[Livsh]

I don't normally read climate change articles, I find them too depressing, especially when I cycle to and from work past 1000s of planet killers with one person in them...but I read this one...THEN made the hienous mistake of reading the comments section. I am now considering quitting my job to walk up and down george street with a billboard saying "The end is nigh"

EB, can you restore my faith that not everyone in the world thinks that climate change is a pinko conspiracy?

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/degrees-...1119-29l3c.html

[BobTheBottersnik...]

I can confirm that not everyone in the world thinks that climate change is a lefty pinko conspiracy Even my dad thinks that something should be done

[Lucretia Borgia]

I think it's very real, and very scary.

I don't know what it is about climate change and the science around it that is so incompatible with right wing politics? Ok, the big polluters tend to be big business, and big business and the Liberal party are in bed together...is that it? Maybe so, but good luck with your share portfolios and beach houses when the oceans rise and natural disasters wipe the value off your stake in QBE.....

[Guest_3Keiki_*]

the reality is that denial is easier to stomach than the reality and climate change experts are fighting peoples fear which is so overwhelmingly strong. Climate denailists are great at buying into that and play on the emotion involved.
By and large people are stupid though and we are all going to hell in a hand basket but that is just my take on it

[Amellyne]

Livsh,

I don't think everyone thinks its a conspiracy, but then I just finished reading comments about how teacher get over paid, don't work enough hours and don't do anything worth while in this world. So my opinion is currently in the mind set that only idiots spend their time commenting on news articles and the intelligent people are off doing something more important.

Hell according to these comments apparently it's teachers faults that kids are fatter and lazier than ever, so working on that theory, its probably Mars' fault that our planet is experiencing climate change.

[Anemonefish]

I work on coral reef fishes and so I have seen the effects of climate change first hand. It infuriates and saddens me to read those sorts of comments too, I usually try to avoid doing so, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

Unfortunately, the biggest culprits (the coal & oil industries) have the money to influence governments and the media. I hate the way the debate is portrayed by the media as having an equal number of proponents on each side. In reality, the vast majority of scientists working on this issue (climate scientists as well as biologists and others working directly with the effects of climate change) agree that climate change is happening, it's caused by humans, and it's something we need to act on immediately. In fact, we have already got to the point where irreversible changes are happening. Whatever we do now will be to slow down the rate of change.

[flushthetoilet]

I work with Very Smart People (I'm not one) and they are all sensible, and in a position to understand the data. They see it as a real and dangerous threat. There is some hope.

I was given a paper to read recently. It was not too long, and eplained the whole scenario in layman's terms.

I wanted to print it out and hit Alan Jones over the head with it.

[Livsh]

Oh thank god, I was spiraling into a vortex of depression thinking about how doomed the planet was!

[archy's mehi...]

There seems to me to have been an increase in the number of extremists commenting on SMH and The Age on several topics.

Part of it might just be bad luck, but there's been a story or two recently about how some interest groups make it their business to pay employ people to seek out internet conversations and then spam it with the interest group's views. This either kills the topic, by muzzling any intelligent debate, or changes reader's perspective on what public opinion about the topic actually is. Climate change is a known prime candidate for this kind of malarky.

[*Spikey*]

I'm with archy on that - there are indeed groups who pay people to post on topics that are contrary to their interests with a view to shutting them down if they can't change opinion.

Climate change is a biggy, as was the tobacco lobby - though that was quite funny as Australians all seem to believe smoking is bad for you, even the smokers. So the 'conspiracy' theorist found little to work with as they couldn't get anyone to agree with a single one of their points. Kudos to us.

Oh, and for the record, in my view, based on my discussions with scientists who research climate, etc, we do have a strong case for anthropogenic climate change happening.