Chris Harries
Now, if you wanted to write in a bit of hard core reality, News Limited could own up to the fact that well over 10 percent of its opinion commentary is given over to climate sceptics. I would like to see an accurate figure, but we do know it is all out of proportion to the overwhelming proportion of scientists who are convinced we are in real trouble.

“Climate-change interest wanes: survey” shouted The Mercury headline (Tuesday, 7th October). The story underneath failed to disclose who commissioned the ‘survey’, nor precisely how the questions were framed.

Putting the worst possible spin on the public’s concern about global warming, the story chortled that: “Almost one in ten (9 percent) has serious doubts about climate change”.

Wow! Let’s say that again, but in reverse. “91 percent of Australians do not have serious doubts about climate change”. Now, that feels a bit different doesn’t it! (In fact, 70 percent of Australians are gravely concerned.)

Now, if you wanted to write in a bit of hard core reality, News Limited could own up to the fact that well over 10 percent of its opinion commentary is given over to climate sceptics. I would like to see an accurate figure, but we do know it is all out of proportion to the overwhelming proportion of scientists who are convinced we are in real trouble.

Only on the previous day (Monday 6th) The Mercury itself allocated nearly a full page to a Piers Ackerman diatribe – warning us good citizens that climate change is more than likely a grand hoax and if Australia takes a leadership role in greenhouse emissions we are all done for.

Given the sustained media profile given to climate sceptics and their increasingly hysterical diatribes it is truly astonishing that only 9% of the broad community has serious doubts about climate change.

Conversion of the world’s population – from denial, to doubt, to acceptance, to demanding action be taken – is happening at several million people per day, despite the sceptics’ pronouncements. The evidence before our eyes is too hard to shield.

The mentioned article is professionally substandard, quite apart from its failure to disclose who commissioned the ‘survey’. But, that’s the way of modern media. Few research staff, few professional journalists, easiest thing to do is pick out a few sentences from somebody’s media release and run with it.