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Posts Tagged ‘denial’

Anthropogenic global warming (AGW) deniers went crazy a few months ago with an email controversy involving the University of East Anglia in Britain. Joining an earlier finding by the House of Commons, a British panel has just issued a sweeping exoneration of all scientists involved. Climatologist Phil Jones was immediately reinstated in his position at the research unit (he had “stepped aside” during the investigation proceedings). Check out the New York Times for more info.

AGW deniers will likely spin this any number of different ways, probably including something along the lines of “the entire British government is simply in on this vast, global conspiracy of man-made global warming!” Why? Because the hysteria over AGW denialism is not based on science and facts – it is based on preconceived world views , propaganda and self-interests.

The truth has always been, and remains, that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree AGW is real and likely one of the greatest threats mankind has ever faced. There is a vast amount of scientific research and study from many different fields of science that confirm AGW, and no evidence coming out of the scientific community that anything else could account for the changes we are seeing in our climate.

This war against science is led by large fossil-fuel corporations and their sponsored think-tanks who want to defer their accountability and responsibilities for as long as possible. In light of the BP Gulf spill the time has finally come when all people on this planet, even staunch, right-wing Americans, need to join in solidarity and move our country and our planet away from a fossil-fuel reliant economy and forward into an energy future based on renewable energy and social justice.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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The words sound similar, but are they? Here are the definitions from Webster:

Climatology: the science that deals with climates and their phenomena

Meteorology: a science that deals with the atmosphere and its phenomena and especially with weather and weather forecasting

So even their definitions seem similar, at least on the surface. But as Stephen Colbert points out in this great segment, though Astronomy and Astrology might seem similar as well, they are quite different. Likewise with climatology and meteorology there are important differences that must be clearly understood if man-made global warming is going to be addressed.

Both are defined as “science” and both have schools and degrees associated with them. In truth, however, most of the people we call meteorologists are not scientists. They are news anchors with no advanced degrees of any kind, merely an undergraduate degree in journalism. Take John Coleman for example – the founder of the Weather Channel and much-touted global warming denier. He has no advanced degree of any kind. He is a journalist. Yet, for some reason, his opinion is considered by the general public, and particularly certain information outlets such as Fox News, to be on par with climatologists who have multiple doctorate degrees.

Most meteorologists the general public knows about are simply newscasters, not scientists. They don’t have any greater understanding of climatology than say, me for example. And trying to equate meteorology to climatology is as inappropriate as attempting to equate weather to climate (as many global warming deniers tried to do this past winter with their Snowpocalypse propaganda). Though weather can be affected by climate they are certainly not the same, and certainly need to have any relating trends proven over a multi-year period. If we want information and science, lets stick with the actual scientists and not a bunch of yahoo pundits looking to glorify their position.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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According to this article from the New York Times, a “major trade group for the insurance industry” has taken the stance that global warming may, after all, be the scam all those talk radio and Fox News pundits are claiming it is. This group is the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, or NAMIC.

In a letter to insurance regulators, NAMIC makes statements denying the legitimacy of global warming science, making outlandish claims such as the University of East Anglia climatologists “actively colluded to subvert the peer-review process,” amongst other things. Apparently NAMIC prefers the cherry-picked misquotes of personal emails to the vast array of climate science available. That’s what they’ve armed themselves with to challenge the established scientific theories on anthropogenic global warming. None of these insurance businessmen are climatologists, but they feel they have the expertise and qualifications to make judgments about policy and how it relates to the threat of global climate change.

Overall, however, insurance companies still seem concerned about climate change, and for good reason. Insurance companies stand to lose vast amounts of money due to the changes scientists predict – some companies could go bankrupt depending on how bad and how quickly the effects occur. Perhaps this is just fear run amuck through certain insurance company circles, but that doesn’t make it any less irresponsible or dangerous. At a time when we need focused calculation and attention paid to the ever-increasing threats of global warming we are, instead, getting hysteria and misinformation. If NAMIC wants to join the likes of Glen Beck and Mark Levin let us at least hope that insurance regulators will take them just as seriously as those fine gentlemen.

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By promoting cleaner energy, cleaner government, and cleaner air for all Texans, we hope to provide for a healthy place to live and prosper. We are Public Citizen Texas.

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