In 2010, Australian Skeptics Inc. released a statement about the troubling use of the term “Skeptics” or “Sceptics” in the context of climate science.

We now expand our position on so-called “climate change scepticism”.

After more than 60 years of research, the agreement among scientists is that the climate is changing and that this change is mostly human-induced. The agreement is as strong as that concerning evolution and the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Among experts, disagreement about the core elements is almost non-existent*.

Scientists have been cautious in their assessment of the evidence. Over time, most observations have turned out to be in the worst-case range of predictions**. A far cry from the alarmism climate scientists are often accused of.

It is not just scientists that treat climate change as a real and serious threat. Organisations around the world, from militaries to food manufacturers and insurance companies, are factoring the scientific predictions into their planning.

From a practical perspective, we can – indeed we must – take climate change and its human causes as fact.

ASI views climate change scepticism as a form of denialism. Like creationism and anti-vaccination rhetoric, it ignores the experts in the relevant fields, and engages in conspiratorial thinking.

ASI recognises anthropogenic climate change as a pressing global concern. We urge individuals, organisations and governments to prioritise limiting greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate their negative effects.

* Cook, J., Oreskes, N., Doran, P. T., Anderegg, W. R., Verheggen, B., Maibach, E. W., Carlton, J. S., Lewandowsky, S., Skuce, A. G., Green, S. A., & Nuccitelli, D. (2016). Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming. Environmental Research Letters, 11(4), 048002.

Also see https://www.skepticalscience.com/global-warming-scientific-consensus-advanced.htm

** https://skepticalscience.com/ipcc-scientific-consensus-intermediate.htm