Should scientists refrain from saying they're scared about state of the climate so as not to depress kids or should they be more honest?

Question

Extreme events linked to climate change, such as the heatwave in Europe this year, are occurring sooner than expected, an ex-chief scientist says.

Prof Sir David King says he's been scared by the number of extreme events, and he called for the UK to advance its climate targets by 10 years.

But the UN's weather chief said using words like “scared” could make young people depressed and anxious.

Campaigners argue that people won't act unless they feel fearful.

Speaking to the BBC, Prof King, a former chief scientific adviser to the government, said: “It’s appropriate to be scared. We predicted temperatures would rise, but we didn’t foresee these sorts of extreme events we’re getting so soon.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49689...

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

I've seen no evidence of children being depressed or anxious on the many occasions I've seen them interviewed about global warming and climate change on TV. What I have seen is evidence of them being concerned and motivated to do something about an issue that will affect them in their lives far more than older deniers like the septuagenarian Trump.

The professor is entirely justified in saying he is scared about the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.

Answer 2

No, fear motivates and gets things done far faster than feeling safe does. Safe means you can take your time. We don't have the time to be taking our time with this. We're heading for a mass extinction that's entirely our fault and could wipe out us as well.

Answer 3

Mar 29, 2019 - "What if I told you there was a paper on climate change that was so ... Between the 1920s and the 1940s, a large warming event occurred in the Arctic. ... The result would be an immediate increase of global temperatures by ... years and found that they did emit more than expected amounts of methane.

Answer 4

If the global warming crowd were honest, kids wouldn't have anything to worry about. 

Answer 5

You will find very few people who do research good. 

Answer 6

no, they are closer to the data than most of us.

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Answer 7

Same thing. The scaremongering = baldface lies. Got  a jillion leaked emails totally discrediting the government alarmist scheme. They shud resign from gov. jobs and start telling the truth, like Roger Revelle did right before Gore went berserk smearing the guy.

One good side effect of their lies is numerous liberals are committing suicide from the fony fear. That has to be beneficial to the overall IQ standings of man.

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Answer 8

You  cannot link any weather event   to Climate change  .  Bill  Nye  does  and comes out a fool  with  no readings of the state  of the air at the time in a area . 

Answer 9

Teach kids that it's not about what we say, it's what we DO. My daughter thinks she's an eco lefty and I tell her that she doesn't need to keep her bedroom at a constant 30 centigrade she goes into "YEAH YEAH WHAT EVS" mode. 

Answer 10

That's exactly what these LWNJs want, is for children to be scared and anxious.  What better way of manipulating them into supporting their demagoguery?