I don’t know why some people don’t want to believe in global warming. It  reminds me of Stephen King’s novella “The Mist”. A group of people are faced with a disaster and one man, Mr. Norton and his followers, the “flat-earthers”,  are  told there are monsters in the mist and even after being shown evidence,  they refuse to believe in any danger, either out of sheer stubbornness,  stupidity or fear. This leads them to a horrible demise.  Though it may be a dramatic example, it is essentially the same. People are being told that we may be facing a potential crisis, there are numbers to back this up, but even if there wasn’t proof , why not be safe rather than sorry?  Why on earth would a bunch of scientists be pulling everyone’s legs?  Or do they just believe that these scientists are just a bunch of monkeys in lab coats?  Ah hah, maybe it is the worlds greatest conspiracy! The environmental scientists are actually funneling all their funding into developing eternal kittens, bunnies chinchillas and puppies. Guys they never age.

 

Adorable,  but this seems  more appropriate and far likely more accurate.

 

Global warming deniers attribute the warming to natural climate change patterns. These patterns can not be ignored and are absolutely something to take into account. However, it is simply ignorant to believe that our rapid growth and industrialization in the past 200 or so years isn’t having an effect on our atmosphere. The damage we can do has already been illustrated by the giant hole we made in the ozone.  Unless they want to claim that never happened too? The data for global warming is pretty clear.

 

Wikipedia enlightens us as to why denial even takes place under  the entry “Climate Change denial”

“Climate change denial is a set of organized attempts to downplay, deny or dismiss the scientific consensus on the extent of global warming, its significance, and its connection to human behavior, especially for commercial or ideological reasons.^[1][2] Typically, these attempts take the rhetorical form of legitimate scientific debate, while not adhering to the actual principles of that debate.^[3] Climate change denial has been associated with the energy lobby, industry advocates and free market think tanks, often in the United States.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} Some commentators describe climate change denial as a particular form of denialism.^”

Commercial you say? Of course, it is always about money isn’t it?  I don’t know why that didn’t occur  to me sooner. Perhaps because of how petty and dangerous this reasoning is.

Who exactly are these “flat-earthers”, these global warming deniers?

Huffington Post lists some of the most prominent in a picture slideshow with a brief description of each. This is who they are and what they say :

Glenn Beck- “The earth and the environment are the progressive replacement for God … now because of our bad SUVs, according to Al Gore, the earth has a temperature. Uh oh. Unless you woke up yesterday, or today, where the temperature in the greater New York area was I believe right around 48 degrees, here in New York in late summer. There have been maybe, I don’t know, what a week of typical summer days in New York this year. Period.”

Sarah Palin  –“A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.” August 2008

Steve Doocy, FOX News Anchor- “Despite it being bitterly cold outside in the northern plains, we hear a lot about global warming. Is there another side to this story? Many scientists would say yes, but most media outlets — the mainstream media — only cover Al Gore’s ‘Earth has a fever’ perspective. This is the worst winter in some parts of America and around the world and perhaps we should be worried now about global cooling.” March 2008

Michael Steele, Republican National Committee Chairman- “We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I use my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process.” March 20, 2009

George Will, Washington Post columnist- “George Will has repeatedly written articles for The Washington Post using misleading scientific data to suggest climate change does not exist. Despite numerous experts pointing out to Will that his columns are replete with “inaccuracies and overstatements”, Will continues to stick his guns.”

Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklah.) (And His Truth Squad)- “[A]ll of the recent science…it confirms that I was right on this thing. This thing is a hoax.”

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, (R-Missouri)- “My goal is to deliver some of our people’s hard-earned money back into their pocketbooks instead of spending it on international junk science.” July 8, 2009

David Bellamy, British TV presenter, environmentalist- “People such as former American Vice-President Al Gore say that millions of us will die because of global warming – which I think is a pretty stupid thing to say if you’ve got no proof. And my opinion is that there is absolutely no proof that carbon dioxide is anything to do with any impending catastrophe. The ­science has, quite simply, gone awry. In fact, it’s not even science any more, it’s anti-science.” November 5, 2008

U.S. Chamber of Commerce- “Humans have become less susceptible to the effects of heat due to a combination of adaptations, particularly air conditioning. The availability of air conditioning is expected to continue to increase. Overall, there is strong evidence that populations can acclimatize to warmer climates via a range of behavioral, physiological, and technological adaptations.” “Detailed Review of EPA’s Health and Welfare Scientific Evidence,” submitted to EPA on June 23, 2009

Fred Barnes, Weekly Standard co-founder- “So-called global warming… which isn’t happening.”

John Coleman, founder of The Weather Channel- “I’m only concerned about the incredible frenzy and hype for something that’s a total myth.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/22/most-dangerous-global-war_n_330614.html?slidenumber=14#slide_image

I don’t even know how to react to some of these statements. I think my head is going to explode.

Some celebrity global warming deniers may be more recognizable to you. They include (according to http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/photos/7-surprising-global-warming-deniers/donald-trump)

Donald Trump, Ted Nugent, David Bellamy and Michael Crichton.

Why do people deny Global warming? In addition to the more sociological reasons mentioned earlier, I believe there are many factors including, but limited to, fear, politics, money, religious beliefs, personal agendas, and ignorance. I could go ask one but I have a feeling any answer I get isn’t going to sound very rational.

Another sad Polar Bear.