Er, no it isn't. There's a great deal of data that shows a rapidly warming climate, one that is warming at a far faster rate than ever before. The thing with science - it changes in light of new data, which makes it the antithesis of ideology. Those people who ignore the data (aka 'facts') are the ones most likely to be ideologues. Climate change denial is of a kind with young earth creationism; mind made up, please don't confuse with facts.
This is the typical response. And is so deeply flawed and fabulously ironic. If you deny man made climate change you are ignorant and closed minded. If you believe the "facts" you are smart, tolerant and open minded..............unless and until what you believe about climate change is challenged. Then you become dogmatic, utterly closed minded and intolerant.....kind of like a religious fanatic. Priceless.
But let's look at two points in question here:
First, the "climate change denier" moniker.
You, in this very response, have proven my point perfectly. (Thank you.) If you are a "denier" then you are a nut, kind of like people who believe the earth is 6000 years old and who form opinions that are not based in "facts". Therefore, if you question climate change you cannot be taken seriously. Conversation over. No tolerance for wackos. So it seems clear that I hit that nail right on the head. Thanks for your assistance.
Second, let's talk about your "facts". Just what exactly are they? How did we get them? What do they tell us? What are we to do about them? If we do something about them will it help? And no, you may not dodge any of these questions if your assumptions are that climate change science has given us facts that undeniably show that the global climate is warming at such a rate and to such a level that it is clear that it is man made
AND that this effect will be injurious to mankind and the planet
AND that there is something we can do about it
AND that you, or anyone else knows what that something is
AND that you know that the costs and risks of doing that outweigh the costs and risks of doing something else. Otherwise, you need to drop the pejorative attitude about people who still harbor concerns that we are not quite sure about the science, we don't know what the implications are, we don't know if we caused it or not, and we do not know what to do about it if even all the rest is true.
Now, all that is generalization. If you'd like to talk about the specific "facts" that make anyone who denies them a cave man, then let's have them. But be prepared to be open minded.....or be prepared to be called ignorant and dogmatic. That's only fair, right?
