science vs. politics--once again.

“Friends of Science” and “How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic” have a both a very similar and yet very different purpose. On one hand, they both offer the reader counter-arguments to climate change myths (one acknowledging and the other denying climate change) but the way the website is built up makes their purpose very different.

In “How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic,” the only information one may found is what the arguments of climate change skeptics are and how one can counter them while backing up their arguments with scientific evidence. The sources are clearly marked and almost all refer back to websites of governmental organization such as the IPCC, NASA and NOAA. Moreover, the website takes up more the form of a blog than an official website, as people can post comments bellow the author’s points.

On the other hand, “Friends of Science” gives a very different impression to the reader at first glance. The website is aesthetically pleasing, organized and the title “friends of the earth” leaves the viewer with a feeling that the information in the website is scientifically based and positive in content. Yet when you start exploring the different tabs, one thing becomes clear: the website is highly politicized. I opened a random tab (the one concerning the Copenhagen Climate Treaty) and fell on the excerpt of a speech by Lord Christopher Monckton in which he equates climate change advocates to “communists” who are trying to impose a “communist government” on the world and take away Americans’ “Freedom.” How is that scientific evidence that climate change isn’t human-induced? Lastly, the sources used by the website aren’t all that reputable: as I opened another tab I found a video of Dr. John Christy saying "plants just love CO2 and it could be said if they had a chance to vote whether we should limit co2 or not and they would vote no because co2 is food for them as plants."Similarly, after having looked up some of their sources, I found that most scientific scholarly articles had been funded by either oil companies or the army!

Therefore, at first glance, “Friends of Science” looks more convincing, as its better organized and more pleasing to the eye. However, when you analyze the context, you realized that the website is not rooted in science but politics. The message isn’t “listen to science, global warming is caused by the sun” but rather “don’t listen to those phony communists, fight for your freedom.”

P.S. I’d like to add that when reading the comments on the “How to talk to a Climate Skeptic” website, I fell on a comment made by a climate change skeptic who quoted the journal “The Eco-Enquirer” to counter-act the information that was found on the web page—evidently, he hadn’t realized that the journal’s disclaimer read: “All content on this site, being a mixture of parody, satire, and lame humor, is for entertainment purposes only. If any content is found to be offensive or objectionable in any way, please accept our apologies... but we also suggest that you get a life."