The ideologically-motivated assault on science threatens us all. Climate change is generating devastating heatwaves, wildfires, droughts, floods and superstorms. …
Then there’s the pandemics. Looking beyond COVID-19, we remain at imminent risk for catastrophic respiratory infections caused by avian or other zoonotic influenza viruses, Nipah and Hendra viruses, or new coronaviruses currently emerging in Asia. …
Another force is lurking: a massive wave of social media weaponized by bots and troll armies, books, articles, podcasts, and cable news broadcasts which downplay or dismiss the warnings, portray the scientists as enemies or villains, harass them, and even make death threats.
An entire ecosystem of antiscience has taken hold and turned deadly. COVID-19 killed an estimated 21 million people, many needlessly because they refused life-saving vaccines, while climate impacts are killing millions.
Too often, pandemic and climate denialism are ascribed to random misinformation or an “infodemic,” as though it arose by unforeseen or accidental circumstances. But it is far more pernicious.
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