Climate change is a conspiracy, right?
The battle between ‘fake news’ and authentic environmental journalism.
Unfortunately, often no matter how factually scientific an article is, it risks being overshadowed by the dreaded ‘fake news’ embroiled in 21st century media.
‘Fake news’ is a type of journalism that involves either manipulation or total fabrication of a story, which appears to be a piece of credible writing. It is typically used as a hoax, or to influence political views.
According to an article for Axios by columnist Amy Harder, environmental issues, such as climate change, are often the subject for our era of ‘fake news’ because they are complicated and intangible, making them an easy target.
In a defeated final post, Jenny Rohn, a former science blogger for the Guardian, said, “I was deluded. You can’t beat fake news with science communication.”
Fabricated theories conspired by climate change sceptics, or ‘deniers’, form various claims.
Here are a few:
- Scientists are publishing false data to gain more research funding
- Global warming is an attempt to promote nuclear power
- It is a con created to benefit people who own shares in renewable energy companies
- It is a myth spread by environmentalists in the pursuit of a one-world socialist government
- Climate change is a natural process
“When people listen to climate sceptics, they enter a minefield of mistrust, suspicion, and doubt.” — Douglas & Sutton
(I spotted these conspiracy theories here and here. If you’re interested, take a look to read a little more about them and browse a few more — some a little crazier than others!)
Matt Ridley’s Climate Change Conspiracy
In his article, “The climate change agenda is a conspiracy against the poor”, ‘credible’ science writer Matt Ridley disavows the pending catastrophic effects caused by man-made global warming. His main argument slams Obama, among others, for “putting the interests of rich people’s grandchildren ahead of those of poor people today”.
To support his view, he hones in on the opinion of one climate economist, Dr Professor Richard Tol. According to Tol, climate change is not the single largest welfare issue of humankind, and that a temperature increase of up to 2.2˚C may benefit future generations financially. The narrow perspective employed by Ridley ignores all implications besides the vague and tenuous monetary predictions.
He also chooses to ignore the 97% expert consensus on human-caused global warming…
Although there may be some truths, Ridley has cherry picked and manipulated certain information in an attempt to steer public opinion and policy away from efforts to reduce, and adapt to, the impacts of global warming. In doing so, he diverts reader attention from an environmental issue to a political one.
Not so shockingly, he has received numerous repercussions from environmentalists regarding his perspective on what is indubitably a fundamental global concern.
Who do you trust?
According to a background briefing paper for the Journalism Credibility strand of The LSE Truth, Trust and Technology Commission:
“Trust in traditional media appears to be declining, and this allows misinformation to compete with real news for the public’s attention.”
Sadly, the problematic function of ‘fake news’ is severely intensified by social media, with celebrities and politicians using their following to spread conspiracy theories… No Trump, global warming is not a hoax!
If in doubt, here are 10 tips to keep you one step ahead of ‘fake news’:
