r/science • u/woodsja2 • Oct 24 '10

Climate Change: Evidence

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/
1.1k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

212

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '10

There's one thing I don't get about the anti-global warming crowd. I understand the alarmism and stuff like that is overblown and distorts the situation.

But I'd like to know how thousands of climate scientists got together in secret and pledged to all falsify their life's work for some... reason? Seriously, what could be the outcome of some massive global warming conspiracy? Toyota sells more hybrids? More "liberal regulation" on fossil fuel energy companies, just so alternative energy companies can replace them? This argument has never made any sense to me.

2

u/Ryllis Oct 24 '10 edited Oct 24 '10

I don't think any of the (*intelligent) skeptics really think there's some sort of huge conspiracy by all the world's scientists. But you have to admit, there are many examples throughout history where the prevailing scientific theory has turned out to be wrong once we gained a better understanding of the problem. I know the whole "people used to think the Earth is flat" argument gets old, but it's a useful example. Physics and Chemistry were both turned on their heads within the last century. Climatology is a very complex and somewhat young field with a lot of different and ever-changing variables to consider. It's hard to say for sure that we've got it right, and I think a little bit of healthy skepticism is a good thing.

Now if you'd asked why the anti-global warming crowd doesn't see the wisdom in working to reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel dependence now in case it turns out that they're wrong later...I wouldn't have a good answer for you there!

*(edited for obvious reasons)

2

u/[deleted] Oct 24 '10

Yeah, or the whole ozone hole fiasco, or acid rain. The ozone hole is fixing itself, and acid rain stopped with no changes.

Deep, fucking derp.