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Climate scientists comment on comments made by President Trump about climate change at the UN conference.
Prof Corinne Le Quere FRS, Professor of Climate Change Science, University of East Anglia (UEA), said:
“Mr Trump is endangering the lives and wellbeing of Americans and people around the world by wrongly denying the realities of climate change. We should be working together to protect people and businesses by limiting climate change as much as possible and adapting to reduce its widespread impacts.”
Prof Kevin Anderson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the Tyndall Centre, said:
“The President’s views on climate change should be afforded the same weight as his now-infamous advice to Americans to inject disinfectant as a cure for Covid. In both cases, the suggestion is detached from science, detached from reality, and dangerous if taken seriously. The only real difference is that while the disinfectant comment was quickly mocked and discarded, his climate pronouncements continue to be repeated as if they carry credibility. They don’t.”
Prof Chris Rapley, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, said:
“Should we be surprised? History and human psychology say no. The question is, does it matter? To which the answer is unfortunately “Yes” – but perhaps not as much as we may fear. Presidents and their entourage come and go. But the economics of energy production are ineluctable. And the climate system is indifferent”.
Dr Matthew Jones, Senior Research Associate in the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia (UEA), said:
“Trump’s pathetic culture war against all forms of science does nothing to help humanity secure a safe and liveable planet for future generations.”
Dr Karsten Haustein, Climate Scientist, Leipzig University, said:
“Just another stunt pulled from the authoritarian playbook. Distorting the truth so that people lose their sense of reality entirely. Extremely dangerous mass manipulation and demagoguery. Three simple facts: The Earth is round. Climate change is real. Trump and his cronies are a scam. It needs to be said over and over again.”
Dr Injy Johnstone, Research Associate in Net Zero Aligned Offsetting at the University of Oxford, said:
“Trump is correct in one thing: climate change is a scam in the sense that it is the result of listening to con men who have let it get out of hand for so long for their own benefit at the expense of slowing down solutions that are good for people, planet and profit.”
Dr Anupama Sen, Head of Policy Engagement at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, said:
“We stand at a critical moment in history where countries and citizens can make a choice between placing our trust in science and reason – which have underpinned centuries of human progress, including in medicine, technology and more recently in AI – or fall prey to rhetoric, misinformation and division. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that climate change is already happening, does not bow to political cycles, and rewards economies and countries which choose to believe in science, with record investments in green energy, better living standards, and eventually, better energy security.”
Dr Chloe Brimicombe, Climate scientist and public engagement manager, Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS), said:
“Controversially Trump is not wrong that scientists did think 100 years ago that the climate was cooling. Does this mean climate change is a con? No, but if you think about it, it’s difficult to visualise so I guess it is our job to meet someone at what they understand and this is where modelling has it’s real limits. So, here are the facts. Extreme weather is increasingly costing countries money and lives and investing in sustainable energy and technology and helping communities against weather impacts within one’s own country, supports national jobs and makes good business sense and really for a leader I can see why that’d matter.”
Alexis McGivern, Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Oxford Net Zero, said:
“Trump’s comments are deliberately inflammatory, part of a broader and sustained attack on independent experts and the observable realities of science.
“Make no mistake: Trump and his advisors know that climate change is not a hoax. Undermining confidence in experts is simply politically expedient, serving to consolidate power of their increasingly authoritarian regime.
“But this is not simply a rejection of science, or the headline-splash of calling climate experts “stupid people”. The deeper question is who is benefitting (especially financially) from denying evidence while advancing policies like “drill, baby, drill”. The latest Production Gap report shows, again, that the United States still plans to produce far more fossil fuels than is compatible with a 1.5°C world.
“Since taking office, Trump has politicised not only climate science but also other observable, empirical truths, notably in public health. In every case, the gains in money and power flow upward, while those least responsible for climate change remain the first and hardest hit.”
Prof Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology, University of Reading, said:
“My jaw just hit the floor. Donald Trump can predict what he likes, and believe what he likes, but his rhetoric cannot change the laws of physics. The “stupid people” have shown how human activity and fossil fuels are heating up our planet, with impacts on societies and ecosystems everywhere in the world.”
Prof Eric Wolff, Chair of the Royal Society’s Biodiversity, Environment and Climate Committee, said:
“Climate change is real – the burning of fossil fuels and other human activities is resulting in fundamental changes to our planet. It is increasing the risk of extreme weather, warming the ocean and causing ice caps to melt resulting in sea level rise, and threatening ecosystems, lives and livelihoods across the world.
“That is the conclusion of rigorously tested and reviewed scientific evidence, built up over decades. To suggest it is a ‘con job’ is flying in the face both of what we can observe, and of physics.”
Prof Pierre Friedlingstein FRS, Chair in Mathematical Modelling of Climate Systems, University of Exeter, said:
“To quote Upton Sinclair, it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”
Prof Keith Shine FRS, Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science at the University of Reading, said:
“It’s a real tragedy that a US President can be so poorly informed on how climate is changing and why climate is changing.”
Prof Hayley Fowler, Director of the Centre of Climate and Environmental Resilience and Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellow, Newcastle University, said:
“The fossil fuel industry and President Trump are perpetrating the biggest con job in the world: the denial of anthropogenic climate warming. The evidence is everywhere and overwhelming. Record shattering heatwaves, flood events and hurricanes are causing colossal economic damages that will continue to increase until we significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. This is a scientific fact, one that has been suppressed by the fossil fuel industry for decades as they concentrate on profits.”
Prof Dann Mitchell, University of Bristol, and Lead of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (Health and Wellbeing), said:
“World leading scientific analysis shows that thousands of heat-related deaths will be avoidable during extreme heatwaves in major US cities, if we can keep global carbon emissions consistent with the Paris Agreement climate goals. For a president to show such disregard for the health of his own citizens is nothing short of reckless.”
Bob Ward, policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said:
“Donald Trump’s daft outburst about climate change at the United Nations is perfectly consistent with his other bogus beliefs, such as Tylenol causes autism, you can treat Covid by injecting disinfectant, and US tariffs are paid by exporters. All these myths will potentially cause harm to the American people if they believe them. He is truly the President that the Enlightenment left behind.”
Prof Mark Maslin, Pro-Vice Provost of the UCL Climate Crisis Grand Challenge, said:
“Much of what Trump said at the UN was factually incorrect, deeply misleading and simply wrong. He does not in any way acknowledge the huge issue of climate change. 2024 was the warmest year ever recorded – fact. There were over 600 extreme weather events last year with over 150 being unprecedented, meaning they would not have occurred without human caused climate change – fact. So here’s an analysis of what Trump said and why it is factually wrong.
“■ Trump: Green energy is expensive … Reality: Renewables have gotten cheaper. Renewable energy is often significantly cheaper than fossil fuels, with over 90% of new renewable projects now costing less than new fossil fuel alternatives, largely due to rapid price declines in solar and wind technologies since 2010. For instance, new solar projects can be around £41/MWh, compared to approximately £114/MWh for new gas power stations, making new renewables a much cheaper option for electricity generation. https://www.iea.org/news/rapid-rollout-of-clean-technologies-makes-energy-cheaper-not-more-costly
“■ Trump: Clean Beautiful Coal Reality: UN report says 8 million premature death due to air pollution but new figures are higher – closer to 10 M a year due to particulate matters from the burning of fossil fuels so there is no “clean” beautiful coal https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013935121000487
“■ Trump: UN said in the year 2000 there is global warming and there will be catastrophic consequences – they were wrong so that’s why they change the term to climate change – i think a simple definition of the difference between the two terms will be good. Reality: US$2 trillion in economic losses from ~4,000 extreme weather events. In just the last two full years (2022–2023), damages were ~US$451 billion https://iccwbo.org/news-publications/policies-reports/new-report-extreme-weather-events-cost-economy-2-trillion-over-the-last-decade/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/11/extreme-weather-cost-2tn-globally-over-past-decade-report-finds
“■ Trump suggested that green energy ‘scam’ is not helping the economy. Reality: Clean energy added ~USD 320 billion to the global economy in 2023. That was about 10% of global GDP growth in that year. https://www.iea.org/commentaries/clean-energy-is-boosting-economic-growth https://www.iea.org/commentaries/clean-energy-is-boosting-economic-growth About 3.5 million Americans already working in renewable energy and growth in clean energy employment is more than twice the rate of the overall U.S. labour market. Also projects that the global market for renewable energy technologies could be worth at least USD 23 trillion by 2030, which implies big opportunities https://www.energy.gov/eere/job-creation-and-economic-growth#:~:text=Funding%20energy%20innovations%20creates%20well,U.S.%20labor%20market%20in%202023.
Prof. Pete Smith FRS, Professor of Soils & Global Change at the University of Aberdeen, said:
“Trump has no knowledge of science and is not qualified to judge what is or is not robust science. His comments on climate change, like his pronouncements on vaccines and links between painkillers and autism, are arrogant and ignorant in equal measure.”
Prof Martin Siegert, Professor of Geosciences and Deputy VC, University of Exeter, said:
“The greatest con-job is not the rock-solid decades-old fully-tested science that proves fossil-fuel burning causes global heating, dirty air and nature loss, but rather the illogical ignorant antiscientific denial of it.”
Prof Joeri Rogelj, Director of Research, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London, said:
“Dismissing climate change is as grotesque as it is wrong. Refusing to believe in thermometers will not make the warming go away. The evidence — measured, observed and understood — is clear: human activities are heating the planet, and ignoring that reality only leaves societies more exposed and less prepared.”
Prof David Viner, IPCC author and expert reviewer, said:
“Trump has just awarded all climate scientists their greatest badge of honour, fantastic. This superbly ignorant statement of Trump endorses all of the work of the climate science and wider scientific community.”
Prof Richard Allan, Professor of Climate Science, University of Reading, said:
“Although Trump thinks he’s really good at predicting things, evidence is needed to back up these empty claims and the science has been clear for a very long time that the climate is warming up, it is primarily caused by burning fossil fuels and without massively building upon the ongoing collaborative and innovative action to curb greenhouse gas emissions the world will be a much more dangerous and unpleasant place to live in.”
Prof Ed Hawkins, National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Reading, said:
“We have known since the 1930s that burning fossil fuels is warming the climate. We are already seeing the consequences with rising sea levels, hotter heatwaves and heavier rainfall. The risks increase with every bit of further warming and the world will regret not acting faster to reduce carbon emissions.”
Prof Bill McGuire, Professor Emeritus of Geophysical & Climate Hazards at UCL, and author of Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant’s Guide, said:
“The greatest con job perpetrated in the world isn’t climate change, it is Trump. The staggering ignorance he displays of the science isn’t a surprise, as it mirrors a comparable lack of understanding of many of the critical issues of our time.
“The truth is that climate breakdown, driven by global heating caused by human activities, is unequivocal. Not only this, but the temperature of our world has never climbed this rapidly across the entire geological record. We are heading for climate catastrophe, and the United States is set to be one of the hardest hit countries. In the decades to come, its people will rue the anti-climate actions of this rogue president”.
Prof Bill Collins, Professor of Climate Processes, University of Reading, said:
“The science of climate change has given us useful predictions that have been found to have be extremely farsighted. Predictions from 50 years ago of the level of global warming seen today have been uncannily accurate in forecasting the 1 degree rise over that period. This is in complete contrast to anecdotes of ice ages.”
Prof. Andrew Turner, Lead Author of the IPCC 6th Assessment Report and Programme Lead for Climate & Global Change at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science, said:
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been assessing the science related to climate change over six assessment cycles (now entering its 7th), producing six comprehensive reports authored by the world’s leading scientists. As in all IPCC reports, 6th Assessment Report (released in 2021) has its headline outcomes (known as the Summary for Policymakers) agreed meticulously by all contributing governments. This includes the USA.
“A key outcome is that worsening climate impacts, caused by humanity’s emissions of greenhouse gases, are now detectable all across the world. The impacts, including extreme rainfall, flooding and droughts, and sea-level rise, will continue to worsen with every additional fraction of a degree of global warming in the future.
“The IPCC is tasked with making an assessment that is not policy-relevant, but not policy-prescriptive. As such, unless we urgently reach net-zero emissions, climate impacts will cause worsening economic damage and deaths, with a cost that exceeds taking action now.
“President Trump may not like the message, but fortunately good science does not rely on beliefs or ideologies, and that message will not disappear however much politicians continue to look the other way, with fingers in their ears.”
Dr Chris Huntingford of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said:
“All those involved in climate change research begin with the premise that climate is not changing, the so-called “null hypothesis”. Only after rigorous data analysis and conducting extremely careful physics-led simulations do we consider the “alternative hypothesis” that change is occurring. Unfortunately, as hard as we try to prove otherwise, almost every data stream aligns with calculations indicating the alternative hypothesis: the world is warming in response to greenhouse gas emissions.”
Prof John Marsham, Professor of Atmospheric Science, University of Leeds, said:
“Even the fossil-fuel industry’s own reports from as far back as the 1980s show the reality of man-made climate change, with one report warning “Civilisation could prove a fragile thing”. Nevertheless, the industry has long sought to delay climate action and of course funds the Republican party. If under Trump the USA doesn’t invest in renewables, it doesn’t just delay the action we need – it allows other countries to get ahead and profit from the renewables revolution that is providing cheap secure energy, and jobs, but is an existential threat to profits from fossil fuels.”
Declared interests
The nature of this story means everyone quoted above could be perceived to have a stake in it. As such, our policy is not to ask for interests to be declared – instead, they are implicit in each person’s affiliation.