The scientific consensus is that man-induced climate change is real and is happening now! The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 assessment runs to several thousand pages, with more than 400 authors and 2,500 reviewers and the updated report, "Copenhagen Diagnosis 2009" also makes this absolutely clear, even to the most stubborn challenger.
Despite the frequent publication of denialist books (e.g. Heaven and Earth by Ian Plimer) and an ever increasing amount of anti-science gibberish on the blogosphere, there is almost no supporting scientific literature for the case against warming, and that is what really counts, the literature!
If contrarians like Plimer – who argues that volcanoes emit more carbon dioxide than humans when climate scientists state that humans emit 130 times more – really had something relevant to say surely they would submit their insights to a reputable science journal? If their conclusions were supported by data and theory they would be published and scientific debate could occur.
But Plimer doesn't publish his contrary views in the climate science journals and nor do other cranks of his ilk. They are content to appear in newspaper articles, television interviews, on the tour circuit etc… but never in the published climatology literature where their claims would be subject to scrutiny by other experts on the subject!
One of the more extreme contrarians is Christopher Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, a UK-based journalist and aspiring politician. Like many prominent deniers he is well known for making things up about himself and claiming expertise he does not have. For example he has claimed to be a member of the House of Lords and a Nobel Laureate, neither of which is true! Although he is frequently the butt of jokes I find very little amusement in his anti-science propaganda.
The trouble is that some of our politicians, Nick Minchin and Steven Fielding for example, actually regard Monckton as an expert rather than a cheap charlatan! It is disturbing to see how easily the classically educated Monckton who, it is rumoured, can be as charming as he is dangerous, fools these powerful politicians.
It falls to the voting public to remove these gullible ideologues, Minchin, Fielding, et al. from office at the first opportunity. They are a clear and present threat to future generations and must be discarded if we are to successfully meet the challenges of climate change. Whether they are actually foolish enough to be sucked in by entertainers like Monckton or whether they are cynical opportunists is hard to tell. In the end it doesn’t really matter, the potential for damage to rational public policy debate is the same.
Plimer and Monckton will be touring Australia late January and early February 2010 at the behest of some locally based anti-science bloggers. It should be a great show and I hope they get the recognition they deserve. No doubt the increasingly duped media (Bolt, Ackerman, et al.) will be there to report on the progress of those opposed to evidence-based scientific research and public policy development.
There are many reasons to debate the scientific consensus on man induced climate change be they economic, political or psychological, but from a scientific perspective there are no good ones. This is not a debate of two sides there is simply the science and the “not science”. The science is in and has been for a long time but the “not science” will, apparently, always be there, yapping away from the fringe.
Deniers have non-science agendas and they lure a lot of good people in along the way. They are often well resourced by oil, coal and industry and employ the most sophisticated marketing techniques available. Try not to get caught up in the hype of denial, remember it is about the science and that debate is long over.
The thing to do now is to accept that climate change is a problem and act on ways to address it. Such a tiny, but admittedly loud, minority of anti-science and anti-future deniers should not be allowed to take our future from us.
We need to make a lot more noise and hold our media and our politicians accountable for the lies they tell in defence of the status quo on climate change, for good or ill it’s all up to us.
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More information about this topic in our energy section
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio Data provided by Robert B. Schmunk (NASA/GSFC GISS): 2006 Fifth-Warmest Year on Record
Green directory of eco-friendly Australian businesses. This green directory is providing you all details about environmental companies around Australia. Find the green business around your place.
The scientific consensus is that man-induced climate change is real and is happening now! The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 assessment runs to several thousand pages, with more than 400 authors and 2,500 reviewers and the updated report, "Copenhagen Diagnosis 2009" also makes this absolutely clear, even to the most stubborn challenger.
