News of the world
Fifty-five percent of Nevadans surveyed in a poll taken April 13 and 14 said they consider global warming “unproven and subject to debate.” Thirty-five percent said they consider it “a scientifically established reality.”
The poll, commissioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal from Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, showed belief in global warming among Nevadans has dropped 11 percentage points since 2008. Since 2008, more than 1,000 emails and 3,000 documents leaked or hacked from the Climatic Research Unit were disclosed and widely publicized. They disclosed a cynical distrust by scientists of public discussion of climate change issues, and critics claimed they provided evidence that data is tampered with or suppressed to hide conflicting information. A British Parliament investigation disagreed, saying the science supporting climate change is sound but also saying the institute operated in a “culture of non-disclosure.” But the scandal clearly undercut public confidence in global warming.
Even more serious, U.S. corporations have been spending huge sums to undermine public belief in climate change (“Front money,” RN&R, April 8). The Center for Responsive Politics and Greenpeace have separately reported that Koch Industries, an environmental polluter in several states, have been providing tens of millions of dollars to fund front groups that challenge the legitimacy of scientific findings on climate change. A number of other firms have spent lesser amounts to undercut scientific studies.