and think again.he thinks god is creating the weather to punish man.humans are screwed there
arnt enough sane ones out there

Well done, this is a very important topic.

I think one of the reasons is a very small percentage of media in the US is foreign, making it hard for many to get an idea of global opinion. We have a much higher percentage of foreign media in Australia, although we have only a fraction of the number of media outlets in comparison to the US.

We still have many of the same problems here. I have seen opinion shift here a lot over the last year. At first people were becoming aware of climate change, then it a matter of months the argument changed.

You could see the shift in direction on the internet too. Suddenly intelligent people began to deny there was any problem. Many different theories began appearing, revealing a concerted effort to confuse and mislead the public with a barrage of information.

There does seem to be a growing awareness of the issue taking place again, likely due to the many recent severe weather events that took place around the world. Media groups in Australia are beginning to ask what is going wrong with our weather. Climate scientists were warning of the likelihood of increased severe weather events, but misleading comments from politicians, businessmen and social commentators drew attention away from the warnings and shifted attention to discrediting or ignoring the science instead.

Now that natural disasters and challenging environmental conditions have an increased economic cost, climate change is back on the agenda again, hopefully it will stay there this time.

Skimmed through the comments and didn't see these guys mentioned.......on this page anyway. You'll recognize the name and probably won't be surprised.

"Billionaire tycoon David Koch likes to joke that Koch Industries is, "The biggest company you’ve never heard of". But the nearly US$50 million that he and his brother Charles quietly funneled to front groups which deny that climate change is a problem is no joking matter. Our new report shows how that cash, between 1997 and 2008, went to groups working to prevent action being taken against climate change.

Wanted for crimes against the climate: Charles and David Koch.

It's now crystal clear - and every journalist, scientist and politician needs to know - that denial of climate change is not something based on healthy scientific skepticism and debate: it is manufactured and bears the "Koch" brand.

To put their financial commitment into context, from 2005-2008 the Koch brothers pumped in double the amount that even Exxon spent on undermining climate action over the same period.

If you thought Exxon was bad, take a look at these guys:

Charles and David have a vested interest in preventing climate action: they’ve made billions from Koch Industries, an oil and manufacturing giant that is the second largest privately-held company in America with tentacles extending around the globe. It’s time more people were aware of the brothers Koch and just what they’re up to.

The Greenpeace report “Koch Industries: Secretly Funding the Climate Denial Machine” reveals the connections between the Koch family, their employees, and a global network of ‘front groups’ engaged in trying to sabotage climate science."

Continued here : http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/features/dirty-money-climate-300...

simple. lobbyists. kill em all and let god sort em out.

mis info

she going around alot

Keep em comin Jan. These issues can't be ignored forever.

ignorance is bliss, @ least to all you dumbasses who can't face the facts

Beautifully presented, JanforGore!

Well, this is a question with so many answers...
Lack of Education, Immaturity, Denial, Stubbornness, Stupidity, Religious extremism, Hatred for anyone who uses their brain, cares about the Earth or the future, willful ignorance, selfishness, apathy, misinformation...and on and on and on...

I know someone who is a Gay, Female, Republican.
Now, if no one can convince her that Republicans despise Women and Gay people, she certainly can't be convinced of Climate Change. We have talked about it and she absolutely believes climate change is a joke and a leftist plot to raise taxes. Sounds familiar huh?

Some people are just too mired in their own self-serving attitudes to see anything that doesn't directly effect the small bubble in which they live their lives.

Normalcy bias.

I have a few thoughts a to why...

1) Some of the richest corporations spend money hand over fist not to actually research the phenomenon which is climate change, but to deny it. The cigarette companies did the same thing for decades in an attempt to prove that their product didn't cause health problems. Companies spend so much because it tends to secure them greater profits as long as it is successful.

2) A fair percentage of the United States populous trusts corporations. Why, I don't rightfully know. Despite the fact that a corporations interest is to make money no fucking matter what, some people tend to think that they are good for the community and wouldn't purposefully do irreparable damage to the environment.

3) Education. The United States ranks 33rd in reading, 27th in math, and 22nd in science. With lower educational standards come a softer grasp of scientific issues as well as lesser ability to reason critically.

4) PARTY! The United States has been in a virtual party mode for some decades now. We've had cheap oil, we've been slowly extending our credit in order to be able to afford more stuff without having to pay off what we owe, and we are incredibly, INSANELY, wasteful as a society. The problem is, the party is ending and we don't want it to end yet. For many of us, facing the realities of climate change would be like someone strung out on angel dust realizing that they were dangling over the balcony of a 30th story apartment and that they couldn't really fly.

Why? Because corporations still wants the US to be the number one consumer of oil and waste for greed and money.

Because of YOU!

because Information is power...

Look around. The conservatives are in charge. Americans are generally ill informed about most topics that affect our lives everyday. As long as the neo-cons run the show and the teatards call the shots we will continue to be uninformed and misinformed. Topics such as climate change will either not make it to the ears of our or young or have short shrift with a hard right slant. You might not get the government that you voted for but you are promised the one you deserve if you don't vote.