Religion versus science

This blog will compare the claims of global warming alarmists, especially those who blame the changes in climate on human activity, with scientific research.

Humans affect nature. At question is the type and the degree of the effect.

First, is the earth warming? If so, where? how much has it warmed? how fast is it warming?

Second, if the earth is warming, what might be the most likely causes of that warming? If humans are responsible for part of the warming, how much? 10%? 50%? 80%?

If humans are responsible, or even if they are not, can the warming be stopped? Should it be stopped? Are there benefits to a warmer earth? Would it be less expensive to adapt to climate change than to attempt to stop it?

All these are scientific questions. Some have claimed that the "debate is over" on climate change and global warming. We have caused it by burning fossil fuels and releasing CO2 into the atmosphere, they say. Yet scientists are encountering more and more evidence that does not fit this interpretation of global warming. Are we to ignore the new evidence?

A scientific explanation should be subject to revision as new facts come to light. If proponents of a particular theory cannot change or modify their position in the light of new information, we are dealing not with science, but faith. For some, human-caused global warming has become nearly a religion.

We reject this view. Facts are stubborn things. And many facts stubbornly refuse to fit with the explanations of global warming alarmists. Yet, perhaps they are right. Perhaps humans are causing the earth to warm. We must know for certain before we act, or we may be wasting precious resources. We might even unintentionally make the problem worse!

As future entries to The Global Warming Swindle will demonstrate, the debate is decidedly not over!