Friday, July 9, 1971, saw a number of important events.
It was a day on which then-United States National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger made a secret visit to the People’s Republic of China – a notable moment given that the Communist state would not be part of the United Nations Security Council for another three months. It also marked the funeral of influential jazz legend Louis Armstrong who had passed away three days prior.
However, within the Washington Post, a stark warning of a “disastrous new ice age” headlined the paper. “The world could be as little as 50 or 60 years away from a disastrous new ice age, a leading atmospheric scientist predicts,” was the opening line in the article by staff writer Victor Cohn.
Well, 1971 was 53 years ago at the time of writing. Unless we are heading for a cold spell in the next seven years, the 70 degrees Fahrenheit in which I’m currently writing this article suggests that prediction, like many before it and many more since, was wrong.
There are many reasons why the predictions are increasingly ignored by the general public. Time and time again, predictions of our impending demise have (thankfully) never come to fruition.
Furthermore, these warnings to society are made despite the fact that an average individual’s contribution to carbon emissions is comparatively limited, particularly when the use of private jets by the rich and famous as well as mass pollution by foreign nations is considered.
Meanwhile, it’s been six years since climate activist and former truant Greta Thunberg warned that we were all going to die by 2023.
