A dark ideology is driving those who deny climate change

People who claim that climate science is a conspiracy or the work of charlatans are talking rubbish

Robin McKie
The Observer

Life can be hard in Moscow. The Russian capital is sweltering in temperatures that reached a record 37.7C last week. Vast stretches of peat bog surrounding the city have dried out and caught fire covering Moscow with choking smog. The changing of the horse guard in Cathedral Square was cancelled as sentries wilted in traditional woollen uniforms. Elsewhere, more than 2,000 Russians - many drunk - drowned trying to cool off in lakes and rivers and at least 10 million hectares of crops have been ruined. States of emergency have been declared in 23 regions.

Nor is Russia alone. New York has baked in a thick tropical heat and humidity that is gripping eastern America. Public cooling centres have been set up while black-outs are common. In the Arctic, sea ice coverage continues to dwindle while a report last week revealed that levels of phytoplankton - tiny marine plants that are the foundation of the oceans' food chain - are plummeting, victims of global warming.

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Read Robin McKie's review of "Merchants of Doubt" by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M Conway. He says this new "exposé of the coterie of rightwing scientists hell-bent on destroying the cause of environmentalism is outstanding".

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