America Is Only Nation Where Climate Scientists Face Organized Harassment

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120910/america-only-nation-where-climate-scientists-face-organized-harassment

By Katherine Bagley, InsideClimate News Sep 10, 2012

The harassment faced by U.S.-based climate scientists has been well documented in the media—but not the harassment of scientists in Europe, Canada or the rest of the world.

That's because there hasn't been much to report.

While outspoken scientists of human-caused climate change in the United States endure torrents of freedom of information requests, hate mail and even death threats from skeptics, their counterparts abroad have been free to do their work without fear.

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"I feel for my American colleagues and what they've had to deal with," said
Tim Lenton, an earth system scientist who specializes in climate tipping points at the University of Exeter in the UK. Lenton said he has never had to fend off skeptic attacks against his work or his integrity. "British scientists aren't immune to attacks, but it is a very different level than compared to what is happening in the U.S."

InsideClimate News contacted scientists working on climate change in Europe, Canada and Japan and learned that virtually everyone believes that the harassment is specific to the United States. They said that it could have long-term consequences for public understanding of global warming.

"The harassment has an intimidating effect—especially on young scientists," said Stefan Rahmstorf, head of earth system analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. Rahmstorf said that watching colleagues be harassed often deters them from speaking to media or the public about their research, which skews the debate.

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The foreign scientists interviewed for this story generally agreed that religion and ideology play a bigger role in U.S. politics than they do in their own countries. "This inevitably means things are more about belief than about evidence in the U.S.," said Lenton of the University of Exeter.

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After the United States, the country with the most harassment by skeptics is Australia. Most speculate that's because the country is the largest exporter of coal in the world. Coal industry groups in Australia have sought to cast doubt on climate science and have lobbied against carbon emission limits. But political will for climate action has been strong enough to counter their opposition.

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