Trump spoke for several minutes out of his near-hour speech on climate change during his address to the United Nations General Assembly, criticizing the European Union for reducing its carbon footprint, which he claimed has taken a toll on its economy, and warning countries that have invested heavily in renewable energy that their economies will suffer.
“It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump told the General Assembly. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong.”
He added: “They were made by stupid people that have cost their country’s fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success.”
Ok so if I am a car mechanic and you bring your car into me because you have a weird sound with your car and I tell you “You better get this problem fixed, I am not sure what will happen if you let this part fully break but it isn’t going to be good, it is connected to a bunch of other parts of your car and may break them too.” and then you proceed to say “You are an idiot you can’t even tell me precisely what is going to happen!!!” and leave without getting your car fixed by me… am I really the fool here?
Climate Scientists are interested in predictions so far as they inform how they advise on the details of risk, but Climate Scientists don’t need any specific predictions to point out that pushing fundamental aspects of the Climate System of Earth out of whack will likely break a whole bunch of stuff.
It is like saying that because a windshield designer can’t predict EXACTLY how a windshield will shatter in a particular car crash that they obviously are full of shit otherwise they would be able to tell you perfectly where the crack will start on the windshield and in what pattern it will precisely crack before completely shattering.
The REASON Climate Scientists are drawn to study the climate is because it is beautifully complex, highly interconnected and fascinating. The reason anti-intellectuals like Trump are threatened by Climate Scientists is because at some level they understand this and it scares them that people could live in such an openminded way.