The people who scream the loudest tend to be heard the clearest, even if their views turn out to be flawed.
If a scientist says in 10 years the earth is going to be 10 degrees warmer than it is today, people are going to perk up and listen. On the other hand if the same scientist were to say, the earth is fine, we'll experience some fluctuation but nothing too drastic, then that person would be essentially ignored. In the first case the scientist attracts funding to prolong their research. In the second case the scientist packs their bags and moves on. This type of mentality has led to a vicious cycle of denouncing any claim that global warming is false. Many in the industry now have a reason to protect their funding and will continue to argue the case for even more money.
So is global warming really a threat? Perhaps, but the research thus far has not shown to be absolutely conclusive. In-fact, there is plenty of contradictory evidence. Take for instance the tree ring data stretching back millions of years. Much of this data implies that the Earth has experienced wild fluctuations in climate and temperature. Practically all of this fluctuation occured long before humans even walked the Earth. So what was the cause for the change back then? The answer, once again is inconclusive. It could be the natural fluctuations in the Sun, perhaps its a magnetic shift in the Earth, or asteroid impacts. Who knows, the data is not complete.
While many claim to have the answers the facts remain that there simply isn't enough data to know the whole truth. Should we invest in more research? Probably, but we should do it in a more logical manner. Instead of studying how much the temperature changed this year, figure out what caused the temperature fluctuations millions of years ago. It may turn out that there is nothing we can do except invest in more sunscreen and shorts.
-Mal
Slashdot Mirror
The people who scream the loudest tend to be heard the clearest, even if their views turn out to be flawed. If a scientist says in 10 years the earth is going to be 10 degrees warmer than it is today, people are going to perk up and listen. On the other hand if the same scientist were to say, the earth is fine, we'll experience some fluctuation but nothing too drastic, then that person would be essentially ignored. In the first case the scientist attracts funding to prolong their research. In the second case the scientist packs their bags and moves on. This type of mentality has led to a vicious cycle of denouncing any claim that global warming is false. Many in the industry now have a reason to protect their funding and will continue to argue the case for even more money. So is global warming really a threat? Perhaps, but the research thus far has not shown to be absolutely conclusive. In-fact, there is plenty of contradictory evidence. Take for instance the tree ring data stretching back millions of years. Much of this data implies that the Earth has experienced wild fluctuations in climate and temperature. Practically all of this fluctuation occured long before humans even walked the Earth. So what was the cause for the change back then? The answer, once again is inconclusive. It could be the natural fluctuations in the Sun, perhaps its a magnetic shift in the Earth, or asteroid impacts. Who knows, the data is not complete. While many claim to have the answers the facts remain that there simply isn't enough data to know the whole truth. Should we invest in more research? Probably, but we should do it in a more logical manner. Instead of studying how much the temperature changed this year, figure out what caused the temperature fluctuations millions of years ago. It may turn out that there is nothing we can do except invest in more sunscreen and shorts. -Mal