Bloggers Push Climategate Scandal into Deeper Crisis

Blogs allow anyone to be an expert on anything.



But what happens when non-experts call themselves experts and argue against one of humanity's biggest problems?

Bloggers like Stephen McIntyre and Marc Morano are enraging the scientific community, and for good reason. They are two of the most prominent climate change skeptics who use their blogs to persuade the general public that climate change is a hoax.

The fact is: there is a overwhelming consensus among the scientific community that human-made climate change is real and it will have effects on humanity for centuries to come.



There of course will always be those "other" scientists who will continue to argue that climate change is a hoax. Think of those doctors who for the longest time kept denying that cigarettes caused cancer.






...and then comes the Climategate scandal.




Now, climate change skeptic blog websites are increasing traffic and audience sizes, according to an article in The Globe and Mail. This isn't helping the IPCC's already damaged reputation.

To those of us who have been taught in university to be critical of sources of information, it's a no-brainer. Why believe someone with a blog with no credentials versus a peer-reviewed scientific journal?

But for the rest of society, they may not understand the science behind climate change. Some won't care to ever know. So surely, they won't wait around for a peer-reviewed report. They'll be on the lookout for a persuasive blog with lots of followers whose authors claim to be experts in the field.

Doesn't there lay danger in the general public accepting truth and accuracy in social media? Can we really trust something you just googled...and non-expert blogs who can use SEO?!

Update: March 2010

Fortunately, it appears that climate change supporters are not letting the skeptics get the most of them online or offline. Al Gore, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 with the IPCC, has begun to work PR magic in response to the Climategate scandal.

On February 27, 2010 he wrote an editorial piece in the New York Times. He says, "After all has been said and so little done, the truth about the climate crisis–inconvenient as ever–must still be faced."

Although not completely gone, the Climategate scandal has been watered down in the past few months. For now, it seems that people may be able to accept the fact that science is not perfect.

There will likely always be two sides of this debate. Take a look at my post about my thoughts on The Great Global Warming Swindle , a film created by climate change skeptics.