Forests and carbon capture

[Bob Schroeck]

I have noticed, in many contexts of which this is just one, that people rarely want to hear warnings about a distant, avertable disaster. If it's not happening right now, preferably to someone they know, it's just not real. The only time they care is when it's too late to do anything, because that's the only time there's enough proof to move them to action. Until then it's crying wolf. Because obviously, if it hasn't happened before, it'll never happen.

EDIT: I suspect this is behind a lot of the dismissal of scientists' warnings about global warming. Few people can actually imagine being seriously worried about something that is going to happen as little as a year down the road, let alone ten years or a century, and grasp at the only reason that they can comprehend for someone who makes such warnings -- they're trolling us. Obviously. Or somehow there's money in it for them (Step 1: Warn of a disaster that's not actually coming. Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit!).