OPINION: Climate change sceptics swim in blissful ignorance

WE CANNOT be the generation history will look back upon and wonder 'why didn't they do everything humanly possible to solve the biggest crisis of our time?' "

Musician Eddie Vedder performs at the 2016 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP). Picture: Evan Agostini

IF IT doesn't directly impact our generation, should we care?

Most of us will be long gone by 2100 when, according to maps published this week, rising sea levels will have had a significant impact on the Clarence Valley.

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But my daughter could be alive, she'll only be 83. Don't we simply owe it to humanity to give a stuff about the future?

In April, rock singer Eddie Vedder chose Pearl Jam's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction as a forum to broach the subject of climate change - momentarily deflecting attention from his own band's glory to highlight the seriousness of the issue.

"Here we are in our modern, advanced technology age and we've got a lot of evolving to do," he said.

"Climate change is real. It's not fake news. We cannot be the generation that history will look back upon and wonder 'why didn't they do everything humanly possible to solve the biggest crisis of our time?' "

To the sceptics who think this whole climate change debate is fabricated propoganda, why would someone like Vedder make this up? He has what to gain from it, exactly?

Is it not better to err on the side of caution than blindly ignore what's beyond the horizon? Here in the Clarence Valley we don't see the melting ice caps before our eyes, or the suffocating smog in Beijing and Mexico City. But we do live on the same inter-connected planet.

Have you ever noticed at the beginning of every disaster movie there's a group of scientists being ignored?

Blissfully ignoring the unknown does not make it go away. If you want to keep your head in the sand you might need to buy a snorkel.

Originally published as OPINION: Climate change sceptics swim in blissful ignorance