This has a funny title. It made me chuckle. I wonder how I missed this one. I must have been really busy or writing my own bites at the time. Anyway, very catchy or sticky (for the mind). I did not want to give it the 'cold shoulder.'

Great bite! I had not heard this version of the Wallace Broeker quote until today. Before then, I had only heard 'Climate system is an angry beast and we are poking it with sticks.' Love the John Cook quote? How come that is not a bite? Did I miss it elsewhere?

Love that video by Dr. Peter Griffith. I have even used it with audiences myself. He gives great presentations about climate change if you get to see him in person also. Thanks for posting this, John!

Your bite is inspiring me to get off my butt and take action to make this a better world for my nieces and nephews. Thank you!

Great bite! Can I take credit for inspiring you to write this bite? The Carl Sagan quote also reminds me of the old joke, "Just because you are misunderstood does not mean you are an artist."

Good posting! It reminds me of an ABC Good Morning American interview with Dr. Richard Somerville of the Scrips Institute of Oceanography where he talks about the ski graph slope diagram options for resolving climate change. If we start to reduce our emissions now globally, we can take a more gentle 'bunny slope' to reduce the chance of nasty consequences. If you wait 10 years, you have to rapidly reduce emissions, like a beginner skiing on a triple black diamond expert slope. Here is the link: fhttp://abcnews.go.com/Technology/video/warming-planet-9847553

Makan:
Thank you for your suggestion. I struggled with changing it to 'No silver bullets, lots of silver buckshot' - Bill McKibben. Or, 'No silver bullet but numerous silver buckshot.' In the end, I dropped Bill McKibben's name from the title and went with your suggestion, I think it looks much better now. Thanks for challenging me on this. I am very proud of this bite now. May it turn into buckshot and change the world!
Brian

Makan:
Thank you for posting this response. No, I would not use that statement with someone who is very dismissive or doubtful about climate change. It would backfire and make them feel defensive to make such a strong statement. The key with interacting with contrarians is to be likable, let them feel like you are genuinely listening to them, but hold your ground (disagree without being disagreeable).

However, I thought that statement was hilarious when I heard Bill Maher say it on youtube. It made me laugh and it may inspire another activist to laugh and take action also. It could be effective with someone who is undecided or cautious about climate change, and genuinely wants to know my response to statements that climate change is not real.

Again, the key that you, me, Tom, and others are aiming: know your audience. What works for one group may not work for another. The key is having enough tools (or soundbites) in your toolbox to rise up to the challenge.

Thanks for your perspective. May we keep challenging and cheering each other on to write better bites.

Brian

Amazing analogy. Thanks for linking it to my bite also, 'Let's build a civilization on dinosaur bones.' Your bite also reminds me of a youtube video: The Carbon Crisis in 90 seconds. Narrated by NASA scientist Dr. Peter Griffith. I got to meet him last September. I love his analogy of a piece of coal vs. a banana. Check it out when you have a chance.

Love this bite because I still think of myself as a conservative. I think we should be conserving our resourses, not polluting is a family value, we should live within our means with the resources available to the planet, I hate wasteful government spending on fossil fuel subsidies and large agriculutural industry, it is a sin against God to drive species to extinction and defile creation, investing in renewal energy is the best way right now to create jobs and strengthen America, etc.

I was arguing these items over 20 years ago back in college and I found myself increasingly at odds with other Republican conservatives. After all these years, I still wonder who are the true conservatives.

Superb bite, John. I do not know how I missed this one before. It is amazing how pregancy can make great metaphors. My college computer professor used to say, "You cannot make a baby with nine women and one month." (A metaphor used in construction. It means a properly designed building cannot be built overnight, even if you have plenty of workers) Also, there is the old expression, you cannot be a little bit pregnant. Thanks for posting this. This is helpful.

Makan: I think you misinterpreted this bite. This bite is not meant for general audiences. It is meant as a rebuttal for contrarians, such as Texas Governor Rick Perry, who have fallen in love with Galileo. Yes, Galileo is a giant in the history of science. Dismissive folks love to use Galileo as a poster child as someone who successfully went against the grain of established thought at the time. The problem with their thinking. Yes, Galileo got the big picture right: the earth revolves around the sun. However, he got the details wrong. It took scientific consensus to throw out Galileo's disproven evidence and strengthen Galileo's main argument with better evidence.

Thanks for submitting this, Gillian. Going vegetarian is such a sensitive subject for many people. I strive not to buy meat in a grocery store or restaurant. I have heard also it is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint. I have also heard that a majority of Americans do not like this advice to become vegetarian, especially with reducing the impact climate change. Americans sure love eating meat. However, it is always good to start planting that seed about thinking about a more vegetarian diet with posting this bite. I am now going to cook some California veggie burgers for me. Yum!

On Earth Day, I gave a presentation at a St. Louis Catholic school to a group of 5th graders. I planned on talking about what it is like to be a ranger and why we celebrate Earth Day. "Oh, no!" said the teacher (who actually told me a month before he is doubtful that humans could cause climate change), "You told me two months ago that you know a lot about climate change. The students want to hear about that." I quickly and very happily had to switch to a presentation where I mentioned climate change that I had prepared for a group of 7th graders two years before. Suprisingly, the students were very interested, and they were able to keep up with the science I was sharing with them. Make no mistake, many kids are concerned about climate change.

Thanks for posting this. A friend of mine in Ashland, Oregon, who has lots of business ties to China told me a couple years ago that China is going a lot of good things to address climate change that are just not being reported by the American media. For instance, every citizen in China is required to plant a tree. The first solar producing billionarie lives in China. Also, so many American firms manufacture their products in China. In a sense, America exported its pollution to China. Isn't it time for people to demand that American and other international corporations that manufature their products in China find a way to pollute less and use more renewal energy in China? Just a crazy thought I have.

Very good bite. I tried hitting 4 stars, but the website locked me in on 3 stars because I did not hit the ratings button right. I love your grandmother's quote also, "Many hands make light work."

Your quote reminded me of what Dr. Stephen Schneider said at his Climate One lecture in San Francisco in November, 2009. He actually spoke at length about this quite eloquently. He said things like, if one does not think they make a difference (with resovling climate change), then one must also ask, 'Why pay taxes and why vote? Everyone must do their due dilligence.'

He also said, 'My students will often ask me, 'What can I do because I cannot negiotate with the Chinese (about carbon emissions)? Well there is a lot you can do. You can turn of the lights and your computer when you are not using it. You can organize with other students. You can write your representative. You can educate yourself to have a good answer so when Uncle Joe quotes that paper publishing scientific expert, Rush Limbaugh.

He also had other quotes related to this also. Thanks for reminding us that we do not have to be the solution, but we do have to try to be part of the solution.

Thanks for posting this. I love Woody Allen. I had to read it twice to get the joke. However, when I did, I laughed out loud. I love so many Woody Allen quotes.

He was also quoted as saying, "I am not afraid of death, I just do not want to be there when it happens." I think this quote would be great for those of us who are alarmed about climate change. We worry about the nasty consequences of society endlessly emitting CO2 into the atmosphere, but we do not want to be there if we reach the point of no return. Therefore, if we truly our alarmed about climate change, we should do everything we can to educate others, inspired them to make changes, whiile we make changes reducing our carbon in our own lives also.

Interesting advice. I already use a lot of transition words like 'but', 'therefore' and 'however' in my writing to let the reader know I have weighed both sides of the issue. Does this mean I am possibly on my way to being a good writer?

I had not heard this quote from Einstein before, and I love Einstein quotes too. For some reason, your bite reminded me of an exchange that the late Dr. Stephen Schneider had with 52 climate skeptics in Australia that I found on You Tube. Check out on You Tube: "Insight: Dr. Ian Rivlin has trouble understanding how a bathtub fills up." Dr. Ian Rivlin questions Dr. Schneider how can human emissions of carbon dioxide be accumulative when they only amount to 3% of natural CO2 emissions each year. Stephen Schneider gives an excellent explaination how the CO2 exhaled by animals and plants is balanced by the CO2 absorbed by plants. The balance is like a gallon of water entering and leaving a bathtub. Or, $100 of your income balances to $100 of expenses. The problem is that the CO2 emmitted by humans burning fossil fuels is accumlative, it is not in balance with nature. Therefore, it causes the atmospheric concentration of CO2 to increase steadily over the past 50 years. Thus, the famous Keeling Curve. It is like having $103 of income, with $100 of expenses, your balance on your checking account will go up each year. Or, putting 1.03 gallons of water in a bathtub regularly, while the drain can only be balanced with an equal balance going out at the same flow. That bathtube will start filling up with water also. This sort of relates to your bite, but it really got me thinking. Therefore, it is a good bite.

Thank you for submitting this. It reminded me about the concept of tipping points with climate change. After all, the earth & various ecosystems can only be stretched so far with change and inputs such human induced carbon dioxide before they snap into a new normal. You actually inspired me to write my most recent school bus bite, which was inspired by a metaphor from the late Dr. Stephen Schneider.

Thanks for mentioning me in the bite. Even more, thanks for finding independent and great sources to confirm what I wrote about plankton in the comments. Just think: If Sting and his band the Police had written about plankton, the song would have been called 'Every Other Breath You Take."

Brilliant, Gillian! Thanks for posting this bite to appeal to our moral, spiritual and religious values that we must act to resolve climate change. Thanks also for linking them to my bites that have a religious theme also. I wonder if Tom Smerling could find a way to group the religious bites into a new & separate category. Just a thought. Keep posting bites! You are doing a great job!

Really like the optimism of this bite. I am all about optimism and hope with resolving climate change, so this bite does connect with me. Like I mentioned on another comment, I am in the middle of reading "The Great Disuption" by Paul Gilding. He spends a lot of time in the book talking about his hope that humanity will act to resolve climate change just in the nick of time. He likes to say "we are slow, but not stupid." This bite reminded me of this book. Thanks for posting this.

One of your best bites! Yes, you do get what you pay for in life and with society. Yes, investing in items like computers and renewable energy, instead of typewriters and fossil fuels, can make this to be a cleaner and more efficient world. Great job!

John Russell is correct: This is an excellent bite. Did you know that when you inhale twice, ocean plankton provided oxygen for your second breath? I learned this at a NASA & National Park Service conference on communicating climate change last September. According to NASA, ocean plankton provides up to half of the oxygen we consume. As matter of fact, NASA scientists like to joke with school students that they can see plankton from space satellites. No, not individual plankton! Massive groups of plankton in the ocean that can be detected by satellites. They are extremely important to us providing oxygen and they are a species, like us that alter the planet. Thank you so much for posting this.

Good analogy that there will not be a single renewable energy winner, but independence from fossil fuels will come from a mix of renewable energy. I like what Bill McKibben famously said about resolving climate change: "There is no silver bullet (one solution), but a lot of silver buckshot enable us to resolve climate change."

Interesting news that the market for financial investing and insurance may factoring in the price of climate change. Interesting ending: "Money talks loudly." It reminded me of something I just read Australian Paul Gilding say in his book, The Great Disuption: "Talk is cheap, but money buys you beer." I will be thinking about this bite also.

Interesting headline and bite. Hopeful news that coal seems to be peaking, even losing some ground, while renewable energy seems to be on the rise. Thanks for posting this.

Interesting point. Great statistics. Thanks for posting this. You will have me thinking about how fossil fuel subsidies are not helping us make this a cleaner and more renewable friendly energy world.

Interesting bite. I like the comparison to the NASA astronauts and the future with electric cars in Houston and Dallas. Who would think in very conservative Texas too! I like the statistic of having an recharging station every 8 kilometers around these cities. This bite will have me thinking about greater efforts for renewable energy. Thanks for posting this.

Looks like this bite is similar to one I posted about Dr. Stephen Schneider talking about a spot on your lungs. Addressing aspects of climate change all comes down to our value judgments. I will have to think though if this bite would be useful for me though when engaging people on climate change.

Great analogy! I am so glad you caught it to turn into a bite. I love the links to the video of the man walking the dog and the other by the very animated Dr. Richard Alley. I love his video comparing his life story with "cooling events" with the overall trend of climate change. Thanks for posting this.

Thanks for reviewing this bite, but I disagree with you. No, I would not use this metaphor at a Heartland Institute presentation or with most hard core skeptics, but it may work with some undecided and open minded folks. I would encourage you to watch the Scott Mandia presentation, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdMMeTJNNaQ, because I thought he used the analogy quite effectively. It grabbed my attention and I thought it was very cute. Keep in mind there are still some adults who still want to believe in Santa Claus. It's kind of a tradition at least in America to pretend he is real and continue the myth. Watch any news program on Christmas Eve where they chart his progress, even NASA has picked up on this in recent years. For me, it is quite jarring that climate change could have jarring impacts even on fictional characters. The Arctic melting could force society to change a long standing myth about Santa Claus living at the North Pole.

Good bite! When you get a chance, watch the 'Gasoholics' video on You Tube. It may even be linked on climatebites also. It is a hilarious stand up comedy routine. Good reminder with this bite of President George W. Bush's remark in the state of the Union in 2006. Only problem with the bite, I could not read the political cartoon. It is a shame too, because I bet it is funny.

Great analogy. I am only 5'8'', so you had me excited for a moment that I might be able to slam dunk on a basketball court if we keep raising the floor. Then, I was brought back to reality that this is about climate change and sea level rise. This is very scary to think about. Thanks for posting this.

I definitely do not want a future with an 11F warmer average temperature for the planet. I noticed you mentioned St. Louis at the end of the bite, my hometown. Where you thinking of me when mentioning a city that could experience truly awful heat waves with a 11 F rise in average global temperature? Thanks for mentioning my hometown. I almost gave you 5 stars because of that. I wonder if Larry Lazar has seen this bite yet.

Great analogy. I laughed out loud. I have it stuck in my mind just in case I get into a discussion with doubters and closed minded skeptics. Thanks for posting this.

Good analogy, John. Very scary. All of us, like the man in the picture, rising ever higher above the ground with our collective addiction to fossil fuels. Thanks for posting this.

Great bite. Thanks also to Steve Reed (who I know from Climate Reality St. Louis for commenting on this bite). I prefer the term skeptic to denier also. However, the President of the St. Louis Skeptical Society does not like this term being used for those who refuse to accept climate change. At our most recent Climate Reality St. Louis meeting, someone suggested the word "cynic" instead for those who refuse to accept the evidence.

Very concrete analogy with the shark. I like it.

Recently, the freezer door became open at my house and a lot of frozen food was spoiled. Thus, I learned in my own way inside my house that a warming arctic stinks. Great Bite!

Wow! As a student of the civil rights movement and history, this headline and bite really connected with me. Everyone matters and everyone must do their part to make a difference. When people used to say to climate scientist Stephen Schneider that individual actions will not make a difference with climate change, his response: "Then why vote? Why pay taxes? Everyone must do their part to reduce the consequences of climate change."

Thanks for posting this. I was shocked to read that every $1 invested in campaign donations yields up to $59 in subsidies. This fact will keep me up late tonight. Campaign finance reform and a major adjustment in values is needed immediately for the sake of our children and the planet.

I really like this quote by Katharine Hayhoe about the values we share in common, such as conserving resources and protecting our children. Bravo to her and you for creating this bite!

This bite really hits home. Thank you for posting this. It really helps me understand my audience as well as myself. Many people really do not want to hear how dangerous climate change can be, so denial is much more convenient for their minds to handle.

On the other hand, it can very intimidating for me to engage people on the subject of climate change. The fear that they will cut down my position, subject can be so daunting and somber, and my hesitation that I will not reach them effectively. However, a quote from Jerry Seinfeld gives me hope. He once said, "In comedy, unfortunately, sometimes people get hurt, but you still have to try anyway."

As we exchange ideas fellow climate change communicators, it is important that we keep giving each other hope and encouragement. We can get scared talking about climate change and our audience can easily slip into denial because the subject scares them also. Keep the Faith! Thank you for creating Climate Bites as a place for hope and positive inspiration for communicating climate change.

Thank you, John for tying the information together about sea level rise, coral reefs, coral bleaching and ocean acidification. This is very scary for people living on islands. Yes, it is astounding that closed minded skeptics can totally ignore how climate change could have an impact on coral reefs and people living low lying islands at sea level.

I really liked this quote by Susan Hassol. This really helps me also with the weather vs. climate argument. Thanks for posting this. By the way, I smoke, drink excessively, don't exercise, don't get enough sleep, am very stressed about my job, and eat a lot of junk food. How much of a life expectancy would Susan Hassol give me? (just kidding) Thanks for posting this.

Thank you for posting this. I really like the follow up quotes and even the analogy of Lady Bird Johnson dropping a gum wrapper on the side walk. The Louis Pasteur quote is wonderful also. The long quote by Dr. Richard Milne could even be it's own climate bite. Lots of good information nuggets here.

I was there when Scott Mandia gave you this quote and it has stuck with me ever since. I will be using it also. Very beautiful, succinct, and easy to understand analogy. Thanks so much for posting this.

Larry Lazar is correct. This quote works for me also. I think about it a lot. Thanks for quoting Susan Hassol on this also. I was there when she made those remarks at AGU in San Francisco. I was also struck by what she said also. I sure wish our country would jump at a chance to be energy independent with renewal energy just like we made the JFK goal to go to the moon within 10 years.

I really like this quote. It really crystallizes for me the thought that climate change weaves so many lines of evidence together to form an extremely strong theory of what is happening with our planet currently. Even more, I really like Dr. Richard Alley. I just watched the video "Earth the Operator's Manual." I enjoyed meeting him at the recent AGU conference in San Francisco. I found his to be very personal, friendly and has such a joy for science. Thus, anything he says I am going to give much consideration.

The movie Titanic is one of my favorites. I do see lots of comparisons between the sinking of the Titanic and the present problem of climate change if we continue business as usual. Larry Lazar is correct. Using the word "catastrophe" is to strong for many audiences. However, I do see much correlation between the Titanic and the present problem of climate change. On the other hand, I am forever an optimist that we do not have to go as the same fate as the Titanic. There are millions of little actions we can take to lessen the impact of climate change.

Thanks for posting this. I think all the time about the difference between belief and acceptance. Religion is about believing in things we cannot see. Science is about accepting the weight of the evidence presented. This bite is extremely helpful for me.

Larry Lazar is correct. This is a stunning quote of our priorities (or lack of them) human beings and how future generations will remember us. This quote makes me even more committed to follow my passion to be a climate change communicator. Thank you for posting this.

Thanks for posting this. It is amazing how much this quote holds up today. Great picture too of how much a home can waste energy. Makes me think that Theodore Roosevelt would be piping mad to see all the waste of energy and resources in today's world.

Thanks for posting this. I like the analogy you used by the glaciologist about the climate system being like a row boat: at some point if you press too hard, it is going to tip over. Very scary.

I really like this quote from Elizabeth Kolbert. Field Notes from a Catastrophe is one of my favorite books also. I have also heard Stephen Schneider use the analogy of how most home owners have fire insurance, even though there is really only about a 1 to 2% chance your house could catch on fire. Compare this to Senators, Congressman, and many closed minded skeptics who want absolute nearly 100% certainty before they believe we should act to resolve climate change. Thank you for posting this.

Love it! Very funny. That is such a cute picture of the raccoon going the the trash also. Great point also about not blaming Exxon. I found it to be very empowering. All of us must take action to resolve climate change, not just blame the big oil giants. However, we still must fight them whenever we can and encourage the development of renewal energy.

Loved the humor and analogy. Wonderful picture to go with the text also.

I do think about this analogy a lot, since I heard it a few years ago. However, I like to think though that we are headed toward a brick or concrete wall in the fog. After all, as Tom Smerling, pointed out to me: if you drive off a cliff, after the first 10 feet it does not really matter how much further you fall.

I like to say that we are driving in a fog on a slick road towards a brick wall. We are going to face some changes with climate change. We have pumped way too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution. The prudent thing to do is to slow down the car enough to hit the wall at 10 mph, instead of 70 mph.

By the way, one time my car was in neutral inside a garage in park service housing. Some maintenance guys came to work on the house. When they opened up the garage, my car rolled out and crossed the street to hit a snow back. Since it was a flat surface and my car was probably traveling at 1 to 5 mph very hour and the snowbank was soft. The car was totally fine. I got lucky. If we all continue business as usual with climate change, none of us will probably be as lucky.

Thanks for posting this.

Brian Ettling

Very alarming to read, especially with the very stark drought picture with the dead animal.

You have me interested to learn more about Fred Pearce.

Thank you for posting this.

Brian Ettling

Outstanding Bite! Great to pass along to people that the Catholic Church, one of the largest religious organizations in the world (if not the largest), accepts that climate change is real, happening right now, caused by humans, and we must act to resolve it now.

I once read a quote by the Rev. Billy Graham that "It is not right to destroy the world God has given us. He has created everything; for the Bible says, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven" (Acts 17:24). To drive to extinction something God created is wrong, for He has a purpose for everything... We Christians have a responsibility to take the lead in caring for the earth."

Climate change is also a moral issue to how we interact with God, his creation, and our care for future generations. Thanks for posting this.

I really loved this quote. I hope you elaborate more on it sometime.

Very picturesque analogy how contributing factors can lead to a heart attack. However, you cannot pin one cause on the heart attack. Just like climate change increases the chances of extreme weather events, but scientists could never say that a weather event is solely caused by climate change. Thanks for posting this.

Loved the image of the sick child. It is very appealing, cute, and funny.
Have you ever heard someone actually say: 'I hate government regulation, therefore global warming is a hoax,'? Just curious because I have not so far. However, I liked how you then go on to elaborate: "It is akin to saying 'I hate vaccines, therefore the flu cannot possibly be real.'" Great point.

You do make an interesting point that I have also noticed, "The most vociferous hostility to climate science comes from those who abhor any government regulation, and even view climate change as a plot to expand government control."

"But instead of just attacking proposed solutions, they instead try to deny that the problem even exists." This reminds me of an earlier bite that "Denial is not just a river in Egypt." Overall, very good Climate Bite.

Great point: "Just as steroids make the baseball player stronger and increase his chances of hitting home runs, greenhouse gases are the steroids of the climate system, they increase the chances of record breaking heat to occur compared to record breaking cold."

The image is effectively scary also of the overly pumped up iron man.

You have me curious to learn more about Dr. Gerald Meehl, Sr. Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

Hopefully, you will not groan too loud if I had : You won't be 'a girly man' if you do admit to friends that climate change is real and presently caused by humans.

Thanks for posting this. I actually chuckled out loud when I read, "Climate change does not cause extreme weather, just like murder is not 'caused' by guns." I like how you then elaborated, "But in the same way that an increase in the availability of firearms can make violence more frequent and more deadly, so climate change increases the likelihood and severity of extreme weather events." Good point! Very good bite.