NEARLY ONE THIRD of Americans still believe there is no solid scientific evidence for climate change. And half of those believe that scientists are still debating the issue.
This confusion, according to a US historian, is no accident and comes is a direct result of campaigning by special interest groups to confuse the public and sow doubts about the reality of changing climate. The nature of this campaign will be revealed in a public lecture in Dublin next week by Prof Naomi Oreskes, history professor at the University of California, San Diego.
A geologist and and now a specialist in the history of science, her talk is entitled, The Denial of Global Warming. It takes place at Trinity College Dublin and is a free, public lecture organised by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.
There was an "enormous gap" between the public response to global warming in the US compared to Europe, she said. This prompted her to begin a three year research study to understand what had caused this.
The cause of climate change "was settled in the scientific community a decade ago", so she wanted to find "how this has come to be, who is behind this campaign to claim there is scientific disagreement" on the issue.
She puts it down to a vigorous and persistent effort by special interest groups to counter accepted scientific facts with findings purporting to come from credible scientists.
"We know where the money is coming from. We know this has been funded by a mix of sources including the fossil-fuel industry and particularly the coal industry," she says. "It is based on getting scientists to challenge scientists on anything that challenges the free market system."
Valid findings are regularly countered by "experts" who may have scientific credentials but seldom in the areas relevant to the area of science being brought into doubt. "We need to be more discriminating about who we think is an expert," she suggests.
It creates a situation in which the public is left confused over apparently conflicting evidence even though there is no real grounds for conflict. This in turn encourages the public to doubt all climate science findings and to assume that all are based on theory rather than fact.
Prof Oreskes will publish her research study next year in a book from Bloomsbury entitled Fighting Fact.
Prof Oreskes is an engaging speaker and the subject of her talk will strike a chord with those interested in how the public absorbs and responds to scientific findings.
Her presentation is the School of Cosmic Physics' 2008 Public Statutory Lecture organised by the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and hosted by the Institute's geophysics section.
Prof Oreskes' lecture is free of charge and open to the public. It takes place on Wednesday, September 3rd, at 6pm in the Davis Theatre, Arts Block, Trinity College Dublin.
There will be an opportunity for questions after the lecture, which will be followed by a reception which is also is open to the public.
DICK AHLSTROM