I have a theory that the real damage from climate change will result from the anti-science, anti-expert attitudes that were fostered to extend fossil fuel usage for a few more years.

If we're lucky it's just confused old people who had a bit too much lead in their childhood and the beliefs will just die out with them, but considering how long anti-evolution, anti-dinosaur etc. stuff remained an active political battle, it's somewhat depressing to imagine how long this can continue.

What scares me is that these anti-science, anti-expert values are having negative effects right now. Climate change will remain a murky unpleasantness for most of my remaining life (~50 years), boiling many frogs before the real disasters become obvious, daily occurrences.

As I see it, it began with creationism, creating a base of concerted and deliberate ignorance. That perfected the tactics used in climate change denialism. At that point it was down to a science, and they created COVID antivax literally overnight. And that's killing people right now.

That anti-evolution stuff is still an active battle. In the US, only a bare majority accept evolution. Among the political party associated with climate denialism, it's only 33% accepting a science that became obvious well over a century ago. It's part of a constellation of just-plain-false beliefs; not mere differences of opinion but simply and objectively wrong.

It will only get worse. I see it coming to a head before climate change has really gotten going. I don't know what form it will take, but I expect it to be very, very bad.

Have we become stupider or is it just the ease with which we can throw out this vitriol?

The second, plus higher amplification of untrustworthy sources due to bad incentives.

Bonfire of the credibility.