How many climate scientists publicly dispute human-caused global warming as of 2025?

1. The consensus: how many scientists endorse human-caused warming?

Large institutional statements and multiple peer‑reviewed analyses converge on the conclusion that most climate scientists agree humans are the dominant cause of recent warming; one widely cited synthesis evaluated over 10,000 scientists and concluded that more than 97 percent of publishing climate scientists and papers endorse the view that global warming is happening and is largely human-caused ^[1], a position echoed by NASA’s summary that it is “extremely likely” human activities are the dominant cause of observed warming since mid‑20th century ^[2] and by NOAA’s archived Q&A that there is no real disagreement among experts on humans’ primary role ^[6].

2. The dissenting minority: small, noisy, and often mischaracterized

Reporting shows that those publicly disputing human-caused warming form a small and sometimes heterogeneous group—academic skeptics from earlier decades, engineers or non‑climate specialists, and a subset promoted by ideological or industry actors—whose numbers on public lists range from a few dozen (historic claims) to several hundred in compilations such as the controversial “500 scientists” lists that have been widely criticized for including non‑experts and for misrepresenting levels of expertise ^{[3] [4] [5]}. The provided sources do not supply a credible, single 2025 headcount of skeptics who are actively and publicly disputing the dominant scientific conclusion.

3. Counting problems: definitions, expertise and publicity bias

Any numeric answer depends on definitions: whether counting all signatories on old petitions, counting only active publishing climate scientists, or including engineers and commentators who publicly dissent; sources repeatedly warn that many public tallies conflate disciplines and publicity with expertise, producing misleading impressions of scale ^{[4] [5]}. Peer‑reviewed consensus studies intentionally limit samples to authors and relevant publications to avoid that noise, which is why the ~97 percent figure applies specifically to the subset of scientists publishing climate research, not to every person with a technical degree who comments publicly ^[1].

4. The broader context: why the small dissent matters politically, not scientifically

Though numerically small, public dissenters have outsized media and policy influence when amplified by think tanks, industry funding, or political actors, a dynamic chronicled in reporting that links disinformation campaigns and lobby power to delayed policy action ^{[7] [5]}. Scientific institutions and multi‑agency assessments—IPCC and national academies summarized in 2021 and reiterated by U.S. and international organizations—have nonetheless strengthened attribution statements over recent decades, underscoring that scientific confidence in human fingerprints on climate has only increased ^{[8] [2]}.

5. Bottom line: a quantifiable range, not a precise headcount

Using only the provided reporting, the defensible statement is this: thousands of climate scientists and authors support the conclusion that humans are the primary cause of recent warming (consensus studies and institutional statements) and the number who publicly dispute that view is a small minority—historical petition counts and lists put dissenters in the dozens to low hundreds but those tallies are often methodologically flawed and not verified as a 2025 total ^{[1] [3] [4]}. The sources do not offer a single, authoritative 2025 number of public dissenters; the clearest quantitative claim supported by the material provided is the ~97 percent consensus among publishing climate scientists ^[1].