The Madhouse Effect by Michael E. Mann

Author:Michael E. Mann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: SCI092000, Science/Global Warming & Climate Change, CGN007000, Comics & Graphic Novels/Nonfiction
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2016-09-26T16:00:00+00:00

It’s Never the Right Time

When is it the right time to talk about climate change? If you listen to the critics and cynics, apparently never.

The Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire in 1969. That event was a tipping point in the public consciousness regarding air and water pollution. There was a sudden, widespread awareness of the growing level of pollutants in our air and water, a recognition that it had reached crisis proportions. Within just a few years, we saw passage of both the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. The people spoke, and policy makers listened.

When it comes to climate change, haven’t we had our Cuyahoga moment already? Didn’t Hurricane Katrina in 2005 adequately awaken us to the growing threat of monster storms? Wasn’t the drought in Texas in 2011 a wake-up call for even the reddest parts of red-state America? Weren’t the unprecedented heat, drought, and rampant wildfires of the summer of 2012 enough to tell us we have a problem? How about Superstorm Sandy striking New York City and the New Jersey coast in an election year? Still not enough? Then how about an epic drought—the worst in at least 1,200 years—in our most populous state, California? Surely that’s enough.

Alas, no single event can be catastrophic enough, it seems, to galvanize public attention and mobilize action. Part of the problem, for certain, is the shrinking American attention span in combination with a modern media environment where few stories, regardless of how important or profound, can persist in the public conversation for more than a few twenty-four-hour news cycles. This atmosphere is prohibitive for raising awareness about slowly growing threats such as climate change.

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