Ever since humanity began worrying about its effects on the environment, there have always been people who deny that we have anything to do with climate change. However, there have also been plenty of individuals who step in and patiently (or not so patiently) explain why humankind is driving global warming, and that things need to change in order to maintain the Earth for future generations.
When Lorrie Goldstein wrote online that Social Justice Warriors aren’t able to explain the science behind global warming, Karen Geier hit back with a series of informative tweets that did just that. Karen’s responses got a lot of support because she summarized the science behind climate change in an easy-to-understand manner. Scroll down for Bored Panda's interview with Karen, who is currently the writer and producer of On Belief: A Podcast about Cults and On Grief: A Podcast about Death.
Somebody exclaimed that ‘SJWs’ can’t explain the science behind global warming
Image credits: sunlorrie
Karen Geier took up the challenge and hit back with facts
Image credits: karengeier
Lorrie, the former editor of the Toronto Sun, probably didn’t expect that Karen would shred his opinion to pieces with facts, logic, and reason. Most people thought that Karen’s tweets were worth reading, and some internet users even praised her for calling Lorrie a “colossal donut.” While I don’t support name-calling or insults, I have to admit, this one got a chuckle from me and made me think of Homer Simpson. I now also have a huge craving for donuts.
Karen Geier talked to Bored Panda about her Twitter thread, Lorrie, and climate change in more detail.
“Lorrie Goldstein at the time was the editor of one of Canada's largest-circulation newspapers, and saying something as asinine as "no one can explain how this happens" is unconscionable. That's sort of Lorrie's brand. He denies climate change and systemic racism because it's good for his business. This was one way in which I could show him how ill-informed he was. I only thought it would be 'popular' in Toronto politics circles. I didn't expect it would go somewhat viral.”
“The response has been largely positive. I've had lots of messages and emails from people thanking me for replying to Lorrie,” Karen said. “Perhaps the better story is that this thread made Lorrie's life a bit of a living hell for a while because people kept sharing it and making fun of him. He asked me what he could do to make it stop.”
“As a joke, I said, "deliver a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts to my house." To his credit, he made good. He turned up at my home and delivered me a dozen assorted Krispy Kremes. He still gets replies from people, but the frequency has died down. By the way, he is still at his core, a climate denier.”
Karen shared her opinion that she doesn’t think that there has been any progress in the fight against climate change. “I think we are literally at a point of no return and any intervention, even one that costs 10x the cost of both world wars, will do nothing. At this point, our only hope to mitigate the effects of climate change is to upend capitalism, and I don't see it happening.”
“I would like people to be more science literate generally, but I would like people to understand we had a point in the 1980s-1990s to actually intervene and change the trajectory for the entire planet, but we didn't, because people were making too much money to care. We're in the strange situation now of planting trees that our children will never sit under.”
NASA writes about how we can be sure that climate change is real: “The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia.”
According to NASA, some of the evidence that unequivocally shows that climate change is happening all around includes the rise in the Earth’s average surface temperature, which has increased by 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the end of the 19th century.
What’s more, the oceans are warming as well, while the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been shrinking. There is less sea ice in the Arctic, oceans continue to become more acidic, while more extreme heat events are becoming commonplace. There is overwhelming evidence that climate change is real — all it takes is some effort to look for it in the right place.
Here’s how people reacted to the Twitter thread
