Scientists are warning people about climate change, but is the world really listening?

By Rebekah Karp, Staff Writer and Artist

Last December, a movie called “Don’t Look Up” came out. The premise was two people of scientific background discovering that the Earth is in imminent danger from an asteroid threatening to strike. They try to tell the world but are shut down by the media and end up not being able to warn anyone, so- spoiler alert– the asteroid comes. Sounds like a crazy movie with an unrealistic ending, right? Maybe not so crazy.
We have heard it before that the world is dying, or the climate is facing irreversible damage, and there has been a constant argument on whether or not that is the truth. But there has been a stirring in the scientific community.

Earlier this month, four scientists chained themselves to a Chase Bank in protest against the media, claiming the science community has been shut up and pushed away, and that their claims about an irreversible climate disaster are being silenced. Peter Kalmus, a biological systems and climate change scientist who works for NASA, was one of the demonstrators who handcuffed himself to the door of the bank.

“We’ve been trying to warn you guys for so many decades that we’re heading towards a catastrophe, and we’ve been being ignored,” Kalmus said. “The scientists of the world are being ignored, and it’s got to stop. We’re not joking. We’re not lying. We’re not exaggerating.”

Four hours after this nonviolent demonstration, more than twenty police officers took the protestors away from the bank in a van.

Another act for climate change happened just this Earth Day, and it was a big one. Wynn Bruce, a 50 year old climate activist, set himself on fire outside the U.S Supreme Court building and died from his wounds. It was said by a close friend of his, Kritee Kanko, that this was not an act of suicide, but it was “a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to the climate crisis.” Kanko also went on to say that this act is not one to be emulated.

These events are not stopping. At HSBC, a banking and financial holding company, at their annual Fossil Fuel meeting, a flash mob broke out, singing “Money, Money, Money” over the meeting’s guest speakers, protesting the big banks to stop investing in these fuel projects.

These protests are getting bigger and more impactful, but it still seems as if the media is ignoring it. So in conclusion, will we finally listen, or will we wait until a possible and probable asteroid is already at our doorstep?