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The pessimist in me says it's because people want to cling to anything that lets them say "See, I knew it wasn't a big deal, I/we don't need to change our behav
by joshstrange 4y ago
The pessimist in me says it's because people want to cling to anything that lets them say "See, I knew it wasn't a big deal, I/we don't need to change our behavior", especially when it comes to climate change. I've seen this first-hand from relatives who are very quick to talk about "see the science wasn't right in this 1 instance" while ignoring everything that doesn't fit their world view.
That said, I'd argue the "news" agencies really should be the ones held to some account for printing whatever they are told (be it from scientists, the police, and everyone in between. Don't get me started on "printing" tweets as facts or wide-spread opinion). Also the "news" agencies love this kind of thing, they get to double dip all while acting holier than thou and taking no responsibility for the BS they put out.
- HillRat 4y agoAlso, the claims made are so sweepingly apocalyptic -- we're all going to be dead in a few decades! -- that they're going to trigger not only the usual climate-skeptic suspects, but also those who are genuinely concerned about climate change. The magnitude of the crisis we're stumbling into is hard to fathom, but these sorts of claims are arguably counterproductive in that they could just cause many people to give up out of the assumption that it's too late to save the global food web.