Talking About Global Warming...with people who don't believe in Global Warming

The other day, one of my crunchiest, down to earth friends told me that she thought that Global Warming was just another normal fluctuation in normal Earth temperatures. Eh, what?! Thankfully, she’s a good friend, so we were able to have a good conversation about it without insulting each other.

A nice spot for a spirited peaceful discourse on Global Warming.

Here are some tips from my conversation. Feel free to add some!

Don’t:

• Go into the conversation trying to convert them.
• Yell at them. Go take a calm-down break if you need to.
• Turn the conversation into a political debate.
• Insult their intelligence.

Do:

• Respect their religious beliefs/view of the world. (Creationism, [Insert deity] wouldn’t allow us to mess up Creation, Young Earth, etc)
• Make sure you’re on the same page about what geological history existed in their world view.
• Do see things from their point of view.

Remember that any good debater has to look at things from everyone’s point of view, even if you don’t believe it. They probably think that you are irrational and nuts, too! If you think that Global Warming isn’t happening or that it’s perfectly normal, like the Ice Age, it’s downright scary to have a president who believes in it. Humanity has a history of buying into doomsday cults after all. Now all these educated liberals are buying into it, throwing money at it, and think that you’re uneducated and ignorant if you don’t convert. No wonder they’re defensive!

My viewpoint: Even if Global Weirding is just a 50-100 year trend, it will still change the world in drastic ways. Small climate fluctuations contributed to the rise of the Mongol Empire, the fall of the Roman Empire, and the Viking expansion and decline. Currently, the US is not very prepared for fluctuations, in weather or resource prices, and I worry.

So go forth, debate, and, most of all, have fun!