Startling is the best way I can find to describe the results of a just published poll conducted by Scientific American Magazine. You’d think – as I always have – that the readers and followers of Scientific American are a bunch of egg heads with a broad understanding of most things scientific. Additionally, since the magazine has for years been called a schill for Al Gore and the rest of the global warming alarmist crowd, that the readers would have a stranglehold on understanding just how bad the global warming crisis really is.

From that paradigm, I was utterly shocked by the results of the poll. It seems Scientific American’s readers aren’t buying into the climate change doomsayers. In fact, what the poll does reveal is that SA’s readers are skeptical that man is heating the planet at all.

For years we’ve been told that the scientists had reached a consensus:

The earth is warming;

The warming is caused by the greenhouse effect;

The greenhouse effect is caused by carbon emissions;

Carbon emmissions are caused byburning fossil fuels;

Mankind is irresponsible for continued burning of fossil fuels.

That’s it, done. The science is closed. Al Gore said so.And who are we to argue with Al Gore? Well, apparently the readers of Scientific American. They aren’t buying it. The poll results show that more than three-fourths (77.7%) say natural processes are causing climate change, not mankind. Almost a third (31.9%) blame solar variations. Only 26.6% believe mankind is the culprit.

Whether climate change is man-caused or natural, most respondents don’t believe there’s anything that can be done about it. In fact, 69.2% agree “we are powerless to stop it.” A mere one in four (25.7%) recommend switching “to carbon-free energy sources as much as possible and adapt to changes already under way.”

It seems even some of those who would endorse changing energy sources don’t believe the benefits are worth the costs (which indicates they aren’t taking the alarmists’ claims seriously). Almost eight in 10 (79.4%) answer “nothing” to the question: “How much would you be willing to pay to forestall the risk of catastrophic climate change?”

The best number that came out of the poll was 83.6%. That is the percentage who agree that the IPCC “is a corrupt organization, prone to groupthink, with a political agenda.” A new consensus is emerging as Climate Gate unravels.

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