The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism

Communicating with climate change skeptics is one of the more challenging tasks that climate change communicators face. Though skeptics represent a minority of what the population as a whole thinks about the topic, loaded feelings about global warming and climate change can be an intimidating obstacle to more meaningful discussions. Navigating those dicey waters, and the talking points skeptics bring to them, can be a source of much anxiety and reservation for an interpreter.

While science is inherently skeptical, that skepticism is driven by a need for more complete understanding, not uninformed denial. A good number of climate change skeptics may fit more in the latter than the former, but their talking points can still be readily responded to, and done so in a manner that keeps the discussion firmly about science -- a topic area that is less emotional than murkier (and at times volatile) political back-and-forth.

A new report from Skeptical Science helps climate change communicators navigate these waters. John Cook's "The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism" offers an accessible and quick review of the primary arguments and evidence supporting humanity's indelible footprint on global climate change. The guide lays out the principal ways we know and understand (and have observed through countless independent observations) the relationship between humans, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change.