<i>Philip Duncan:</i> Climate change facts melting away
Yet another survey has come out showing that New Zealanders don't believe Global Warming is real - in fact half of New Zealanders. A Herald survey has found that although United Nations experts have grown steadily more certain about climate change, the public is not so sure. Almost one in five of 2296 respondents said the concept was a giant con, and a further 28 per cent said global warming had not been conclusively proved This survey follows on from a WeatherWatch.co.nz poll which asked whether or not you were seriously worried about global warming - 800 people took part in the poll with 74% answering "no" they were not seriously worried. To me this is yet more proof that politics have seriously harmed the voices of the world's scientific community. The information that the public is receiving on climate change is muddied and polluted. If there's a drought or a major flood we hear comments such as "we can expect more of this due to climate change". However the recent cold snap across North America was largely ignored by climate change experts. I was reading a fascinating article the other day in the Daily Mail sent in to me by a WeatherWatch reader. The article says that the world may well be in a cycle of cooling for the next 30 years. Again, it's another confusing message. What is really happening out there? I want to hear our scientists speaking up more about this. More press releases, more facts. Climate-gate added more confusion. To me it hasn't been clearly explained why figures were altered and changed. I know I repeat myself - but I'm not a climate skeptic. I just think the focus on the "worst case scenario" is doing more damage to the "Climate Change" PR campaign than anything else and I'm also starting to wonder if so much resource should be invested in to it - I think our health, education and police force could do with more funding this year. I also think, as far as New Zealand is concerned, that there doesn't seem to be a lot of information out there about the serious climate concerns. In fact, I think those that lobby against climate change have a far louder voice in this country - which may well explain the recent Herald and WeatherWatch poll results. Louder doesn't mean more accurate...but people are hearing the louder voices. With each month climate change is becoming an increasingly big non-issue for New Zealanders. In many minds there is too much confusion, too many hypocrisies, too little evidence. As kiwis we don't really get caught up in hype - we just want the facts. And the facts are quickly melting into an ocean of politics. The incidents are being investigated and firefighters may face disciplinary action.