[pavlov]

Even by the late '90s there were renowned medical scientists who disagreed with the consensus around the "HIV causes AIDS" hypothesis, despite ample evidence.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_denialism

Climate change denialism is no different from AIDS denialism.

[voice_of_reason]

Ok, the minority view was wrong in this particular case. Minority views were also right in some other cases.

"Climate change denialism" - what's this? Is there any scientist out there who thinks that Earth's climate is stable in the long run?

[swampangel]

You asked how there could be "consensus" on the existence of ACC when some scientists dispute its existence.

The parent post gave an example of a case where some credentialed scientists continued to dispute the HIV-AIDS link well after the balance of evidence was against them.

Many people would say there was a "consensus" on the HIV-AIDS link despite the continued skepticism of some scientists, and that this scenario has parallels with climate science.

Can you offer a counter example, where a holdout group of scientists who disagreed with consensus in their field were proved right?

[pavlov]

Climate changes anyway, so why do anything about it? People die anyway, so who cares what causes AIDS?

Call it "climate science denialism" if you prefer. It's no different from AIDS denialism.

Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa in 1999-2008, listened to the denialists' views about the AIDS outbreak. He had an AIDS advisory panel staffed with consensus critics -- just like Trump and Pruitt are doing. The estimated number of premature deaths due to Mbeki's counterproductive actions is around 300,000.

[voice_of_reason]

@swampangel: https://www.insidescience.org/news/scientific-consensus-almo...

here you go

[pavlov]

The article is about paradigm shifts in science. Obviously those happen, but not every minority opinion is such a shift. They are notable because they are so very rare.

What do you see as the paradigm shift that turns climate science on its head and proves the consensus wrong?

[voice_of_reason]

Suppose that new discovery in natural climate variability provides IPCC with better models, and these models show that CO2 has only minor influence on global warming and climate overall. "Paradigm shift" would be a good description for this development.

[Oletros]

Do, you don't accept the science because you think that perhaps in the furute it will be proven wrong.

Good thing, isn't?