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CofC POLS 405 Spring 2011 P. Brian Fisher. Class 11: Climate Skepticism. 1,372 climate researchers and their publication and citation data Results: ( i ) 97 –98% of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field support the tenets of outlined by the IPCC, and
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CofC POLS 405 Spring 2011 P. Brian Fisher Class 11: Climate Skepticism
1,372 climate researchers and their publication and citation data • Results: • (i) 97–98% of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field support the tenets of outlined by the IPCC, and • (ii) the relative climate expertise and scientific prominence of the researchers unconvinced of ACC are substantially below that of the convinced researchers Anderegg, “Expert credibility in climate change” (2010)
“The atmosphere isn’t warming; and if it is, then it’s due to natural variation; and even if it’s not due to natural variation, then the amount of warming is insignificant; and if it becomes significant, then the benefits will outweigh the problems; and even if they don’t, technology will come to the rescue; and even if it doesn’t, we shouldn’t wreck the economy to fix the problem when many parts of the science are uncertain.” Skeptics Discourse
doubters of climate science have launched an enormously clever -- and effective – campaign Like OJ Case, just trying to instill doubt and perpetuate it…by dwelling on the cracks in a case, no matter how small they may be. Focus on IPCC errors and climategate to create doubt play on deep-seated resistance to change. “In the long run, the climate-deniers will be a footnote to history. But by delaying action, they will have helped prevent us from taking the steps we need to take while there's still time.” McKibben, “the OJ Tactic” (2010)
A dozen or so errors in the 3,000 page IPCC report (2007) • “Climategate”—server at East Anglia was hacked and emails and reports stolen from many climate scholars. Emails from a 13 yr period. • e-mails included: • discussions of how to combat the arguments of climate change skeptics, • unflattering comments about skeptics, and • discussions that some pundits and commentators said advocate keeping scientists who have contrary views out of peer-review literature Some “Cracks” in GCC
“Although the scientific community has know since 1995 that we are changing our climate, the US press has done a deplorable job in disseminating that information, and all its implications, to the public.” --Ross Gelbspan, Boiling Point • Did the “Dueling Science Model” of Media Coverage (equal weight) distort the perception of the science? • RG points out that only several dozen scientists ever held the contrarian position—many of whom were not trained in climate science, and funded by oil, coal and auto industries. Role of the media
Telling “both sides” can have informational bias • Methods: • Examined articles from NY Times, LA Times, Wall St Journal, and Washington Post • Of 3,543 articles, examined a random sample of 636 articles • 53% gave roughly equal attention to each side • 6% emphasized doubts about the claim that human-caused global warming exists, while another 6%only included the predominant scientific view that humans are contributing to Earth's temperature Boycoffs, Media Bias (2004)