To most, global warming is an abstract idea that scientists have concluded is the terrible future we have to face up to lest humanity changes its dependence on fossil fuels and other dirty sources of energy. Many people have heard from talking heads like Al Gore or other environmentalists who constantly warm of impending doom if our planet is allowed to heat up any more – the melting of polar ice caps, the ensuing rise in ocean levels, or the horrors of radiation without a viable ozone layer are all key points in many of these speakers’ doomsday scenarios. The thought of these kinds of terrible occurrences is enough to strike fear into the hearts of those listening: surely, after reading Burton Richter’s book, or seeing Al Gore’s movie, or listening to any of the other scientists who are constantly trying to get us to pay attention to this threat, one must see that humanity’s future is very likely going to be tied to global warming. Of course, the concern over global warming varies across the world: in developed countries, it is a clear issue, whereas in poorer, developing nations, barely anyone has heard of it. However, it is clear to anyone who is listening that global warming is a very real threat.
Fortunately for energy corporations that burn fossil fuels everyday, their billions of dollars in the bank, and their politician friends, there are plenty of people who aren’t listening. It seems to be an innocent enough impulse: when we hear news or facts that sound undesirable to us, we have an innate tendency to disregard them. There are plenty of people, particularly in the US, who refuse to believe the warnings of pompous scientists and “liberal elites” of all types who want constantly to bring us this issue and shove it down our throats. Who are these people? Why do they deny what most consider fact? And why are they so damn loud and angry about it? To find some answers, one needs only to find their organizations. A simple search for “global warming deniers” reveals a host of organizations that not only don’t believe global warming, but want to debunk all of the science supporting global warming.
These groups range from the loony, “earth is flat anyway” crowd of nonbelievers who have never believed any science, let alone global warming, to more reputable groups of actual scientists who take issue with generally accepted notions. In between these extremes are the vast majority of skeptics, such as the current crop of Republican candidates who have labeled global warming a “myth.” According to a recent Gallup poll conducted in 2010, Americans’ attitudes towards global warming have become increasingly pessimistic. Nearly 48% believe global warming to be exaggerated, 35% say it will never happen (more than double the amount who responded to a similar Gallup poll in 1997). Nearly 67% think it will not pose a serious threat within their lifetimes. Americans are split about 50-50 on whether it is a man-made phenomenon. Additionally, a declining number of Americans think the majority of scientists accept global warming as a theory.
Websites like conservative author Peter C. Glover’s offer proof that global warming isn’t real by picking and choosing selective science to support their theories. In doing so, he ad other skeptics are actually doing what they accuse their opponents of doing. A closer look at the International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC) reveals that its head scientists are all New Zealanders and not involved in climate science either… a little suspect. The Global Warming Petition Project claims the signatures of over 31,000 scientists, but only 39 of the signers are climatologists: the vast majority are physicists or engineers: not the kind of people that I would think to be authorities on climate studies.
While it is impossible to generalize about any group of people, and doing so is often futile and foolish, it seems as though there is simply a level of denial among global warming skeptics that allows people with vested interests in the fossil fuel industry and the outer fringe of science to share their views. As long as someone is willing to believe something, that thing is true, at least to those who believe it. The difficulty for the climate change/green movement going forward may be to reach out to the growing numbers of nonbelievers – not with gloom and doom, but with an open mind and an understanding of the pitfalls of being too preachy.
Sources:
http://www.globalwarminghysteria.com/ten-myths-of-global-warming/
http://www.climatescienceinternational.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=280
http://www.petitionproject.org/qualifications_of_signers.php
http://www.gallup.com/poll/117772/Awareness-Opinions-Global-Warming-Vary-Worldwide.aspx
http://www.gallup.com/poll/126560/americans-global-warming-concerns-continue-drop.aspx