US science official says more extreme events convincing many Americans climate change is real

[MindMover]

Increasingly common experiences with extreme climate-related events such as the Colorado wildfires, a record warm spring and preseason hurricanes have convinced many Americans climate change is a reality, the head of a U.S. scientific agency said Friday.

Many Americans had previously seen climate change as a “nebulous concept” removed from them in time and geography, said National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco.

“Many people around the world are beginning to appreciate that climate change is under way, that it’s having consequences that are playing out in real time and, in the United States at least, we are seeing more and more examples of extreme weather and extreme climate-related events,” Lubchenco told a university forum in the Australian capital of Canberra.

“People’s perceptions in the United States at least are in many cases beginning to change as they experience something first-hand that they at least think is directly attributable to climate change,” she said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/us-climate-official-says-more-extreme-events-convincing-many-americans-climate-change-is-real/2012/07/06/gJQAHNZ5QW_story.html

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Unfortunately, there are still too many in power that still believe that humans are not causing these climate changes.....

[Zoeisright]

1. Unfortunately many people are too stupid to accept something as fact

until it literally slaps them in the face.

[NC_Nurse]

3. Agreed. I don't hear any admissions from deniers about their responsibilty in this

either. As soon as the first snow hits,in the winter they will all be back and the rubes will be swayed again. Same as it ever was...

[justabob]

5. if we have another non-winter

like the last one, it may go even further to convince people though. I think the extra mild winter made more people think about it. Not cold winters are more jarring than especially hot summers, I think, but that is just a guess. That idea may be based on/biased by where I live. People who live where it is really cold in winter may have a different view.

[joshcryer]

2. It's going to take a lot of real world events to do this.

The media frames it in such a way to make it not a big deal even though in the scientific community most scientists are firmly in the climate change camp.

[primavera]

4. Great

Maybe in another 100 years, after it's waaaay too late to do anything about it, we'll finally reach a consensus that it's a real problem. Then, after another 100 years of bickering about how it's somebody else's problem to fix it, we'll begin to accept that maybe we need to take responsibility ourselves for doing something about it. Of course, by then, most life on earth will probably already be dead, but, hey, it's a step in the right direction I suppose.

[ananda]

7. It's too late now.

Adaptation is key to survival as land mass decreases,
climate events worsenand become more frequent,
and food and water become serious issues.

I find myself concerned about what people will do
as food and water become corporatized and/or
nationalized. Will people learn to cooperate and
husband resources wisely, or will human life turn
even more into a social darwinist hell? I would
like to feel optimistic but I just don't know considering
what's happening with genetically engineered food,
processed food, and water supplies.

[B Calm]

6. but corporate shrill Limbaugh said

it's all a hoax!

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. First time it snows anywhere this fall

We'll hear that it is proof that warming is a hoax. Seems to happen every year.

[Dirty Socialist]

9. Didn't Happen Last Winter

Here in Ohio, it barely snowed at all. In addition, it was over 80 degrees for several days...in March.

[Sirveri]

10. Maybe the Fate of The World game intro will come true.

We'll finally get our act together in 2020 and start working together...

But we probably won't.