They call Global Warming skeptics “anti-science.”  The term is a misnomer, however, because the skeptics are not actually against science, they are merely skeptical of the claims of its believers.  Here are some reasons for their skepticism:

• Apocalyptic forecasts.  Future climate forecasts for virtually every region in the world tend to be apocalyptic in nature.  If you live in a dry area, it will only get drier.  Areas of tremendous precipitation will only get rainier.  More flooding will inundate areas prone to flooding; more heavy winter snowfalls will blanket areas traditionally hit with heavy winter snowfalls.  Even in the short-term, nothing ever improves.  You might assume that growing seasons in Siberia or Canada might lengthen due to warming, and they might receive bountiful harvests for a few decades.  Perhaps the Sahara Desert will receive more rain and transform into a more hospitable savannah.  Such changes are never predicted.  Instead, we hear nothing but catastrophic scenarios.  In my opinion, this is intentionally designed to frighten the public into action.  It is understandable for politicians to engage in such hyperbole since most politicians tend to stretch or exaggerate the truth but scientists should be above spewing pseudoscience.

• Scientific neutrality.  Scientists claim to be neutral, speak only the truth, and are above personal politics.  Ironically, this cannot be the case, since I have heard scientists who accept Climate Change label scientists who question Climate Change as dishonest or tools of Big Oil or Big Tobacco (yes, Big Tobacco!  They just cannot kill enough children with their cigarettes, so now they want to destroy the entire planet!).  Skeptics sometimes point to a late snowstorm or cold spell as evidence against Global Warming.  Climatologists, meteorologists, and other scientists denounce such evidence, explaining that one atypical storm or weather event does not disprove a climate theory.  They are correct.  Unusual local or regional weather incidents and climate are not necessarily connected.  In addition, Climate Change will transpire over decades, and may not be observable over a season, a year, or even several years.  However, when defenders of Climate Change use that very same storm as evidence to confirm their scientific beliefs, the scientific community is eerily silent.  An impartial and honest scientist would be as quick to denounce the latter claim as well as the former.  However, their silence, along with the apocalyptic scenarios mentioned above, demonstrates that many scientists are as inconsistent and biased as the skeptical scientists and non-scientists they condemn.

• Climate Change is responsible for everything.  Whether it is Tropical Storm Sandy, Hurricane Katrina, or a brutal winter blizzard, all are attributed to Climate Change.  A cool day in the middle of summer?  A warm day in the middle of winter?  Sleet?  Wind?  Freezing rain?  There is no need to accept unseasonable weather, blame God, or even indict “Mother Earth”, because Climate Change is the real perpetrator.  Some also attribute tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic activity to Climate Change.  Apparently, none of these “natural events” ever occurred before man-induced (anthropogenic) Climate Change.  Incidentally, this all-encompassing culpability is the reason they altered the name from Global Warming to Climate Change.  It allows its promoters to blame any “act of God”, unwelcome weather, or abnormally cold weather on man’s activities.

• Storm damage and lost lives.  Every blizzard, hurricane, or major storm takes a tragic toll on human life.  Everyone grieves for the loss of life, and we should continue to do all we can to minimize these seemingly senseless deaths.  However, all claims that storms are becoming costlier and deadlier is deceptive.  Real estate in general is worth more today than it was decades ago.  Buildings and structures also cost more, and construction often takes place in precarious areas, such as flood zones, near earthquake fault lines, or even below sea level near the ocean.  In addition, population has increased significantly in a very short time.  In the last fifty years, the US alone gained over 120 million more people; Canada and Australia’s population has virtually doubled; the UK added nearly 10 million people; China and India’s populations have swelled by over 600 million each; and the world has added over 4.5 billion MORE people.  Any large storm will impose larger monetary damages and tragically take more lives, simply because the cost of real estate has increased and the world’s population has grown.

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