Welcome to "Skeptic, Not Denier"

Welcome to my blog, Skeptic, Not Denier. The name is inspired by the continual labelling of CAGW skeptics as "deniers". This is a common tactic by those who support the CAGW position and is a dishonest attempt to manipulate and control the narrative. Often skeptics are referred to as "climate change deniers" or simply deniers, a statement that is completely untrue:

• Skeptics do not deny that the climate is changing (the climate has always been changing)
• Skeptics do not deny that  the world is warming (in fact, part of the skeptical argument is that the world has been warming for much longer than humans have emitting significant quantities of CO2 or other greenhouse gases
• Skeptics do not deny that human generated CO2 (and other greenhouse gases) contributes to global warming

So what are skeptics skeptical of? 

• Skeptics are skeptical about the accuracy of the predictions made by the computer models on which the IPCC position is built
• Skeptics are skeptical that there is significant positive feedbacks as the result of CO2 that will lead to a 2 or 3 fold increase in the warming from CO2 alone
• Skeptics are skeptical of the continual claims of doom from the CAGW proponents
• Skeptics are skeptical of much of what passes as climate "science"
• Skeptics are skeptical that the temperature increases we have seen can even be distinguished from natural climate change that has been happening for centuries (see the following graph)

Image 7.1 from IPCC First Assessment Report

Note that skeptics don't have a club or organisation where they decide on their beliefs. There is a variation in what conclusions they have come to (and in fact, over time their understanding will change). The above are some of the more common positions you will find amongst skeptics.

I have created this blog in an attempt to take a bit more scientific look at the issues and people's response to climate change (but more of my motivations in later posts). My aim is to encourage open discussion and to that end I hope to not have to remove comments - at least ones I disagree with (although I make no apologies for removing illegal/offensive/etc comments).