Our approah to global warming and climate change

Posted on July 12, 2011 by

The climate change journal is here to provide a different view on Climate Change and Global Warming.  The science behind these problems is settled, and we invite any visitors who still have doubts to go to our “Science” page.  If you still have doubts, do a web search for studies of global warming and climate change but when you come across a study that promotes denial look closely at who is funding the study.  If you leave out those studies funded by non-scientific groups who have a hidden agenda in the debate, such as big oil comapnies, you will be left with very few studies that refute the fact that climate change is absolutely happening.

Thus the Climate Change Journal is not here to encourage scientific debate and discussion.  Settled science is not worth that kind of approach.  Instead this web site is designed to take the unique approach of exploring the following topic areas:

- The psychology of denial: Why is it so easy to promote deial and skepticism about global warming and climate change, and what does this mean in the bigger picture – what other areas are likely to pull for this same psychological reaction?  What does the idea of global warming tap into psychologically for some groups, and how are special interest groups able to exploit this so effectively?

- The role of corporations: How and why are corporations and other interest groups promoting global warming denial, and what does this suggest about the current state of ethics with regard to big business.  Some business, to their credit, are spending money to debate the fact that many solutions would be too expensive and damaging, which is a completely fair debate.  Others, however, are instead using tactics such as finding corrupt scientists who publish seriously flawed data or are promoting denial by tapping into the psychology of denial as described above.

- How we can create change: Ways to effectively break through global warming denial and skepticism - how can we actually promote healthy debate and discussion about potential solutions that is balanced and not too far to the extreme of hurting business with cumbersome solutions but also addressing this growing threat?  How can we effectively help limit the effects of the psychological need to deny global warming even if it exists so this debate can start?

- Holding the purposeful deniers responsible: We have to learn from our mistakes throughout human history.  Worst comes to worst, we will see Global Warming and Climate Change as a great example of the power of denial and the corrupting effects that big business can have when it wants to.  This sections aim is to hold those people, political parties, and groups who are promoting denial and doubt responsible so that this kind of problem does not repeat in other areas.

Thanks for visiting, and we welcome your participation!

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What is “Climategate” – weren’t scientists caught making stuff up?

Posted on January 20, 2012 by

If you follow the global warming debate you will undoubtably run into someone on the right who will bring up the idea that scientists are pushing a “global warming agenda” or are somehow trying to get people to buy into the idea of climate change for their own selfish purposes.  Usually the argument is that these climate scientists are trying to increase the amount of research money they get.  This idea plays well to the “fear of big government” crowd, since many scientists receive money from the government and many of their proposed solutions involve some sort of government intervention.  Why so many people are willing to see scientists as the ones who are pushing global warming theories for the sake of their own greed, while ignoring the idea that big corporations might be pushing denial for the sake of their own greed escapes us, but that’s not the point of this post.

Unfortunately there was one controversy that has given those who want to push the buttons of the deniers some fodder.  In 2009, computer hackers unearthed hundreds of emails between climate scientists in the U.S. and U.K. which discussed which climate change data should be shared with the public.  The discussions at times refered to ways that they could present their data in the most compelling manner to show the effects of climate change and global warming.  In some cases these scientists seemed willing to only publish the most compelling evidence and leave weaker findings out.  This is what the pushers of denial pounced on – why were they leaving these weaker findings out?  Were they trying to create fear and worry so they could get more research money?  Yet the most important takeaway, and the one that has been completely blotted out by the power of corporate money and conservative denial, is that even the data that was not as compelling in many cases pointed to man-made global warming.  The scientists were just trying to make the biggest splash possible, and this led to their missteps.

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Conservative Psychology – why the right wing is compelled to deny

Posted on January 6, 2012 by

For those who care to read and understand the science behind global warming and climate change, and particularly those who understand the economic catastrophe that awaits our children and grandchildren if nothing is done, the skeptics and deniers can be extremely frustrating.  Taking a step back, one has to wonder why so many smart people can deny something that the vast marority of scientists know is happening, and most people can even feel in their gut is happening when they compare the weather and climate where they live to what it was like 20 years ago.

It will come as no surprise to people who are frustrated by these deniers that there is something even more powerful than the influence of corporate greed and cash going on here.  In fact, corporations such as big oil companies are lucky that the money they are putting into fostering denial and skeptisism is resonating so easily with many people.  Perhaps they are even surprised because in many cases the public has turned on big business but in this case a large group seems to go right along with the push for denial.

Why is all of this happening?  Psychological and biological research has uncovered the key.  Conservatives (in this case we do not mean “fiscal” conservatives but those who hold more wide-ranging conservative views) have certain patterns of thought, comfort levels with their external world, and congitive styles that motivate them to want to deny global warming and climate change.  The powerful need for predictability and cognitive closure that many scientific studies have found that conseravtives have runs counter to the idea that something huge, potentially unstoppable, and out of control may be happening.  Fleeing to denial and skepticism brings a welcome break to some conservatives who do not want to consider changes they have no control over.

Some have suggested that companies that are initially motivated by greed have seen a way to manipulate a large group of people to do their bidding by continuing the spread of denial and skepticism, and that even these corporations are surprised by how easy this is.  The hope has to be that as the problem of global warming and climate change gets worse, many conservatives switch gears and the psychology of conservative thought actually motivates people to want to fight the possibility of even more unwanted and unpredicatable change.

More information about conservative psychology can be found on two places:

As it relates to the issue of global warming and climate change, conservtive thought is explored on our own page

Our sister site Conservative Psychology provides a more general and deeper view of this topic

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The fair arguments against Kyoto and other global warming solutions

Posted on July 29, 2011 by

It would be too easy for someone concerned about global warming to say that it was a horrible mistake for the U.S. and other countries to pull out of broad global warming talks such as the most famous ones that took place in Kyoto, Japan.  Frankly, these solutions sound appealing and do sooth the nerves of those of us who are concerned about the potential future expenses we will incur as a result of climate change.  However, global solutions face serious and often underestimated challenges, such as:

- Not adapting to changes in the global economy - with regulations that might be more effective and acceptable if they changed in relation to the state of the economy (we will post more about this in our “solutions” section soon)

- Unfairly asking the larger and more industrialized countries like the U.S. to make grand changes too quickly or too deeply.

- Allowing some larger countries to opt out, which would eventually give these countries an unfair advantage economically and doom the agreement to fail in its goals in addressing the problem.

Global solutions to the problem of climate change and global warming may be possible, but a fully rational look at those solutions is vital

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Holding Them Responsible: Global Warming and Climate Change Deniers

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

The Climate Change Journal is dedicated to taking a well-rounded look at issues related to global warming and climate change, including the potential harm that could come if climate change is not addressed, the latest solutions that have been proposed, and the range of opinions people hold about the causes of global warming.  We are not here to debate whether climate change is real, and we invite people to look at our science page if they doubt it.

We firmly believe that global warming will become an issue that only a fringe will end up believing is not “real”, and that the majority of people will begin to see this issue as an example of how the evidence and the science of climate change was all around us yet we did too little to act.  Moreover, we think that global warming in the near future will become a model for how we come to realize the power of corporate interests to corrupt using their money to distort the truth for their own purposes.

Hopefully the learning that occurs as more and more people see the role of corporate interests in promoting denial and skepticism about climate change will not only motivate innovative solutions to global warming at that point, but will also teach us the lesson that listening to science has got to trump allowing corporate interests, hyper-coservative thought, or general fears of change from drowning out scientific evidence.

Therefore, we have a page called Holding them Responsible that will indelibly mark the words of those who wield power but choose to fight the obvious science.  We should not forget how this kind of abuse of power and neglect of science for the sake of campaign contributions can be destructive.  This lesson from the present can serve as a model for the future when inevitably once again corporate interests try to drown out our collective good and scientific evidence.

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Feeding the global warming deniers: Over-eager scientists

Posted on July 24, 2011 by

In politics sometimes, the different sides use exaggeration, omission, and even statements that approach lying to get their point across.  Do they do it because they are evil people without principles?  In some ways its quite the opposite - they do it because they get so caught up in the importance of their own opinions about certain issues that they allow themselves to stretch things a bit to make sure they get their point across.  Or, they rationalize that since the other side is likely to exaggerate, omit, and even lie, they almost have to do the same to keep up.

Unfortunately we are afraid that some in the scientific community may have fallen for the same difficulties, and this only gave the deniers fodder.  When a scientist purposely leaves out some conflicting evidence, or exaggerates the results of a study, etc., all it does is allow those who deny global warming’s existence to paint the entire scientific community with a brush of being untrustworthy.

This has happened several times recently, and even though these incidents are very small in the scheme of all the sound and undeniable evidence of global warming that is uncovered every day, they give the deniers PR fodder.  With corporate money flowing to groups looking to spread denial and skepticism about climate change, any small exaggeration or omission in a study by an over-eager scientist, or by a scientist worried that his or her study will not get re-funded unless the results are entirely compelling, only serves to allow for new doubt to be aggressively spread.  The scientific community just does not have the same PR resources (and in many ways nor should it!) to fight back fairly.

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Solutions to Global Warming – A Fair Approach

Posted on July 22, 2011 by
Global solutions for climate change

Climate change: Rational and Realistic Solutions

The solution to begin to reverse the momentum of global warming is to immediately shut down businesses that use electricity, oil, or gas.  Enough said.  

As much as the above is an exaggeration, this seems to be the overly radical approach that big business fears that “greens” would take if they had their way.  However, most rational people realize that addressing climate change cannot be overly simplified because if business interests are overly affected, our economy will come to a screeching halt.  In turn, if the global economy were to fail, there will not be the will, nor the capital, to do much about climate change!

While some hardcore greens reading this post may say that short-term pain is necessary and worthwhile no matter the cost because the problem of climate change is that dire, we feel that a more balanced approach is necessary to ensure that the country remains strong. 

Many of those spreading denial and skepticism fear that if global warming is fully recognized the solutions will be tremendously expensive and burdensome.  We feel that there are solutions that can be explored that are balanced and fair to business and consumer interests.  This is not a far left or hard-core green publication, but rather an independent look at the problem of global warming and the ways that people from all political backgrounds and personal interests can work together to address this important problem.

For example, on our creating change page we talk about things that can be done right away such as dramatically reducing the number of trees we cut down each year. Not only are trees themselves able to absorb carbon dioxide that can cause global warming, but the harvesting process itself sends significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere.

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The deniers of global warming and climate change: an introduction

Posted on July 19, 2011 by

It is increasingly popular to deny the existence of global warming.  There are honest and no-so-honest reasons why people feel that climate change is not happening.  Our blog divides the reasons people deny the existence of global warming into two groups.  On our page called “The Role of Corporations” we explore how business interests influence the debate by spreading denial of climate change due to their own interests.  Corporate fear of the cost of solutions to the problem of climate change motivates them to want a skeptical public that will not push for these solutions.  Then, on our “Psychology of Denial” page we explore the reasons that corporations and their interest groups are so successful at spreading this skepticism - why do some people want to deny the existence of climate change and global warming?

On the Psychology of Denial page we will use information from studies done regarding people with different political beliefs, persuasion theory, and the role of personality traits.  We will refrain from injecting opinion, but rather we will turn to scientific studies to determine how corporations and their interest groups have been able to successfully promote denial – what is it about some individuals that creates a susceptibility to wanting to disbelieve global warming.

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