Conspiracy theory #3 for climate denialists – researchers are in it for the money

by RDECOM

If climate scientists are in it for the money, they’re doing it wrong
[Via Ars Technica]

One of the more unfortunate memes that makes an appearance whenever climate science is discussed is the accusation that, by hyping their results, climate scientists are ensuring themselves steady paychecks, and may even be enriching themselves. A Google search for “global warming gravy train” pulls out over 50,000 results (six of them from our forums).

It’s tempting to respond with indignation; after all, researchers generally are doing something they love without a focus on compensation. But, more significantly, the accusation simply makes no sense on any level.

[More]

Only people with little connection to research would say that the 10s of thousands of people worldwide working on these problems are in it for financial benefits.

This article is a good start to debunking that view. But, as can be sen from the comments, facts do not really matter. Ad hominems and anecdotal data are much more important to them. And it demonstrates very little real understanding of how the research is funded or done.

This sort of thing has been true for other denialists – such as  creationists – as long as I have been alive. Facts and data seldom have any effect. All those do is confirm the strength of the conspiracy against their denialist belief.

Cargo Cult Worlds are very hard to destroy.