Deniers have a history of distorting the American Meteorological Society’s survey of its members' opinion on climate change, using it to try and push back on the consensus. Back in 2013, Heartland went so far as to create a new email address (2013AMSsurvey@gmail.com) for a press release it sent out, a tactic they admit to doing to “maximize the open rate" and get more people to read their misleading analysis. The authors responded to correct the record, and the AMS made it clear they weren’t behind the email, even though Heartland actually used the AMS logo in the mailing.
Now, there’s a new survey out, and the results are even clearer that a growing majority of meteorologists (who traditionally have been some of the most skeptical scientists) understand climate change is happening and man-made. With 95 percent of responding meteorologists understanding that it is happening and over 80 percent considering humans at least half-responsible, it would be difficult to portray this as anything but a confirmation of the consensus.
Difficult, but not impossible, as Anthony Watts demonstrates with a headline claiming that the survey “Busts the 97% climate consensus claim.” Roy Spencer led the charge by claiming that a third of AMS members “don’t agree with climate change orthodoxy.” The difference in interpretation comes from whether you count the 14 percent who think humans and natural events are "more or less equally responsible" as being part of those who think climate change is man-made, or if you count them as skeptics.
When you look at the actual percentage of those who think it’s mostly natural (7 percent) or largely or entirely natural (5 percent), it’s clear that only a fringe minority are skeptical of the fact that climate change is happening. Only 6 percent answered that they don’t know, and only 1 percent claim that there has been no climate change at all over the last 50 years.
While it’s an impressive display of shamelessness to portray 1 percent skepticism as consensus-busting, at least they’re not still sending out press releases pretending to be the AMS itself.
Not yet, anyway. Maybe it’s taking them a while to figure out what new phony email address to use.
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