Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The major Players (myth makers)
significant contributing factor in changing
mean global temperatures? In response to
the first question 90% of the respondents
answered yes, as did 82% to the second
question. The researchers found that in
general, the percentages rise “as the level of
active research and specialization in climate
science increases,” and that among those
who cited climate science as their area of
expertise and who had published more than
50% of their recent peer-reviewed papers on
the subject of climate change, the propor-
tion of positive responses rose to 96.2% for
the first question and 97.4% for the second.
Doran and Zimmerman concluded: “The
debate on the authenticity of global warm-
ing and the role played by human activity
is largely nonexistent among those who un-
derstand the nuances and scientific basis of
long-term climate processes. The challenge,
rather, appears to be how to effectively com-
municate this fact to policy makers and to
a public that continues to mistakenly per-
ceive a fundamental global change debate
among scientists.”
Scientists are certainly not infallible. Just
like the rest of society they sometimes hop
aboard bandwagons and interpret results
according to prevailing popular views. But
the very nature of science and the scientific
method encourages skepticism. The global
warming denial lobby takes advantage of
this and promotes the views of an extreme
minority to make it appear that there is no
scientific consensus on global warming and
the human role in climate change.
Among global change researchers there are
essentially no global warming deniers, as
already noted, but much discourse contin-
ues about the minutiae. Global warming
deniers, on the other hand, have a differ-
ent agenda: they seek a “truth” according
to their clients' needs or according to their
political beliefs. Those who seek to under-
stand climate change as viewed by the sci-
entific research community should ignore
prominent spokespersons such as Patrick
Michaels, Willie Soon, Nir Shaviv, Craig
Idso, Richard Lindzen, Bjørn Lomborg,
and S. Fred Singer. Organizations which
appear dedicated to promoting skepticism
on global climate change and to confusing
the public and thus delaying action include
the Cato Institute, the Heartland Institute,
the American Enterprise Institute, the
Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the
George C. Marshall Foundation. If you read
a statement about climate change with the
name of any of the above-mentioned organ-
izations attached, you should do so with
the understanding that you are most likely
reading global warming denier propaganda.
Not surprisingly, given the major role
that fossil fuels play in the greenhouse
effect, funding for climate change denier
front groups and similarly minded “think
tanks” frequently flows from the fossil fu-
els industry: the industries that stand to
benefit if greenhouse gas emissions remain
unchecked and that have the most to lose
