Bill Nye the Science Guy: Young People Get Climate Change

In an interview on with Rachel Maddow yesterday, while explaining (once again) why a snow storm doesn’t disprove climate change, Bill Nye the Science Guy offered a simple explanation for the continuing confusion about the science of global warming: old people.

In his yeas as an educator, Nye says he’s seen a generational gap in the ability to grasp climate change. Unsurprisingly, young people get it.

It’s mostly generational…older people just have a much harder time grasping the idea that you have many billions of people on the planet with a very very thin atmosphere, you’re able to affect its climate…younger people are able to sort of embrace it, understand the evidence and move forward.

This is yet another reason why young people need to make our voice heard on the need for climate action. We can’t rely on our leaders our leaders to recognize the existential threat facing our generation on their own. We have to make them see it, and let them know they can’t put politics ahead of our future.