Does conventional climate science threaten civilization?

Practitioners of rigorous scientific methodology — from the 17th centuryโ€™s Galileo to 1965โ€™s winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Richard Feynman — would consider todayโ€™s climate research an embarrassment, shaped by uncritical orthodoxy and zealotry rather than genuine testing of hypotheses.

A polar bear stands on an ice floe in a chaotic ocean scene with a fiery background, representing climate change concerns. Newspapers with headlines about climate change float in the water.

From The American Thinker

Byย Vijay Jayaraj

A cartoon titled 'A Brief History of Settled Science,' depicting various historical scientific beliefs including the flat Earth, the geocentric model, misconceptions about gravity, and depictions of global cooling and warming.

Practitioners of rigorous scientific methodology — from the 17th centuryโ€™s Galileo to 1965โ€™s winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Richard Feynman — would consider todayโ€™s climate research an embarrassment, shaped by uncritical orthodoxy and zealotry rather than genuine testing of hypotheses.

Classical science welcomes skepticism. It thrives in an environment where debate and revision are encouraged. Todayโ€™s climate conformists declare the debate โ€œsettledโ€ and label those with questions as deniers, effectively outlawing the skepticism that drives scientific progress. 

An illustration depicting historical figures and scientists gathered around a globe, with a chart showing climate change trends in the background, featuring the text 'CONSENSUS โ‰  TRUTH' and 'HISTORY SHOWS AGREEMENT ISN'T ACCURACY'.

Plenty of 21st-century scientists have objected to this travesty. Dr. Matthew Wielicki, formerly of the University of Alabama, put it bluntly: โ€œScience should be self-correcting. Climate science isnโ€™t. Itโ€™s self-preserving.โ€ 

Dr. Richard Lindzen of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology notes that climate dogma has little to do with evidence: โ€œThe narrative is a quasi-religious movement predicated on an absurd scientific narrative.โ€ 

In essence, modern climate science has been transformed into a political apparatus dominated by campaign-style advocacy, subverting the foundational principles of evidence-based inquiry.  

Climate cultists treat every warming or cooling event as anthropogenic by default, ignoring millennia of natural variation. โ€œWhile substantial concern has been expressed that emissions may cause significant climate change, measured or reconstructed temperature records indicate that 20th- and 21st-century climate changes are neither exceptional nor persistent, and the historical and geological records show many periods warmer than today,โ€ say scientists writing to the American Physics Society. 

Gregory Wrightstone, geologist and best-selling author of A Very Convenient Warming, says that the longer geological record reveals numerous epochs with much higher temperatures and levels of atmospheric COโ‚‚, all predating the influence of modern human activity.  

A global map showcasing the change in leaf area from 1982 to 2015, with varying colors indicating different percentage changes.

Wrightstone rejects descriptions of current conditions as dangerous, saying that โ€œEarth is growing greener, and temperature-related deaths are declining.โ€ The evidence indicates the planet is not imperiled but flourishing. 

Deaths from natural disasters are at historic lows, life expectancy continues to climb, and global crop yields in both advanced and developing economies are at record highs. Rising atmospheric CO2 is associated with improved plant growth, not planetary degradation.

The much-hyped โ€œdisappearing islandsโ€ of the Pacific continue to exist. Many atolls have grown in size due to coral and sediment accumulation. Arctic sea ice, too, has refused to vanish; the 2025 minimum extent is nearly half a million square kilometers larger than 2007. 

Solar panels and wind turbines set against a sunset sky, representing renewable energy technology.
Dawn of new renewable energy technologies. Modern, aesthetic and efficient dark solar panel panels, a modular battery energy storage system and a wind turbine system in warm light. 3D rendering.

Yet none of these realities make it into school textbooks or U.N. briefings. The crisis narrative is perpetuated to sustain a trillion-dollar โ€œgreenโ€ industry dependent on fear, political support and publicly financed subsidies.

Error-riddled computer models that back doomsday predictions violate core tenets of scientific methodology. When tested against known outcomes, they routinely fail. 

Graph comparing warming predictions from climate models with actual temperature data, showing a significant discrepancy between modeled and real-world temperatures.

In 2014, Dr. Roy Spencer compared real-world satellite data with over 90 climate models. Nearly all the models exaggerated warming. Spencer summarized the absurdity: โ€œIf 95% of your models disagree with observations, the models are wrong — not reality.โ€

Dr. William Happer, a physicist at Princeton University and former scientific advisor to the U.S. government, notes: โ€œObservations anchor our understanding and weed out the theories that do not work. This has been the scientific method for more than 300 yearsโ€ฆ computer models are not meant to replace theory and observation and to serve as an authority of their own.โ€

Yet these models drive the global policy agenda. The insistence on short time frames and cherry-picked data appear to support catastrophic scenarios; long-term geological records contradict them. Steve Milloy, author of JunkScience.com, described the phenomenon perfectly: โ€œClimate science has become a political enterprise. The conclusion comes first; the data are adjusted later.โ€

Science belongs to critical thinkers, not to committees. The climate establishment will collapse as its funding dries up or the public stops believing its prophets. Reality will win — as it always does — but the longer the struggle, the higher the human cost of irrational policies.

Reason, empirical investigation and intellectual freedom have been undermined by a politically charged climate movement, which is a threat to science and civilization itself.

A cartoon depicting a man holding a sign that says 'Follow the Science' while leading a group of people, some crawling and some walking, towards a cliff's edge on a grassy surface.

This commentary was first published byย American Thinkerย on October 14, 2025.


Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO2 Coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelorโ€™s in engineering from Anna University, India.

Human CO2 Emissions Are a GOOD THING – The Climate Realism Showย #139

On Episode #139 of The Climate Realism Show, The Heartland Instituteโ€™s H. Sterling Burnett, Jim Lakely, and Wrightstone will also cover some of the โ€œCrazy Climate News of the Week.โ€ An op-ed in The New York Times says climate change should make you rethink home ownership. Remember when an iceberg off Antarctica in 2017 was supposed to freak you out? Well, never mind. And the World Economic Forum says you should wash your clothes less to save the planet. They suggest washing jeans once a month and pajamas just once a week. Is there any aspect of our lives that the climate scolds will ignore? Apparently not.

From The Heartland Institute

Itโ€™s a fact that humans are increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But does it follow, as weโ€™re constantly told, that this increasing of CO2 is poisoning the planet? What if the opposite is actually the case? This weekโ€™s guest, CO2 Coalition Executive Director Gregory Wrightstone, is going to explain why itโ€™s not true that more CO2=Bad.

On Episode #139 of The Climate Realism Show, The Heartland Instituteโ€™s H. Sterling Burnett, Jim Lakely, and Wrightstone will also cover some of the โ€œCrazy Climate News of the Week.โ€ An op-ed in The New York Times says climate change should make you rethink home ownership. Remember when an iceberg off Antarctica in 2017 was supposed to freak you out? Well, never mind. And the World Economic Forum says you should wash your clothes less to save the planet. They suggest washing jeans once a month and pajamas just once a week. Is there any aspect of our lives that the climate scolds will ignore? Apparently not.

Join us LIVE at 1 p.m. ET so you can leave your questions and comments for the show in the chat.

Guest Column: Gordon Was Standing Tall In The Saddle Until He Backed Down

Guest columnist Gregory Wrightstone writes, “Gov. Gordon was standing tall in the saddle when he accepted an invitation to debate publicly his so-called carbon-negative policy in a state heavily engaged in the production of fossil fuels. However, he ultimately backed down.”

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon was standing tall in the saddle when he accepted an invitation to debate publicly his so-called carbon-negative policy in a state heavily engaged in the production of fossil fuels. However, he ultimately backed down.

As reported by Cowboy State Daily, it all started when:

“Gordon cameย under fireย late last month for comments he made at Harvard University, where he said Wyoming needs to urgently address climate change by becoming the first state to go ‘carbon negative,’ and that carbon dioxide is the ‘major contributor’ to the Earthโ€™s warming climate.”

Being head of the Western Governors’ Association, Mr. Gordon is chief promoter of a “Decarbonizing the West” initiative that would include the development of a plant to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to avert the purported catastrophe of global warming.

However, the governor received fire from the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a group of conservative state representatives, then a letter signed by 30 legislators and the Wyoming Secretary of State who invited him to debate the matter. As executive director of the CO2 Coalition, I was proud for our group to have been included:

“We, the undersigned members of the Wyoming legislative and executive branches, joined by our allies, the scientists of the CO2 Coalition, took notice of the sweeping policy change you announced for Wyoming in your speech last month at Harvard University. There, you declared publicly that Wyoming ‘will be the first state โ€ฆ [to] be carbon negative,’ meaning Wyoming will emit no ‘net’ CO2 into the atmosphere. This is a tall order for any state, and in Wyoming not possible without overturning our stateโ€™s economy, which is largely based on fossil fuel extraction.”

The mention of Wyoming’s production of hydrocarbons is no small matter. In 2022, the state ranked eighth and ninth nationally in extraction of crude oil and natural gas, respectively.

Wyoming reports being the “most prolific coal-producing state,” accounting for nearly 40% of U.S. output. Any attempt to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide is sure to discourage use of these fuels.

While those supporting the removal of carbon dioxide from the air and industrial emissions present it as a way to extend the employment of fossil fuels, to say CO2removal on a large scale is unproven is an understatement.

Even with huge government subsidies, the technology is prohibitively expensive and would make no difference in the climate in any case. 

More importantly, decreasing the amount of atmospheric CO2 would be deleterious to the well-being of the planet and its people.

Carbon dioxide is a beneficial plant food, whose increase since the Industrial Revolution has boosted yields of corn, soybeans and wheat by 56% to 140% and contributed to an overall greening of Earth. A 2014 study reported:

“The rising level of atmospheric CO2 could be the one global natural resource that is progressively increasing food production and total biological output โ€ฆ The effects know no boundaries, and both developing and developed countries are, and will be, sharing equally โ€ฆ [for] the rising level of atmospheric CO2 is a universally free premium.”

This, and more, would have been discussed had the governor followed through with a debate. But he ultimately chose to decline in a letter to legislators, saying, “The debate about whether the earth is warming (because of CO2) … has raged for over two decades without rendering a convincing conclusion for all people. Minds are made up on this point.”

Rather than “join in the unfruitfulness of that fray,” the governor chose to pursue a decarbonization scheme he claims will ensure that “Wyoming’s industries continue to thrive.”

We only wish good for the state’s economy but disagree that people are beyond learning the truth about CO2‘s benefits.

Engaged as volunteer members of the CO2Coalition in revealing “made-up minds” to the facts are more than 150 scientists and researchers.

I regularly witness people shift their view upon hearing but a sample of the overwhelming evidence countering the apocalyptic climate narrative. 

Whether we are dueling it out with climate alarmists in an auditorium or the OK Corral, we always expect to prevail. Not because we’re necessarily the quickest on the draw but because the truth is on our side.

Gregory Wrightstone is a geologist; executive director of the CO2 Coalition, Arlington, Va.; and author of โ€œInconvenient Facts: The science that Al Gore doesnโ€™t want you to know” and “A Very Convenient Warming: How modest warming and more CO2 are benefiting humanity.”

This story wasย first published at Cowboy State Daily

Climate Change Misinformation Wins in Montana

In Montana โ€œClimate Kidsโ€ Lawsuit, Climate Change Misinformation Winsย 

From The CO2ย Coalition

In Montana โ€œClimate Kidsโ€ Lawsuit, Climate Change Misinformation Winsย 

By Gregory Wrightstone

A group of young people in Montanaย won a landmark lawsuitย on August 14,ย when aย judge ruledย as unconstitutional the stateโ€™s failure to consider climate change when approving fossil fuel projects. The judge accepted as fact allegations made by plaintiffs in the suit, which we will systematically show to be patently false.

Just some of the catastrophes accepted as fact by the judge included:

  • More heat waves and extreme summer heat
  • Days above 90 degrees increased by 20 days between 1970 and 2015
  • Increased drought and lower precipitation

We will soon have a complete rebuttal to the Montana lawsuit. First, the plaintiffs cherry-picked the time frame of 1970 to 2015 to select days above 90 degrees Fahrenheit when the full data show that there has been no discernible trend since the 1920s. In fact, the period between 1920-40 looks remarkably similar to the most recent several decades.

Increasing drought and lack of precipitation? That isnโ€™t what the data show.

According to Judge Kathy Seeley of Montana District Court, Montanaย is a โ€œmajor emitter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.โ€ She added that theย stateโ€™s emissions โ€œhave been proven to be a substantial factorโ€ in affecting the climate.ย Is that the case?

Montanaโ€™sย CO2ย emissions are 0.6% of the total U.S. emissions. If Montana had gone to zero emissions ofย CO2ย in 2010, it would only avert 0.0004 degree Fahrenheit of greenhouse warming by 2050 and 0.001 degree by 2100, according to theย MAGICCย simulator, a tool created by a consortium of climate research institutes including theย The National Center for Atmospheric Research. These numbers are far below our ability to even measure and certainly not the โ€œsubstantial factorโ€ as claimed.

Gregory Wrightstoneย is a geologist; executive director of theโ€ฏCO2 Coalition, Arlington, VA; and author ofย Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesnโ€™t Want You to Know.