Climate Change Denialism
18/12/19
The fact that the climate is changing due to human activity is beyond dispute. Hundreds of scientific organisations from countries all around the world, including different economic and political regimes, all accept the conclusions of thousands of their scientists that have been working in the field for decades. Despite this, there is still a large body of the public that either find it hard to accept the fact or simply out and out deny it is happening, driven by a loud and vociferous community of climate change deniers (never climate change skeptics, the evidence is more than proportional to the conclusion it is real).
The reasons for denialism are varied. Most people are not scientifically literate and when they see debate and argument in the media, they don't always make good choices. Some are conspiratorial, they see the whole thing as a scam so that scientists can grab more grant money in order to swan around the world; or its a left wing conspiracy to control people's behaviour. Others lean on pseudoscientific studies that purport to show everything is fine or offer tropes and myths that propagate widely; myths such as ""It's the sun"", or ""it's actually cooling"", or even ""the climate has changed many times without any issues"". Some simply deny the facts out of pure selfishness to maintain a carbon-heavy lifestyle. These beliefs are driven by commentators and politicians who either buy-in themselves to these reasons or, like the fossil fuel companies, are simply greedy to maintain uninterrupted profits.
As an example of a 'Manufactroversy', climate change denial is unparalleled. A persistent campaign by fossil fuel producers and transportation manufacturers and managers has held back the public's acceptance of the facts for decades, making it much harder for us to limit and mitigate the changes we are experiencing and will continue to experience. But we must continue our efforts to call out denialism and the harm it is doing. If you are still denying the facts of human-caused climate change, go browse this excellent website as a start: