Why others do not believe in global warming?

[zararina]

This is my honest question, why some people would not believe that there is a climate change or global warming?

Personally i believe that it is happening since i could feel that it is getting hotter and hotter every year. The storms also seems to be stronger and more destructive just like come other natural disasters like earthquakes.

So, are you a believer or not?

[Simon]

Why do some people deny the overwhelming evidence for anthropogenic climate change? I think there are many different answers to that question.

Their denialism could for example be supported by religious beliefs. Especially Christians have this weird belief that we humans have the right to do whatever we please against nature because we are above the animals. Some also believe that it doesn't matter if we destroy our planet and nature simply because the rapture / judgement day will soon come and that they will come to a better place after their death.

I wrote a blog post in 2009 about how Evangelical Christians in USA help spread climate denial and confusion. A study done by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life showed that among white evangelical Protestants in USA only 34% believed the earth is warming due to human activity, and over 30% of them don’t believe in it at all. Another example of this is Congressman John Shimkus (R-Ill) who in 2009 said that God will decide when the earth will end during introductory remarks at a House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.

The denialism could also stem from political views which are often mixed with religious beliefs (see this post: The Norwegian terrorist is a climate denier). People who adhere to conservative, neo-liberalism and general right-wing politics are often negative against pro-environmental policies and laws. These people base their climate denialism in right-wing ideology. A survey done earlier this summer clearly showed that right-wing libertarians and conservatives doesn’t like environmental regulations while being more supportive of corporations. I quote:

"While 39% of the general public agree with the statement that “stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy” as many as 79% of libertarians agree on that."

"The only ones who rather want to see more investments in the fossil fuel industry than the development of renewable energy sources are “staunch conservatives”. Libertarians also misses a majority agreement on this issue."

There is also the example of denialism funded and supported by huge corporations that invest heavily into lobbyists who tries to delay policies and regulations aimed at stopping climate change or improving our environment. The Koch Industries is a great example of this. Volkswagen is another example.

Another reason for denialism could be simple ignorance or lack of education and knowledge about climate change.

[shopy99]

i don't know why people do not belive global warming exists, i live in a country which used to have 4seasons now we only have 2 how is that not global warming and pretty soon we'll have summer all around. too bad i love winter and for 3 years ti hasn't really snowed. :(

[joydyats]

I think there are just people who are not conscious with the environmental changes. I personally believe in Global warming. In this earth, we reap what we sow so that is basically it. We reap what humanity sow in nature. Sad but true.

[Cecille]

I agree with Simonleuf, maybe most of the non-believers are just denying the fact that the effects are here and that it damages the world little by little. It's really scary imagining what more could happen in the future and I am concerned for the future of my kids. Me, myself, is a believer. And as much as I can, I do simple things to help.

[YounGMessiah]

I as well do not know why people deny the facts, the only thing that bugs me about global warming sometimes is the other side. They make it seem like our whole world is gonna collapse tomorrow and try to use to scare tactics and while I understand the tactics, still kinda odd.. Any who I am more worried for my kid's kids lol

[Estefani]

It's not that they are denying all these weather changes, they just don't want to admit that it's global warming and that we are causing it. Some have the belief that all this climate changes are happening because they are supposed to be happening. Kind of like the ice age and all the warming eras.

[YounGMessiah]

Well technically it is suppose to happen, that's natures nature lol, but we as mankind speed up certain processes or cause fluxes... blah blah blah :P

[zararina]

It's not that they are denying all these weather changes, they just don't want to admit that it's global warming and that we are causing it. Some have the belief that all this climate changes are happening because they are supposed to be happening. Kind of like the ice age and all the warming eras.

Yes right, some just think what happening is a cycle that the earth had experienced or the earth should experienced. But the thing is,for sure, before they are no such pollutions on earth that had causes the ozone layer hole/holes and the heat of the sun is not trapped in the earth that makes the temperature increases. Definitely, we are causing things to happen this time and it is not just nature.

[Simon]

Here is another explanation why some people deny climate change: Cool dudes: The denial of climate change among conservative white males in the United States

This study takes a look at climate denialism from a psychological point of view. They come to the conclusions that climate change denial is an example of "identity-protective cognition", mostly among "conservative white males". Other high-lights from the study:

• System-justifying tendencies lead to climate change denial.
• Climate change denial increased from 2001 to 2010.
• Conservative white males are more likely than other Americans to report climate change denial.
• Conservative white males who self-report understanding global warming very well are even more likely.

I as well do not know why people deny the facts, the only thing that bugs me about global warming sometimes is the other side. They make it seem like our whole world is gonna collapse tomorrow and try to use to scare tactics and while I understand the tactics, still kinda odd.. Any who I am more worried for my kid's kids lol

It probably won't collapse tomorrow. Maybe in a few years time our world (the Western hemisphere) will look completely different. We can already see the devastating effects of climate change happening, mostly in poor countries that can't afford to adapt to a changing climate.

I would personally say that the environmental organisations haven't been alarmist enough.

Well technically it is suppose to happen, that's natures nature lol, but we as mankind speed up certain processes or cause fluxes... blah blah blah

True. The planet's climate has changed before. But this time man-made global warming is changing the climate much faster and on a scale never before seen. The consequences will not be pretty...

[Crash-Cheetah]

Well technically it is suppose to happen, that's natures nature lol, but we as mankind speed up certain processes or cause fluxes... blah blah blah

I agree with you. It's something that the earth goes through. I don't think some people care and that's why they don't believe.

[tammy]

I believe in Global Warming, but not the way that the world leaders are presenting it to us. Our world has been through ice ages, droughts, land slides, volcanic eruptions, and more before. And this was before we had even invented cars. If cars and trains didn't exist, the climate today would still be warmer than it was a thousand years ago. But it wouldn't nearly as high as it is, and these extremely prowerful storms wouldn't be nearly as severe as it is. So I think that this is a natural process.

[Simon]

I believe in Global Warming, but not the way that the world leaders are presenting it to us. Our world has been through ice ages, droughts, land slides, volcanic eruptions, and more before. And this was before we had even invented cars. If cars and trains didn't exist, the climate today would still be warmer than it was a thousand years ago. But it wouldn't nearly as high as it is, and these extremely prowerful storms wouldn't be nearly as severe as it is. So I think that this is a natural process.

Well, you're wrong.

"Climate reacts to whatever forces it to change at the time; humans are now the dominant forcing. Natural climate change in the past proves that climate is sensitive to an energy imbalance. If the planet accumulates heat, global temperatures will go up. Currently, CO2 is imposing an energy imbalance due to the enhanced greenhouse effect. Past climate change actually provides evidence for our climate's sensitivity to CO2."

It would be interesting if you could let us know why you believe that the current climate change is happening because of "natural processes"?

[Karim Jessa]

Without going so far as to deny global warming, I'd like first of all to deny the name global "warming."

I see comments about how it's hotter now than before. But really, I feel (literally) that it's colder now than ever before. I do admit that in peak summer, when it's sunny, the temperature is higher. But summer itself has grown shorter. The winters are colder. So are spring and autumn. And now we have snow in October. That's unheard of!

So the first thing is to call this "Climate change" rather than global warming. There are people in the northern regions who dreamed of longer summers and milder winters when this whole global warming issue became prevalent. It's been a disappointment so far.

Moving on to the whole issue of climate change. We keep saying that humans are the cause of it. Well, yes. But than what's the cause of humans? If humans are contributing to ruining the environment, what's contributing to humans being what they are?

This is my rhetorical way of saying that it's all nature. Humans are also part of nature. They can build nuclear weapons; they can overpopulate the world; and they can ruin the environment. They can also come to their senses and work to end nuclear weapons; control population explosion; and begin fixing the environment.

Where does that leave the issue of global warming? Well, it remains one of the issues we have to work on. But you'll notice, the world leaders at this particular moment are more concerned with the world economy, than with the world weather.

It seems nature will just have to take care of it on her own, as she's always taken care of things which are simply too urgent to be left to human minds.

[Link]

I agree that calling it global warming seems to mislead many people about what to expect from the weather. Calling it global climate change or global climate instability might be more useful.

But saying that nature will just have to take care of it on her own, is like saying that it won't be taken care of at all.

[Jabsfreelanceworld]

Why do some people deny the overwhelming evidence for anthropogenic climate change? I think there are many different answers to that questions.

Their denialism could for example be supported by religious beliefs. Especially Christians have this weird belief that we humans have the right to do whatever we please against nature because we are above the animals. Some also believe that it doesn't matter if we destroy our planet and nature simply because the rapture / judgement day will soon come and that they will come to a better place after their death.

"I wrote a blog post in 2009 about how Evangelical Christians in USA help spread climate denial and confusion. A study done by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life showed that among white evangelical Protestants in USA only 34% believed the earth is warming due to human activity, and over 30% of them don’t believe in it at all. Another example of this is Congressman John Shimkus (R-Ill) who in 2009 said that God will decide when the earth will end during introductory remarks at a House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment."

I have faith in God and am a Christian, and I don't agree with the mentality that we could just do with the earth what we want. That's like saying we are all going to die anyway so let's just go steal, kill, and (in this case) destroy everything we want! I first was disgusted with a group of people I was hanging out with in a young adult group after I went back to church. They were all very environmentally conservative. I later met knew Christian friends who advocated natural foods, chemical-free living, energy conservation, and so on. (I am not strict about this but I try do do what I can.)

[Karim Jessa]

Perhaps I should elaborate on what I said regarding nature having to take care of the problem of global climate change (I'm still trying to avoid the term "global warming." It's just too cold for me.)

I take humans as being part of nature. Well, I don't have to take them as such; they indeed are part of nature. So, whatever humans do is basically nature doing it. Now, I know this sounds ridiculous. And it seems to give a license to anyone who feels like doing anything stupid. All they have to do is blame it on nature.

But really, even psychological problems are now treated from a nature point of view: They're treated as brain disorders; not as evil tendencies. Then again, the diseases that were spread due to migrations into new areas; and the destruction of entire civilizations due to the spread of diseases. All that is nature at work. Would you look back and say migrations were a mistake?

This is getting off topic. I'll come back to climate change. The problem is already on our hands -- due to human error. But it's not only our problem. It's nature's problem too, (if you wish to separate humans from nature, that is.) At this particular moment, while we discuss this matter, and politicians twiddle their thumbs, nature is doing what it has to do.

This just reminds me of something from quite a few years back. This was when air pollution was already a major problem. I remember reading that scientists had discovered that trees had been storing extra amounts of carbon in the roots. The trees were basically removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and depositing the carbon in the roots. Now this is nature at work. No human could have anticipated such a thing.

Whatever solutions we, as humans, come up with to counter the adverse effects of our own mistakes, will be nature working through us, while at the same time it will also be working directly in its own sweet way.

[Link]

I think I understand what you mean when you say that everything - including human pollution - is nature at work. However I do wish to separate humans from nature when we speak of them, because I think it's a useful distinction.

[Jabsfreelanceworld]

I think I understand what you mean when you say that everything - including human pollution - is nature at work. However I do wish to separate humans from nature when we speak of them, because I think it's a useful distinction.

Can you explain a little bit further? I guess I have a tendency to think that because we are on this earth we are a part of nature, and supposed to be (as far as I know) the most intelligent creatures here taking care of the earth is our responsibility. You may have a slightly different point of view as separating humans from nature. I was wondering what you meant by that, just for interest sake:)

[Link]

No problem. What I mean is that when it comes to a lot of the problems we face today, it is useful to say that it was caused by humans and not nature. It's a question of semantics. You might prefer to say that the problems were caused by humans and not animals and plants. Another might prefer to say that the problems were caused by humans and not other animals and the plants. Since humans are also animals some might not like to seperate humans from animals. That's all there is to it.

In a sense, all the environmental problems we face today are caused by nature, they are 'natural'. That just doesn't narrow it down very much.

On another point, I don't think that we have a responsibility to take care of the earth, I just think it's the smartest thing to do; it is absolutely in our best interest to do it.

[Simon]

I have faith in God and am a Christian, and I don't agree with the mentality that we could just do with the earth what we want.

Well I didn't mean to clump all Christians with their various and differentiated ideas and values into one group.

Perhaps I should elaborate on what I said regarding nature having to take care of the problem of global climate change (I'm still trying to avoid the term "global warming." It's just too cold for me.)

Yes, I also think we should avoid using the term "global warming". A better label would be "climate change". Just because the planet's global temperature is rising doesn't necessarily mean that people currently living in colder regions will get a warmer climate in the years to come. Other more proper variations of climate change could be "climate crisis" (that Al Gore often use) or "climate chaos".

On Green Blog the climate change category is labeled as "global warming". I actually had a long thought process on just this before I decided to go with the term global warming instead of climate change. I decided to go with global warming because that is the term that drives the most search engine traffic to the blog. It easily trumps "climate change" in terms of search engine hits. More people search for global warming and thus it was more of a tactical decision of mine to go with a more popular term than a more scientifically correct term.

I take humans as being part of nature. Well, I don't have to take them as such; they indeed are part of nature. So, whatever humans do is basically nature doing it. Now, I know this sounds ridiculous. And it seems to give a license to anyone who feels like doing anything stupid. All they have to do is blame it on nature.

Sure, we humans are part of nature - we are animals. But that doesn't mean that what we are doing, changing the climate on a global scale and polluting the planet etc, is something natural.

On another point, I don't think that we have a responsibility to take care of the earth, I just think it's the smartest thing to do; it is absolutely in our best interest to do it.

Well, I do think we have a responsibility to take care of the planet - our home. We are the single most intelligent race on this planet and our actions and decisions affect every corner of the world. It's not like we are mindless children who can roam around free without a care in the world.

Sure we don't have to, but it's like you say - the smartest thing to do.

[Link]

If responsibility does not entail that we have to or ought to do something, then we don't disagree Simon.

But I do think that we disagree on a very fundamental level. You - and 90% of all people on earth - probably believe that we have responsibilities outside our own interests; that there at things we should do even if it doesn't further our interests in any way. I on the other hand don't think that there is anything that anyone should do, if it is not in some way in their interests. I did not arrive at this conclusion happily, but it is what I have come to believe. At this moment though I have gotten quite used to the idea and don't think so badly of it anymore.

[kat74]

I do believe in it but I have a friend who believes its there but doesn't believe its being caused by human. She believe that its nature taking its cause, and explains that just like the time of dinosaurs and just the way they disappeared from the earth without the human doing anything, the earth is taking a toll from nature and since scientist have to explain the reason, they say its human beings cause. Nature has a way of dealing wit issues and evolution will happen in many ways.

[snowdoll487]

I think it is not because they don't believe but they don't care. They know global warming is happening but because it is not entirely affecting them that they doesn't care. And for those who knows of the catastrophic force that comes along with global warming, some of them can't do anything to help or help themselves, they're the less fortunate ones who are most affected with the changes.

[joeldgreat]

It's simply because they don't care. People who belongs to this group are simply doesn't care about the future. Or maybe, they themselves are the one's polluting the environment. Manufacturers, businessmen, corporations, etc. which only thinks about how to bring money on their pockets. But maybe, when majority will stand and knock their conscience, maybe they'll listen and believe that global warming is for real.