I'm no scientist. So when hundreds of the smartest left-brained minds in the world tell me it's time to cool off, I take their word for it.
I am sufficiently humbled by their warming predictions that, in response, I ride a bike, buy apples in the fall - strawberries in the summer and wear a sweater instead of cranking the thermostat. And I wonder who wouldn't?
A while ago I sat down at an Open Space at a climate forum. The idea was to talk about communicating climate change. Since my partners and I were English speakers and the rest of the people were Swedish we cozied up to the visiting Australian delegate and his super friendly, warm interpreter.
As we chatted I realize that the interpreter was one of the most eloquent people I had ever met. He spoke plummy English as well as French and Swedish rapidly and confidently.
When we started to discuss the somewhat complex science related to climate change. This man perked up and said, "I'm terribly sorry, but it's simply not true – it's bad science." Then launched into a scientific smörsgåsbord of his own reasoning for the rapid increase in temperature.
I scanned my brain for the clever comebacks outlined in Coby Beck's article How to talk to a Climate Change Skeptic posted on Gristmill. But, faced with this congenial, smooth talker and the polite situation I felt at a loss.
I wish I had one of Nathan Martell's vases in the shape of a climate graph. Martell took a graph outlining the rise in global air temperature, turned it on its side and cast it in a 3D mold. The shape starts narrow (temperature 150 ago) then widens at the top (temperature now). It is the perfect gift for your favourite climate skeptic when words just aren't enough.
