Future of Climate Change: Bill Nye Says Deniers Will 'Die' Out

The people of the world will fully come to accept climate change as real, according to Bill Nye—just as soon as the deniers are no longer of this Earth.

The scientist and renowned television host has become something of a booming megaphone in championing the threat of climate change and pushing for the world, and the United States in particular, to seek solutions. But Nye also realizes that real support for the issue is unlikely to happen just yet, due to fear and a knowledge gap between generations.

During an interview published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times, Nye said people will just have to wait for climate change deniers to "age" or "die" out.

Nye was downright emphatic when he predicted that the denial will head six feet under with the deniers.

"It just sounds like people are scared," Nye said. "It just sounds like people are afraid. And the people who are afraid in general—with due respect, and I am now one of them—are older. Climate change deniers, by way of example, are older. It's generational. So we're just going to have to wait for those people to 'age out,' as they say. 'Age out' is a euphemism for 'die.' But it'll happen, I guarantee you—that'll happen. "

Also the top dog of the Planetary Society, Nye was speaking during a Los Angeles Times Ideas Exchange event while promoting his new book, Everything All at Once: How to Unleash Your Inner Nerd, Tap Into Radical Curiosity and Solve Any Problem.

Before speaking about the fate of deniers, Nye was asked about the widely circulated Pew Research poll that showed a staunch partisan divide on the importance of attending college. The poll found that 58 percent of Republicans believe universities have a "negative impact," a huge swing from two years ago, when 54 percent of Republicans said colleges had a "positive" impact.

"This is it—the so-called experts: What do they know? They're experts, for crying out loud!" Nye said. "One's intuition about climate change is not as good as facts about climate change."

Nye also provided a statistical breakdown of how much hotter the Earth has become in the past 30 years due to the extra carbon dioxide generated by humans.

"It's extraordinary," Nye said. "It's never gone that fast ever in the Earth's history that we can tell from the geologic record. So this is what's causing climate change, that carbon dioxide going from what used to be 280 parts per million around the year 1750."

Nye added, "1750 is a year we like to choose because it's when the really usable successful steam engine was invented. It's never had this much carbon dioxide get into the atmosphere this fast. And that's why the Earth is warming so fast. And it's our responsibility. Humans did this."