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Frequently asked questions

To view an explanation to the answer, click the [show] link to the right of the question.

Q1: Why is this article not called "climate change skepticism"?

A1: Because, while climate change deniers claim to exhibit skepticism, their statements and actions indicate otherwise. The evidence for man-made global warming is compelling enough that those who have been presented with this evidence and choose to come to a different conclusion are indeed denying a well-established scientific theory, not being skeptical of it. This is why a consensus has emerged among scientists on the matter. For example, two surveys found that 97% of climate scientists agree that humans are the main cause of global warming.^[1]^[2] According to Peter Christoff, skepticism is, in fact, essential for good science, and "Those scientists who test some uncertain part of the theories and models of climate change with ones of their own are, in a weak sense, "sceptics"." By contrast, since the scientific debate about man-made global warming is over, those who argue that it isn't or that global warming is caused by some natural process, according to Christoff, do not use valid scientific counter-evidence.^[3] Similarly, David Robert Grimes wrote that "The nay-sayers insist loudly that they're "climate sceptics", but this is a calculated misnomer – scientific scepticism is the method of investigating whether a particular hypothesis is supported by the evidence. Climate sceptics, by contrast, persist in ignoring empirical evidence that renders their position untenable."^[4]

Q2: Is this article a POVFORK?

A2: This argument has been raised many times over the years with regard to this page. For example, in 2007 the page was nominated for deletion, and the nominator referred to the article as a "Hopelessly POV fork of global warming controversy." However, this argument was roundly debunked, with User:Count Iblis perhaps providing the best explanation for why: "This article is clearly not a POV fork of the global warming controversy page. In that article the focus is on the arguments put forward by the skeptics (and the rebuttals). In this article the focus is on the "denial industry". We cannot just dump in this article what would be POV in the other article. Of course there may be POV problems with this article, but then POV disputes are not a valid argument for deletion."^[5]

Q3: Does the use of "denial" in this article's title condone the comparison of global warming skeptics/deniers to Holocaust deniers?

A3: This article takes no more of a position with regard to this comparison than the Fox News Channel article does about whether Fox is biased--that is, none whatsoever. In fact, as of 25 March 2014, the article's lead states, "Some commentators have criticized the use of the phrase climate change denial as an attempt to delegitimize 'skeptical' views and portray them as immoral." Thus the "skeptics'" argument against referring to them as "deniers" is indeed included in this article. Moreover, use of the term "denier" far predates the Holocaust.^[6]

Q4: Is there really a scientific consensus on global warming?

A4: The IPCC findings of recent warming as a result of human influence are explicitly recognized as the "consensus" scientific view by the science academies of all the major industrialized countries. No scientific body of national or international standing presently rejects the basic findings of human influence on recent climate. This scientific consensus is supported by 97% of publishing climate scientists, although there are a few who reject this.^[2]

Q5: Why does it matter whether or not there is a "consensus" among scientists? Isn't "consensus" inherently unscientific? Wasn't there a scientific consensus about many other ideas that have since been disproven, such as the earth being the center of the universe until Galileo came along?

A5: The answers to the above questions follow in the same order as the questions:

1. Because a "consensus" indicates that scientists with expertise in the relevant fields are in general agreement about some topic, such that they often refer to it as a "fact" (though technically nothing in science is ever proven with the 100% level of certainty necessary for it to be considered a fact). There is, for example, a consensus that smoking causes cancer, which is widely considered a fact.^[7]
2. No; in fact, it is essential to the progress of science, since scientific discoveries are made based on what the consensus of scientists established before them.^[8]
3. This argument is a form of the association fallacy often called the "Galileo Gambit." The best debunking of this argument may have been provided by Carl Sagan: "The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."^[9]

References

^ Anderegg, William R L; Prall, James W.; Harold, Jacob; Schneider, Stephen H. (2010). "Expert credibility in climate change". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 107 (27): 12107–9. Bibcode:2010PNAS..10712107A. doi:10.1073/pnas.1003187107. PMC 2901439. PMID 20566872.
^ ^a ^b Doran, Peter T.; Zimmerman, Maggie Kendall (January 20, 2009). "Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change" (PDF). EOS. 90 (3): 22–23. Bibcode:2009EOSTr..90...22D. doi:10.1029/2009EO030002.
^ Christoff, Peter (9 July 2007). "Climate change is another grim tale to be treated with respect - Opinion". Melbourne: Theage.com.au. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
^ Denying climate change isn't scepticism – it's 'motivated reasoning', Opinion column by David Robert Grimes, The Guardian, 5 February 2014.
^ AFD Diff, 7 August 2007.
^ Nazis, shoddy science, and the climate contrarian credibility gap
^ Uri, Shwed; Bearman, Peter (December 2010). "The Temporal Structure of Scientific Consensus Formation". American Sociological Review. 75 (6): 817–840. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
^ On Scientific Consensus
^ Broca's Brain, p. 64

Article milestones
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August 8, 2007	Articles for deletion	Kept
March 28, 2008	Articles for deletion	Kept
September 4, 2008	Articles for deletion	Kept
March 10, 2010	Articles for deletion	Kept
March 13, 2010	Articles for deletion	Kept
January 9, 2012	Articles for deletion	Kept
November 29, 2014	WikiProject approved revision	Diff to current version
March 16, 2016	WikiProject approved revision	Diff to current version

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Global warming hiatus

The article states, "Climate denial groups may also argue that global warming stopped recently, a global warming hiatus, or that global temperatures are actually decreasing, leading to global cooling" but doesn't mention the mainstream viewpoint. There should be another sentence explaining the mainstream view. I know that readers are directed to Global warming hiatus but I think a short summarization in this article would be helpful. I will leave it to regular editors of this article to make any appropriate changes. A Quest For Knowledge (talk) 13:36, 11 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Good point, the source already cited covers that point so I've summarised it, and copy-editsd the next paragraph to avoid misunderstanding the length of the observed warming trend. . dave souza, talk 17:47, 11 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Suspect sentence

Climate change denial can also be implicit, when individuals or social groups accept the science but fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action.

The problem here is that "climate change" has become a grab bag of loosely related propositions.

One should not be accused of being a climate change denier if one is nihilistic about human potential to remediate the wheels of fate already set in motion.

One could add "... to translate their acceptance into action, whether that be by attempting to forestall worsening of the situation, or laying in survival gear to ride out the inevitable calamity."

Only that isn't very encyclopedic sounding—mostly because the sentence I just modified wasn't exactly a winner in the first place, having overstated its case.

Much of the calamitization of climate change derives from "tipping point" rhetoric. Even if one believes in climate change, there can be skepticism about tipping point mechanics. And even if the tipping point is accepted, there's a choice to be made about whether to board the "precautionary" bus—attempting to ameliorate what "might" happen—or to hew to a more conservative "what seems reasonably incontrovertible" stance. And finally, there's scope for a divergence of opinion on the magnitude and urgency of the intervention demanded—supposing one believes an intervention could accomplish anything at all. Many scientists with outstanding credentials in environmental science seem to feel qualified to pontificate on intervention cost/benefit analysis. I have to admit that annoys me sometimes: it's the flip side of coin of buying into the buffet model, where it's just one giant theory joined at the hip, accepted or rejected wholesale; likewise, if you're qualified at one end, you're qualified for the whole deal. But it's actually not joined at the hip in that manner. There's an entire set of related propositions, each of which can reasonably be argued independently, on different expertise. — MaxEnt 03:39, 25 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The problem seems to be your original research, please show reliable published sources for any changes you want to make. The sentence summarises an issue discussed in this source. . . dave souza, talk 04:49, 25 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Center for American Progress#Center for American Progress Action Fund

I've removed some additions citing that fund as a source. I don't think we can count think tanks as reliable sources or just quote what they say - we need a reliable secondry source like a newspaper to say something about what they said I believe. Dmcq (talk) 16:23, 5 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The reliable sources noticeboard which is good for resolving this type of problem is at WP:RSN. Dmcq (talk) 16:38, 5 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

A 2017 study by the Center for American Progress Action Fund of climate change denial in the United States Congress defined a climate change denying legislator as any who:

has questioned or denied the scientific consensus behind human-caused climate change;

answered climate questions with the “I'm not a scientist” dodge;

claimed the climate is always changing (as a way to dodge the implications of human-caused warming);

failed to acknowledge that climate change is a serious threat; or

questioned the extent to which human beings contribute to global climate change.^[1]^[2]

Also

A 2017 study by the Center for American Progress Action Fund of climate change denial in the United States Congress found 180 members who deny the science behind climate change; all were members of the Republican Party.^[1]^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "RELEASE: CAP Action Releases 2017 Anti-Science Climate Denier Caucus". Center for American Progress Action Fund. April 28, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
^ ^a ^b Moser, Claire; Koronowski, Ryan (April 28, 2017). "The Climate Denier Caucus in Trump's Washington". ThinkProgress. Retrieved September 5, 2017. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

This update to the article summarizes a recent source which contributes an explicit, recent, operational definition of "climate change denial." The definition serves as a useful characterization of diverse dimensions of climate change denial. The source is an example of a study which offers an explicit definition. The source is reliable for its own definition of climate change denial. The sourcing is documented via citations and in-text attribution for possible bias in full conformance with policies and guidelines including WP:YESPOV. The article talk page is the appropriate venue for article content issues. ECarlisle (talk) 16:48, 5 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Think tanks aren't a reliable source of anything except their own opinions. What's so much better about this than anything the Heartland Institute says? We need some decent third-party source like a newspaper which has taken some notice of it and reports on it or some academic source. Dmcq (talk) 16:57, 5 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

We agree, of course the two sources reporting on the study are reliable for the contents of the study itself, and so are perfectly acceptable on Wikipedia with in-text attribution as per WP:YESPOV, please see. ECarlisle (talk) 22:54, 7 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I do not understand what you wrote above - I fail to see where we agree. ThinkProgress is a mouthpiece for the Center for American Progress rather than being a third party reporter or a reliable source. I removed the bit about Obama because it was WP:OR "To demonstrate that you are not adding OR, you must be able to cite reliable, published sources that are directly related to the topic of the article, and directly support the material being presented", they didn't mention climate change denial or skepticism or anything like that. Dmcq (talk) 23:02, 7 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Clarify Obama on climate change

In the "Public sector" subsection:

In 2015, environmentalist Bill McKibben accused President Obama of "Catastrophic Climate-Change Denial", for his approval of oil-drilling permits in offshore Alaska. According to McKibben, the President has also "opened huge swaths of the Powder River basin to new coal mining." McKibben calls this "climate denial of the status quo sort", where the President denies "the meaning of the science, which is that we must keep carbon in the ground." ^[1] Obama often identified climate change as the greatest long-term threat facing the world.^[2]^[3]

References

^ "Obama’s Catastrophic Climate-Change Denial" by Bill McKibben, NY Times op-ed, 12 May 2015.
^ Hirschfield Davis, Julie; Landler, Mark; Davenport, Coral (September 8, 2016). "Obama on Climate Change: The Trends Are 'Terrifying'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
^ Park, Madison (January 21, 2015). "Obama: No greater threat to future than climate change". CNN. Retrieved September 7, 2017.

Proposed humble addition in bold. McKibben's views are relevant and help illustrate the issues with the wide range of interpretations of what "climate change denial" means. Here, we present McKibben's view that all that do not oppose all carbon extraction are deniers. Yes, some including McKibben were disappointed with Obama's response to climate change. However, including McKibben's accusation in the "public sector" subsection of this article without clarification may mislead our readers. Obama was in fact outspoken in acknowledging the threat of climate change, the most outspoken President in history on this issue, and was not generally considered a climate change denier, so to that extent McKibben's view is minority, and the sumamrization of the McKibben accusation source requires balance. ECarlisle (talk) 23:18, 7 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

[Anderegg-1] Anderegg, William R L; Prall, James W.; Harold, Jacob; Schneider, Stephen H. (2010). "Expert credibility in climate change". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 107 (27): 12107–9. Bibcode:2010PNAS..10712107A. doi:10.1073/pnas.1003187107. PMC 2901439. PMID 20566872.

[DZ_EOS_2009-2] Doran, Peter T.; Zimmerman, Maggie Kendall (January 20, 2009). "Examining the Scientific Consensus on Climate Change" (PDF). EOS. 90 (3): 22–23. Bibcode:2009EOSTr..90...22D. doi:10.1029/2009EO030002.

[Christoff-3] Christoff, Peter (9 July 2007). "Climate change is another grim tale to be treated with respect - Opinion". Melbourne: Theage.com.au. Retrieved 19 March 2010.

[4] Denying climate change isn't scepticism – it's 'motivated reasoning', Opinion column by David Robert Grimes, The Guardian, 5 February 2014.

[5] AFD Diff, 7 August 2007.

[6] Nazis, shoddy science, and the climate contrarian credibility gap

[Shwed_and_Bearman_2010-7] Uri, Shwed; Bearman, Peter (December 2010). "The Temporal Structure of Scientific Consensus Formation". American Sociological Review. 75 (6): 817–840. Retrieved 18 December 2010.

[8] On Scientific Consensus

[9] Broca's Brain, p. 64

[cap20170428-10] "RELEASE: CAP Action Releases 2017 Anti-Science Climate Denier Caucus". Center for American Progress Action Fund. April 28, 2017. Retrieved September 5, 2017.

[thinkprogress20170428-11] Moser, Claire; Koronowski, Ryan (April 28, 2017). "The Climate Denier Caucus in Trump's Washington". ThinkProgress. Retrieved September 5, 2017. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[12] "Obama’s Catastrophic Climate-Change Denial" by Bill McKibben, NY Times op-ed, 12 May 2015.

[trendsareterrifying-13] Hirschfield Davis, Julie; Landler, Mark; Davenport, Coral (September 8, 2016). "Obama on Climate Change: The Trends Are 'Terrifying'". The New York Times. Retrieved September 7, 2017.

[14] Park, Madison (January 21, 2015). "Obama: No greater threat to future than climate change". CNN. Retrieved September 7, 2017.

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@@ Line 139: / Line 139: @@
 :::We agree, of course the two sources reporting on the study are reliable for the contents of the study itself, and so are perfectly acceptable on Wikipedia with in-text attribution as per [[WP:YESPOV]], please see. [[User:ECarlisle|ECarlisle]] ([[User talk:ECarlisle|talk]]) 22:54, 7 September 2017 (UTC)
 ::::I do not understand what you wrote above - I fail to see where we agree. [[ThinkProgress]] is a mouthpiece for the [[Center for American Progress]] rather than being a third party reporter or a reliable source. I removed the bit about Obama because it was [[WP:OR]] "To demonstrate that you are not adding OR, you must be able to cite reliable, published sources that are directly related to the topic of the article, and directly support the material being presented", they didn't mention climate change denial or skepticism or anything like that. [[User:Dmcq|Dmcq]] ([[User talk:Dmcq|talk]]) 23:02, 7 September 2017 (UTC)
+== Clarify Obama on climate change ==
+In the "Public sector" subsection:
+<blockquote>In 2015, environmentalist [[Bill McKibben]] accused President Obama of "Catastrophic Climate-Change Denial", for his approval of oil-drilling permits in offshore Alaska. According to McKibben, the President has also "opened huge swaths of the [[Powder River basin]] to new coal mining." McKibben calls this "climate denial of the status quo sort", where the President denies "the meaning of the science, which is that we must keep carbon in the ground." <ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/13/opinion/obamas-catastrophic-climate-change-denial.html "Obama’s Catastrophic Climate-Change Denial"] by [[Bill McKibben]], NY Times op-ed, 12 May 2015.</ref> '''Obama often identified climate change as the greatest long-term threat facing the world.'''<ref name="trendsareterrifying">{{cite news|last1=Hirschfield Davis |first1=Julie |last2=Landler |first2=Mark |last3=Davenport |first3=Coral |title=Obama on Climate Change: The Trends Are 'Terrifying’ |accessdate=September 7, 2017 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 8, 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/us/politics/obama-climate-change.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Obama: No greater threat to future than climate change |first=Madison |last=Park |agency=[[CNN]] |date=January 21, 2015 |accessdate=September 7, 2017 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/21/us/climate-change-us-obama/index.html}}</ref></blockquote>
+{{reflist-talk}}
+Proposed humble addition in '''bold'''. McKibben's views are relevant and help illustrate the issues with the wide range of interpretations of what "climate change denial" means. Here, we present McKibben's view that all that do not oppose all carbon extraction are deniers. Yes, some including McKibben were disappointed with Obama's response to climate change. However, including McKibben's accusation in the "public sector" subsection of this article without clarification may mislead our readers. Obama was in fact outspoken in acknowledging the threat of climate change, the most outspoken President in history on this issue, and was not generally considered a climate change denier, so to that extent McKibben's view is minority, and the sumamrization of the McKibben accusation source requires balance. [[User:ECarlisle|ECarlisle]] ([[User talk:ECarlisle|talk]]) 23:18, 7 September 2017 (UTC)