The University of Maryland College Park hosted Bill Nye for its annual fall lecture. Students eagerly lined the halls hours before the doors opened. The “Science Guy” clearly was still a childhood favorite and hundreds wanted to see him live. It seemed as if students were camping out for a rock show rather than a guy who rocks a bow tie! The PBS television show remained ingrained in the minds of college kids, most who did not want their cherished memories dashed of Bill Nye being the infallible TV science guy.
Armed with fact sheets and poster board, CFACT students of UMCP approached the crowds to discuss climate change. Many said Bill was right on climate change regardless of him not being a climate scientist. Some took his side admitting that they did not know what side he is on. Bill Nye believes that human emissions of CO2 are causing a global warming crisis. Some facts we shared to those waiting on line were:
- Antarctic sea ice is at record expansion. Arctic sea ice increased from 3.91 million square kilometers of ice cap in August 2012 to 5.62 million km2 in August 2014, an increase of 43%, mocking Al Gore’s infamous 2007 prediction that the Arctic ice cap “could be completely gone in summer as little as 7 years from now.”
- According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, polar bear populations have increased from about 5,000 in the 1960s to over 20,000 today!
- It’s been over 3,000 days since the eastern coast experienced a Category 3 or greater hurricane- the longest streak since the late 1800s!
- Green energy – to fight a nonexistent “global warming crisis” – has resulted in the highest prices for residential electricity in U.S. history – up 11.8% in New England alone.
