In light of the historic climate deal made at the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, FactCheck.org has compiled a recap of misleading and false claims about climate change that were fact-checked in 2014-2015. The Paris Agreement, announced on Dec. 12, was approved by 195 countries committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to slow global warming.
The 2015 claims were investigated through FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature, which focuses on misleading assertions about science made by partisans to influence policy.
Some of the statements reviewed by FactCheck.org include:
- Separate claims by Rep. Lamar Smith and Sen. Ted Cruz that satellite data does not indicate rising temperatures;
- Sen. Rick Santorum‘s denial that 97 percent of scientists agree that human activity is a main cause of warming;
- The claim by both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry that the U.S. has reduced its carbon emissions more than any other country;
- And former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s conclusion that glacier growth in some areas disproves the existence of climate change.
Watch a video summarizing the review, created by FlackCheck.org:
Click here for the full recap.
FactCheck.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center devoted to improving public knowledge and understanding by fact-checking statements made by major U.S. political players. SciCheck, a feature of FactCheck.org, is made possible by a grant from the Stanton Foundation.
