People who deny AGW either fear a post fossil fuel economy or they are easily manipulated by resource industry propaganda.
very simple logic:
1. science says CO2 is a greenhouse gas and humans put too much of it, changing the climate
2. To reduce CO2 emissions we need either regulation, carbon tax or incentives
3. Governments need to be involved
4. we don't like rules and government (but we really trust the oil and coal companies!)
5. therefore the science is wrong
If you read 'merchants of doubt', there is an entire chapter on psychology of deniers.
One denier has a very entertaining theory on Venus- it's not a greenhouse effect, it's left over from internal heat now trapped at the surface- not the Sun, but the heat from inside the planet. Anything except blaming CO2. Others will point out to Mars with CO2, but fail to mention how thin the atmosphere is.
How much warming? Basic physics says that CO2 doubling warms the planet by 1.2C. Not a big deal. And that is before Nature kicks in and moderates the warming with some sort of feedback mechanism. The planet has been warming for centuries, without CO2. It is quite possible that warming from CO2 will be lost within this natural warming. Now scientists have instead made assumptions about warming, saying that there will be positive feedbacks from CO2 warming and created larger amounts of warming.
See the video
However, that is not the answer to your question.
Many people can see that it is not science going into it, but rather a desire for the same socialist policies that were being pushed before CO2 and global warming were considered a problem. When they hear people say the planet is doomed unless we act now, and then say nuclear power should be avoided as unsafe, you can see that they are not really worried about the planet.
they're misinformed.
It's a political issue because the fossil fuel industry has the money-hoarding disease/fear of not making record profits, so they fund phony studies and have buddies like the Koch Bros and Rush Limbaugh
and
many denier are also creationists who think they are going to Heaven so the future on Earth doesn't matter much to them.
Because the incurably ignorant and stupid feel better about it if they delude themselves, and the multi-trillion dollar fossil fuel industry and their bought politicians benefit from such delusion.
You nailed it...science community vs elementary school logic
I have never understood why some people think that burning fossil fuels does not affect the planet. The byproduct of burning hydrocarbons is carbon dioxide and methane. Releasing lots of that into the atmosphere creates the greenhouse effect (global warming). Venus has lots of co2 in the atmosphere and is a great example of this.
So why do people still deny this? I really don't understand.
BTW before you label me as a progressive liberal - I'm extremely conservative. I just don't understand why this is a political issue. Especially when 99% of the climate science community agrees.
