By Caitlin Pike

The views of fringe groups who cast doubt on the effects of climate change are being used too prominently in the national press, a leading science body has claimed.

The society's vice president, Sir David Wallace, has written to more than 100 editors and news editors expressing concern that some parts of the press are giving excessive prominence to those with extreme viewpoints who cast doubt on the scientific evidence about the causes and impacts of climate change.

"There are some individuals on the fringes, sometimes with financial support from the oil industry, who have been attempting to cast doubt on the scientific consensus on climate change and to deny that burning fossil fuels is creating a problem.

"Sadly, some parts of the UK media appear to be consistently giving great prominence to these extreme viewpoints without significant evidence to support them," he wrote.

The Royal Society and the wider scientific community are afraid that unbalanced reporting will mislead some of the public and that attempts to persuade the Government, businesses and the public to address urgently the potential threats of climate change are being undermined. Sir David said: "We are certainly not setting out to muzzle the media, or ask that disagreements about the science of climate change not be reported. Indeed much of the reporting of the issue has been commendable.

"Some journalists, particularly the non-science specialists, may be genuinely confused as to where the weight of evidence lies and that is why we have produced a non-technical guide to some of the facts and fictions around climate change."

The guide tackles common misleading arguments about climate change such as a warmer climate being good for the UK's economy, and variations in the sun's intensity being more likely to be the cause of climate change than increases in greenhouse gases.

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