Man made climate change remains a hotly debated topic. Oddly enough for a scientific issue opinion on it seems to be being driven by political allegiance. A recent study published in the science journal Nature (volume 436, page 296 if you are fussy about references) revealed the peoples views on social issues such as abortion and same sex marriage have a bearing on their opinion of climate science.

teabaggerThe reason put forward as an explanation as to why people who consider themselves on the right of the political spectrum is that the right considers itself as pro-business. The view that economic activity may be damaging the planet is resisted by business, and by those who consider themselves allied to it. Added to this is the disturbing phenomenon of denialism.

Denialism is  a strange state of mind, where people become fervent ”anti-believers” in something, and ignore all evidence that runs contrary to that opinion. Not just associated with climate change, denialism extends to other areas too. These range from the existence or extent of the holocaust, to HIV/AIDS and evolution. In the united states there is a political quid-pro-quo between those that oppose the science of evolution with those that oppose the science of climate change, each choosing to join the other in their absurd anti-science positions.

This is surely madness. The scientific progress that has given us the advances that made the modern world and extended our average life-spans beyond 30 years were based on objective unbiased observation. Flat-Earthers got us nowhere. We need to trust in evidence not belief, truth instead of manipulation. Climate scientists have a duty to improve their communication skills and to tackle the PR problems that they have encountered of late. They need to get out therewith rigorous rebuttals of the denialist idiocy, backed with facts, evidence and truth.

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