Have you ever been at dinner parties, at the pub or talking with your in-laws and the topic of global scientific conspiracy comes up over climate change? For me, I usually say something like ‘I can assure you there is no debate on the fundamentals of climate change within climate science community – you are hearing these rumblings from non-experts that are political ideologues’. No matter what you say, sometimes figures and clearer explanations of all the classic denialist arguments like ‘The world is cooling’ or ‘It’s the sun’ or SMH’s Paul Sheehan ‘It’s the urban heat island effect‘are needed. By the way Paul, I dont think there are concrete jungles in the ocean and its warming in concert with the land (see figure below) – sorry, no conspiracy here.
Anyway, Skeptical science has launched a new Climate Science iPhone app which may be useful next time you are sitting down to someone like Sheehan or other commentators who somehow believe thousands of climate scientists are conspiring against the world.
Hi Ben,
Quick question, why do you feel that 90% of climate scientists believe climate change is caused by man, but only 40% of meteorologists believe it is. (USA stats I recently heard). Over time I have noticed that there does seem to be a difference in the level of support from these two areas of expertise. Thanks, Sue
Hi Sue, Apologies for the delay – I’ve been virtually house bound for a few months. Meteorologists vs climate scientists are fundamentally different professions and perspectives between short term noise (Met) and long-term stability (ClimSci) – here’s a brief comparative for you (http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html)