Need Data To Support Your Climate Conspiracies? Look To The Fake Research Black Market - CleanTechnica

The article from CleanTechnica explores the rise of climate conspiracies, attributing their persistence largely to a lack of climate literacy, political ideology, and distrust in scientific expertise. It highlights how propaganda rooted in historical, societal, and corporate interests fuels misinformation, compelling people to adopt polarized stances amid complex climate data. The author questions whether individuals possess the critical thinking skills necessary to discern factual climate science from misleading narratives, especially given the decline in hands-on scientific learning and the dominance of social media as an information source. A significant concern raised is the emergence of a "black market" for fake climate research, which proliferates fraudulent studies that contradict established scientific consensus on human-driven climate change. This trend is exacerbated by political efforts, notably during the Trump administration, to undermine climate science by promoting false claims about natural climate variability and downplaying risks like sea level rise and extreme weather. The article warns that as fraudulent publications grow faster than legitimate research, the integrity of scientific discourse is threatened, particularly since scientists