A recent article in the journal Nature has led to false allegations that researchers are exaggerating the impacts of climate change. Bob Ward argues that media sources are using this to mislead readers. Read more
Climate change denial
Climate change denial refers to the deliberate rejection of the scientific evidence about anthropogenic climate change. Understanding the origin, motivation and tactics of climate change denial is not just an issue of academic curiosity. Climate change denial can potentially hinder action by citizens and policy-makers to mange the risks of climate change and unnecessarily exposes people to bigger risks from increases in the frequency and intensity of many extreme weather events, including heatwaves, floods, wildfires and droughts.
Climate change denial takes many forms. Some people deny that the global temperature is rising and the climate is changing. Others accept that the climate is changing, but deny that human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, are primarily responsible. And yet others, sometimes called ‘lukewarmers’, accept that the climate is changing and that human activities are the main driver, but deny that the impacts could be significant.
In all of these cases, the denial means a rejection of overwhelming evidence and irrefutable facts. While climate change denial is waning as more people see for themselves that climate change is already occurring around the world, it is still promoted in some public discussions, political processes and media coverage. The Grantham Research Institute actively challenges climate change denial around the world in order to promote the public interest.
Bob Ward writes that the Daily Mail's misleading portrayal of the latest IPCC report once again promotes its agenda of climate change denial. Read more
Bob Ward exposes the falsehoods in Viscount Ridley’s Times article about a ‘walrus comeback’. Read more
Bob Ward debunks yet more false claims on climate change being spread in the UK by certain public figures as they exploit Twitter’s lack of rules against misinformation. Read more
Bob Wards highlights errors in a recent article by Steve Baker MP that claims “the poorest will pay the highest price for Net Zero fantasies”, part of an apparent ramp-up in the misinformation campaign by British climate change deniers. Read more
The leader writers at The Daily Telegraph have demonstrated once again that their deeply ideological opposition to climate change policy makes them an unreliable source of information on the topic, argues Bob Ward. Read more
In this online event leading climate scientist Michael E. Mann discusses his new book, The New Climate War, in which... Read more
A new ruling by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) has provided further evidence that it cannot be trusted to uphold standards of accuracy in the reporting of climate change, writes Bob Ward. Read more
This is a response to a review by the Editors’ Code of Practice Committee of the Editors’ Code of Practice, a public consultation. Read more
Bob Ward describes how a free market lobby group, the American Institute for Economic Research, who have organised a controversial petition against the use of lockdowns to tackle COVID-19, have used similar methods in the past to spread misinformation about other health and environmental risks, including climate change. Read more
