NASA chief scientist weighs in
Americans are "under siege" from disinformation designed to confuse the public about the threat of climate change, Nasa's former chief scientist has said.
Speaking to the Guardian, Ellen Stofan, who left the US space agency in December, said that a constant barrage of half-truths had left many Americans oblivious to the potentially dire consequences of continued carbon emissions, despite the science being unequivocal.
"We are under siege by fake information that's being put forward by people who have a profit motive," she said, citing oil and coal companies as culprits. "Fake news is so harmful because once people take on a concept it's very hard to dislodge it."
During the past six months, the US science community has woken up to this threat, according to Stofan, and responded by ratcheting up efforts to communicate with the public at the grassroots level as well as in the mainstream press.
"The harder part is this active disinformation campaign," she said before her appearance at Cheltenham Science Festival this week. "I'm always wondering if these people honestly believe the nonsense they put forward. When they say 'It could be volcanoes' or 'the climate always changes'... to obfuscate and to confuse people, it frankly makes me angry."
Stofan added that while "fake news" is frequently characterised as a problem in the right-leaning media, she saw evidence of an "erosion of people's ability to scrutinise information" across the political spectrum. "All of us have a responsibility," she said. "There's this attitude of 'I read it on the internet therefore it must be true'."
No editorial comment included.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 11 2017, @10:41PM (5 children)
South America? Please! You think they can settle a European dispute the way the US does? And besides, South America, with all its corruption, certainly has no ideals to look up to. Sorry, for peace in Europe, the US is truly the indispensable nation. Nobody else comes close. The numbers speak for themselves.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Sunday June 11 2017, @10:58PM (3 children)
European disputes? Whatever you are smoking, I don't want any of it.
The single problem there is the access to Black/Mediterranean sea and "no man's land" Putin wants around Russia. For the latest, it has Moldavia and (de facto) has East Ukraine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 12 2017, @04:13AM (2 children)
See? Already you people forgot what had to be done less than 20 years ago (and who had to do it) in the old Yugoslavia to keep that from spreading. Without the USA Austria/Hungary would spring back to life. Europe has always been a powder keg, and the only thing keeping the lid on, and the Russians at bay is the USofA. This, and Asia (Japan is also occupied territory) is why the defense budget has to be so huge.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 12 2017, @09:01AM
Definitely, you are USian and stupid.
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Monday June 12 2017, @10:09AM
Without the USA, Kosovo would not have happened [huffingtonpost.com]:
If it is something that US has done in Yugoslavia, it is creating a Putin unwilling to accept NATO close to Russia border [sldinfo.com] - this is why today's situation in East Ukraine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Sunday June 11 2017, @11:47PM
So, who exactly is the US presence deterring?
Turkey?
Russia?
What exactly did the US do when Russia moved on the Crimea?
How is Erdogan going?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex