Professor of meteorology and Director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, Dr. Michael Mann, spoke on the issue of climate change and its relevance to the upcoming presidential election.
Mann is an expert on climate change, authoring more than 200 publications on Earth’s climate, as well as being ranked among The Scientific American 50 Award and Bloomberg News’ 50 Most Influential People.
“The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy,” Mann’s most recent book, tackles climate change through the use of comedy and satire.
“The fate of the planet is at stake,” Mann said. “It’s important to have fun and lightheartedness. We still shouldn’t lose focus though.”
Mann noted his role in climate change as a social issue, as well as the backlash he faces from skeptics. This even included an instance where his email account was hacked and several phrases were released out of context to abate his arguments, in which Mann referred to as “Climategate.”
Additionally, Mann talked about the downplay of climate change in the media. Oftentimes energy efficient resources like wind and solar power are disregarded because “the wind does not always blow and the sun does not always shine,” a fact that Mann says misleading to audiences.
“I’ve grown to believe that it’s imperative to not let the voices of denial affect public action,” Mann said.
Senior geology major, Tom Pascucci, agrees with Mann’s call for media to change their role in climate change.
“I find it interesting that we’re already seeing effects of climate change,” Pascucci said. “I just feel like the media isn’t portraying these horrible things that are happening.”
Mann says the key to changing the thinking of climate change around the world is by creating relations with people who have a lot of influence. He mentioned Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar speech where he talked about climate change that got many people talking about the issue.
“Try to reach a broad audience; make relationships and friendships with people with influence,” Mann said. “After the next election, I hope to see a realignment where Republicans can come out of the closet and support climate change.”
Gregory Schwedock, Tech Lead and National Deputy Organizer of The Climate Mobilization, also attended Mann’s presentation. The Climate Mobilization is a campaign working towards initiating greener practices to reduce the effects of climate change. The organization stresses a World War II scale mobilization to combat current harmful practices, similar to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s initiative before World War II.
“We’re not afraid to scare people,” Schwedock said. “The environmental movement is too afraid to scare people … we believe we should go into something called emergency mode. If your house is on fire, you’re scared, but you’re efficient. You get out of there. Then you’re safe and you can go back to normal.”
Schwedock remarked the importance of the upcoming election to the future of climate change.
“This election, because it involves Trump, is astronomical; it’s off the chart; it’s black and white,” Schwedock said. “We were hoping for Bernie. We didn’t initially endorse him, but we influenced him. He started using our rhetoric for World War II scale mobilization. By no means does that mean we’re saved if Hillary is elected, she’s status quo.”
Schwedock hopes to soon bring a sustainability club to Hofstra’s campus that will get in front of media and take a stand against climate change.
Similar to Schwedock, Mann hopes that the movement towards a greener planet will begin soon.
“[Climate change] is our greatest threat because it impacts every aspect of living,” Mann said. “We have time to make sure this isn’t our path.”
Mann says it is because of his daughter that he continues to take action against climate change. He hopes to leave behind a better world for her to live in.
