Debunking the Myth that Climate Scientists are Debating Climate Change

anarchyhasnogods (68)in #science • 7 years ago

Scientists have long since stopped debating climate change, but since then it has turned political.

Climate change is based on the assumption that greenhouse gases increase the temperature of Earth’s lower atmosphere. Greenhouse gases do this by absorbing lower energy wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, while letting higher energy ones pass through. Once these higher energy ones hit the ground they are absorbed and some of the energy is released as lower energy wavelengths, the more that are absorbed instead of going into space the higher the temperature gets.

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The Scientific Consensus

There are many ways people have proven the scientific consensus on climate change. One example was a study done by James Lawrence Powell. He took 13,590 scientific papers on the climate, ranging from 1991 to 2012, and looked at them. He took note of all of them that denied climate change in some way. Which, unsurprisingly, was a massive pile of 24 papers. Before you ask, it was not funded and each paper was reviewed by more than one person. They also had over 1,200 climate scientists help with the rating of 2,100 of their own papers.[1] Another major study of papers also found that fewer scientists with high expertise in climate deny climate change. [2]

Other studies ask the scientists directly. One study including over 1300 climate scientists asked them if they think the Earth is increasing in temperature. They found that 90% of scientists and over 97% of climate scientists agree that the climate is warming. When asked if humans were a significant contributing factor, 82% of scientists and 97% of climate scientists agreed.[3]

Expert consensus is important, nobody has time to learn everything. According to studies only 55% of the American public thinks climate scientists agree on climate change. Only 12% of Americans know that the consensus is above 90%, this is a major problem.[4][5]

The Propaganda

Unlike some areas of science, the news about the climate can have a major immediate effect on the economy. Renewable resources will reduce the world's dependence on oil, which is the most profitable business in the world. They have known about climate change and have factored that into their policy since at least 1991. The first document was from Exxonmobil, it is unknown how much other companies knew at the time. They even figured in the impact of CO2 production from the Natuna gas field off Indonesia. Despite their scientists telling them that climate change was a threat they still spend massive amounts of money misleading the public.[6]

Funding for climate-denial is often kept under wraps, and much of it is even funneled through third party organizations. These third parties do not release information about funding, so much of it can not be easily traced. Overall about 140 foundations have funneled over 550 million dollars to nearly 100 different organizations that deny climate change. (In the United States.) Koch Affiliated Foundations and the ExxonMobil Foundation were among the forerunners in climate change denial efforts, before 2008. After that they only make donations that are not traceable.[7]

Well, it wasn’t traceable until a leak in 2015. It was shown in 2014 ExxonMobil spent $659,000 on congressional campaigns, and only on those who denied climate change. They also spent $1.9 million on 15 denier think tanks. This is still small in comparison to the (at least) $10 million they spent on climate denying organizations. [8]

Propaganda denying the science has come in many forms. From politicians flat out denying it, to sending pamphlets to teachers. It is well known that politicians lie, why wouldn’t they lie about the consensus on climate change? Other organizations have sent over 20,000 pamphlets to science teachers flat out denying climate change. [9] Another example organization is Americans for Prosperity. They have held events selling extremely cheap gas, with a catch. Before you can by it you must provide your name and email to sign a petition about reforming energy policies. Another example on the other end of the spectrum is The American Legislative Exchange Council, they say climate change is inevitable and fighting it is useless. They have introduced multiple model legislation with that view in mind. (A large list of orginizations and their propaganda can be found here)

The Reality

In reality according to studies within the last 15 years, the climate may actually be taking in more carbon than it releases. This means that the planet should be in a cooling period, but we are releasing so much that it actually is increasing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. Here and here are more recent studies from 2016 and 2013. According to the 2016 one, the Earth should be cooling by 0.01 Kelvin. (Although zero change is within the possible error range.) Instead there was an increase of 0.65 Kelvin, the result of climate change.

Climate change a threat to our crops, our water, and our land. Remember "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

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