The IPCC reports expose the potential threats that increasing global temperatures will have. At 1.5 and 2 degrees C rise, the cost to global infrastructure will be between $55 trillion and $70 trillion. Rising ocean tides and exponentially larger storms will destroy homes and displace millions of people. These articles suggest that to entirely reverse the direction that global temperatures are heading, carbon emissions will need to be 100% eliminated by 2050. Theoretically it is entirely possible for us to all work in unison to progress toward a renewable energy based future. These articles however discuss that this transition will be difficult politically; less so than technologically. Because so much of our lives are centered around carbon emission creating machines, it would be a massive cultural transition. The way that we need to begin a transition such as this is with the education of the masses. I think a lot of the misunderstanding about climate science comes from ignorance.
According to Riedy’s article about John Tyndall, the concept of climate science and gases has been discussed since the 19th century. Tyndall was the first to observe that there was a difference in heat absorption from light rays between different gases. This observation would be the foundation of the contemporary understanding of the ‘greenhouse effect’. I think the same people who know nothing about climate science also probably have little idea what science truly looks like. In addition, thousands of scientist are studying and have studied climate science, it would be silly to discount scientific findings based on age.