Is climate change denial hopelessly mired in Creationism?

Question

Here's yet another piece of evidence: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/us/06ark.html?src=mv

Mike Zovath, a promoter of the proposed Noah's Ark theme park in Kentucky, said: “I don’t believe in global warming.....but I do believe we’ve got to be good stewards of everything God’s given us.”

Apparently his God didn't give us the atmosphere, so its fate can be safely ignored. Or maybe just the parts of the atmosphere that are lower than Mt. Ararat?

Also note their constant use of the word "believe," as if one must choose to believe in something or it's not real. Good science doesn't require any belief system, just the weight of evidence. You don't need to believe that ice melts, for instance. It just does.

I wonder how many Creationists have chosen not to believe in fossil fuel smog when it's right in front of their eyes? CO2 pollution has the argumentative disadvantage of being invisible.

A troublesome thing about the Creationism/AGW-denial connection is that Creationists have been denying another huge tenet of science for over 150 years. It's likely that many will remain like brick walls for decades to come.

Answer 1

No Climate change skepticism is mired in that facts that the AGW data has been faked.

http://www.c3headlines.com/fabricating-fake-temperatures.html

http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2010/10/19/why-giss-temperatures-are-too-high/

And in real science that says that CO2 is not causing AGW.

http://notrickszone.com/2010/11/16/german-scientist-co2-not-the-cause-of-climate-change-cold-period-is-anticipated/

Answer 2

OK, I am a Christian, but that really has nothing to do with the subject. It really has to do with solid scientific evidence that Global Warming simply doesn't exist.

1. The media just makes "Global Warming" seem so much bigger than it is in all actuality because they don't have anything to do except stir up trouble and panic. "Global Warming", or the fact that the ozone layer (which is what reflects harmful ultraviolet rays away from the earth) is decreasing around Antarctica, is what they're all stirred up about. Funny thing is, no one lives down there anyway because it's way too cold. Also, it only happens one freaking time a year, then it goes back to its normal state. We have nothing to worry about.

2. Real Global Warming doesn't even exist yet because it's not getting warmer everywhere, hence it isn't actually GLOBAL. Isn't the media annoying for making us believe in all that crap and worry ourselves about it? I'm only 14 and I know all this. How? I'm taking physical science. Simple little physical science. You probably are thinking, She's just a silly kid! What does she know? Well, I know a lot more than people give me credit for.

If you want to talk about this more, my email is [e-mail]

Answer 3

There is no climate change denial, climate change is a fact and has been going on since the inception of our planet.

AGW on the other hand is a load of old codswallop as is creationism and all other things religious.

Answer 4

We know it's the same people, with the same belief systems. They are fundamentalists - religious, social and political - ignorant and dangerous. God created the world for us to use, nothing we do alters that fact or could possibly interfere with his plan, if we screw it up he'll just fix it again. Gays have no right to marriage, it's immoral, it has nothing to do with biology, it's a lifestyle choice, a sin. The constitution is not a living document, it should interpreted as if we could magically go back in time, enter the minds of the founders and divine original intent (which of course, they can do). The list goes on and on. Ignorant and dangerous. Same people. And it will go on even after we have a climate meltdown. They will blame it on a leftist conspiracy.



http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/21/us/politics/21climate.html



http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20101117/sc_yblog_thelookout/poll-most-republicans-dont-believe-in-climate-change



http://www.energyboom.com/policy/us-poll-most-republicans-believe-climate-change-%E2%80%9Choax%E2%80%9D

Answer 5

To correct you, it is faith that makes people believe in AGW when there is no good science that points to man just adding to a natural cycle. If man was actually driving it, we would have had another peak temperature over the past 12 years since between India and China alone CO2 outputs have jumped over this same period of time. It is funny how the AGW supporters takes the climate scientists "it is likely that man is causing this problem" to mean that we are causing this problem.

Answer 6

Denial advise an lack of ability to settle for data. In gentle of "climategate" it would want to look that the skeptics were maximum suitable to question "international warming". If the elements replace professionals have not something to cover the why are they " cooking the books" and refusing to enable each person look into their information?

Answer 7

No, I wouldn't say that. There is a very strong overlap between AGW denial and Creationism, because fundamentally both are anti-science. But generally speaking, most AGW deniers are driven by political fundamentalism while most Creationists are driven by religious fundamentalism. It just so happens that both end up being anti-science, and thus very similar in their behavior.



And it is true that some Christians reject AGW for religious reasons, but others accept AGW for religious reasons. That's the thing about religion - interpretation of religious writings can be extremely subjective.

Answer 8

This a really interesting question and articulates I thought I have been trying to formulate for some time.



In my opinion, the word "belief" isn't required in supporting AGW theory. The preponderance of evidence supports it so fully that belief can used in semantically less committing manner as one would say "I believe there is oxygen in the air."

Answer 9

If you are going to address this issue, then you should look also at the religious who do in fact believe in AGW:



http://au.christiantoday.com/article/global-warming-a-christian-issue/2642.htm

http://christiansandclimate.org/

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=19830

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/27/catholicism.religion

etc.



And let's not forget the Muslims:



http://www.chesapeakeclimate.org/detail/news.cfm?news_id=174

http://www.cathnewsasia.com/2010/09/08/religions-to-address-global-warming/



Or how about an alliance of religions:



http://www.jpost.com/HealthAndSci-Tech/ScienceAndEnvironment/Article.aspx?id=115



Do you think there are any creationists that believe in AGW? I'll bet there are plenty but I'm just too lazy (and confident) to research it.



As well, it seems that the main thrust of your argument is that if someone believes that the Earth is 6000 years means that anything else that person believes must also be false. That is not an argument that can be defended.

Answer 10

Well, I think it's silly to take the word of religious people for anything. But I'm afraid that it IS a fact that there is no proof that the change in climate is caused by humans. The reason for this is that the technology for measuring climate changes is so new, and the earth is so very old, that there is no way to know at this point if humans are the cause. Stupid people always say "well, there has to be global warming because when I was a kid the weather was like this and now it's like this.." Um.. our lives are really short compared to the earth's life. We know for a scientific fact that the earth's temperature has changed a lot over the millenium (Ice age anyone?), so just because in a short 20-50 years YOU PERSONALLY saw a difference in temperature, that does not mean that the earth never did that on it's own before you or your grandparents were around. The earth has been around for millions & millions of years. You and grandpa joe have only been around for the past century of that- That's like a minute in the life of the earth. And we didn't have the technology 1 million years ago to measure tempertures. If we did we could compare those temperatures to our tempertures now and see if global warming is true... but we can't do that because the technology is too new. So there is no proof it exists. I'm not saying that we shouldn't still try to be green, because there are lots of benefits to green energy including health benefits- so I believe in recycling and being green; but not necessarily in global warming. I suggest that you do as your name claims and follow the evidence before coming up with the conclusion that Global Warming exists. All scientists agree that there is climate change, but only about half believe it is due to human beings.

Answer 11

I don't believe it because it sounds like those end of world cults

Answer 12

I have as low an opinion of Creationists as you have and I am one of your "deniers"

Mr Zovath may well be a Creationist, but in the land of the gullible, he is no doubt an astute businessman.

If you must insult me as a "denier", please do not double the insult by linking me to Creationism.

Answer 13

Very strange idea to an independent observer. The religion of climate change opposing a more traditional religion. Religious opponents will never agree as it's against their faith. Everyone thinks that their religion is right and the other is wrong, however one has to show more sympathy for the religion which doesn't need to subconsciously invoke the jewish holocaust.

Answer 14

I think it would be more correct to say that climate change denial is hopelessly mired in Republicanism, and some of them just happen to also be creationists.

One set of denial theories are aimed squarely at creationists, but others are aimed at those who hate communists, yet another at those who think Govt is out to control out lives and yet another at those who dislike the U.N. these various groups ignore the other theories and only want to talk about their own, a pretty good guide to just how divorced from reality these guys are.

Answer 15

Yes. Climate change deniers are frauds and spin doctors paid by conservative special interest groups (especially religious extremist groups) and multinational corporations (BP, Exxon Mobil etc.) to distort the truth. Our world is getting worst, not better. Our world is facing food shortages (40% of the world's agriculture is seriously degraded), freshwater shortages (freshwater is a finite natural resource), overconsumption and depletion of non-renewable resources (such as fossil fuels, iron ore), overpopulation, mass species extinctions of animal and plant life (because of deforestation and natural habitat loss), extreme weather (such as heat waves, flooding, heavy rainfall) Climate change will bring more diseases (such as malaria, dengue fever, cholera, West Nile virus).



Not many people seem to care about what happens to their children or grandchildren. Instead of listening to spin doctors (who have no knowledge of science), they should be listening to scientists (who base their scientific knowledge on facts).

Answer 16

No.



http://www.oism.org/pproject/



Global warming concerns are greatly overexaggerated and misrepresented. One does not need to be a Christian to see that...

Answer 17

No, it's hopelessly mired in realism!