It is a story many of us have heard far too many times recently. The climate is changing, and with that change humanity will face great challenges. Local weather is becoming more and more extreme, and natural disasters are on the rise. Climate scientists have gathered in a great conclave, and have issued forth dire warnings of doom. If the climate continues to change, mankind will face a calamity, agriculture could collapse, and millions could starve. While this tale of gloom and doom may sounds like something that came out of the recent COP 20 Climate Conference in Lima Peru, it isn’t. This is actually a dire warning from the New York Times back in 1974.
However, the climate change the New York Times was so scared of back in 1974 was not global warming, it was in fact global cooling. The conclave of climate scientists was not held in Lima Peru, but was instead held in Bonn Germany. Despite having such a familiar ring, this story is over forty years old, and illustrates that even though climate changes stories change, the fear associated with them does not. We shouldn’t let fear cloud our judgement, and one way to deal with fear, especially when it comes to climate, is to recognize it isn’t new.
