Climate change zealotry wears thin

FEAR of being blown up, beheaded or shot by Islamic State savages is a far greater concern for most Australians than the effects of climate change.

The sickening barbarity of IS and “lone wolf” attacks inspired by the terror group have had a profound impact on the psyche of Australians.

The latest Pew Research Centre survey shows that in Australia, IS is seen as the biggest global danger, with 69 per cent of those surveyed “very concerned”. The next biggest global threat was deemed to be Iran’s nuclear program followed by cyber attacks, climate change, global economic stability, tensions with Russia and, lastly, territorial disputes with China.

Most Australians are all too aware of the risks posed by radicalised locals and know it’s only luck and the work of counterterrorism officers that has prevented further attacks here. The reason climate change rates so lowly may have something to do with the pious fervour of alarmists, whose doomsday predictions fizzle out into non- events.

Who could forget Tim Flannery’s contribution? The mammal expert was not only named Australian of the Year but headed the Climate Commission and regularly scared the bejesus out of the public with talk of never- ending droughts and cities running out of water. But Australians have wearied of the false cries of imminent doom.

Once we were all alarmed but those not indoctrinated in green ideology can recognise bulldust when we see it. Warmies linking every fire and weather event to global warming doesn’t smack of scientific integrity. Nor does the claim that 97 per cent of climate scientists are in agreement on anthropogenic global warming.

Richard Tol, an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, explains: “The 97 per cent refers to the number of papers, rather than … scientists. The alleged consensus is about any human role in climate change, rather than a dominant role, and it is about climate change rather than the dangers it might pose”. Climate change is real but the truth is most Australians are no longer alarmed by its effects.

You can’t expect people to accept everything you tell them, nor can you treat climate science with zealotry and expect to be taken seriously.

Likewise it’s simplistic and counterproductive to pigeonhole those not fretting about climate change into one large, homogenous category of “deniers”. Climate change has gone from being a great challenge of our time and greenies have only themselves to blame.