Americans are indifferent to climate change because they think, mostly correctly, that it won't affect them in their lifetimes. Future humans are an abstraction, and anyway, that's their problem, not ours. No doubt a few none-too-deep thinkers here will take this column as an excuse to further dismiss the already (in their minds) dismissed truth that human activity is warming the planet. Meanwhile we see that Russia is preparing to exploit the newly ice-free Arctic Ocean for commercial purposes, guarded by the largest Arctic fleet of warships in the world. Our own war colleges are preparing to deal with the displacement of hundreds of millions of humans from their nations of birth. "Overweening scientism" is a catchy phrase connoting contempt for eggheads, an American tradition going back forever. That's certain to please the ignoratti among Bret's readers, as I'm sure he knows. Casting doubt among such people is like chumming bait - a good way to catch the suckers.