| URL | skepticalscience.com |
|---|---|
| Slogan | Getting skeptical about global warming skepticism |
| Type of site | Blog |
| Available language(s) | English, Czech, Finnish, Spanish, German, Danish, Icelandic, Polish, Portuguese, Japanese, Dutch, Chinese, French, Italian, Thai, Slovak, Russian, Hebrew, Slovene, Norwegian |
| Created by | John Cook |
| Launched | 25 June 2007 |
Skeptical Science (occasionally abbreviated SkS) is a climate science blog and information resource created in 2007 by Australian blogger and author John Cook. In addition to publishing articles on current events relating to climate science and climate policy, the site maintains a large database of articles analyzing the merit of arguments commonly put forth by those who are skeptical of the mainstream scientific opinion on climate change.
Contents |
After reading a 2007 speech by US Senator James Inhofe, John Cook created Skeptical Science to be an internet resource that examined the scientific support of the most common skeptic arguments.[1] The site currently maintains over 160 articles addressing the merit of common criticisms of the scientific consensus on global warming, such as the claim that solar activity (rather than greenhouse gases) is responsible for most 20th century global warming. Each article, referred to as an "argument", first presents a quotation from a prominent figure who made a direct claim regarding global warming, then follows with a summary of "what the science says".
Rather than fully qualifying each claim, the site focuses mainly on challenging it by citing counterexamples for why it is incorrect, and structuring these examples into an overall rebuttal of the original claim. The site primarily gains the content for these articles from relevant peer reviewed scientific papers.[2] Many articles have been translated into several languages, and are split into up to three levels of technical depth. Rather than active advertising or media relationships, Cook has focused on structuring the site primarily for optimization in search engine results.[1]
The home page of the site also features blog posts by a number of regular and guest contributors, which may be new rebuttals of a certain argument or simply the blogger's view on a relevant climate news item. Like the rebuttals, the blog entries tend to hold a consistent tone that the scientific opinion on anthropogenic global warming is generally accurate.
Along with software development company Shine Technologies, in February 2010 the site launched a free smartphone application that includes condensed summaries of most rebuttals featured on the site.[3] Shine Technologies offered to develop the application completely free of charge for Cook.[4]
The app is available for Android, iPhone, and Nokia systems.[5] It is fully contained, meaning it does not need internet connection to be used, although some features, such as news articles or the ability to tweet which arguments the user found most useful, do need a data or internet connection.
After 8 months on the market, the app had received 60,000 downloads.[6] The app was entered into the 2010 Calling All Innovators competition, finishing in the Top 10.[7]
In addition to uncategorized blog posts, the site has published many multi-week features that serve to give a more in-depth analysis of a particular topic. Topics which have received special attention include a feature exposing climate 'myths' purported by many US politicians, a feature examining the accuracy of past predictions made by scientists studying global warming, as well as individual features to evaluate the claims made by the most prominent global warming skeptics, including Richard Lindzen, John Christy, and Christopher Monckton.
In 2010, a comprehensive report called The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism was made available for download from the site homepage.[8] Written by Cook and other authors on the site, the report draws from many of the rebuttals published and serves as a non-technical, easy to understand summary outlining the evidence for global warming and the flaws in many of the criticisms of anthropogenic global warming theory.[9]
In 2011 the book Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand, co-authored by Cook and Haydn Washington, was published by UK publisher Earthscan.[10] The book serves to examine the ways in which denial of anthropogenic global warming is manifested through governments and the public.
Skeptical Science has become a well-known resource for people seeking to understand or debate climate change, and has been praised for its straightforwardness.[11] Marine biologist Ove Hoegh-Guldberg has described it as "the most prominent knowledge-based website dealing with climate change in the world",[12] and The Washington Post has praised it as the "most prominent and detailed" website to counter arguments by global warming skeptics.[13] In September 2011, the site won the 2011 Eureka Prize from the Australian Museum in the category of Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge.[14]
Cook has also been recognized for his conservative Christian evangelical beliefs while maintaining his stance on anthropogenic global warming,[15] two positions that some people would consider conflicting.[16]
Skeptical Science is affiliated with no political, business, or charitable entity.[17] The site does not contain banner ads and is funded entirely by Cook himself, with reader donations.[1] All regular and guest authors contribute strictly voluntarily.