Climate scepticism and conspiracy theorists: is there a link?
New research carried out by a group at the University of Western Australia has found that there might be a connection between individuals who question climate science, and those who believe conspiracy theories.
The study, called Motivated Rejection of Science, aims at looking at the motives and attitudes of the select group of people that object to the findings of 90% of climate scientists that are convinced climate change is largely happening because of human-caused pollution.
“It might seem odd to lump climate change – a scientific theory supported by thousands of peer-reviewed papers and hundreds of independent lines of evidence – with conspiracy theories like these“, writes Adam Corner, a research associate at Cardiff University, in the Guardian.
“In a survey of more than 1,000 readers of websites related to climate change, people who agreed with free market economic principles and endorsed conspiracy theories were more likely to dispute that human-caused climate change was a reality.”
He concludes, “Climate change is a scientific entity, but one given meaning through the social, political and economic lenses we view it through.
“The challenge of engaging with climate change sceptics is finding the lens that better fits their ideological views – not just shouting the science more loudly.
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