thumb|325px|El consenso científico es que el calentamiento global está causado por las actividades humanas.
La negación del cambio climático antropogénico es la negación, la desestimación o la duda que contradice el consenso científico sobre el cambio climático, incluida la medida en que es causado por los seres humanos, sus efectos en la naturaleza y la sociedad humana, o el potencial de adaptación al calentamiento global por las acciones humanas.: "The first pillar of climate change denial—that climate change is bad science—attacks various aspects of the scientific consensus about climate change ... there are climate change deniers: who deny that significant climate change is occurring who ... deny that human activity is significantly responsible who ... deny the scientific evidence about its significant effects on the world and our society ... who ... deny that humans can take significant actions to reduce or mitigate its impact.Of these varieties of climate change denial, the most visible are the first and the second.": "Anatomy of Denial—Global warming deniers ... . throw up a succession of claims, and fall back from one line of defense to the next as scientists refute each one in turn. Then they start over:
'The earth is not warming.'
'All right, it is warming but the Sun is the cause.'
'Well then, humans are the cause, but it doesn't matter, because it warming will do no harm. More carbon dioxide will actually be beneficial. More crops will grow.'
'Admittedly, global warming could turn out to be harmful, but we can do nothing about it.'
'Sure, we could do something about global warming, but the cost would be too great. We have more pressing problems here and now, like AIDS and poverty.'
'We might be able to afford to do something to address global warming some-day, but we need to wait for sound science, new technologies, and geoengineering.'
'The earth is not warming. Global warming ended in 1998; it was never a crisis.' Muchos de los que niegan, descartan o dudan injustificadamente del consenso científico sobre el calentamiento global antropogénico se autodenominan "escépticos del cambio climático", lo cual, según han señalado varios científicos, es una descripción inexacta.: "Many climate change deniers call themselves climate 'skeptics' ... However, refusing to accept the overwhelming 'preponderance of evidence' is not skepticism, it is denial and should be called by its true name ... The use of the term 'climate skeptic' is a distortion of reality ... Skepticism is healthy in both science and society; denial is not." La negación del cambio climático también puede estar implícita cuando los individuos o los grupos sociales aceptan la ciencia pero no llegan a aceptarla o a traducir su aceptación en acciones.: "Climate change denial is most conspicuous when it is explicit, as it is in controversies over climate education. The idea of implicit (or "implicatory") denial, however, is increasingly discussed among those who study the controversies over climate change. Implicit denial occurs when people who accept the scientific community's consensus on the answers to the central questions of climate change on the intellectual level fail to come to terms with it or to translate their acceptance into action. Such people are in denial, so to speak, about climate change." Varios estudios de ciencias sociales han analizado estas posturas como formas de negacionismo,: "There is debate over which term is most appropriate ... Those involved in challenging climate science label themselves 'skeptics' ... Yet skepticism is ... a common characteristic of scientists, making it inappropriate to allow those who deny AGW to don the mantle of skeptics ... It seems best to think of skepticism-denial as a continuum, with some individuals (and interest groups) holding a skeptical view of AGW ... and others in complete denial" pseudociencia o propaganda.: "Conservative think tanks ... and their backers launched a full-scale counter-movement ... We suggest that this counter-movement has been central to the reversal of US support for environmental protection, both domestically and internationally. Its major tactic has been disputing the seriousness of environmental problems and undermining environmental science by promoting what we term 'environmental scepticism.'"
La campaña para socavar la confianza del público en la ciencia del clima ha sido descrita como una "máquina de negación" organizada por intereses industriales, políticos e ideológicos, y apoyada por medios de comunicación conservadores y blogueros escépticos.: "From the outset, there has been an organized 'disinformation' campaign ... to 'manufacture uncertainty' over AGW ... especially by attacking climate science and scientists ... waged by a loose coalition of industrial (especially fossil fuels) interests and conservative foundations and think tanks ... often assisted by a small number of contrarian scientists. ... greatly aided by conservative media and politicians . and more recently by a bevy of skeptical bloggers. This 'denial machine' has played a crucial role in generating skepticism toward AGW among laypeople and policymakers".: "ICE and the Global Climate Coalition lobbied hard against a global treaty to curb greenhouse gases, and were joined by a central cog in the denial machine: the George C. Marshall Institute, a conservative think tank. ... the denial machine—think tanks linking up with like-minded, contrarian researchers" La misma es de naturaleza reactiva y ataca no solo a científicos, sino también a periodistas y activistas.
La política del calentamiento global se ha visto afectada por el negacionismo del cambio climático y la controversia política sobre el calentamiento global, lo que ha socavado los esfuerzos para actuar sobre el cambio climático o adaptarse a él.: "Even though climate science has now firmly established that global warming is occurring, that human activities contribute to this warming ... a significant portion of the American public remains ambivalent or unconcerned, and many policymakers (especially in the United States) deny the necessity of taking steps to reduce carbon emissions ... From the outset, there has been an organized 'disinformation' campaign ... to generate skepticism and denial concerning AGW.": "Despite a high degree of consensus amongst publishing climate researchers that global warming is occurring and that it is anthropogenic, this discourse, promoted largely by non-scientists, has had a significant impact on public perceptions of the issue, fostering the impression that elite opinion is divided as to the nature and extent of the threat." Quienes promueven el negacionismo suelen utilizar tácticas retóricas para dar la apariencia de una controversia científica donde no la hay."Denialism is the employment of rhetorical tactics to give the appearance of argument or legitimate debate, when in actuality there is none. These false arguments are used when one has few or no facts to support one's viewpoint against a scientific consensus or against overwhelming evidence to the contrary. They are effective in distracting from actual useful debate using emotionally appealing, but ultimately empty and illogical assertions. Examples of common topics in which denialists employ their tactics include: Creationism/Intelligent Design, Global Warming denialism" and "5 general tactics are used by denialists to sow confusion. They are conspiracy, selectivity (cherry-picking), fake experts, impossible expectations (also known as moving goalposts), and general fallacies of logic."
Las campañas organizadas para socavar la confianza del público en la ciencia del clima están asociadas a políticas económicas conservadoras y respaldadas por intereses industriales que se oponen a la regulación de las emisiones de . El negacionismo del cambio climático se ha asociado con el lobby de los combustibles fósiles, los hermanos Koch, los defensores de la industria y los think tanks conservadores, a menudo en Estados Unidos.: "The campaign has been waged by a loose coalition of industrial (especially fossil fuels) interests and conservative foundations and think tanks ... These actors are greatly aided by conservative media and politicians, and more recently by a bevy of skeptical bloggers."David Michaels (2008) Doubt is Their Product: How Industry's Assault on Science Threatens Your Health. See, e.g., p31 ff, describing industry-based advocacy strategies in the context of climate change denial, and p73 ff, describing involvement of free-market think tanks in climate-change denial. Más del 90% de los documentos negacionistas sobre el cambio climático proceden de think tanks de derecha.
Ya en los años 1970, las empresas petroleras publicaban investigaciones que coincidían ampliamente con la opinión de la comunidad científica sobre el calentamiento global. A pesar de ello, las compañías petroleras organizaron una campaña de negación del cambio climático para difundir la desinformación pública durante varias décadas, una estrategia que ha sido comparada con la negación organizada de los peligros de fumar tabaco por parte de la industria tabacalera, y que a menudo incluso fue llevada a cabo por los mismos individuos que previamente difundieron la propaganda negacionista de la industria tabacalera.'Shell knew': oil giant's 1991 film warned of climate change danger, The Guardian
Escepticismo frente a la negación
El "moderno escepticismo", de acuerdo a Michael Shermer, editor de la revista trimestral sobre escepticismo científico Skeptic, "se materializa en el método científico, que involucra controlar los datos para formular y probar explicaciones naturales de un fenómeno natural. Una afirmación se hace factual cuando se confirma hasta tal punto que sería razonable para proveer un acuerdo temporal".Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time. qtd. in. " A Skeptical Manifesto" (online) visto 10 de agosto de 2007 Términos como "negación del calentamiento global" y "negación del cambio climático" han sido usados desde 2000 para describir oposiciones al consenso científico. De acuerdo con un memo estratégico, citado por el libro 'The Heat Is On' del periodista Ross Gelbspan, organizaciones como la Global Climate Coalition buscan influir en la percepción pública de la ciencia del cambio climático y "reposicionar el calentamiento global como una teoría, en lugar de un hecho".Memo qtd. in Mark Hertsgaard, "Mientras Washington Duerme". Vanity Fair, mayo de 2006 Esa estrategia fue criticada como ciencia tergiversada. En 2006 la Royal Society del Reino Unido envió una carta a ExxonMobil expresando su desaprobación a una publicación reciente que "deja a los lectores con una impresión tan inexacta y engañosa de las pruebas sobre las causas del cambio climático documentadas en la literatura científica".Carta de la Royal Society a Nick Thomas, Director, Corporate Affairs, Esso UK Limited, 4 de septiembre de 2006 visto 10 de agosto de 2007. (PDF)
La revista Newsweek reportó en 2007 que la negación del calentamiento global es una campaña coordinada y financiada por científicos opositores, think tanks liberales e industriales que "ha creado una niebla paralizante de dudas alrededor del cambio climático." Newsweek ha publicado una refutación del redactor Robert J. Samuelson, llamando a "la vasta sobresimplificación de una desordenada historia" y "fundamentalmente engañosa". Argumentando que "los periodistas deberían resistir la tentación de retratar el calentamiento global como un concepto moral... donde quien cuestione su gravedad o proponga otras soluciones sea ridiculizado".
Varios comentaristas han comparado la negación del cambio climático con el negacionismo del Holocausto, mientras otros han condenado esas comparaciones como inadecuadas y poco felices.