BBC News has caused controversy with a new public opinion poll on climate change. In a poll asking “Do you think global warming is taking place?” 25% of the British public replied No. This is a 10% increase from the 15% that replied no in the same poll only 3 months ago.

snowy britain

So what does this mean? BBC News has interpreted this poll to mean that “climate scepticism is on the rise“. I interpreted this poll to show that the BBC are stupid. Firstly, you will often catch me reinforcing the point that public opinion on climate change is totally irrelevant. We cannot simply wish away the damage we have done and continue to do to our environment. Second, the question. The question was not ‘Do you think climate change is taking place?’. They blatantly substituted the correct phrase for global warming, one possible effect of climate change, only to then call it a phrase on climate change. But perhaps the stupidest part of this servery is the timing. It is hardly surprising that less people will believe the world is getting hotter, weeks after their country experiences one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record. Had you asked them if they thought the climate was changing, perhaps we would have very different statistics.

Verdict: BBC Fail (Again) See here for previous fails.