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The Forum > Article Comments > The importance of being informed > Comments

The importance of being informed : Comments

By James Fairbairn, published 13/8/2009

It is important that each of us does our research and makes an informed decision about climate change.

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Very good essay. I checked out David's website too.
It is hard to believe that he was a member of the UK conservative party.
Why?
Because most of what he features, and thus criticizes, on his website, is loudly championed by those who are usually called "conservative", and their multifarious think (stink) tanks, the purpose of which is to deliberately mis-inform the general populace (which they have been doing for many years now)

For instance they all uniformly loathe Naomi Klein, who is quoted on David's site.
Posted by Ho Hum, Thursday, 13 August 2009 11:04:00 AM
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I agree with James Fairbairn. They 'climate change' issue as presented in the media is far from conclusive. I do not know, nor does anyone else, if we are the sole cause of climate change.
One thing we do know is that the human race is polluting the planet. The time has come for some house keeping. The argument that our pollution is not causing any harm therefore it is OK to live in a dirty, smelly polluted world is not valid. It all comes back to personal choice and personal responsibility.
What sort of world do you want to live in? If you get that one wrong you may not have any world to live in. The doom and gloom approach to climate change just might be right. We don't know. But it is not worth the risk.
Posted by Daviy, Thursday, 13 August 2009 11:05:56 AM
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Take your own advice James and get informed. You presume the world's climate scientists are so stupid they haven't thought to check the factors, and don't debate whether they've got them right. To see how scientists really work, see my post at
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7418&page=0
Your straw man about people breathing out CO2 is monumentally pathetic.

As to scientists trying to feather their nests, what about Exxon-Mobil, which has a trillion-dollar vested interest, and that funds denialist think-tanks whose philosophy is "Doubt is the product". They push the message "They call it pollution, we call it life". The same straw man.

And the media are full of denialist stuff, far out of proportion to their credibility or numbers.
Posted by Geoff Davies, Thursday, 13 August 2009 11:57:45 AM
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Ho Hum

Am I missing something - which David are you referring to, what does he have to do with the author/article?

Daviy

Can you name just one scientist who claims that "we are the sole cause of climate change"?

It disturbs me that distortions (intentional or otherwise) like this create even more confusion for people who just don't know.

Media shock-jocks and ideologue columnists do science an injustice with deliberate distortion and misrepresentation.

Most media outlets do a fair job in reporting science, although in a race with their competitors can get some things wrong.

Notwithstanding, if you really want to get information from the IPCC, scientific institutions, science journals or the scientists themselves - you can.

Most rabid critics don't ... you have to ask, why not?
Posted by Q&A, Thursday, 13 August 2009 12:03:45 PM
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A good article. A couple of brief points.
1. Media are all about making money, and nothing else. Editors that ignore this are currenly all unemployed. Ask Murdoch. Therefore they take the view or press the point for either position based on what will cause the longest engagement, and greatest return to shareholders.
2. Scientists regulary disagree with each other and regularly get it spectacularly wrong.
3. Stats can be abused to prove/disprove anything.
Get involved, keep informed, discuss it regularly and maintain an interest. Informed society cannot be controlled, and it scares those in power when there are more of us than the muppets.
Posted by Figjam, Thursday, 13 August 2009 1:33:24 PM
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Q & A
I think you have misread my post. Did I mention Scientists? Many of the media reports I read ignore everything other than human factors. In OLO there are many posts that argue only from the dogma of the effect of human race. Like the weather itself there are so many variable that nobody can isolate a single cause.
My view is that the best we can do is to minimise our impact. There is no need to be a scientist to understand that.
'Most media outlets do a fair job in reporting science'. If it isn't sensationist it doesn't sell in the popular media. The media needs an 'angle', and if that angle distorts the truth so be it as long as it sells. This applies to science as much as anything else.
Unfortunately this means that anyone who relies on the popular media will be uniformed. The old problem. Public opinion is orchestrated ignorance. Nowhere is this more evident than in the climate change debate.
Posted by Daviy, Thursday, 13 August 2009 3:53:55 PM
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