Changing perceptions: belief and climate science

摘要

Oxford Dictionaries declared "post-truth" as their international word of the year in 2016. It is an adjective "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief". With the new US administration in place, there is heightened concern among scientists about climate change scepticism and the more general backlash against "experts", fuelled by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic.