The development of climate science

In the modern era the claim that human activities might affect the global climate was first made by a Swedish scientist Arrhenius in 1896. He was not taken very seriously. This changed when in the 1950s two separate studies (by Revelle and Seuss and by Plass) argued that CO2 could build up in the atmosphere. This was proven to be the case, when in 1960 another scientist, Keeling, discovered that the level of CO2 was indeed rising at an unnatural rate. Revelle warned that the "greenhouse effect" might have a strong impact on the earth's climate.

Gradually the possibility of climate change began to attract the attention of the scientific community. Although there was still a lot of skepticism, several scientists started to research the subject. This gradually led to the realization that the climate was by no means as stable as had been believed, and that it was vulnerable to severe change as a result of seemingly minor causes.

It was not until the early 70s that climate change became a major public concern. More and more research was done, all resulting in roughly the same message: global warming was real and might become a catastrophic problem. In the 1980s this led to increasing calls for action. Given the enormous risks involved, this should have led to an immediate response by the global community. At the very least it should have led to abundant funding of research to get to the bottom of a problem that had the potential of doing immeasurable harm to the planet and humanity.

Nothing of the sort was done. As usual, politicians were slow to react. But not the business community. Corporate America flew into furious action. The fossil fuels industry and their industrial allies joined forces with wealthy conservatives to combat any attempt to mitigate climate change, not for any scientific reason but only because it would endanger their profits. In 1989 they formed the Global Climate Coalition, to coordinate and fund their activities, spending tens of millions of dollars until its demise in 2002.

This fact alone shows how seriously industrialists took climate change. They knew it was not a passing craze or a hoax, they knew they were the main culprits and they knew that science would unmask them as such. Documents leaked later prove that the big players were fully aware of the dangers, but put their narrow self-interest above the interest of humanity and the planet and indeed life itself. Their guilt is unprecedented in the history of mankind.

The climate change denial movement was extremely successful. The wealthy conservatives already had a network of foundations and think tanks in place to fight the progressive and environmental gains of the 1960s and 1970s and they could easily add climate change to their target list. They had also gained lots of experience with sharp practices, which they swiftly applied to their new target, creating front groups to hide their true intentions and employing unscrupulous scientists to manufacture uncertainty about climate change in the minds of the public. What they did not do was fund any original research, probably because they already knew that the outcome would not further their cause.

They also received much help from the conservative media and even from many mainstream media, which treated a few noisy skeptics (often paid by industry and not even scientists) as equals of the far more numerous genuine scientists doing actual research.

Others easily swayed by lobbyists' money to aid the denial movement were conservative politicians, especially because any serious action against climate change would involve unpopular measures that were bound to cost them votes among their conservative supporters.

And finally wishful thinking played a crucial role in wooing the general public. After all, the denial message was much pleasanter and much more reassuring than the ominous warnings uttered by the scientific community.

All these advantages made the climate change deniers a powerful force. They not only succeeded in sabotaging the Kyoto Accord in 1997 but also played a crucial role in blocking domestic legislation in the US and also making the US an impediment to international policy making.

Ultimately they were responsible for much inaction for decades. The harm they have done is incalculable at this time, also because of their outrageous opposition to serious research. All they cared about was their profit and damn the rest.

The only thing the deniers could not control, of course, was the climate itself. Global warming has been steadily getting worse, exactly as true science had predicted. Its effects have become more and more noticeable, in keeping with mounting scientific evidence of its existence and human origin.

It is just a matter of time until the deniers will be silenced by the stark reality of all the disasters they have helped to create.

In the meantime they should be treated with all the contempt they so richly deserve, which also goes for the gullible fools who allow themselves to be duped by these honey-tongued deceivers. Wilful ignorance is not an excuse for being accomplices in what may turn out to be one of the greatest crimes of all time