Transcript:
In the late 1950s, Eisenhower was president, the Cold War was in full swing, and Elvis Presley was famous – scientists were already worried about global warming.
Ore: “They already know that when we burn fossil fuels, we put greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which heats the atmosphere, so, in the fullness of time, burning fossil fuels can lead to global climate change.”
Naomi Oreskes is a professor of the history of science at Harvard University.
Her research shows that by the 1990s, there was an overwhelming scientific consensus on the reality of artificially induced climate change.
But fossil fuel companies lead efforts that make people think science is uncertain. Oregon said they adopted similar strategies with those used to undermine the science of lung cancer-related lung cancer.
ORESKES: “If people think science is uneasy, they often don't drive to act on the issue. It's rational. It makes sense, right? I won't motivate to do a question that I'm not sure is real.”
So, she wants people to understand that burning fossil fuels can cause dangerous climate warm pollution and that science has been addressed for decades.
Report Credit: Sarah Kennedy/Chavobart Digital Media
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