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The The Great Global Warming Swindle documentary is fascinating on a number of levels - yes, the scientific arguments are interesting but are they are any more illuminating than the scientific arguments for the other side of the coin? I would say no, to the impartial observer they just strengthen the view that scientists on both side fence cannot really be exactly sure of either the causes or effects of climate change.

What I do find interesting is the skeptics argument that doomsayers are merely peddling propaganda, that environmental journalists and in some cases, scientists, have to keep coming up with ever more disturbing scenarios and predictions in order to keep their jobs let alone further their careers. Thinking about this I was reminded of something Andrew Marr wrote in his book on journalism, "My Trade".

He discusses the power of news:

One story saying killer French bees are coming to get you might make you laugh. A dozen, over a few days, might make you scared. If you hear people have indeed died, and this is repeated, and similar stories recur the next spring, and the next, then you come to believe in killer French bees. Multiply that a thousand-fold to account for all the running stories in different papers and one begins to understand the power of the news. It takes a heroic, or insane, mind to stand outside it.

To my less than heroic mind this seems particularly apt when applied to media coverage of climate change.