stanford university

Mon, 2010-06-21 18:34Jim Hoggan
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Stanford Study Exposes Lack of Credibility and Expertise Among Climate Skeptics

A study by Stanford University researchers examining expert credibility in climate change has confirmed that climate skeptics and contrarians within the scientific community comprise at best 3% of the field, and are “vastly overshadowed” in expertise by their colleagues who agree that manmade climate change is real. 

As readers of DeSmogBlog know well, the credibility of climate science and scientists has come under attack in recent months.  In the wake of the Climategate episode –portrayed in the right wing media as a scandalous cover-up while independent investigations found no evidence calling into question the integrity of climate science – skeptics have loudly argued that the public shouldn’t trust the overwhelming consensus among scientists that man-made climate change is real.

Flipping that faulty assertion on its head, this new Stanford study, published today in the highly-regarded journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides even more reason for the public to scrutinize the credibility of the skeptics and contrarians themselves, showing them to possess less direct expertise and far fewer published works in the climate science literature than colleagues who agree with the consensus view.

Read more: Stanford Study Exposes Lack of Credibility and Expertise Among Climate Skeptics
Mon, 2010-03-15 18:25Jim Hoggan
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Stanford Study Confirms That “Balanced” Media Stories Quoting Skeptics Mislead The Public

Skeptics Skew Public Understanding of Climate Change

Providing climate skeptics a voice in “balanced” mainstream media coverage skews public perception of the scientific consensus regarding climate change, leaving viewers less likely to understand the threat of climate disruption and less likely to support government actions to address global warming, according to the results of a Stanford University research effort. 

The Stanford researchers probed the impact on public understanding of climate change when media coverage features a climate skeptic alongside a climate scientist.  Media stories featuring only a mainstream climate scientist “increased the number of people who believed that global warming has been happening and that humans have caused global warming.”

However, when media stories also include a climate skeptic, ostensibly to add “balance” to the story, the result is a “significantly reduced” number of people who understand the issue and endorse government action to address the problem.

“Watching a skeptic decreased perceptions of consensus among scientific experts, and this decreased perception of consensus led respondents to be less supportive of government action in general and of cap and trade policy in particular,” the researchers found.

Read more: Stanford Study Confirms That “Balanced” Media Stories Quoting Skeptics Mislead The Public
Wed, 2007-09-05 17:55Kevin Grandia
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DeSmogBlog live at the SEJ in Palo Alto

It's time again for the Society of Environmental Journalists conference and DeSmogBlog will be there covering all the action.

The SEJ conference is being held at Stanford University this year, bringing together top environmental reporters and writers from across North America.

Like last year, the DeSmogBlog team will be there blogging and doing video-casts. Check out the conference details and let us know if there is anything you would like to see us cover.

If you're attending the conference and want to get together for a coffee, drop us a line at desmogblog[at]gmail.com.

Read more: DeSmogBlog live at the SEJ in Palo Alto
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