Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
24
CLIMATE SCIENCE AND ITS CRITICS
If this were an academic treatise on the best economic strategy to deal
with climate change, we would now be fi nished. We have reviewed the
science, economics, and policies. We have concluded that climate change
is serious and have laid out some of the options for governments to deal
with it. End of story.
In reality, the story continues. This topic takes climate science seri-
ously. But there are skeptics. Many people misunderstand the issues.
Doubts about the validity of mainstream climate science as well as poli-
cies to slow warming are central issues in American politics today. Here
are some examples of the contentious dialogue:
A U.S. presidential candidate:
The greatest hoax I think that has been
around for many, many years if not hundreds of years has been
this hoax . . . global warming.
The title of a book by a U.S. senator:
The Greatest Hoax: How the Global
Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future
Such views are not limited to the United States. Here are two from abroad:
A key adviser to Russian president Vladimir Putin:
No link has been es-
tablished between carbon dioxide emissions and climate change.
The former president of the Czech Republic:
Global warming is a false
myth and every serious person and scientist says so.
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