Sceptics and deniers
- Healthy scepticism is a good thing. We should always examine our ideas critically and challenge ourselves to expand our understanding of the world. But this isn't what happens in climate change scepticism. Climate change sceptics strongly deny all evidence pointing to human-made climate change, but eagerly embrace any argument, media article or study that appears to refute climate change. That’s why they’re often called 'climate change deniers'.
- Climate change deniers are a very small minority. The vast majority of climate scientists - 97% - agree that humans are causing global warming. 94% of everyday Australians believe that climate change is caused by human activity. [1]
- Around 80% of United Voice members surveyed are concerned about the impact climate change will have for future generations. 84% agree that we need to switch to clean, renewable energy.
- Many climate change deniers have been exposed as receiving funding from the big polluting fossil fuel companies and their PR agents. [2]
Brendan Murphy is a United Voice delegate at Freeworld Coatings - a paint factory in Melbourne. He is a climate activist because he wants to leave the planet in a better condition for his kids and grandkids.
"If we keep going the way we are I'm worried about the world we pass on to the next generation will be shocking.
"I'm a keen surfer, and that was the catalyst to get me active on climate change. On holiday I saw the changes that have already affected the sunshine coast - erosion and pollution. In 30 years from now, when our planet is dying, people will ask 'Why didn’t we do something? Why didn’t the government show leadership?'
"You can't see CO2 but we can already feel the impact of it. The Bureau of Meteorology just reported that Victoria just had the hottest year since record began.
It's mainly the fossil fuel lobby, the mining companies and the forestry companies that are spending money to the influence the media with false claims about climate scientists. These companies are wrong. They just want it to be business as usual for the big polluters.
"We can’t delay any more. It’s going to cost a lot more to fix this problem in five or ten years, than if we take real action now. It makes me really angry. We can’t afford to take a risk with the planet – we’ve only one. It’s time to get active and do more.”
10 Common sceptics claims, and what the science really says
- Sceptics say: "It's the sun"
The science says: In the last 35 years of global warming, the sun has actually been cooling slightly. Sun and climate have been going in opposite directions. - Sceptics say: "The climate's changed before"
The science says: Natural climate change in the past actually proves that the climate is sensitive to an energy imbalance. Currently, carbon dioxide is causing just such an energy imbalance. - Sceptics say: "There's no consensus"
The science says: 97% of climate scientists agree with the major scientific organisations that global warming is happening and is caused by humans. - Sceptics say: "The planet is cooling"
The science says: Scientific measurements of the Earth's heat show that global warming is still happening. Surface temperatures sometimes cool when heat is taken up by the ocean, but overall the heating continues. - Sceptics say: "Models are unreliable"
The science says: No scientific model is perfect, but overall they have successfully reproduced past climate changes and made predictions that have been shown to be true. - Sceptics say: "The temperature record is unreliable"
The science says: Small differences in the temperature records from different locations are outweighed by the long-term trends over large regions, which show clear warming. - Sceptics say: "It hasn't warmed since 1998"
The science says:The planet has continued to accumulate heat since 1998 - global warming is still happening. - Sceptics say: "An ice age was predicted in the 70s"
The science says: There were some predictions of an ice age in the 1970s. But these appeared mostly in the mass media, while the majority of scientists were already predicting warming due to carbon dioxide emissions. - Sceptics say: "We're heading into an ice age"
The science says: We're not heading into an ice age. The warming effect from greenhouse gas emissions greatly outstrips the influence from changes in the Earth's orbit or solar activity. - Sceptics say: "Antarctica is gaining ice"
The science says: While the interior of East Antarctica is gaining land ice, overall Antarctica is losing land ice and the Southern Ocean is warming strongly.
For more science and facts to counter climate deniers, check out www.skepticalscience.com
[Footnotes]
- skepticalscience.com and Newspoll “16/02/10:Climate Change + CPRS”, survey for the Australian. http://www.newspoll.com.au/ Retrieved 22 April 2010.
- George Monbiot, 2007. Heat: how to stop the planet burning. Chapter 2: The Denial Industry. Penguin, London.
Download 'Climate change sceptics' as a printable factsheet.
