Stephen Schneider in Attack of the Climate Zombies

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The late Stephen Schneider was a hero to many of us because he believed it was the duty of scientists to engage the public on their terms and he was brilliant in doing so.  The video above was taped a few weeks before he died this summer.  Dr. Schneider appeared on stage in front of 57 self-described climate skeptics with the hope that he might change some minds.  The video is an excellent example of just how good he was at communicating climate science and just how poorly informed the general public is on this critical issue.  

  

The skeptics in the room appeared very sure of their positions despite the fact that every issue they raised is a climate science zombie.  That is, these issues have been debunked over and over and over again, yet they keep rising from the dead.  Dr. Schneider answered with patience and with as much simplicity as one can expect without completely leaving the science.  The zombies raised that night included, among others:  

1. Scientists are getting rich from grant money.
2. Temperatures in the past were much colder than today even with higher CO2 levels than today.
3. Nature emits much more CO2 than man so manmade CO2 cannot be driving climate warming.
4. Bad siting of the US temperature recording stations is causing apparent warming.
5. Some glaciers are advancing so how can there be warming?

Some members of the audience thought that Dr. Schneider used too much science jargon and could have simplified the science more.  After watching the show I do not think Dr. Schneider could possibly have simplified the science any better than he did.  In the words of Barry Bickmore, geochemistry professor at Brigham Young University,  

It struck me again how some of these people complained at the end that Schneider’s arguments had gone right over their heads.  If they can’t understand what anyone is saying, how can they think they have anything approaching an informed opinion?  

Apparently, as with human zombies, climate zombies are good at eating brains……