Here’s How Wrong
Past Environmental
Predictions Have Been
Each year, Earth Day is
accompanied by
predictions of doom.
accompanied by
predictions of doom.
Let’s take a look at past
predictions to determine
just how much confidence
we can have in today’s environmentalists’ predictions.
predictions to determine
just how much confidence
we can have in today’s environmentalists’ predictions.
In 1970, when Earth Day
was conceived, the late
George Wald, a Nobel
laureate biology professor
at Harvard University,
predicted, “Civilization
will end within 15 or 30
years unless immediate
action is taken against
problems facing mankind.”
was conceived, the late
George Wald, a Nobel
laureate biology professor
at Harvard University,
predicted, “Civilization
will end within 15 or 30
years unless immediate
action is taken against
problems facing mankind.”
Also in 1970, Paul Ehrlich,
a Stanford University
biologist and best-selling
author of “The Population
Bomb,” declared that the
world’s population would
soon outstrip food supplies.
a Stanford University
biologist and best-selling
author of “The Population
Bomb,” declared that the
world’s population would
soon outstrip food supplies.
In an article for The
Progressive, he
predicted, “The death
rate will increase until
at least 100-200 million
people per year will be
starving to death during
the next 10 years.”
Progressive, he
predicted, “The death
rate will increase until
at least 100-200 million
people per year will be
starving to death during
the next 10 years.”
He gave this warning in
1969 to Britain’s Institute
of Biology: “If I were a
gambler, I would take
even money that England
will not exist in the year
2000.”
1969 to Britain’s Institute
of Biology: “If I were a
gambler, I would take
even money that England
will not exist in the year
2000.”
On the first Earth Day,
Ehrlich warned, “In
10 years, all important
animal life in the sea will
be extinct.”
Ehrlich warned, “In
10 years, all important
animal life in the sea will
be extinct.”
Despite such predictions,
Ehrlich has won no fewer
than 16 awards, including
the 1990 Crafoord Prize,
the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences’
highest award.
Ehrlich has won no fewer
than 16 awards, including
the 1990 Crafoord Prize,
the Royal Swedish
Academy of Sciences’
highest award.
In International Wildlife
(July 1975), Nigel Calder
warned, “The threat of a
new ice age must now
stand alongside nuclear
war as a likely source of
wholesale death and
misery for mankind.”
(July 1975), Nigel Calder
warned, “The threat of a
new ice age must now
stand alongside nuclear
war as a likely source of
wholesale death and
misery for mankind.”
In Science News (1975),
C.C. Wallen of the World
Meteorological Organization
is reported as saying,
“The cooling since 1940
has been large enough
and consistent enough
that it will not soon be
reversed.”
C.C. Wallen of the World
Meteorological Organization
is reported as saying,
“The cooling since 1940
has been large enough
and consistent enough
that it will not soon be
reversed.”
In 2000, climate researcher
David Viner told
The Independent, a
British newspaper, that
within “a few years,
” snowfall would become
“a very rare and exciting
event” in Britain. “Children
just aren’t going to know
what snow is,” he said.
“Snowfalls are now just
a thing of the past.”
David Viner told
The Independent, a
British newspaper, that
within “a few years,
” snowfall would become
“a very rare and exciting
event” in Britain. “Children
just aren’t going to know
what snow is,” he said.
“Snowfalls are now just
a thing of the past.”
In the following years,
the U.K. saw some of its
largest snowfalls and
lowest temperatures
since records started
being kept in 1914.
the U.K. saw some of its
largest snowfalls and
lowest temperatures
since records started
being kept in 1914.
In 1970, ecologist Kenneth
Watt told a Swarthmore
College audience:
Watt told a Swarthmore
College audience:
The world has been
chilling sharply for
about 20 years. If
present trends
continue, the world
will be about 4 degrees
colder for the global
mean temperature
in 1990 but 11 degrees
colder in the year 2000.
This is about twice
what it would take to
put us into an ice age.
Also in 1970, Sen. Gaylord
Nelson, D-Wis., wrote in
Look magazine: “Dr. S.
Dillon Ripley, secretary
of the Smithsonian
(Institution), believes
that in 25 years,
somewhere between
75 and 80 percent
of all the species of
living animals will be
extinct.”
Nelson, D-Wis., wrote in
Look magazine: “Dr. S.
Dillon Ripley, secretary
of the Smithsonian
(Institution), believes
that in 25 years,
somewhere between
75 and 80 percent
of all the species of
living animals will be
extinct.”
Scientist Harrison Brown
published a chart in
Scientific American that
year estimating that
mankind would run out
of copper shortly after
2000. Lead, zinc, tin,
gold, and silver were to
disappear before 1990.
published a chart in
Scientific American that
year estimating that
mankind would run out
of copper shortly after
2000. Lead, zinc, tin,
gold, and silver were to
disappear before 1990.
Erroneous predictions
didn’t start with Earth
Day.
didn’t start with Earth
Day.
In 1939, the U.S.
Department of the
Interior said American
oil supplies would last
for only another 13 years.
n 1949, the secretary of
the interior said the end
of U.S. oil supplies was
in sight.
Department of the
Interior said American
oil supplies would last
for only another 13 years.
n 1949, the secretary of
the interior said the end
of U.S. oil supplies was
in sight.
Having learned nothing
from its earlier erroneous
claims, in 1974 the U.S.
Geological Survey said
the U.S. had only a
10-year supply of
natural gas.
from its earlier erroneous
claims, in 1974 the U.S.
Geological Survey said
the U.S. had only a
10-year supply of
natural gas.
The fact of the matter,
according to the U.S.
Energy Information
Administration, is that
as of 2014, we had
2.47 quadrillion cubic
feet of natural gas, which
should last about a century.
according to the U.S.
Energy Information
Administration, is that
as of 2014, we had
2.47 quadrillion cubic
feet of natural gas, which
should last about a century.
Hoodwinking Americans is
part of the environmentalist
agenda. Environmental
activist Stephen Schneider
told Discover magazine
in 1989:
part of the environmentalist
agenda. Environmental
activist Stephen Schneider
told Discover magazine
in 1989:
We have to offer up
scary scenarios,
make simplified,
dramatic statements,
and make little
mention of any doubts
we might have. …
Each of us has to
decide what the
right balance is
between being
effective and being
honest.
In 1988, then-Sen. Timothy
Wirth, D-Colo., said:
“We’ve got to … try to
ride the global warming
issue. Even if the theory
of global warming is
wrong … we will be doing
the right thing anyway
in terms of economic
policy and environmental
policy.”
Wirth, D-Colo., said:
“We’ve got to … try to
ride the global warming
issue. Even if the theory
of global warming is
wrong … we will be doing
the right thing anyway
in terms of economic
policy and environmental
policy.”
Americans have paid a
steep price for buying
into environmental
deception and lies.
steep price for buying
into environmental
deception and lies.
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