CofC POLS 405 Spring 2011 P. Brian Fisher

 1,372 climate researchers and their publication and citation data  Results:  (i) 97–98% of the climate researchers most actively publishing in the field support the tenets of outlined by the IPCC, and  (ii) the relative climate expertise and scientific prominence of the researchers unconvinced of ACC are substantially below that of the convinced researchers

 “The atmosphere isn’t warming; and if it is, then it’s due to natural variation; and even if it’s not due to natural variation, then the amount of warming is insignificant; and if it becomes significant, then the benefits will outweigh the problems; and even if they don’t, technology will come to the rescue; and even if it doesn’t, we shouldn’t wreck the economy to fix the problem when many parts of the science are uncertain.”

 doubters of climate science have launched an enormously clever -- and effective – campaign  Like OJ Case, just trying to instill doubt and perpetuate it…by dwelling on the cracks in a case, no matter how small they may be.  Focus on IPCC errors and climategate to create doubt play on deep-seated resistance to change.  “In the long run, the climate-deniers will be a footnote to history. But by delaying action, they will have helped prevent us from taking the steps we need to take while there's still time.”

 A dozen or so errors in the 3,000 page IPCC report (2007)  “Climategate”—server at East Anglia was hacked and s and reports stolen from many climate scholars. s from a 13 yr period.  s included:  discussions of how to combat the arguments of climate change skeptics,  unflattering comments about skeptics, and  discussions that some pundits and commentators said advocate keeping scientists who have contrary views out of peer-review literature

 “Although the scientific community has know since 1995 that we are changing our climate, the US press has done a deplorable job in disseminating that information, and all its implications, to the public.” --Ross Gelbspan, Boiling Point  Did the “Dueling Science Model” of Media Coverage (equal weight) distort the perception of the science?  RG points out that only several dozen scientists ever held the contrarian position—many of whom were not trained in climate science, and funded by oil, coal and auto industries.

 Telling “both sides” can have informational bias  Methods:  Examined articles from NY Times, LA Times, Wall St Journal, and Washington Post  Of 3,543 articles, examined a random sample of 636 articles  53% gave roughly equal attention to each side  6% emphasized doubts about the claim that human- caused global warming exists, while another 6% only included the predominant scientific view that humans are contributing to Earth's temperature