Prominent political figures continue to dismiss or distort the evidence on climate change. Their claims collapse under even basic scrutiny, revealing resistance rooted not in science but in ideology and self-interest.

We frequently hear challenges to the reality of climate change, especially from figures on the political right. Often the challenges have very weak bases, but still they are propounded. Let’s look at three figures and the claims they have made.

First, Tony Abbott. Abbott’s denial of global warming is long-standing and he has stated it frequently. He once said that a century of photos at Manly Beach showed no signs of sea level rise, which is well established by empirical measurement and presumably results from temperature rises bringing about the melting of polar ice. Abbott’s statement was close to comical: he was rejecting the evidence of scientific measurement for happy snaps taken by people frolicking on the sand.

Abbott has also said that because extreme cold kills more people globally than extreme heat, global warming should be welcomed. The problem is that warming is likely to increase the frequency and intensity of heatwaves and with that the number of deaths when they occur. Moreover, rises in sea level are likely eventually to threaten many coastal cities and to undermine the viability of some of them. Sea level rise is already affecting low-lying islands in the Pacific Ocean, where the viability of nations........

© Pearls and Irritations