Proponents of alarm over alleged manmade, catastrophic global warming took comfort in a poll released July 9 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press that found that while only 32% of the public believes that Earth is getting warmer because of human activity, 87% of scientists do. Alarmists think the result confirms their claims.

In fact, it doesn’t. The vast majority even of critics of manmade, catastrophic global warming theory would agree that human activity has probably contributed somewhat to recent warming.

With that in mind, try this thought experiment. Consider scientists who hold each of the following seven opinions:

1. Earth has not been warming.
2. Earth has been warming, but human activity has had absolutely nothing to do with it.
3. Earth has been warming, but human activity has been an insignificant contributor to that warming.
4. Earth has been warming, and human activity has been a minor (under 10%) contributor to that warming.
5. Earth has been warming, and human activity has been a substantial (between 10% and 50%) contributor to that warming.
6. Earth has been warming, and human activity has been the main (over 50%) contributor to that warming.
7. Earth has been warming, and human activity has been the sole contributor to that warming.

Forced to simply “agree” or “disagree” with the statement “Earth is getting warmer because of human activity,” all the scientists in categories 3 through 7 would, if honest, have to “agree.” But only those in categories 5 through 7 could believe in catastrophic, manmade global warming, and any of them could believe that the warming would not be catastrophic.

In short, the Pew poll provides no counterbalance to the 31,000+ American scientists who endorsed the statement, “There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate.”

The PRCPP, which conducted the poll, is a subsidiary of the Pew Charitable Trusts, whose Environment Program in 2007 merged with the National Environmental Trust. The resulting Pew Environmental Group advocates for belief in and action to prevent manmade, catastrophic global warming. The related Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life issued a press release in April, drawing on data from a year-old poll, that likewise skewed results to exaggerate belief in manmade, catastrophic warming.

Meanwhile, a Gallup poll done March 5-9 of this year shows growing public skepticism; the number of scientists publicly rejecting manmade warming alarm continues to grow; the more theologically or politically conservative pastors are, the more likely they are (68%) to deny manmade warming; and people who believe the Bible is God’s Word are more skeptical of manmade warming than any other population segment in America.