Monday, December 07, 2009

Backlash by sceptics gains ground after 'Climategate'

The resurgent climate sceptic movement claimed its first political scalp this week when Australia's opposition Liberal party dumped its leader, Malcolm Turnbull, over his support for the federal government's climate change legislation. At the same time the sceptics have been making hay with the "Climategate scandal" - the release a week ago by computer hackers of thousands of e-mails sent to and from the climatic research unit at the University of East Anglia in the UK. The timing of Climategate, just before next week's Copenhagen negotiations, could hardly be worse for the majority seeking an agreement to limit carbon emissions. The sceptics claim that the e-mails show a conspiracy to manipulate and suppress data that do not support the cause for man-made global warming - a charge vigorously denied by mainstream climate scientists. Lorraine Whitmarsh, an environmental psychologist at Cardiff University in Wales, says opinion worldwide is becoming more polarised, with supporters of more rightwing parties more likely to doubt the need for action on climate change. But Prof Whitmarsh warns climate scientists that the negative impact of Climategate may be long-lasting. "It may resonate for a long time and support the doubters," she says. "The Great Global Warming Swindle [a sceptical television programme broadcast in 2007] is still having an effect today."...read more

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why is it journalists and the media still insist on using the contrived suffix "-gate" when describing any kind of scandal or misdeeds by elites? On the one had it shows the adaptability of the English language. On the other hand it does indicate a certain laziness among those who purport to be the aribters of the language.