• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

RealClimate

Climate science from climate scientists...

  • Start here
  • Model-Observation Comparisons
  • Miscellaneous Climate Graphics
  • Surface temperature graphics
You are here: Home / Archives for Book review

Book review

Handbook in Denialism

4 May 2011 by rasmus

It would not surprise me if the denialists would deny the existence of the new book by Haydn Washington and John Cook (skepticalscience.com) ‘Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand‘. Somehow, I don’t think they will read it – but they are not target group of this book either. Anyway, denialism is, according to the book, a common human trait – we should all know somebody who deny one thing thing or another.

Furthermore, denial is not the same as being skeptical, either, and Washington and Cook argue it is quite the opposite. Hence, the term “skeptics” for these deniers can be described as Orwellian “doublespeak”“newspeak”.

Denial is apparently caused by our lizard brainstem. What coincidence then, when talking about fossil fuels from plants from the era of huge long dead lizards (the fossil fuels are not made of the dinosaurs), that denying evidence for anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is linked to that lizard part of the brain. So, what about using the labels ‘reptiles’ or ‘dinos’? Washington and Cook opt for ‘deniers’, and so will I hereafter.

[Read more…] about Handbook in Denialism

Filed Under: Climate Science, Reviews Tagged With: Book review

Primary Sidebar

Search

Search for:

Email Notification

get new posts sent to you automatically (free)
Loading

Recent Posts

  • Unforced Variations: Dec 2025
  • Who should pay?
  • Site updates etc.
  • Raising Climate Literacy
  • Unforced variations: Nov 2025
  • High-resolution ‘fingerprint’ images reveal a weakening Atlantic Ocean circulation (AMOC)

Our Books

Book covers
This list of books since 2005 (in reverse chronological order) that we have been involved in, accompanied by the publisher’s official description, and some comments of independent reviewers of the work.
All Books >>

Recent Comments

  • zebra on Unforced Variations: Dec 2025
  • E. Schaffer on Unforced Variations: Dec 2025
  • Adam Lea on Who should pay?
  • Adam Lea on Who should pay?
  • Neurodivergent on Raising Climate Literacy
  • One Anonymous Bloke on Unforced Variations: Dec 2025
  • Ron R. on Unforced variations: Nov 2025
  • Piotr on Who should pay?
  • Kevin McKinney on Who should pay?
  • Adam Lea on Who should pay?
  • Kevin McKinney on Who should pay?
  • Kevin McKinney on Who should pay?
  • Kevin McKinney on Who should pay?
  • Nigelj on Who should pay?
  • Nigelj on Raising Climate Literacy
  • MA Rodger on Unforced Variations: Dec 2025
  • Ken Towe on Who should pay?
  • Ken Towe on Who should pay?
  • Atomsk’s Sanakan on Raising Climate Literacy
  • JCM on Raising Climate Literacy
  • Ken Towe on Who should pay?
  • Ken Towe on Who should pay?
  • Ron R. on Who should pay?
  • Atomsk's Sanakan on Raising Climate Literacy
  • Neurodivergent on Unforced variations: Nov 2025
  • Neurodivergent on Unforced variations: Nov 2025
  • Ray Ladbury on Who should pay?
  • Yebo Kandu on Raising Climate Literacy
  • Atomsk’s Sanakan on Unforced variations: Nov 2025
  • Kevin McKinney on Who should pay?

Footer

ABOUT

  • About
  • Translations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Page
  • Login

DATA AND GRAPHICS

  • Data Sources
  • Model-Observation Comparisons
  • Surface temperature graphics
  • Miscellaneous Climate Graphics

INDEX

  • Acronym index
  • Index
  • Archives
  • Contributors

Realclimate Stats

1,389 posts

15 pages

248,746 comments

Copyright © 2025 · RealClimate is a commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists.