I’ve been wearing my heart on my sleeve as a climate change believer since about 2005, when a friend introduced me to the Tim Flannery book, the Weather Makers.
The friend is Murray Hogarth who was the Environment Editor of the Sydney Morning Herald for many years and we used to have the occasional chatty lunch.
Murray asked me if I accepted the concept that mankind had had a negative impact on the environment (and climate) and that unless we all collectively do something the temperature of the plant would continue to rise to the point where it will eventually be uninhabitable.
The book had a big impact on me and changed my attitude completely. So much so that when people tell me that the warming of the planet is temporary and that it will soon revert back to the previous levels, I say go away and read up on the subject, including the Weather Makers and then decide if climate change is real or not.
The Weather Makers also told me that at that time we seemed to know so little about the climate on our ‘Goldilocks’ planet and what causes it.
Obviously our knowledge has greatly increased since 2005 and the scientific evidence is only increasing to the point that a growing percentage of people believe that something must be done.
The exceptions of course include Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch’s The Australian newspaper, whose biased reporting reached new heights in the aftermath of the Greta Thunberg address to the United States. It was so extreme to be laughable.