Bill Nye thinks climate change key to 2016
The World Bank has released a new report showing that climate change could have a devastating effect on the world’s water supplies. The report finds that by 2050, a lack of water could send economies around the world spiraling downward.
On top of that, the United States now has a likely candidate for president who says he’s “not a big believer in manmade climate change.” Yahoo Finance Anchor Alexis Christoforous spoke with Bill Nye the Science Guy about the upcoming presidential election, his efforts to raise awareness about climate change by exposing deniers and America’s first climate refugees.
Polls show that just 27 percent of Americans believe human activity is the main cause of climate change. But Nye isn’t discouraged by that number. He thinks this year is the tipping point and people will recognize climate change is a major issue. The way to increase awareness, he says, is through exposing climate change deniers, such as filmmaker Marc Morano and meteorologist Joe Bastardi, and “exposing their point of view as being very far out of the mainstream and inconsistent with science.”
Nye decided to meet with Morano for an on-camera interview to discuss climate change and Morano’s skeptical documentary, “Climate Hustle,” which played for a one-night engagement in select theaters nationwide on May 2. The interview was played during the screenings. Nye hoped the meeting would bring more attention to the problem. “What I want to do is make climate change an election issue this year.” Nye explained. “The problem has been the politics. So I believe by exposing deniers, as in denial of science, then it will raise awareness of it. And then a candidate who embraces climate change as an important issue then has a better chance of getting elected, and the United States has a better chance of doing something about it, and the United States has a better chance of being a world leader in renewable energy.”
The United States is also dealing with its first climate refugees, who will be forced to move from a flood-ridden island in Louisiana. A $48 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development was allocated for the residents of Isle de Jean Charles to help them relocate to drier land. “The reason people have to move off Isle de Jean Charles is the ocean is getting bigger. When you make something as enormous as the Earth’s ocean just that much warmer, it gets bigger,” Nye said. “Coastal cities, which is where most of the world lives, are going to get encroachment. New York City is no exception. We’re going to have seawalls, and this is the developed world. New Orleans has all kinds of flood pumping systems, but on that island they don’t. So people are going to have to move.”
Nye is optimistic that the United States and countries around the world will continue to combat climate change, but he says it’s going to take some hard work. “Let’s be out in front. It is a remarkable thing, 193 countries, including China and India, showed up in Paris after there was a terrorism attack, and they took a meeting. It’s a start. In a sense, we’ve taken our foot off the accelerator, but the car is still headed to the cliff. Nobody’s got its foot on the brake yet, but the sooner we get to work, the better.”
