The human capacity for denial is infinite. (illustrated)

And to illustrate the point, here’s a taxonomy of climate change denialisms, put together by Grist, the environmental news magazine, together with handy responses.

http://www.grist.org/article/series/skeptics

Proving that even pea brains can be amazingly creative when their self-interest is threatened.

1. There’s nothing happening
   1. Inadequate evidence
      • There is no evidence
      • One record year is not global warming
      • The temperature record is simply unreliable
      • One hundred years is not enough
      • Glaciers have always grown and receded
      • Warming is due to the Urban Heat Island effect
      • Mauna Loa is a volcano
      • The scientists aren’t even sure
   2. Contradictory evidence
      • It’s cold today in Wagga Wagga
      • Antarctic ice is growing
      • The satellites show cooling
      • What about mid-century cooling?
      • Global warming stopped in 1998
      • But the glaciers are not melting
      • Antarctic sea ice is inc
        reasing
      • Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
      • Sea level in the Arctic is falling
      • Some sites show cooling
   3. No consensus
      • Global warming is a hoax
      • There is no consensus
      • Position statements hide debate
      • Consensus is collusion
      • Peiser refuted Oreskes
         
2. We don’t know why it’s happening
   1. Models don’t work
      • We cannot trust unproven computer models
      • The models don’t have clouds
      • If aerosols are blocking the sun, the south should warm faster
      • Observations show climate sensitivity is not very high
   2. Prediction is impossible
      • We can’t even predict the weather next week
      • Chaotic systems are not predictable
   3. We can’t be sure
      • Hansen has been wrong before
      • If we can’t understand the past, how can we understand the present?
      • The scientists aren’t even sure
      • They predicted global cooling in the 1970s
         
3. Climate change is natural
   1. It happened before
      • It was warmer during the Holocene Climatic Optimum
      • The medieval warm period was just as warm as today
      • Greenland used to be green
      • Global warming is nothing new!
      • The hockey stick is broken
      • Vineland was full of grapes
   2. It’s part of a natural change
      • Current global warming is just part of a natural cycle
      • Mars and Pluto are warming too
      • CO2 in the air comes mostly from volcanoes
      • The null hypothesis says global warming is natural
      • Climate is always changing
      • Natural emissions dwarf human emissions
      • The CO2 rise is natural
      • We are just recovering from the LIA
   3. It’s not caused by CO2
      • Climate scientists dodge the subject of water vapor
      • Water vapor accounts for a
        lmost all of the greenhouse effect
      • There is no proof that CO2 is causing global warming
      • Mars and Pluto are warming too
      • CO2 doesn’t lead, it lags
      • What about mid-century cooling?
      • Geological history does not support CO2’s importance
      • Historically, CO2 never caused temperature change
      • It’s the sun, stupid
         
4. Climate change is not bad
   1. The effects are good
      • What’s wrong with warmer weather?
         
5. Climate change can’t be stopped
   1. Too late
      • Kyoto is a big effort for almost nothing
   2. It’s someone else’s problem
      • Why should the U.S. join Kyoto when China and India haven’t?
      • The U.S. is a net CO2 sink
   3. Economically infeasible
      • Climate change mitigation would lead to disaster