Why do climate deniers deny that the earth is warming and that it’s caused by human activities? I don’t want to start a political discussion; I want to understand why someone doesn’t believe what scientists are saying. Do these deniers have a financial interest in fossil fuel? Is that why? Are there other reasons? I don’t get it.
@VeryHappy My opinion only: I think some of the distrust against science/mainstream medicine (e.g vaccines) comes from a combination of many things:
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the problem is too vast to comprehend, no solution seems to be at hand and people gravitate towards simple answers (it’s not real, autism is the fault of vaccines)
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people repel against seemingly too intrusive government intervention or regulations (safety issues, OSHA, motorcycle helmet laws, EPA clean environment regulations) that seem to eat away at freedoms or cause restrictions for no visible reason. If that law that required your small family business to shell out $10K last quarter to upgrade something you see as trivial, hearing some “scientist” warn about global warming is just another kick in your pants and you want to discount it.
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active denial due to financial/political interests – coal mining states for instance. There was a documentary about the crusade to remove lead from gasoline and the enormous industry pushback from petroleum, auto manufacturers and trucking industry (lead increased fuel efficiency). The science won out and now it’s a given the dangers of lead contamination.
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it aligns with the anti-government theme that many people hold onto. My FIL, a retired physician and ardent practical person when it comes to science – has been swayed by the constant chorus on the conservative side. He still thinks the anti-vax people are nuts though, thankfully.
And I can add a couple to T2’s list.
Not all scientists agree on either side of the proposition.
Some agree in part; that some warming is occurring, but naturally.
Changing terms hurt the cause. “Global warming” is now usually worded as “climate change”. Anytime somebody had colder weather it looked to the layman as evidence against global warming, so the term changed to “climate change” and the meaning greatly expanded to encompass more weather phenomena. NOT saying warming exists, or does not, what I am saying is that changing to a new term used because weather does not seem to be in line with the usual term makes some people skeptical of the validity of the proposition.
And, some are old enough to remember the prediction of the coming ice age made in the 70’s. A dire prediction that doesn’t come true affects credibility of future predictions (to differing degrees)
And it has been shown some models inputted faulty evidence, a portion of which seems deliberate. That also discredits models to some degree.
I am being VERY CAREFUL NOT to say any reasons I provided are convincing(enough). I am only saying those are additional reasons why some deny that it exists, AND is manmade .
Like many things, those who want to believe follow and agree with those who believe. And those who do not, will follow and cite those who do not. “All the evidence” does not point to one side or the other, though each side will say it does.
Agree with YH, “climate change” and the real question of how much of this is “natural,” in the broadest sense, even if we can’t point to it occurring before
Anecdote, of sorts. 30 years ago, we were worried about the extensive deaths of forests, the hypothesis was it was man-made, air and water pollution, acid rain, shifts in sunlight streaming through, etc. A friend was part of an extensive multi-decade project, multiple layers of science involved. And they could not show it was anything but “natural” or some mystery process.
I appreciate your thoughtful answers as I, too, do not understand the no warming reasoning.
Love this. Share with all your relatives/friends in denial.
http://distractify.com/videos/2016/12/07/weather-in-yo-face
yes, there are articles and videos all over that can support or deny the climate change theory.
(To TempeMom) Let’s remember too, there are not just 2 camps: the yes or no camps. There are also the “yes, but its a natural phenomena camp” and the undecided camp.
Any many(NOT ALL) of all camps see some degree of futility in the U.S. restricting itself to help solve the problem when most other major nations are giving only lip service. But the benefit of our restrictions is not the question here, the question is- is it real, AND is it manmade?
I want to be clear, my recent posts here are not intended to prove the theory of climate change is false though they have been geared toward the negative side. I have been careful not to give my opinion. My intent is only to answer previous questions about why some deny that a) climate change is real and b) it is because of mankind.
I will add one thing, it is just a tidbit, and I admit it is my opinion. Leo DiCaprio and Al Gore flying around the world in their private jets to decry the evils of fossil fuel use seems hypocritical to me.
New question.
I frequently see on Facebook stupid postings such as, “Post a name that starts with Z.” Or, “Name a city without the letter A.” and then, “99% will fail!!”
Is there some sort of “data capture” if you post to this? Does it grab all your personal information from Facebook and send you gobs of spam?
Usually the “challenge” is stupid and easy to solve, so emotionally the question makes you want to answer to show how easy it is. But there’s got to be a catch, right?
I worry about those things too. They’re so transparent and yet tempting to try. It may just be a way to show their ads and nothing more nefarious than that but I don’t know.
For the people who insist that climate change is “natural” - please remind them that in the past, climate change went hand in hand with mass extinctions. If we don’t want to be part of that this time around, we can and should act. No other animals in the past could act except to try to flee. Didn’t work for most of them!
Yes, there IS some sort of catch. I just read an article on that. I will try to find a link.
^ I mostly looked at the headline and skimmed a little…it sounds like they are talking about actual quizzes. VeryHappy seems to be talking about memes with a single silly question and whether it’s okay to make a comment such as “Houston” . I don’t really have an authoritative answer, but I imagine that making the comment is harmless. I think people just like feeling smart.
@VeryHappy no good can come of participating in those.
Once you click on the URL, it allows the app access to your facebook info. Commenting in the comments section may post your comment publicly even though you have your settings set to “friends only”.
If you click on the little lock icon in the top right corner of your blue bar, and choose “Privacy Checkup”, the second page in tells you what apps have access to your info. It’s a good idea to go in and check on those every now and then-it can be a nasty surprise to see what has snuck in there.
Once I had Bloomberg News making posts IN MY NAME on my friends’ walls because it was on my list of approved apps. I got rid of it.
Thanks, MOD. I just did that. There were only two apps that I needed to delete.
Thanks, MOD, that’s very helpful. I’m going to do that “Privacy Checkup” right away.
New question: Is there any requirement for how soon a retailer must post a refund to a customer’s credit card?
Background: JCPenney charged me for multiple items that they did not have in stock. JCP emailed me a shipping notice with a tracking link, indicating that everything ordered had shipped. Only after I spent half an hour on the phone waiting to talk to a CSR did I learn that the reason the delivered package only contained 1 item is that the rest are out of stock. The CSR said it would take 5 to 10 business days for my refund on the out of stock items to be credited because they’re so busy this time of year. She also said she could not send me an email confirming that the items were never sent and a refund is going to be processed, so I have no proof that this conversation ever took place.
Do you have a cell phone call log that says you spent a damn amount of time calling that number? I’d keep it as a proof that you called them. I would also call the credit card (if the refund does not post in 10 business days) and complain.
And can you call your credit card co?
I call my ccard company when I’m having difficulties. They’re very helpful.
Thanks, y’all. My ccard company will only assist if the charge has posted on the latest statement and if I can show that I’ve already tried to resolve the problem with the retailer. BB, I will keep my cell phone record of the call. I also sent dh an email as soon as I got off the phone detailing the problem. We often do that with “FDO” in the subject line (for documentation only) so the recipient doesn’t feel obliged to read the long email.
JCP sent me an email this morning acknowledging that 1 of the 4 items is out of stock and my card will be credited “if” it was charged. No word from them yet about the other 3 items they failed to ship. It will probably be January before all of the refunds are posted.
We don’t carry a balance on our ccards and, at least this time, the amount at stake isn’t that large. For many people it could be a hardship, especially at this time of year, to have their credit limit used up by charges for merchandise they will never receive. It’s even worse for anyone who carries a balance on their ccard.
It just bugs me that when I make a purchase online, I can see the charge appear on my ccard within a few minutes. Then when a refund is due, the same retailer will say it could be 10 business days (or up to two billing cycles) for my credit to appear.
Yes, it is irritating. I guess the merchants I deal with handle it differntly. When I buy something a pending charge appears in my online statement (to reserve the $$), and then it posts only when the stuff ships. If it does not, pending charges fall off the statement. Hope you will sort out the mess!