Climate skepticism for dummies
by digby
Joshua Holland generously gathered all the information necessary to refute 8 of the top alleged reasons the neanderthals cite as evidence climate change isn't real:
Most people who deny that human activity is warming the planet just dismiss a massive body of scientific evidence as a big hoax.
But there’s a more sophisticated set of climate “skeptics” who make arguments that, at least to the lay ear, sound like they’re grounded in scientific evidence. And because most of us lack the background to evaluate their claims, they can muddy the waters around an issue that’s been settled in the scientific community.
So, as a public service, we gathered eight of the most common of these pseudoscientific arguments and asked some serious climate scientists — all working climatologists who have been widely published — to help us understand what makes these claims so misleading.
1. No, the Earth Hasn’t Stopped Warming Since 1998 (or 1996 or 1997)
2. No, the IPCC Makes Projections, Not Predictions
3. Yes, the Temperature Readings Are Reliable
4. Yes, There Is a Scientific Consensus
5. It’s Not the Sun’s Fault
6. Doubling Down With “Global Cooling”
7. Yes, It’s Been Warm Before
8. No, Antarctic Ice Isn’t Increasing
Read on for the details. The evidence is overwhelming.