Salt. It does the mind good.

First: Happy Halloween!

Second:
Taking things with a grain of salt is important. So, looking at the two websites, Friends of Science and How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic, I went in with grains of salt. Both are trying to convince me of something (and nothing is unbiased, so everything is trying to convince me of something) and will use, logically, like any other topic on the planet, the best evidence and research to promote their views on the issues they are discussing. While they may not use extremes to illustrate their points all the time, it certainly isn't their end-goal to make sure I follow the other sides' position over their own.

If everything is biased, then, how do we ever know what to make of any given issue? Well, bias, like Kool-Aid mix, is concentrated. You take a cup of water, you put a whole packet of Kool-Aid powder in it, you get one REALLY NASTY drink that's way too strong. You put more water in, you dilute the concentration of Kool-Aid, creating a better (but not really good tasting, because Kool-Aid isn't really that good) tasting, easier to drink beverage. If bias is Kool-Aid (any bias, not just bias towards one side of an argument), then water, that giver of life, is varied sources of knowledge. The more resources you use to figure out an issue (because an issue itself isn't biased: climate change is not biased. It's a thing to discuss. How climate changed is interpreted is where the contentions come in) the more diluted the bias becomes, the more hydrated and knowledgeable you are. So, take everything with a grain of salt.

Especially in the climate change debate. We have extremes on both ends, stuff in the middle and stuff everywhere else. It's crazy! It's a three ring circus and everyone is vying for your attention. But why? Well, basically, the most widely-accepted science behind climate change (or even just pollution. Environmental degradation. Holes in the ozone. Mass species extinctions. Established stuff people don't really argue about anymore but all relate to climate change.) is saying: OUR HISTORY, PAST AND PRESENT, IS SCREWING EVERYTHING UP. Or: your life is making a mess of things. And your mom's life. And your grandpa's. And your great grandma's. So on and such until, at the very least, the Industrial Revolution. Now, for pretty much the entire world, that's hard to swallow. Our lifestyles and the lifestyles of previous generations have been filled with mistakes and we're now being told we have to fix them or face a very harsh punishment. But here's the other thing: WE CAN'T SEE THE PUNISHMENT! You really can't see climate change on most levels. Oh yes, we can see glaciers melting, migratory plans of animals changing, etc...but you can't see the temperature rising/falling (depending on where you are), or the CO2 messing up the atmosphere. It's like "out of sight, out of mind" and no one likes being told they've created something they can't even see and then being said they have to fix it. Makes people want to question it. And defend it.

And as for which site I think is more convincing, that's hard to say. I am already biased. Also, I do design in my free time so the grist site is just better put together than the FOS one, and for my visual brain that automatically makes it more reliable (kind of terrifying, but hey, visual learner = influenced by pretty things).