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Frank K. says:
Mr. Onion says:
“So whether you consider the science very certain or very uncertain, there’s no basis to argue that the ongoing CO2 rise is safe.”
There are a lot of uncertainties in the universe. The earth could collide with an asteroid. We could be invaded by an advanced race of hostile space aliens. Both are more likely to occur than the supposed “harmful effects” of atmospheric CO2.
Where did people like Mr. Onion get the idea that CO2 is “unsafe”? Oh, that’s right – from the same people who stand to profit both politically and financially from promulgating this myth. Please Mr. Onion – follow the money. And for 2011, resolve to put YOUR time, money, and attention towards things that will really make a difference in this world, like helping your neighbor, fighting hunger, and promoting peace.
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kcom says:
“So whether you consider the science very certain or very uncertain, there’s no basis to argue that the ongoing CO2 rise is safe. To know it was safe we’d need the science to be very certain that a doubling of CO2 had little effect on the Earth. We can’t conclude that though if we argue that the science isn’t settled and is all very uncertain.”
We can conclude, though, that claims to know the temperature of the earth in 50 or 100 years are pure hokum. And any plan instituted to address a specific scenario runs the risk of addressing a problem that doesn’t exist or, worse, exacerbating a problem that is underappreciated. To wit, the idea in the 1970s to accelerate the melting of the polar ice caps to combat the incipient scourge of global cooling.
If we don’t understand things, we don’t understand them. It’s as simple as that. It may be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t change the reality. Scientists are tempted all the time to pretend to understand their field of study better than they do (or could possibly, based on current knowledge). But the truth is the science of global warming/climate change is simply not settled and never has been. It will be many years in the future before we know enough to go anywhere near that claim. In the meantime, the best we can do is muddle through and continue to gather data and thrash out various theories, based on their scientific merit, not their political merit.