104-511: The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition was a anthropogenic climate change denial organisation in New Zealand, formed in 2006 with aim of "refuting what it believes were unfounded claims about anthropogenic global warming ". The Coalition came to prominence in 2010 when it challenged the methodology and accuracy of NIWA 's historical temperature records in court. The Coalition lost the case, could not afford to pay costs awarded against it and
208-443: A sociocultural perspective and argue that the solution to it is fixing a dysfunction in society, not in the person's brain. Some people may also deny that they have a mental illness after being diagnosed, and certain analysts argue this denialism is usually fueled by narcissistic injury . Anti-psychiatry movements such as Scientology promote mental illness denial by having alternative practices to psychiatry . Election denial
312-538: A taxonomy of climate change skepticism . Later the model was also applied to denial: The National Center for Science Education describes climate change denial as disputing differing points in the scientific consensus, a sequential range of arguments from denying the occurrence of climate change, accepting that but denying any significant human contribution, accepting these but denying scientific findings on how this would affect nature and human society, to accepting all these but denying that humans can mitigate or reduce
416-408: A case-by-case basis before introduction. Nonetheless, members of the public are much less likely than scientists to perceive GM foods as safe. The legal and regulatory status of GM foods varies by country, with some nations banning or restricting them, and others permitting them with widely differing degrees of regulation. Psychological analyses indicate that over 70% of GM food opponents in
520-419: A century that even this small proportion has a significant warming effect, and doubling the proportion leads to a large temperature increase. Some groups allege that water vapor is a more significant greenhouse gas, and is left out of many climate models. But while water vapor is a greenhouse gas, its very short atmospheric lifetime (about 10 days) compared to that of CO 2 (hundreds of years) means that CO 2
624-545: A changing climate. Some climate change deniers claim that there is no scientific consensus on climate change, that any evidence for a scientific consensus is faked, or that the peer-review process for climate science papers has become corrupted by scientists seeking to suppress dissent. No evidence of such conspiracies has been presented. In fact, much of the data used in climate science is publicly available, contradicting allegations that scientists are hiding data or stonewalling requests. Some climate change deniers assert that
728-436: A common tactic used by denialists is to "make great play of the inescapable indeterminacy of figures and statistics". Historian Taner Akçam states that denialism is commonly believed to be negation of facts, but in fact "it is in that nebulous territory between facts and truth where such denialism germinates. Denialism marshals its own facts and it has its own truth." Focusing on the rhetorical tactics through which denialism
832-460: A food policy analyst at the Hudson Institute . Avery's list was immediately called into question for misunderstanding and distorting the conclusions of many of the named studies and citing outdated, flawed studies that had long been abandoned. Many of the scientists on the list demanded their names be removed. At least 45 of them had no idea they were included as "co-authors" and disagreed with
936-498: A global scientific conspiracy or engaged in a manipulative hoax. The Great Global Warming Swindle is a 2007 British polemical documentary film directed by Martin Durkin that denies the scientific consensus about the reality and causes of climate change, justifying this by suggesting that climatology is influenced by funding and political factors. The film strongly opposes the scientific consensus on climate change. It argues that
1040-416: A lecturer in philosophy at Exeter University writes that "An accusation of 'denial' is serious, suggesting either deliberate dishonesty or self-deception. The thing being denied is, by implication, so obviously true that the denier must be driven by perversity, malice or wilful blindness." He suggests that, by the introduction of the word denier into further areas of historical and scientific debate, "One of
1144-559: A mainstream and scientific consensus engage in denialism when they use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of argument and legitimate debate , when there is none. It is a process that operates by employing one or more of the following five tactics to maintain the appearance of legitimate controversy: Common tactics to different types of denialism include misrepresenting evidence, false equivalence, half-truths, and outright fabrication. South African judge Edwin Cameron notes that
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#17328691429021248-435: A more comfortable lie". If one party to a debate accuses the other of denialism they are framing the debate. This is because an accusation of denialism is both prescriptive and polemic : prescriptive because it carries implications that there is truth to the denied claim; polemic since the accuser implies that continued denial in the light of presented evidence raises questions about the other's motives. Edward Skidelsky,
1352-513: A number of articles some of which have strongly and negatively influenced the public opinion on GM crops and even provoked political actions, such as GMO embargo, share common flaws in the statistical evaluation of the data. Having accounted for these flaws, we conclude that the data presented in these articles does not provide any substantial evidence of GMO harm. The presented articles suggesting possible harm of GMOs received high public attention. However, despite their claims, they actually weaken
1456-624: A number of source, which are confidential" to take the case to court. In 2007, the Heartland Institute , which rejects mainstream scientific information about man-made climate change, granted the Coalition US$ 25,000 (NZ$ 32,000) sending the money to NZCSC member Owen McShane. In making his decision in favour of NIWA, Justice Venning noted that at least two of the people representing the Coalition at court did not have scientific qualifications in
1560-793: A powerful group's secret plot or plan. People with certain cognitive tendencies are also more drawn than others to conspiracy theories about climate change. Conspiratorial beliefs are more predominantly found in narcissistic people and those who consistently look for meanings or patterns in their world, including believers in paranormal activity. Climate change conspiracy disbelief is also linked to lower levels of education and analytic thinking. Scientists are investigating which factors associated with conspiracy belief can be influenced and changed. They have identified "uncertainty, feelings of powerlessness, political cynicism, magical thinking, and errors in logical and probabilistic reasoning". In 2012, researchers found that belief in other conspiracy theories
1664-452: A real disease, they attribute it to some combination of recreational drug use , malnutrition, poor sanitation, and side effects of antiretroviral medication , rather than infection with HIV. However, the evidence that HIV causes AIDS is scientifically conclusive and the scientific community rejects and ignores AIDS-denialist claims as based on faulty reasoning, cherry picking , and misrepresentation of mainly outdated scientific data. With
1768-555: A scientific controversy where there is none. Climate change denial includes unreasonable doubts about the extent to which climate change is caused by humans , its effects on nature and human society , and the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions. To a lesser extent, climate change denial can also be implicit when people accept the science but fail to reconcile it with their belief or action . Several studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism, pseudoscience , or propaganda . AIDS denialism
1872-537: A single repetition of a claim was sufficient to increase the perceived truth of both climate science-aligned claims and climate change skeptic/denial claims—"highlighting the insidious effect of repetition". This effect was found even among climate science endorsers. Many of the climate change deniers have disagreed, in whole or part, with the scientific consensus regarding other issues, particularly those relating to environmental risks, such as ozone depletion , DDT , and passive smoking . Science denial In
1976-491: A spectrum of statin denialism ranging from pseudoscientific claims to the understatement of benefits and overstatement of side effects, all of which is contrary to the scientific evidence. Mental illness denial or mental disorder denial is where a person denies the existence of mental disorders . Serious analysts, as well as pseudoscientific movements, question the existence of certain disorders. A minority of professional researchers see disorders such as depression from
2080-671: A stark shift for the Bush administration, the United States has sent a climate report [ U.S. Climate Action Report 2002 ] to the United Nations detailing specific and far-reaching effects it says global warming will inflict on the American environment. In the report, the administration also for the first time places most of the blame for recent global warming on human actions—mainly the burning of fossil fuels that send heat-trapping greenhouse gases into
2184-406: A widespread and systematic climate change denial campaign to seed public disinformation, a strategy that has been compared to the tobacco industry 's organized denial of the hazards of tobacco smoking . Some of the campaigns are even carried out by the same people who previously spread the tobacco industry's denialist propaganda. Climate change denial refers to denial, dismissal, or doubt of
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#17328691429022288-639: Is a form of politically motivated denialism. Nakba denial refers to attempts to downgrade, deny and misdescribe the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during the Nakba , in which four-fifths of all Palestinians were driven off their lands and into exile. Sonja Biserko , president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia , and Edina Bečirević, the Faculty of Criminalistics, Criminology and Security Studies of
2392-573: Is a greenhouse gas saturation effect that significantly decreases the warming potential of further gases released into the atmosphere. Such an effect does exist in some form, as Happer's research demonstrates, but is likely negligible with respect to net global warming. Climate change denial literature often features the suggestion that we should wait for better technologies before addressing climate change, when they will be more affordable and effective. Climate denial groups often point to natural variability, such as sunspots and cosmic rays, to explain
2496-448: Is a major source of concern among historians and it is frequently used to falsify or distort accepted historical events. In attempting to revise the past, negationists are distinguished by the use of techniques inadmissible in proper historical discourse, such as presenting known forged documents as genuine, inventing ingenious but implausible reasons for distrusting genuine documents, attributing conclusions to books and sources that report
2600-543: Is achieved in language, in Alex Gillespie (2020) of the London School of Economics has reviewed the linguistic and practical defensive tactics for denying disruptive information. These tactics are conceptualized in terms of three layers of defence: In 2009, author Michael Specter defined group denialism as "when an entire segment of society, often struggling with the trauma of change, turns away from reality in favor of
2704-476: Is allowed to fly over or explore Antarctica , despite contrary evidence. According to them, all photos and videos of ships sinking under the horizon and of the bottoms of city skylines and clouds below the horizon, revealing the curvature of the Earth , have been manipulated , computer-generated , or somehow faked. Therefore, regardless of any scientific or empirical evidence provided, flat-Earthers conclude that it
2808-401: Is called cognitive dissonance in psychology terms. Anthropologist Didier Fassin distinguishes between denial , defined as "the empirical observation that reality and truth are being denied", and denialism , which he defines as "an ideological position whereby one systematically reacts by refusing reality and truth". Persons and social groups who reject propositions on which there exists
2912-453: Is caused solely by the burning of fossil fuels, restricting their use would damage the world economy more than the increases in global temperature. Conversely, the general consensus is that early action to reduce emissions would help avoid much greater economic costs later, and reduce the risk of catastrophic, irreversible change. Earlier, climate change deniers' online YouTube content focused on denying global warming, or saying such warming
3016-586: Is debated: most of those actively rejecting the scientific consensus use the terms skeptic and climate change skepticism , and only a few have expressed preference for being described as deniers. But the word "skepticism" is incorrectly used, as scientific skepticism is an intrinsic part of scientific methodology. In fact, all scientists adhere to scientific skepticism as part of the scientific process that demands continuing questioning. Both options are problematic, but climate change denial has become more widely used than skepticism . The term contrarian
3120-539: Is fabricated or altered in some way. When linked to other observed phenomena such as gravity, sunsets, tides, eclipses, distances and other measurements that challenge the flat earth model, claimants replace commonly-accepted explanations with piecemeal models that distort or over-simplify how perspective, mass, buoyancy, light or other physical systems work. These piecemeal replacements rarely conform with each other, finally leaving many flat-Earth claimants to agree that such phenomena remain "mysteries" and more investigation
3224-442: Is false dismissal of the outcome of a fair election. Stacey Abrams denied the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election was "a free and fair election" and spent $ 22 million in "largely unsuccessful" litigation. Since the 2020 United States presidential election , there has been an ongoing stolen election conspiracy theory about the 2020 presidential election . Historical negationism, the denialism of widely accepted historical facts,
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3328-495: Is more specific but less frequently used. In academic literature and journalism, the terms climate change denial and climate change deniers have well-established usage as descriptive terms without any pejorative connotation. The terminology evolved and emerged in the 1990s. By 1995 the word "skeptic" was being used specifically for the minority who publicized views contrary to the scientific consensus . This small group of scientists presented their views in public statements and
3432-505: Is not caused by humans burning fossil fuel. As such denials became untenable, content shifted to asserting that climate solutions are unworkable, that global warming is harmless or even beneficial, and that the environmental movement is unreliable. A 2016 article in Science made the case that opposition to climate policy was beginning to take a "rhetorical shift away from outright skepticism" and called this neoskepticism . Rather than denying
3536-405: Is similar to Holocaust denial since it is a form of pseudoscience that "contradicts an immense body of research". Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of
3640-578: Is taught in Turkish schools; some Turkish citizens who acknowledge the genocide have faced prosecution for " insulting Turkishness ". Turkey's century-long effort to deny the genocide sets it apart from other historical cases of genocide. Holocaust denial refers to the denial of the murder of 5 to 6 million Jews by the Nazis in Europe during World War 2 . In this context, the term is a subset of genocide denial , which
3744-525: Is that adaptation will protect present and future generations from climate-sensitive risks far more than efforts to restrict CO 2 emissions." The adaptation-only plan is also endorsed by oil companies like ExxonMobil. According to a Ceres report, "ExxonMobil's plan appears to be to stay the course and try to adjust when changes occur. The company's plan is one that involves adaptation, as opposed to leadership." The George W. Bush administration also voiced support for an adaptation-only policy in 2002. "In
3848-420: Is the denial that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS denialism has been described as being "among the most vocal anti-science denial movements". Some denialists reject the existence of HIV, while others accept that the virus exists but say that it is a harmless passenger virus and not the cause of AIDS. Insofar as denialists acknowledge AIDS as
3952-475: Is the primary driver of increasing temperatures; water vapor acts as a feedback, not a forcing , mechanism. Climate denial groups may also argue that global warming has stopped, that a global warming hiatus is in effect, or that global temperatures are actually decreasing, leading to global cooling . These arguments are based on short-term fluctuations and ignore the long-term pattern. Some groups and prominent deniers such as William Happer argue that there
4056-706: Is the study of why people deny climate change, despite the scientific consensus on climate change . A study assessed public perception and action on climate change on grounds of belief systems, and identified seven psychological barriers affecting behavior that otherwise would facilitate mitigation , adaptation , and environmental stewardship : cognition, ideological worldviews, comparisons to key people, costs and momentum, disbelief in experts and authorities, perceived risks of change, and inadequate behavioral changes. Other factors include distance in time, space, and influence. A study published in PLOS One in 2024 found that even
4160-405: Is to be done. In this conclusion, adherents remain open to all explanations except the commonly accepted globular Earth model, shifting the debate from ignorance to denialism. There is a scientific consensus that currently available food derived from genetically modified crops (GM) poses no greater risk to human health than conventional food, but that each GM food needs to be tested on
4264-607: The California genocide . Armenian genocide denial is the negationist claim that the Ottoman Empire and its ruling party, the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), did not commit genocide against its Armenian citizens during World War I —a crime documented in a large body of evidence and affirmed by the vast majority of scholars. The perpetrators denied the genocide as they carried it out, claiming that Armenians in
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4368-674: The IPCC Fourth Assessment Report as "dangerous unscientific nonsense" and "lacking in scientific rigour". Mr Gray spent much of his retirement criticising the IPCC. In August 2010, the Coalition commenced legal action against the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research , asking the High Court to invalidate its official temperature record, to prevent it using the temperature record when advising Government and to require
4472-516: The Times was increasingly using denier when "someone is challenging established science", but assessing this on an individual basis with no fixed policy, and would not use the term when someone was "kind of wishy-washy on the subject or in the middle". The executive director of the Society of Environmental Journalists said that while there was reasonable skepticism about specific issues, she felt that "denier"
4576-567: The consensus on climate change is the product of "a multibillion-dollar worldwide industry: created by fanatically anti-industrial environmentalists; supported by scientists peddling scare stories to chase funding; and propped up by complicit politicians and the media". The programme's publicity materials claim that man-made global warming is "a lie" and "the biggest scam of modern times." The film received strong criticism from many scientists and others. Journalist George Monbiot called it "the same old conspiracy theory that we've been hearing from
4680-462: The psychology of human behavior , denialism is a person's choice to deny reality as a way to avoid believing in a psychologically uncomfortable truth. Denialism is an essentially irrational action that withholds the validation of a historical experience or event when a person refuses to accept an empirically verifiable reality. In the sciences, denialism is the rejection of basic facts and concepts that are undisputed, well-supported parts of
4784-490: The scientific consensus on a subject, in favor of ideas that are radical, controversial, or fabricated. The terms Holocaust denial and AIDS denialism describe the denial of the facts and the reality of the subject matters, and the term climate change denial describes denial of the scientific consensus that the climate change of planet Earth is a real and occurring event primarily caused in geologically recent times by human activity. The forms of denialism present
4888-463: The scientific consensus on the rate and extent of climate change , its significance, or its connection to human behavior, in whole or in part. Climate denial is a form of science denial . It can also take pseudoscientific forms. The terms climate skeptics or contrarians are nowadays used with the same meaning as climate change deniers even though deniers usually prefer not to, in order to sow confusion as to their intentions. The terminology
4992-569: The 1995 IPCC Second Assessment Report , alleging corruption in the peer-review process. Scientists rejected his assertions; the presidents of the American Meteorological Society and University Corporation for Atmospheric Research described his claims as part of a "systematic effort by some individuals to undermine and discredit the scientific process". In 2005, the House of Lords Economics Committee wrote, "We have some concerns about
5096-594: The Associated Press announced "an addition to AP Stylebook entry on global warming" that advised "to describe those who don't accept climate science or dispute the world is warming from human-made forces, use 'climate change doubters' or 'those who reject mainstream climate science'. Avoid use of 'skeptics' or 'deniers'". In May 2019, The Guardian also rejected use of the term "climate skeptic" in favor of "climate science denier". In addition to explicit denial , people have also shown implicit denial by accepting
5200-500: The Bush administration, which has fought to avoid mandatory cuts in emissions for fear it would harm the economy. 'We're welcoming a focus on more of a balance on adaptation versus mitigation', said a senior American negotiator in New Delhi. 'You don't have enough money to do everything. ' " Some find this shift and attitude disingenuous and indicative of a bias against prevention (i.e. reducing emissions/consumption) and toward prolonging
5304-501: The Coalition: Climate change denial Climate change denial (also global warming denial ) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change . Those promoting denial commonly use rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of a scientific controversy where there is none. Climate change denial includes unreasonable doubts about
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#17328691429025408-476: The Muir Russell report, the scientists' "rigor and honesty as scientists are not in doubt", the investigators "did not find any evidence of behavior that might undermine the conclusions of the IPCC assessments", but there had been "a consistent pattern of failing to display the proper degree of openness." The scientific consensus that climate change is occurring as a result of human activity remained unchanged at
5512-528: The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research to produce a "full and accurate" temperature record. Coalition spokesman, Bryan Leyland, acknowledged that the earth had been warming for 150 years, but claimed it had not heated as much as NIWA claimed. In 2012, the High Court declined all claims and ruled that the Coalition pay NIWA's costs. In his decision, Justice Venning said: "I am satisfied that
5616-576: The Ottoman Empire were resettled for military reasons, not exterminated. In its aftermath, incriminating documents were systematically destroyed. Denial has been the policy of every government of the Ottoman Empire's successor state , the Republic of Turkey , as of 2024 . Borrowing arguments used by the CUP to justify its actions , Armenian genocide denial rests on the assumption that the deportation of Armenians
5720-527: The Sun is only 3,000 miles (4,800 km) above the Earth and that the Moon and the Sun orbit above the Earth rather than around it. Modern flat-earthers believe that Antarctica is not a continent but a massive ice floe , with a wall 150 feet (46 m) or higher, which circles the perimeter of the Earth and keeps everything (including all the oceans' water) from falling off the edge. Flat-Earthers also assert that no one
5824-468: The U.S. More than 90% of papers that are skeptical of climate change originate from right-wing think tanks. Climate change denial is undermining efforts to act on or adapt to climate change , and exerts a powerful influence on the politics of climate change . In the 1970s, oil companies published research that broadly concurred with the scientific community's view on climate change. Since then, for several decades, oil companies have been organizing
5928-492: The US are "absolute" in their opposition, experience disgust at the thought of eating GM foods, and are "evidence insensitive". Statin denialism is a rejection of the medical worth of statins , a class of cholesterol -lowering drugs. Cardiologist Steven Nissen at Cleveland Clinic has commented "We are losing the battle for the hearts and minds of our patients to Web sites..." promoting unproven medical therapies. Harriet Hall sees
6032-535: The United Kingdom government. On 10 December 2008, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works minority members released a report under the leadership of the Senate's most vocal global warming denier, Jim Inhofe . It says it summarizes scientific dissent from the IPCC. Many of its statements about the numbers of people listed in the report, whether they are actually scientists, and whether they support
6136-703: The University of Sarajevo have pointed to a culture of denial of the Srebrenica massacre in Serbian society, taking many forms and present in particular in political discourse, the media, the law and the educational system. But see also: Domingo, José L.; Bordonaba, Jordi Giné (2011). "A literature review on the safety assessment of genetically modified plants" (PDF) . Environment International . 37 (4): 734–742. Bibcode : 2011EnInt..37..734D . doi : 10.1016/j.envint.2011.01.003 . PMID 21296423 . In spite of this,
6240-465: The article's conclusions. The Heartland Institute refused these requests, saying that the scientists "have no right—legally or ethically—to demand that their names be removed from a bibliography composed by researchers with whom they disagree". Deniers have generally attacked either the IPCC's processes, scientist or the synthesis and executive summaries; the full reports attract less attention. In 1996, climate change denier Frederick Seitz criticized
6344-449: The atmosphere." The report "does not propose any major shift in the administration's policy on greenhouse gases. Instead it recommends adapting to inevitable changes instead of making rapid and drastic reductions in greenhouse gases to limit warming." This position apparently precipitated a similar shift in emphasis at the COP 8 climate talks in New Delhi several months later; "The shift satisfies
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#17328691429026448-470: The banners of creation science and intelligent design . Beliefs that typically coincide with creationism include the belief in the global flood myth , geocentrism , and the belief that the Earth is only 6,000–10,000 years old . These beliefs are viewed as pseudoscience in the scientific community and are widely regarded as erroneous. The superseded belief that the Earth is flat , and denial of all of
6552-402: The common feature of the person rejecting overwhelming evidence and trying to generate political controversy in attempts to deny the existence of consensus. The motivations and causes of denialism include religion, self-interest (economic, political, or financial), and defence mechanisms meant to protect the psyche of the denialist against mentally disturbing facts and ideas; such disturbance
6656-517: The denial industry for the past ten years". The climate deniers involved in the Climatic Research Unit email controversy ("Climategate") in 2009 claimed that researchers faked the data in their research publications and suppressed their critics in order to receive more funding (i.e. taxpayer money). Eight committees investigated these allegations and published reports, each finding no evidence of fraud or scientific misconduct. According to
6760-438: The effects of increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere" when "global warming caused by man-made emissions of greenhouse gases ... cannot be substantiated". The Government refused on the grounds that the majority of climate scientists in the world agree that there is no longer any doubt that climate is changing due to human activity. In April 2007, another member of the Coalition, Vincent R. Gray , described
6864-422: The end of the investigations. In 2012, Clive Hamilton published the essay "Climate change and the soothing message of luke-warmism". He defined luke-warmists as "those who appear to accept the body of climate science but interpret it in a way that is least threatening: emphasising uncertainties, playing down dangers, and advocating a slow and cautious response. They are politically conservative and anxious about
6968-399: The existence of global warming, neoskeptics instead "question the magnitude of the risks and assert that reducing them has more costs than benefits." According to the authors, the emergence of neoskepticism "heightens the need for science to inform decision making under uncertainty and to improve communication and education." There is a range of possible mitigation policies. Disagreement over
7072-469: The extent to which climate change is caused by humans , its effects on nature and human society , and the potential of adaptation to global warming by human actions. To a lesser extent, climate change denial can also be implicit when people accept the science but fail to reconcile it with their belief or action . Several studies have analyzed these positions as forms of denialism , pseudoscience , or propaganda . Many issues that are settled in
7176-553: The field of climate science. On that basis, he ruled that evidence presented by Terry Dunleavy , a former journalist who was a founding member of the trust was inadmissible. He said: Dunleavy "has no applicable qualifications" and "his interest in the area does not sufficiently qualify him as an expert". Justice Venning also questioned the credentials of Bob Dedekind, a computer modelling and statistical analyst whose "general expertise in basic statistical techniques does not extend to any particular specialised experience of qualifications in
7280-457: The full spectrum of risks associated with global warming. In political terms, soft climate denial can stem from concerns about the economics and economic impacts of climate change , particularly the concern that strong measures to combat global warming or mitigate its impacts will seriously inhibit economic growth . Climate change denial is commonly rooted in a phenomenon known as conspiracy theory , in which people misattribute events to
7384-574: The great achievements of The Enlightenment – the liberation of historical and scientific enquiry from dogma – is quietly being reversed". Some people have suggested that because denial of the Holocaust is well known, advocates who use the term denialist in other areas of debate may intentionally or unintentionally imply that their opponents are little better than Holocaust deniers. However, Robert Gallo et al. defended this latter comparison, stating that AIDS denialism
7488-571: The main argument as "there was no genocide, and the Armenians were to blame for it". A critical reason for denial is that the genocide enabled the establishment of a Turkish nation-state; recognizing it would contradict Turkey's founding myths . Since the 1920s, Turkey has worked to prevent recognition or even mention of the genocide in other countries. It has spent millions of dollars on lobbying, created research institutes, and used intimidation and threats. Denial affects Turkey's domestic policies and
7592-545: The media rather than to the scientific community. Journalist Ross Gelbspan said in 1995 that industry had engaged "a small band of skeptics" to confuse public opinion in a "persistent and well-funded campaign of denial". His 1997 book The Heat is On may have been the first to concentrate specifically on the topic. In it, Gelbspan discusses a "pervasive denial of global warming" in a "persistent campaign of denial and suppression" involving "undisclosed funding of these 'greenhouse skeptics'" with "the climate skeptics" confusing
7696-489: The methodology applied by NIWA was in accordance with internationally recognised and credible scientific methodology." The Coalition was ordered to pay NIWA $ 89,000 in costs after losing the case. When the Coalition refused to pay, NIWA pursued liquidation. When asked about its assets, Bryan Leyland said: "To my knowledge, there is no money. We spent a large amount of money on the court case, there were some expensive legal technicalities." He acknowledged that funding had come "from
7800-436: The number of studies specifically focused on safety assessment of GM plants is still limited. However, it is important to remark that for the first time, a certain equilibrium in the number of research groups suggesting, on the basis of their studies, that a number of varieties of GM products (mainly maize and soybeans) are as safe and nutritious as the respective conventional non-GM plant, and those raising still serious concerns,
7904-449: The objectivity of the IPCC process, with some of its emissions scenarios and summary documentation apparently influenced by political considerations." It doubted the high emission scenarios and said that the IPCC had "played-down" what the committee called "some positive aspects of global warming". The main statements of the House of Lords Economics Committee were rejected in the response made by
8008-513: The oil industry's profits at the environment's expense. In an article addressing the supposed economic hazards of addressing climate change, writer and environmental activist George Monbiot wrote: "Now that the dismissal of climate change is no longer fashionable, the professional deniers are trying another means of stopping us from taking action. It would be cheaper, they say, to wait for the impacts of climate change and then adapt to them". Climate change deniers often debate whether action (such as
8112-482: The opinion of the public, legislators and the media, in contrast to legitimate science. Pope Francis groups together four types of respondents rejecting climate change: those who "deny, conceal, gloss over or relativize the issue". The conservative National Center for Policy Analysis , whose "Environmental Task Force" contains a number of climate change deniers , including Sherwood Idso and S. Fred Singer, has said, "The growing consensus on climate change policies
8216-469: The opposite, manipulating statistical series to support the given point of view, and deliberately mistranslating texts. Some countries, such as Germany, have criminalized the negationist revision of certain historical events, while other countries take a more cautious position for various reasons, such as the protection of free speech . Others mandate negationist views, such as California, where schoolchildren have been explicitly prevented from learning about
8320-461: The overwhelming evidence that supports an approximately spherical Earth that rotates around its axis and orbits the Sun , persists into the 21st century. Modern proponents of flat-Earth cosmology (or flat-Earthers ) refuse to accept any kind of contrary evidence, dismissing all spaceflights and images from space as hoaxes and accusing all organizations and even private citizens of conspiring to "hide
8424-472: The position that "climate science is not settled, that the world is not on the brink of a man-made global warming catastrophe". In July 2006, Bryan Leyland, who claimed to be the acting chairman of the Coalition, issued a media release recommending the New Zealand government institute a Royal Commission on climate change claiming the public were "being given incomplete, inaccurate and biased information about
8528-456: The positions attributed to them, have been disputed. Inhofe also said that "some parts of the IPCC process resembled a Soviet-style trial, in which the facts are predetermined, and ideological purity trumps technical and scientific rigor." Some climate change deniers promote conspiracy theories alleging that the scientific consensus is illusory, or that climatologists are acting out of their own financial interests by causing undue alarm about
8632-405: The problems. James L. Powell provides a more extended list, as does climatologist Michael E. Mann in "six stages of denial", a ladder model whereby deniers have over time conceded acceptance of points, while retreating to a position that still rejects the mainstream consensus: Climate change denial is a form of denialism . Chris and Mark Hoofnagle have defined denialism in this context as
8736-822: The public and influencing decision makers. In December 2014, an open letter from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry called on the media to stop using the term skepticism when referring to climate change denial. It contrasted scientific skepticism—which is "foundational to the scientific method"—with denial—"the a priori rejection of ideas without objective consideration"—and the behavior of those involved in political attempts to undermine climate science. It said: "Not all individuals who call themselves climate change skeptics are deniers. But virtually all deniers have falsely branded themselves as skeptics. By perpetrating this misnomer, journalists have granted undeserved credibility to those who reject science and scientific inquiry." In 2015, The New York Times 's public editor said that
8840-563: The rejection of these arguments by the scientific community, AIDS-denialist material is now spread mainly through the Internet. Thabo Mbeki , former president of South Africa , embraced AIDS denialism, proclaiming that AIDS was primarily caused by poverty. About 365,000 people died from AIDS during his presidency; it is estimated that around 343,000 premature deaths could have been prevented if proper treatment had been available. The term "COVID-19 denialism" or merely "COVID denialism" refers to
8944-504: The restrictions on the use of fossil fuels to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions) should be taken now or in the near future. They fear the economic ramifications of such restrictions. For example, in a 1998 speech, a staff member of the Cato Institute , a libertarian think tank , argued that emission controls' negative economic effects outweighed their environmental benefits. Climate change deniers tend to argue that even if global warming
9048-454: The scientific community, such as human responsibility for climate change, remain the subject of politically or economically motivated attempts to downplay, dismiss or deny them—an ideological phenomenon academics and scientists call climate change denial . Climate scientists, especially in the United States, have reported government and oil-industry pressure to censor or suppress their work and hide scientific data, with directives not to discuss
9152-477: The scientific consensus but failing to "translate their acceptance into action". This type of denial is also called soft climate change denial . In 2004, German climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf described how the media give the misleading impression that climate change is still disputed within the scientific community, attributing this impression to climate change skeptics' PR efforts. He identified different positions that climate skeptics argue, which he used as
9256-603: The scientific consensus on climate change is based on conspiracies to produce manipulated data or suppress dissent. It is one of a number of tactics used in climate change denial to attempt to manufacture political and public controversy disputing this consensus. These people typically allege that, through worldwide acts of professional and criminal misconduct, the science behind climate change has been invented or distorted for ideological or financial reasons. They promote harmful conspiracy theories alleging that scientists and institutions involved in global warming research are part of
9360-531: The specific field of applying statistical techniques in the field of climate science". Tim Lambert writing in ScienceBlogs said "The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition isn't made up of climate scientists, but is just a group of global warming skeptics who gave themselves a fancy title. And they just got caught combining temperature data from different places to get rid of the inconvenient warming trend in New Zealand." The following individuals have been involved in
9464-542: The subject publicly. The fossil fuels lobby has been identified as overtly or covertly supporting efforts to undermine or discredit the scientific consensus on climate change. Industrial, political and ideological interests organize activity to undermine public trust in climate science. Climate change denial has been associated with the fossil fuels lobby, the Koch brothers , industry advocates, ultraconservative think tanks , and ultraconservative alternative media , often in
9568-537: The sufficiency, viability, or desirability of a given policy is not necessarily neoskepticism. But neoskepticism is marked by failure to appreciate the increased risks associated with delayed action. Gavin Schmidt has called neoskepticism a form of confirmation bias and the tendency to always take "as gospel the lowest estimate of a plausible range". Neoskeptics err on the side of the least disruptive projections and least active policies and, as such, neglect or misapprehend
9672-619: The testimonials from respected scientists that there is literally no scientific controversy over the health effects of GMOs. My investigation into the scientific literature tells another story. And contrast: Panchin, Alexander Y.; Tuzhikov, Alexander I. (January 14, 2016). "Published GMO studies find no evidence of harm when corrected for multiple comparisons". Critical Reviews in Biotechnology . 37 (2): 213–217. doi : 10.3109/07388551.2015.1130684 . ISSN 0738-8551 . PMID 26767435 . S2CID 11786594 . Here, we show that
9776-634: The thinking of those who deny the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least to the extent of denying the scientifically recognized COVID mortality data of the World Health Organization . The claims that the COVID-19 pandemic has been faked, exaggerated, or mischaracterized are pseudoscience . Some famous people who have engaged in COVID-19 denialism include Elon Musk , former U.S. President Donald Trump , and former Brazilian President Bolsonaro. Religious beliefs may prompt an individual to deny
9880-630: The threat to the social structure posed by the implications of climate science. Their 'pragmatic' approach is therefore alluring to political leaders looking for a justification for policy minimalism." He cited Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger of the Breakthrough Institute , and also Roger A. Pielke Jr. , Daniel Sarewitz , Steve Rayner , Mike Hulme and "the pre-eminent luke-warmist" Danish economist Bjørn Lomborg . Climate change skepticism, while in some cases professing to do research on climate change, has focused instead on influencing
9984-500: The truth". They also claim that no actual satellites are orbiting the Earth, that the International Space Station is fake, and that these are lies from all governments involved in this grand cover-up . Some even believe other planets and stars are hoaxes. Adherents of the modern flat-earth model propose that a dome-shaped firmament encloses a disk-shaped Earth. They may also claim, after Samuel Rowbotham , that
10088-475: The use of rhetorical devices "to give the appearance of legitimate debate where there is none, an approach that has the ultimate goal of rejecting a proposition on which a scientific consensus exists." This process characteristically uses one or more of the following tactics: Some politicians and climate change denial groups say that because CO 2 is only a trace gas in the atmosphere (0.04%), it cannot cause climate change. But scientists have known for over
10192-529: The validity of the scientific theory of evolution. Evolution is considered an undisputed fact within the scientific community and in academia , where the level of support for evolution is essentially universal, yet this view is often met with opposition by biblical literalists. The alternative view is often presented as a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis 's creation myth . Many fundamentalist Christians teach creationism as if it were fact under
10296-452: The warming trend. According to these groups, there is natural variability that will abate over time, and human influence has little to do with it. But climate models already take these factors into account. The scientific consensus is that they cannot explain the observed warming trend. In 2007, the Heartland Institute published an article titled "500 Scientists Whose Research Contradicts Man-Made Global Warming Scares" by Dennis T. Avery ,
10400-546: Was "the most accurate term when someone claims there is no such thing as global warming, or agrees that it exists but denies that it has any cause we could understand or any impact that could be measured". A petition by climatetruth.org asked signers to "Tell the Associated Press: Establish a rule in the AP Stylebook ruling out the use of 'skeptic' to describe those who deny scientific facts". In September 2015,
10504-447: Was a legitimate state action in response to a real or perceived Armenian uprising that threatened the empire's existence during wartime. Deniers assert the CUP intended to resettle Armenians, not kill them. They claim the death toll is exaggerated or attribute the deaths to other factors, such as a purported civil war , disease, bad weather, rogue local officials, or bands of Kurds and outlaws. The historian Ronald Grigor Suny summarizes
10608-449: Was associated with being more likely to endorse climate change denial. Examples of science-related conspiracy theories that some people believe include that aliens exist, childhood vaccines are linked to autism , Bigfoot is real, the government "adds fluoride to drinking water for 'sinister' purposes ", and the moon landing was faked . Examples of alleged climate change conspiracies include: The psychology of climate change denial
10712-543: Was forced into liquidation. There is an unrelated website called the New Zealand Climate Science Coalition which is an American blog also written by climate change deniers. The American website links to a different URL to the original URL associated with the New Zealand website which no longer exists. The Coalition was formed in April 2006 by a group including the botanist Professor David Bellamy who held
10816-682: Was observed. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that most of the studies demonstrating that GM foods are as nutritional and safe as those obtained by conventional breeding, have been performed by biotechnology companies or associates, which are also responsible of commercializing these GM plants. Anyhow, this represents a notable advance in comparison with the lack of studies published in recent years in scientific journals by those companies. Krimsky, Sheldon (2015). "An Illusory Consensus behind GMO Health Assessment". Science, Technology, & Human Values . 40 (6): 883–914. doi : 10.1177/0162243915598381 . S2CID 40855100 . I began this article with
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