The Best Climate Change Video (1958) to Forward to Your Grandparents

By Brian Merchant
Brooklyn, NY, USA | Wed Jan 6, 2010 08:00 AM ET

We all love our grandparents. But unfortunately, some think that global warming is a bunch of hooey made up to get Al Gore rich. Of course, not all grandparents fall into this category, and that characterization may be a tad unfair. Let me put it this way then--the demographic of those 65 and older is less likely to believe that there's solid evidence that climate change is occurring than the rest of the population.

According to a Pew Research poll done last October, only 50 percent of Americans ages 65 and up believe there's solid evidence that the earth is warming. Compare that with the 18-29 demographic, where 64 percent believe (which is still sadly low). And this may be why my job never comes up as a topic for discussion at family get-togethers.

To oversimplify the case, much of this may be rooted in an aversion to changing behavior--an implicit consequence in accepting the fact that the globe's temperatures are warming, and that we humans are causing it. When I'm seventy years old, and someone tells me that catastrophic consequences will greet the world unless we stop doing x--where 'x' is some action I've been doing or depending on all my life (driving cars, relying on coal-powered electricity, buying plastic goods, etc)--I'll be more disinclined to believe it, too. It's human nature.

But the fact is, there's more evidence than ever that greenhouse gases, emitted in abundance by humans, are slowly causing the climate to change. There is a huge scientific consensus that has determined that this is the case. And maybe a big part of the problem that older people resist the idea is that this seems like a sudden, new, and untrustworthy development. It's not. Scientific studies on how greenhouse gases are warming the earth began over a century ago, and those examining man's contribution commenced in the 1950s.

And so, I present to you perhaps the most forward-able video clip on climate change I've yet found. It's from a 1958 film produced by Frank Capra (It's a Wonderful Life)--about global warming. It's proof that scientists have been working toward the same conclusion--that our irresponsible emitting of greenhouse gases is warming the earth--for over 50 years. This is not a scheme dreamed up by communist czars or Al Gore. It is a truth backed by 96% of climate scientists. And it has been studied for decades. Enjoy, and forward away!