Myth: Some scientists still reject the climate consensus

The fact that some scientists still reject the so-called ‘climate consensus’ shows that there is still debate on the issue.

Fact:

There is no longer any debate over the reality of global warming. All the prominent sceptics in the scientific community have now accepted that the Earth really is heating up, despite having spent most of their academic careers arguing the opposite. Those sceptics include Patrick Michaels, Robert Balling, John Christy, Steven Koonin, Richard Lindzen, Roy Spencer, William Happer and William van Wijngaarden. 

Instead of challenging the temperature record, they are now claiming that greenhouse gases are either not primarily responsible for the observed warming or that the warming itself will be benign. 

Steven Koonin, for example, claims that it is impossible to determine the respective contribution of CO₂ emissions and other factors (like solar activity) due to “the deficiencies of climate data”; hence, he says, we would be better off adapting to climate change rather than trying to stop it. 

Roy Spencer blames the observed warming on “natural factors” like the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, although he provides no evidence for this. He seems genuinely surprised and confused about the fact that his earlier predictions turned out to be wrong.

John Christy, by contrast, does attribute most of our current warming to CO₂, but does not believe future temperature rises will be hazardous. 

Patrick Michaels agrees, despite estimating that those temperature rises will be as much as 3°C by 2100. 

Finally, William Happer believes that increased CO₂ levels will be good for the world. In 2014, he famously said that the “demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler.” 

So, while there is consensus among 99.9 percent of the world’s climate scientists, there is no consensus whatever among the other 0.1 percent. All they can agree on now is that global temperatures really are on the rise.