In 1998 we were told by 2025 that most people would be wearing some sort of ozone filtering respirator and large chucks of Florida would be permanently submerged.
who was saying that? there was a scientifically backed ozone scare back in the 80s but thanks to things like the Montreal protocol CFCs were pretty well phased out by the late 90s because back then governments actually listened to scientists. i also can’t find anything about people saying florida would be submerged, back in the 90s the IPCC projected that by 2100 florida would see a sea level rise of tens of centimetres which is enough to really fuck florida
I'm not saying that they were altering the science back then. That they were manipulating their findings. A lot of the studies being done back then were accurate in their predictions of sea level rise and temperature change. But that's not the stuff that was being presented to the public.
The worst case scenario findings and the most fringe results were the ones being presented to the public. We still do that today. But way less frequently. A lot less
If a news agency is going to interview somebody when it comes to the climate do you think they're going to interview somebody who's entire presentation is going to be scientific fact? Or do you think they're going to interview somebody who can provide the most extreme and sensationalist view to the viewers?
Back then they usually chose the latter. The sensationalist and the extreme. Cause that's what gets ratings.
Nowadays we are more fact-based and scientific based in these presentations. But only because the public has access to the raw data from these studies and research groups. So they can't play the sensationalist and extreme card like they used to
“Nowadays we are more fact-based and scientific” I know you were referencing the specific situation over how climate change was/is presented to the general public, but still reading that sentence word-for-word in the year 2025 felt like a fever dream. Maybe somehow climate change specifically is presented in a way that’s less based on fear-mongering and catering to extreme viewpoints, but overall I think our media and information environment has taken the exact opposite trend to a shocking degree. Media literacy is at worryingly abysmal levels; bias, misinformation, bots, echo-chambers, the way most people consume information now compared to 30 years ago and other distortions have created this surreal landscape wherein everyone has their own “reality” and “truth” has become this nebulous subjective concept more influenced by personal beliefs and the above factors rather than any indisputable facts or objective evidence.
Three different people can hear about the same story three different ways, from three different sources, with three different belief systems and all walk away with completely different understandings of what happened and what “the truth of the matter” is. Rather than hearing from sources first hand or hearing the same story and reaching different conclusions people get their information through so many different layers of filters, interpretations, opinions, biases, etc, I really feel like pretty soon it will be like we’re all living in different realities and all experiencing a different world from one each other
-72
u/ProfessionalCreme119 1d ago
In 1998 we were told by 2025 that most people would be wearing some sort of ozone filtering respirator and large chucks of Florida would be permanently submerged.
Me waiting for my ozone mask like.....