There’s a lot of noise from the climate sceptics at the moment, as no doubt you’ll have seen.
I’m confounded by the dismissal of science and hard information as we build and shape our views, activities and the world we live in. Of course, science rarely says things are exactly so – the world is just too complicated – yet we’re able to get pretty close to that. So we have to use the best information in the most sensible way. And we have to be prepared to shift our thinking, and our views and ways of doing things, as new information comes to light. That can be hard, if we have long held beliefs, or ways of doing things that have been successful and we’ve got used to.
Climate change is right in the middle of all this. It’s only 95% likely due to people on the planet, and it’s very inconvenient to our established ways of doing things. No wonder some sections of the media are having a field day in the run-up to the new IPCC report due in a few days’ time. Yet, the sceptics seem to be armed with facts, and do we climate change workers have to face a few uncomfortable truths about our views?
Actually no, there’s no substantial change – but yes, we must all be prepared to respond to information. I’m not going to refute all the cherry-picked data and half-truths you may have read recently. But there’s a useful guide by the Met Office, perhaps the most authoritative scientific body on climate change in the UK if not the world, you can leaf through here. It’s about what we have observed, and what we deduce from those observations.
Here’s one graph, showing what’s been happening to global temperature decade by decade
And another showing where each year falls in the series of hottest years, globally:
Enjoy the rest of the report and we’ll look forward to the big IPCC report. And hopefully quiet the sceptics, and get on with the real understanding, and action, that climate change demands of us.
Unfortunately, the evidence shows that most people don't respond to scientific evidence when forming judgments - politics comes first and evidence after (www.salon.com/.../the_most_depressing_discovery_about_the_brain_ever_partner). I don't disagree we should aim for better, and particularly our political leaders should always be making evidence-based decisions. We should continue to push for that However, as proponants of scientific evidence ourselves we need to be willing to accept that (as evidence shows) people are largely motivated by irrational, unconscious factors and that scientific evidence doesn't often sway deeply held beliefs, including on environmental issues.
Matt Williams, Assistant Warden, RSPB Snape.