The Angry Outbursts of Climate Alarmists Show a Scientific Establishment in Crisis

Real science doesn't ban dissent – it thrives on it.

Events over the last week or so have included a number of episodes in which climate alarmism has intensified in the face of criticism. For at least two decades now, we have become used to hypersensitive reactions from greens: explosive reactions to being challenged. But whereas that routine of confected outrage may have served the political agenda well in the past, climate scientists’ amateur dramatics today signal something rotten, and not just about the actors. The tired script and empty theatre, too – institutional science – is revealed to be bent and rotten to the core.

“We are in a climate crisis, and we don’t necessarily need people who suggest otherwise,” stated Dr Paul Dorfman from Sussex University, in his closing words during a short debate with me on Talk TV. It was a sinister rejoinder from an expert who seemed to have risen through academic ranks without ever having been challenged, but who completely unravelled during the 12-minute discussion. I don’t take credit for it – the frankly staggering performance was all his own work. He couldn’t make a coherent argument, and meandered from talking point to talking point; he made empty claims, hidden behind ‘complexity’ and the authority of institutional prestige; and he could only respond to the counter-argument by insult.