Tag Archives: global warming controversy

One of the central environmental debates in recent years among the nation’s politicians – if not the scientists – is whether human activity is actually causing climate change. Or, in some cases, whether climate change is real at all. The topic is especially hot among pundits and think tanks on the conservative side of the political aisle. For example, the Heartland Institute recently said …

Was 2014 the hottest year or wasn’t it – and does it matter?  – Widely reported this past week was confirmation from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), concurring with the Japanese Meteorological Agency, that 2014 as the hottest year on record. NASA’s GISS Surface Temperature Analysis shows an average global temperature for the year at  at 14.68° Celsius (58.42 Fahrenheit), 1.22° C above the …

EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: Are there still outspoken global warming deniers in Congress or the mainstream media? If so, what do they say when presented with scientific facts and anecdotal evidence pointing to an increasingly warming atmosphere? – Ben Charles, Cary, NC Given the preponderance of data showing …

We need new narratives to combat the pervasive popular and political inertia. Our old narratives are not working and may even lead to apathy and indifference. Despite the scientific consensus about anthropogenic climate change we are not moving fast enough to change our perilous course. According to a 2013 Pew survey, only 69 percent of those surveyed accept the view that the earth is …

How do we reach the large minority of Americans that continue to resist the facts about climate change? One way to encourage behavior change may be to work within the belief system of climate deniers. We may even need to employ a communications strategy that ignores climate change altogether. There are a significant number of Americans who are not acting to address climate change and …

Rick Santorum Talks to Plants (a lesson on climate skeptic vs. climate denier) (via Planetsave) There has never been any doubt where Rick Santorum stands on global warming. While he may call himself a “skeptic”, he is unworthy of the term. Santorum is a demagogue and a denier. But that’s what he’s always been so it was no surprise when he uttered this gem …

In recent weeks, the climate community has been in a bit of an uproar over leaked documents from the Heartland Institute (H.I.). One of which was a memo outlining specific strategies that H.I. claims is “a forgery apparently intended to defame and discredit The Heartland Institute,” not written by “anyone associated with The Heartland Institute, “ nor does it “express Heartland’s goals, plans, or …