The United States of Denial
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The United States of Denial
There's a big debate -- and it's one worth having -- over whether people spend too much time worrying about Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and company. As some have pointed out, the most popular primetime host on the Fox News Channel, Bill O'Reilly, draws just a fraction of the ratings that the supposedly dying network nightly newscasts receive. That's true, but the cumulative exposure to these right-wing gabbers -- especially Limbaugh, who even critics admit gets about 13 million daily "Dittohead" listeners -- is huge; they tend to control the conversation at places like the Thanksgiving dinner table, and they can influence the millions of folks mostly watching "American Idol" instead of American politics.
Case in point: Global warming. These conservative voices have been out on a limb these last few years, disputing what most of the world's top scientists report, which is that manmade pollution from greenhouse gases is warming the planet, with serious likely consequences. Are folks getting the conservative message? You bet.
There has been a sharp decline over the past year in the percentage of Americans who say there is solid evidence that global temperatures are rising. And fewer also see global warming as a very serious problem – 35% say that today, down from 44% in April 2008.
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 30-Oct. 4 among 1,500 adults reached on cell phones and landlines, finds that 57% think there is solid evidence that the average temperature on earth has been getting warmer over the past few decades. In April 2008, 71% said there was solid evidence of rising global temperatures.
Over the same period, there has been a comparable decline in the proportion of Americans who say global temperatures are rising as a result of human activity, such as burning fossil fuels. Just 36% say that currently, down from 47% last year.
I wouldn't put this all on talk radio and Fox News Channel alone. While the mercury remains above average where it counts most, at the polar extremes, it's been more often cooler than normal in the United States, and the fact that stricter anti-pollution measures would have an impact on the not-recovering-so-much economy has a lot of people wishing that the whole notion of climate change would go away. Also, as many have noted, misinformation about climate change is heavily funded by industry groups -- but average citizens wouldn't know about their work were it not for the likes of Rush and Glenn.
The U.S. has long been the outlier around the world when it comes to public opinion about global warming -- but the fact that belief in the body of scientific evidence has declined even more is pretty astounding. Here's the latest news from the reality-based world:
Air temperatures over the Arctic Ocean reached an unprecedented 7 degrees Fahrenheit (4 Celsius) above normal in October-December of 2008.
_There is evidence that the higher air temperatures are causing changes in the air circulation in both the Arctic and northern mid-latitudes.
_The area covered by sea ice this summer was 25 percent below the average from 1979 to 2000...
But the forecast for any U.S. action is pretty cloudy, and I do think we can thank the folks on the right side of your radio for that. I'm sure they're very proud. Meanwhile, people can get worked up about Limbaugh and the bogus tale of the Obama thesis, but a saga like that is pure comedy gold, nothing more. What El Rushbo and his ilk have to say about the science of climate is deadly serious.
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---}}} couldnt be because global warming/climate change is a liberal spin myth {{{--- LOL! Take a look at the graph I posted and get back to me, PAEnglish. There is all kinds o' evidence that the Earth is warming at unprecedented rates. Do I think it is 100% certain that it is AGW? No. Contrary to your mythologizing about "libz," I do believe that there is a small minority of legit scientists who think that GW is not A. However, facts are facts. There have been very, very few studies published in peer review journals that show evidence that GW is not A. The conspiracy theories that all expert scientists who think it likely that GW is A are either (1) crooked, or (2) bad scientists is laughable at best. And there is tons of evidence of bad science on the part of "skeptics," such as the misleading meme that has been exposed that "The Earth is cooling." That statement is flat out false. Take a look at the data on plant species growth and animal migrations. You guys are hilarious.— Talking point sleuth- I am may be dumb because I actually believe that climate change happens through history and that Global Warming is a natural cycle. You know we have had ice ages and extreme warm times without any cars on the earth. I know that is not popular and wont get me any grants from liberal organizations who want to push an agenda but I look history not just sherry pick the last 30 or 40 or even 100 years because that would only make sense. So I am not going to stop driving my SUV and heating my house or going on long vactions to Europe and Asia. Give it a rest with all your faux data from scientist who are bought off by the UN. There are plenty of scientist who believe otherwise they just dont get NBC to put them on TV. The truth is that libs hate Foxnews because they actually show the other side and no one else does. Liberal hate to have their views contradicted and individual thought. Good luck with your cult of OBAMA buddies your gonna need it.— rgreen72
- I'm all for global warming...I hope I live long enough for West Chester to be beachfront property.— jimmymack
- When will you secular, fact and science based people learn? There is no such thing as man made global warming. It is the work of God. The same God who created the entire earth in 6 days, 6,000 years ago. Back then, people and dinosaurs lived side by side, by the way. Oh yeah, and for what it is worth, God is a white male, as was Jesus, despite his being born in the middle east.
- ---}}} I know that is not popular and wont get me any grants from liberal organizations {{{--- This is hilarious, and so typical of the conspiratorial thinking that delegitimatizes those few expert scientists there are out there who doubt that GW is A. The academic/scientific research process has brought us virtually every medical/scientific/technological advance that has occurred in America SINCE THE MID-1900s. Peer review is not a perfect process, but by making the laughable assertion that it categorically produces bad science is counter-factual to the day-to-day realities of modern existence. Come back with peer reviewed evidence that AG is not W, and we'll talk. Otherwise, all you have is an insane conspiracy theory that enables you to dismiss tens of thousands of articles published in peer-reviewed journals.— Talking point sleuth
- You forgot, Mr. Baseball - Noah took a male and female of EVERY SPECIES OF PLANT AND ANIMAL ON THE PLANET, and neatly fit them into his ark and went for a cruise.— Talking point sleuth
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TPS , there are graphs saying the exact opposite to the ones you use as your 'bible' who says yours are right ? As for facts , FACT the earth has been much warmer in the past , Greenland was in fact green , Britian was a tropical island , Fact the earth has warmed and cooled for millions of years , Fact our knowledge of global climate shifts is sketchy at best and shots in the dark at worse . Fact many climate computer models are spewing out information that are not adding up because the initial data is deeply flawed , Fact greenpeace has admited lying about the plight of polar bears . We cannot base everything on 100 odd years worth of records but thats what the the scientists to the left are doing , while the scientists on the right are not allowed an opinion , until the facts are debated in a rational way most of us will remain sceptics. Again why is the left grasping at certain statitics while ignoring equaly compelling evidence there is no man made climate change ? its to grasp more power and raise more taxes , in Europe they are 'green taxes' in the US its cap and trade . Those are facts , you of course wont agree because it infringes on your narrow veiws and you cannot possibly accept you may be on the wrong side . I can post graph after graph showing yours to be wrong but of course you will counter with the usual drivel 'they are in the pay of big oil' , well the pro climate change scientists are in the pay of big government , again explain to me why anti climate change views are not being debated but being shouted down ?. And why in Europe only climate change activists get grants to study climate while sceptics get refused the same grants .— PAEnglish- Global warming is a religion also guys. You pray at the alter of Al Gore and OBAMA. Its the same thing ad being a Catholic or Muslim. You have faith that this is what is happening and you are on a crusade to spread your faith and now people dont believe it anymore but good luck.— rgreen72
- First off, I think we all have to admit that climate change is real (get rid of the stupid 'Global Warming' label nonsense). The questions then become: 1) Is it man-made? 2) Will it have a negative impact, and 3) Can we do something about it without making it worse? I'd like to focus on #3. Climate change occurs continually throughout the span of time and various species either adapt or die. We cannot prevent climate change, what we can do is attempt to limit our impact on it. But we have to carefully consider what actions we take, because the mere fact that we change our behavior and alter our own impact on the Earth will cause the extinction of many 1000's of species that were adapting just fine to the changes as-is. What people fail to understand is how complex the ecosystems are, and how much unintended consequences happen as a result of people's "do-gooding". Read Michael Crichton's "State of Fear"...— IggleFan68
- ---}}} TPS , there are graphs saying the exact opposite to the ones you use as your 'bible' who says yours are right ? {{{--- Not true. Any graph that shows a "cooling trend," by definition, is focusing on a deceptively short span of time. Show me any graph that shows temperature data for the time period since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and you will see exactly the same warming trend as the one shown in the graph I posted. Just because you assume something to be true, PAEnglish, or because you wish it to be so, doesn't mean that it is true. The collected temperature data shows a warming trend over an extended period of time. Only by clipping off the past 10 years or so can you demonstrate a "cooling trend." The fact that bogus "deniers" choose to draw graphs with only the last 10 years or so included, and pass that off as legit analysis, only serves as evidence of "bad science" on the part of deniers.— Talking point sleuth
- ---}}} Fact many climate computer models are spewing out information that are not adding up because the initial data is deeply flawed , {{{--- also not true. Given variables involved such as solar radiation, the changes in climate are very much aligned with what the models predicted. Read RealClimate, for Christ's sake. ---}}} FACT the earth has been much warmer in the past , {{{--- Due do specific variables. Given the state of those variables today - without a greenhouse effect - we would have lower temperatures than we have. To state that it has been warmer in the past, such as when there were more greenhouse gasses due to volcanic activity, in itself, means nothing (check out the Permian mass extinction). ---}}} We cannot base everything on 100 odd years worth of records but thats what the the scientists to the left are doing , {{{--- Laughably wrong, and based on a complete ignorance of the work of climate change experts. They base their modeling on data records going back tens of thousands of years. Not to mention that your whole notion of "scientists on the left" is ridiculous. Is it your contention that every scientists that has published a paper on AGW in peer reviewed journals is a "leftist?" Hilarious. ---}}} Again why is the left grasping at certain statitics while ignoring equaly compelling evidence there is no man made climate change ? {{{--- Because there isn't "equally compelling evidence" that the Earth isn't warming at an unprecedented rate. Seriously, PAenglish, look at some scientifically based information. Apparently, you are only getting your information indirectly - form partisan sources. Time after time (as with "the Earth is cooling" meme), indirect sources promoted bogus information. The list of proven bogus material put out by deniers is endless. Read some of the material out there that debunks the "deniers" and get back to me, PAEnlish. Actually read some material from both sides of the debate.— Talking point sleuth
- So now I understand TPS thanks , supporters of global warming/climate change are to be beleived 1005 no doubts . Those who say global warming /climate change is not happening are using bad science . Trouble is TPS there are scientists out there far more versed on this than you that say your wrong . Once again I have asked you twice to explain why skeptics dont get the same research grants supporters get twice you have failed to answer I find that far more relevant than anything you care to post .— PAEnglish
- ---}}} I can post graph after graph showing yours to be wrong {{{--- Go for it, bro.— Talking point sleuth
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