Do 'climate deniers' have any validity?

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We all have that one friend or relative who insists climate change is a myth, but do they have any legitimacy, and if not what can we say to them?

Academic research shows that one significant factor that leads to misunderstanding about climate change is a “deliberate and organised effort to misdirect the public discussion and distort the public’s understanding."

The latest estimate is that the world’s five largest publicly-owned oil and gas companies spend about $200 million a year on lobbying to control, delay or block binding climate policy.

For this reason, it's perhaps easy to see why a person's perspective could be skewed.

According to a 2021 survey of UK residents, 80% had some concern about climate change. In comparison, 18% were not concerned, with 4% of those having no concerns at all.

The U.S. president, Donald Trump, has repeatedly denounced global warming as a “hoax” and a Chinese plot to undermine U.S. manufacturing.

Whilst some insist on weaknesses in the science of climate change, other scepticism can be more implicit, featuring the suggestion that we should wait for better technologies that will be more affordable and effective before addressing the issue. Other people are genuinely unaware of the facts.

In his book, professor and climate scientist Michael E. Mann describes six stages of climate denial:

1. CO2 is not actually increasing.

2. Even if it is, the increase has no impact on the climate since there is no convincing evidence of warming.

3. Even if there is warming, it is due to natural causes.

4. Even if the warming cannot be explained by natural causes, the human impact is small, and the impact of continued greenhouse gas emissions will be minor.

5. Even if the current and future projected human effects on Earth's climate are not negligible, the changes are generally going to be good for us.

6. Whether or not the changes are going to be good for us, humans are very adept at adapting to changes; besides, it's too late to do anything about it, and/or a technological fix is bound to come along when we really need it.

So, do climate change sceptics have any legitimacy?

Scientific observations and measurements have provided undeniable data that show temperatures have been rising, precipitation patterns have been changing, and ocean and atmospheric circulation systems have shifted throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

It is almost certainly now hotter than any time in the last 125,000 years.

According to Nasa, multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals show that 97% or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities.

In addition, most of the leading scientific organisations worldwide have issued public statements endorsing this position.

What's more, for many reasons, including economic, environmental and physiological, if climate change is allowed to continue, scientists claim it will have a negative impact on the world.

Professor Lonnie Thompson, director of the Byrd Polar Research Centre says: “virtually all of us [scientists] are now convinced that global warming poses a clear and present danger to civilization.”

At this point, with climate change not even at its fullest force, more than one million species are at risk of extinction.

In November 2019, a group of more than 11,000 scientists from 153 countries declared: “clearly and unequivocally that the Earth is facing a climate emergency” and that without deep and lasting changes, the world’s people face: "untold human suffering".

You can read more on the science of it here: