John Cook (Australian Author)
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Skeptical Science (occasionally abbreviated SkS) is a
climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
and information resource created in 2007 by Australian former cartoonist and web developer, John Cook, who received a PhD degree in
cognitive science Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of the mind and its processes. It examines the nature, the tasks, and the functions of cognition (in a broad sense). Mental faculties of concern to cognitive scientists include percep ...
in 2016. In addition to publishing articles on current events relating to climate science and
climate policy The politics of climate change results from different perspectives on how to respond to climate change. Global warming is driven largely by the emissions of greenhouse gases due to human economic activity, especially the burning of fossil fuel ...
, the site maintains a database of articles analyzing the merit of arguments put forth by those who oppose the mainstream
scientific opinion on climate change There is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that the climate change, Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainl ...
.


Concept

After reading a 2007 speech by then
US Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
Jim Inhofe James Mountain Inhofe (; ; November 17, 1934 – July 9, 2024) was an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
, who maintains that
global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
is a hoax, John Cook created Skeptical Science as an internet resource to counter common arguments by climate change deniers. The site hosts various articles addressing the merit of common objections to the
scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...
on global warming, such as the claim that
solar activity Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the Stellar atmosphere, atmosphere of the Sun. They take many forms, including solar wind, Solar radio emission, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, Stellar corona#Coron ...
(rather than
greenhouse gas Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are the gases in the atmosphere that raise the surface temperature of planets such as the Earth. Unlike other gases, greenhouse gases absorb the radiations that a planet emits, resulting in the greenhouse effect. T ...
es) is responsible for most 20th and 21st century global warming, or that global warming is natural and/or not harmful to humans. Each article, referred to as an "argument", presents a quotation from a prominent figure who made a direct claim regarding global warming, and follows with a summary of "what the science says". Rather than fully qualifying each claim, the site focuses on challenging it by citing
counterexample A counterexample is any exception to a generalization. In logic a counterexample disproves the generalization, and does so rigorously in the fields of mathematics and philosophy. For example, the fact that "student John Smith is not lazy" is a c ...
s for why it is incorrect, and structuring the examples into a rebuttal of the original claim. The site primarily gains the content for these articles from
peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...
ed scientific papers. Many articles have been translated into other languages, and are split into up to three levels of technical depth. The Skeptical Science home page also features blog posts by regular and guest contributors, which may be new rebuttals of a certain argument or simply the blogger's view on a relevant climate news item. Like the rebuttals, the blog entries tend to hold a consistent tone that the scientific opinion on
anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...
global warming is generally accurate. In 2010, along with software development company Shine Technologies, Skeptical Science launched a free
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
application that includes condensed summaries of most rebuttals featured on the site.


Projects

In addition to uncategorized blog posts, the site has published many multi-week features that serve to give a more in-depth analysis of a particular topic. Topics which have received special attention include a feature describing "climate 'myths" promoted by many US politicians, a feature examining the accuracy of past predictions made by scientists studying global warming, as well as individual features to evaluate the claims made by the most prominent individuals who reject evidence that supports human-caused global warming, including
Richard Lindzen Richard Siegmund Lindzen (born February 8, 1940) is an American atmospheric physicist known for his work in the dynamics of the middle atmosphere, atmospheric tides, and ozone photochemistry. He is the author of more than 200 scientific papers ...
,
John Christy John Raymond Christy is a climate scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) whose chief interests are satellite remote sensing of global climate and global climate change. He is best known, jointly with Roy Spencer, for the fir ...
, and
Christopher Monckton Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (born 14 February 1952) is a British public speaker and hereditary peer. He is known for his work as a journalist, Conservative political advisor, UKIP political candidate, and ...
. In 2010, a comprehensive report called ''The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism'' was made available from Skeptical Science. Written by Cook and other authors, the report draws from various rebuttals published and summarizes the evidence for global warming and the flaws in many of the objections to the
scientific consensus on climate change There is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainly the result o ...
. In May 2013, Cook and other contributors published a paper in ''
Environmental Research Letters ''Environmental Research Letters'' is a quarterly, peer-reviewed, open-access, scientific journal covering research on all aspects of environmental science. It is published by IOP Publishing. The editor-in-chief is Radhika Khosla ( University ...
'' (''ERL'') examining the scientific consensus on global warming in peer reviewed papers published between 1991–2011. The paper was widely cited across hundreds of newspapers, magazines, blog posts, and scientific papers. It also ranked as the 11th most-discussed scientific paper of 2013. The paper was awarded the "Best article of 2013" prize by the editorial board of ''ERL''. In 2013, Skeptical Science established a sister website – The Consensus Project. This website promoted public awareness of the reported high degree of scientific consensus around global warming, in contrast with a public perception of still widespread debate; this has been called the Consensus Gap, which is also delineated in the Gateway Belief Model. The website was created
pro-bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...
by design and advertising firm SJI Associates. In 2013, Skeptical Science released a
software widget A software widget is a relatively simple and easy-to-use software application or software component, component made for one or more different software platforms. A Desk accessories, desk accessory or applet is an example of a simple, Standalone ...
to highlight the accumulation of heat within the Earth's climate systems. The widget counts up the added heat from a user definable start date using several different real-world scales of measurement –
Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui has b ...
bombs of equivalent heat,
Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...
s, 6.0 Richter scale earthquakes, "
Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, and, by extension, for the clock tower itself, which stands at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England. Originally named the Clock Tower, it ...
s" full of dynamite or millions of lightning bolts. An associated website, 4hiroshimas.info, provides background information including references to the scientific papers the count is based on. In 2015, Skeptical Science launched a
massive open online course A massive open online course (MOOC ) or an open online course is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the World Wide Web, Web. In addition to traditional course materials, such as filmed lectures, readings, and p ...
on
EdX edX is an American For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit massive open online course provider. It was founded by MIT and Harvard. It is a subsidiary of 2U (company), 2U. History edX was founded in May 2012 by the admi ...
called "Making Sense of Climate Science Denial".


Reception and motivation

Skeptical Science has become a resource about climate change, and praised for its straightforwardness. Marine biologist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg has described it as "the most prominent knowledge-based website dealing with climate change in the world", and ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' has praised it as the "most prominent and detailed" website to counter arguments by
global warming deniers Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...
. In September 2011, the site won the 2011
Eureka Prize The Eureka Prizes are awarded annually by the Australian Museum, Sydney, to recognise individuals and organisations who have contributed to science and the understanding of science in Australia. They were founded in 1990 following a suggestion ...
from the
Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...
in the category of Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge. Cook is trained as a solar physicist and says he is motivated by his
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
beliefs. He is one of a number of Christians publicly arguing for scientific findings on anthropogenic global warming, and is an
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
Christian.


Funding

Skeptical Science is not affiliated with any political, business, or charitable entities. The site does not contain
banner ad A web banner or banner ad is a Online Advertising, form of advertising on the World Wide Web delivered by an ad server. This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract web traffic, tra ...
s and is funded entirely by Cook himself. In November 2020, Skeptical Science was registered as a nonprofit organization, and officially recognized in March 2021 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit, tax-exempt organization by the IRS.


See also

*
RealClimate ''RealClimate'' is a commentary site (blog) on climatology. The site's contributors include climate scientists whose goal is to provide a response to developing stories and a context they feel is sometimes missing in mainstream commentary o ...
*
CarbonBrief Carbon Brief is a UK-based website specialising in the science and policy of climate change. It has won awards for investigative journalism and data visualisation. Leo Hickman is the director and editor for Carbon Brief. Founding Carbon Brief is ...


References


External links

* {{official website, https://skepticalscience.com
John Cook, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University

Making Sense of Climate Science Denial
(Online course by John Cook) Climate change blogs Australian science websites Internet properties established in 2007