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The 97% consensus on global warming

What the science says...

Select a level... Basic Intermediate Advanced

97% of climate experts agree humans are causing global warming.

Climate Myth...

There is no consensus

"[...] And I'll mention that the stat on the 97% of - of scientists is based on one discredited study." (Ted Cruz)

At a glance

What is consensus? In science, it's when the vast majority of specialists agree about a basic principle. Thus, astronomers agree that the Earth orbits around the Sun. Biologists accept that tadpoles hatch out from frog-spawn and grow into adult frogs. Almost all geologists agree that plate tectonics is real and you'd be hard-placed to find a doctor who thinks smoking is harmless.

In each above case, something has been so thoroughly looked into that those who specialise in its study have stopped arguing about its basic explanation. Nevertheless, the above examples were all once argued about, often passionately. That's how progress works.

The reaching of scientific consensus is the product of an often lengthy time-line. It starts with something being observed and ends with it being fully explained. Let's look at a classic and highly relevant example.

In the late 1700s, the Earth-Sun distance was calculated. The value obtained was 149 million kilometres. That's incredibly close to modern measurements. It got French physicist Joseph Fourier thinking. He innocently asked, in the 1820s, something along these lines:

"Why is Planet Earth such a warm place? It should be an ice-ball at this distance from the Sun."

Such fundamental questions about our home planet are as attractive to inquisitive scientists as ripened fruit is to wasps. Fourier's initial query set in motion a process of research. Within a few decades, that research had experimentally shown that carbon dioxide has heat-trapping properties.

Through the twentieth century the effort intensified, particularly during the Cold War. At that time there was great interest in the behaviour of infra-red (IR) radiation in the atmosphere. Why? Because heat-seeking missiles home in on jet exhausts which are IR hotspots. Their invention involved understanding what makes IR tick.

That research led to the publication of a landmark 1956 paper by Gilbert Plass. The paper's title was, “The Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climatic Change”. It explained in detail how CO2 traps heat in our atmosphere. Note in passing that Plass used the term "Climatic Change" all the way back then. That's contrary to the deniers' frequent claim that it is used nowadays because of a recent and motivated change in terminology.

From observation to explanation, this is a classic illustration of the scientific method at work. Fourier gets people thinking, experiments are designed and performed. In time, a hypothesis emerges. That is a proposed explanation. It is made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.

Once a hypothesis is proposed, it becomes subject to rigorous testing within the relevant specialist science groups. Testing ensures that incorrect hypotheses fall by the wayside, because they don't stand up to scrutiny. But some survive such interrogation. As their supporting evidence mounts up over time, they eventually graduate to become theories.

Theories are valid explanations for things that are supported by an expert consensus of specialists. Gravity, jet aviation, electronics, you name it, all are based on solid theories. They are known to work because they have stood the test of time and prolonged scientific inquiry.

In climate science today, there is overwhelming (greater than 97%) expert consensus that CO2 traps heat and adding it to the atmosphere warms the planet. Whatever claims are made to the contrary, that principle has been established for almost seventy years, since the publication of that 1955 landmark paper.

Expert consensus is a powerful thing. None of us have the time or ability to learn about everything/ That's why we frequently defer to experts, such as consulting doctors when we’re ill.

The public often underestimate the degree of expert consensus that our vast greenhouse gas emissions trap heat and warm the planet. That is because alongside information, we have misinformation. Certain sections of the mass-media are as happy to trot out the latter as the former. We saw a very similar problem during the COVID-19 pandemic and it cost many lives.

For those who want to learn more, a much longer detailed account of the history of climate science is available on this website.

Please use this form to provide feedback about this new "At a glance" section. Read a more technical version below or dig deeper via the tabs above!


Further details

We know full well that we don’t have the time or capacity to learn about everything, so we frequently defer to the conclusions of experts. Without experienced people using their expertise to perform many vital tasks – and without new people constantly entering such occupations – society would quickly disintegrate.

The same is true of climate change: we defer to the expert consensus of climate scientists. Indeed, public perception of the scientific consensus with regard to global warming has been found to be an important gateway into other enlightened climate-related attitudes - including policy support. 

Nine consensus studies

Let's take a look at summaries of the key studies, featured in the graphic above, into the degree of consensus. These have been based on analyses of large samples of peer-reviewed climate science literature or surveys of climate and Earth scientists. These studies are available online through e.g. Google Scholar. That slightly different methodologies reached very similar conclusions is a strong indicator that those conclusions are robust.

Oreskes 2004

In this pioneering paper, a survey was conducted into all peer-reviewed abstracts on the subject 'global climate change', published between 1993 and 2003. The work showed that not a single paper, out of the 928 examined, rejected the consensus position that global warming is man-made. 75% of the papers agreed with the consensus position while 25% made no comment either way.

Doran & Zimmerman 2009

A survey of 3,146 Earth scientists asked the question, "Do you think human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures?" Overall, 82% of the scientists answered yes. However, what was most interesting was the type of response compared to the level of expertise in climate science. Of scientists who were non-climatologists and didn't publish research, 77% answered yes. In contrast, 97.5% of actively-publishing climatologists responded yes. As the level of active research and specialization in climate science increases, so does agreement that humans are significantly changing global temperatures. The paper concludes:

"It seems that the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely non-existent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes. The challenge, rather, appears to be how to effectively communicate this fact to policy makers and to a public that continues to mistakenly perceive debate among scientists."

Anderegg et al. 2010

This study of 1,372 climate science researchers found that (i) 97–98% of the researchers most actively publishing in the field support the tenets of anthropogenic climate change (ACC) as outlined by the IPCC and (ii) the relative climate expertise and scientific prominence of the researchers unconvinced of ACC are substantially below that of the convinced researchers. 

Cook et al. 2013

A Skeptical Science-based analysis of over 12,000 peer-reviewed abstracts on the subject 'global climate change' and 'global warming', published between 1991 and 2011, found that over 97% of the papers taking a position on the subject agreed with the consensus position that humans are causing global warming. In a second phase of the project, the scientist authors were emailed and rated over 2,000 of their own papers. Once again, over 97% of the papers taking a position on the cause of global warming agreed that humans are causing it.

Verheggen et al. 2014

Results were presented from a survey held among 1868 scientists studying various aspects of climate change, including physical climate, climate impacts, and mitigation. The survey was at the time unique in its size, broadness and level of detail. Consistent with other research, it was found that as the level of expertise in climate science grew, so too did the level of agreement on anthropogenic causation. 90% of respondents with more than 10 climate-related peer-reviewed publications (about half of all respondents), explicitly agreed with anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) being the dominant driver of recent global warming. The respondents’ quantitative estimate of the GHG contribution appeared to strongly depend on their judgement or knowledge of the cooling effect of aerosols.

Stenhouse et al. 2014

In a survey of all 1,854 American Meteorological Society members with known e-mail addresses, achieving a 26.3% response rate, perceived scientific consensus was the strongest predictor of views on global warming, followed by political ideology, climate science expertise, and perceived organisational conflict.

Carlton et al 2015

Commenting that the extent to which non-climate scientists are skeptical of climate science had not so far been studied via direct survey, the authors did just that. They undertook a survey of biophysical scientists across disciplines at universities in the Big 10 Conference. Most respondents (93.6%) stated that mean temperatures have risen. Of the subset that agreed temperatures had risen, the following question was then asked of them: "do you think human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures?" The affirmative response to that query was 96.66%.

Cook et al. 2016

In 2015, authors of the above studies joined forces to co-author a paper, “Consensus on consensus: a synthesis of consensus estimates on human-caused global warming”. Two key conclusions from the paper are as follows:

(i) Depending on exactly how you measure the expert consensus, somewhere between 90% and 100% of climate scientists agree humans are responsible for climate change, with most of our studies finding 97% consensus among publishing climate scientists. (ii) The greater the climate expertise among those surveyed, the higher the consensus on human-caused global warming.

Lynas et al. 2021

In this paper, from a dataset of 88,125 climate-related peer-reviewed papers published since 2012, these authors examined a randomly-selected subset of 3000 such publications. They also used a second sample-weighted approach that was specifically biased with keywords to help identify any sceptical papers in the whole dataset. Twenty-eight sceptical papers were identified within the original dataset using that approach, as evidenced by abstracts that were rated as implicitly or explicitly sceptical of human-caused global warming. It was concluded that the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change, expressed as a proportion of the total publications, exceeds 99% in the peer reviewed scientific literature.

Myers et al. 2021

This study revisited the 2009 consensus among geoscientists, while exploring different ways to define expertise and the level of agreement among them. The authors sent 10,929 invitations to participate in the survey, receiving 2,780 responses. In addition, the number of scientific publications by these self-identified experts in the field of climate change research was quantified and compared to their survey response on questions about climate change. Perhaps not surprisingly, the study found that agreement on anthropogenic global warming was high at 91% to 100% and generally increases with expertise. Out of a group of 153 independently confirmed climate experts, 98.7% of those scientists agreed that the Earth is warming mostly because of human activities such as burning fossil fuels. Among the subset with the highest level of expertise, these being independently-confirmed climate experts who each published 20+ peer-reviewed papers on climate change between 2015 and 2019, there was 100% agreement.

Public Polls and Consensus

Opinion polls are not absolute in the same way as uncontestable scientific evidence but they nevertheless usefully indicate in which way public thinking is heading. So let's look at a couple taken 13 years apart. A 15-nation World Public Opinion Poll in 2009 PDF), with 13,518 respondents, asked, among other questions, “Is it your impression that among scientists, most think the problem is urgent and enough is known to take action?” Out of all responses, just 51% agreed with that. Worse, in six countries only a minority agreed: United States (38%), Russia (23%), Indonesia (33%), Japan (43%), India (48%), and Mexico (48%). Conversely, the two highest “agree” scores were among Vietnamese (69%) and Bangladeshis (70%) - perhaps unsurprisingly.

The two other options people had to choose from were that “views are pretty evenly divided” (24% of total respondents), or “most think the problem is not urgent, and not enough is known to take action“ (15%). American and Japanese respondents scored most highly on “views are pretty evenly divided” (43 and 44% respectively).

How such a pervasive misperception arose, regarding the expert consensus on climate change, is no accident. Regular readers of this website's resources will know that instead, it was another product of deliberate misinformation campaigning by individuals and organizations in the United States and other nations around the world. These are people who campaign against action to reduce carbon emissions because it suits their paymasters if we continue to burn as much as possible. 

Step forward to 2022 and the situation has perhaps improved, but there's still some way to go. A recent poll, Public Perceptions on Climate change (PDF), was conducted by the Policy Institute, based at King's College London, UK. It quizzed samples of just over 2,000 people from each of six countries (UK, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Italy and Germany). The survey asked the question: “To the best of your knowledge, what percentage of climate scientists have concluded that human-caused climate change is happening?” The following averages were returned: the UK sample thought 65%, the average of the whole survey was 68% and the highest was Ireland at 71%. Clearly, although public perception of expert consensus is growing, there's still plenty of room for strategies to communicate the reality and to shield people from the constant drip-feed of misinformation.

Expert and Public Consensus

Finally, let's consider the differences between expert and public consensus. Expert consensus is reached among those who have studied complex problems and know how to collect and work with data, to identify what constitutes evidence and evaluate it. This is demanding work requiring specific skill-sets and areas of expertise, preparation for which requires years of study and training. 

Public consensus, in contrast, tends to occur only when something is blindingly obvious. For example, a serial misinformer would struggle if they tried running a campaign denying the existence of owls. Everyone already knows that of course there are owls. There is public consensus because we see and hear owls, for real or on the TV or radio. But complex issues are more prone to the antics of misinformers. We saw examples of misinformation during the COVID pandemic, in some cases with lethal outcomes when misinformed people failed to take the risks seriously. There's a strong parallel with climate change: it is imperative we accept the expert consensus and not kick the can down the road until the realisation it is real becomes universal – but utterly inescapable.


Update May 26, 2023: The "At a glance" section was updated to improve readability.

Last updated on 26 May 2023 by John Mason. View Archives

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Related Arguments

Further reading

Richard Black at the BBC investigates whether there is a bias against skepticism in the scientific community.

More on what we're talking about when we say "scientific consensus,"  in an essay founded on Denial101x and scientific literature: Scientific Consensus isn’t a “Part” of the Scientific Method: it’s a Consequence of it. (or via archive.org)

Further viewing

The "Climate Denial Crock of the Week" video series examines the list of "32,000 leading skeptical scientists."

Naomi Oreskes gives a thorough presentation of the development of our scientific understanding of anthropogenic global warming:

Lead author John Cook explains the 2016 "Consensus on consensus" paper.

Here is a video summary of the various studies quantifying the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming, as well as the misinformation campaigns casting doubt on the consensus.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Joe Crouch for his efforts in tracking down scientific organizations endorsing the consensus as well as links to their public statements.

Update

On 21 Jan 2012, we revised 'the skeptic argument' with a minor quote formatting correction.

Comments

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Comments 251 to 275 out of 524:

  1. Doug, that's an incredibly weak argument. Who's going to draw attention to their incorrect predictions? They get conveniently forgotten, and we are left with amazingly accurate forecasts. It's like a bankrupt gambling addict telling you about his big wins.
  2. @mistermack: "Archie, if the evidence was as overwhelming as you say, I wouldn't waste my time looking." The fact you are "still looking" doesn't affect the quality of the evidence in now way. I'll surmise that the reason you are still looking is that you have failed to understand the science, probably because you're too biased towards your preconceived notions to be receptive to it. Again, the evidence is there, and you have yet to present a convincing claim against it. "I know for a fact that the evidence is debateable, because I've done a lot of looking, much more that the average student intake." That's argument by assertion: "I'm right because I say I am." Sorry, but that logical fallacy won't cut it here. "I think I am therefore well justified in my conclusion that most people are initially convinced by the "consensus" rather than evidence." No, you're not. You haven't presented a shred of evidence to support your accusation. Therefore, the only think we can conclude is that you don't seem to know what you're talking about. "You mention doctors, but many doctors are also homeopaths, and many are "experts" in homeopathy." That's an attempt at changing the subject, and in fact *very few* medical doctors are homeopaths. Medical experts, and the current state of medical science, condemns homeopathy as the hoax it is. "The concencus of experts in homeopathy would be overwhelmingly supporting the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies." Homeopathy is not empirical science, and the vast majority of medical experts do not accept homeopahty and its alleged remedies are effective. So your example fails. "Same applies to Chirpractic." Again, that is not a valid examples, because chiropractors are not necessarily experts in medical science (and in fact I suppose very few do). These examples fail to support your anti-intellectual attack on experts. "I'm not saying that climate science is as silly as these," No, but you're certainly implying they are similar. "I'm just pointing out that a consensus is naturally self perpetuating, till it's disproved." Again, there is no indication that people who study climate believe in AGW because of the consensus. Rather, the consensus exists because the evidence (which you *choose* to ignore) indicates AGW is very likely true. "That's why the consensus on AGW is totally valueless, as evidence." Well, that's right in an of itself. Note that the article isn't claiming that the consensus is evidence AGW is true - it doesn't. Rather, it is a rebuttal of the contrarian argument that "there is no consensus," when in fact there is (as you yourself have admitted a few times in this thread already). So, again, the contrarian argument is that there is no consensus (hence such farces as the Oregon petition project), the rebuttal is that there is. You arguing that the consensus is meaningless is off-topic (and wrong in your characterization of the consensus). Please stop insinuating that people who study the climate are motivated by groupthink rather than rational thought. It's insulting, and goes against site policy (as it suggests a conspiration of dunces). "In climate science, you can't even predict next year's trend. But you can grandly predict the trend for the next century." Indeed. "Without the slightest risk of being proved wrong." So far, they haven't as temperatures are quite close to predictions - but I'm sure you'll change the subject and start attacking the quality of temperature records next. Contrarians are *so* predictable...
  3. @mistermack: Here some more evidence of anthropogenic global warming, from those know-nothings at NASA...
  4. Archie, your link, "evidence is there" just illustrates my point perfectly. The relevant question is the sensitivity of the climate to CO2. Will increased CO2 cause a big enough rise in temperature to cause problems. That's the one bit of evidence missing. The relevant bit. The rest is just window dressing. I didn't say there is no evidence about anything. I'm saying that you need evidence for the central tenet. Link me that, if you like.
  5. Archie, your page from the "know nothings at NASA" showed evidence of warming. We all know we've had warming. What's not there is good evidence for the title "anthropogenic". That's what's always missing.
  6. @mistermack: Climate Sensitivity is estimated at between 2.5C and 4C. If you have evidence to the contrary, by all means present it. So far you have failed to do so. As for the NASA page, it clearly shows the current level of CO2, and we know CO2 "greenhouse gas" properties will increase temperatures. We also know this extra CO2 is from anthropogenic sources. Therefore, it is very likely humans are responsible for the current warming. Again, you have failed to produce a single piece of evidence that disputes this. The burden of proof is on you - better start working on that thesis! At least you agree it's warming, even if you're ready to gamble civilization's future just because you disagree (without evidence) about climate sensitivity.
  7. mistermack at 06:53 AM on 25 October 2010 Please read Lean 2010, and look at figure 6.
  8. Responseman, I looked at "Climate sensitivity is low", the first sentence is :"There are some things about our climate we are pretty certain about. Unfortunately, climate sensitivity isn’t one of them". That makes my point for me. The "consensus" is there, in spite of the lack of certainty about the central tenet of AGW. That is, is the climate sufficiently sensitive to CO2 for there to be a problem? I argued that the consensus is fortified by the consensus in a feedback loop, not by certainty of the evidence.
    Response: Read past the first sentence. Click on the "Advanced" tab. Read the section "What is the possible range of climate sensitivity?" Note that certainty is high regarding the lower limit of sensitivity, and that even that lower limit will have serious adverse consequences. (You need to read the entire Advanced post to get all that.)
  9. I did read more. I noted that it's claimed "we know that....." without saying how. I don't want to get off topic, but a model doesn't justify "we know that", you could maybe say "we calculate that...." or "our best estimate is....." What this seems to indicate, is that the "consensus" is basically the result of faith in models. Yet others are telling me that they think it's the result of evidence. I still think consensus has built itself up in a feedback loop.
    Response: Why on Earth do you think all the evidence is in this blog? The authors of these blog posts go to considerable trouble to cite, and when possible link to, the peer reviewed scientific literature so that blog readers can go there if they want more info. Commenters responding to you have done the same. It's past time for you to take advantage of those resources.
  10. I'm replying to the link you offered me. It hardly follows that I think all the evidence is here. I politely read the link you offered, and responded. But to be honest, given the purpose of this website, I would have expected all of the best evidence to be summarised here. (somewhere) Perhaps that's a suggestion. A page called "here is the best evidence for AGW" (or maybe I've missed it). I would take it as read that we've had warming. (only the warming since 1950 should count, since CO2 rises were completely insignificant before that). So a page with nothing but evidence linking manmade CO2 to the warming since 1950 would be absolutely brilliant.
    Response: The Big Picture
  11. @mistermack: "A page called "here is the best evidence for AGW" (or maybe I've missed it)." I already pointed towards it. Now, if you could indicate which information on that page is inaccurate (with evidence, which you keep asking for but never provide to support your own claims), that would be appreciated.
    Response: Also, mistermack, when on any page you see blue text, you should click on it, because it is a hyperlink to more information. And look past the end of each original post, because often there are green boxes with links to further reading and to related Skeptical Science posts.
  12. #242: "most "experts" are apologists for the concensus:" Let's accept that philosophy for a moment, postulating that it must work both ways. So W@tts and G*ddard and Jo#ova and all the other so-called 'experts' who've bought into the consensus (31000 scientists agree) that AGW is a scam are mere apologists. You can't have it both ways. But in reality, I would rather live in a world that values consensus among experts -- or at least one that values expert discussion of disagreements with logic, observation and sound science rather than name-calling and petty vitriolics. Because this is what you get when there's no consensus.
  13. Responding to Response to 261, I looked, it doesn't contain any evidence of a human link, but I clicked on the fingerprint link, to the "it's not us" argument, which is probably the closest to an evidence page as there is. It's good reading, a lot more relevant than anything else I've found on here. At the end of the day though, the evidence still boils down to models, models of where the warming should be detected, followed by this is the warming we detected. ( etc ). If you accept the models are true, you can claim plenty of evidence. If you regard the models as needing confirmation, then the evidence needs confirmation. I can't help but conclude that the models were inspired by the data, so you shouldn't call it evidence if the data matches the models. If the consensus is the result of the evidence, then it seems to depend on the data and the models matching up, which is hardly surprising.
  14. @mistermack: not all evidence rests on model, some can be directly observed and/or reproducible in a lab (the actual greenhouse properties of CO2, for example). Similarly, the fact that we are increasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere can be determined without resorting to models. Now, as far as models go: you're welcome to demonstrate how the models are inaccurate, and produce your own models to explain the observed data. Until then, don't be offended if I'd rather accept the actual science presented on this site rather than the vague allegations and half-baked arguments you keep throwing around. In the meantime, why not check out the Models are unreliable page?
  15. Isn't the important consensus the following: That the earth is warming, man is a significant cause, *that the problem will be serious if nothing is done about it AND the proposed actions (e.g. Kyoto protocol, Cap and Trade, Copenhagen agreement) will prevent the problem from happening?* What % of published climate scientists would answer yes to that question? The majority of climate scientists I've heard opine on the issue of the effectiveness of any of the proposed solutions is that they won't stop the problem from happening.
  16. #268: "The majority of climate scientists I've heard opine on the issue of the effectiveness of any of the proposed solutions" Sounds like you already have your own answer to the question you posed. Is a difference of opinion sufficient reason for doing nothing? You could consider looking into the question here and here to learn something about it. If you want to engage in a serious discussion, you should also give specific references to the 'climate scientists' whose opines you are following. Helps to know what your sources are.
  17. Muoncounter #269 - what did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today? You know any climate scientist that thinks Kyoto or Cap and Trade will stop global warming? My point is that if you're going to use consensus as argument, than you have to have consensus on the important part of the issue - what to do about it, not that it's happening. Here's a reference for you - James Hanson and Cap and Trade. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/opinion/07hansen.html
  18. #268 - Here's another reference for you - the consensus breaks down the more you dig into it. http://stats.org/stories/2008/global_warming_survey_apr23_08.html
  19. Re: StyleDoggie Interesting position to take. If you're positing that... 1. It's the total bolus of carbon slug injected into the Earth's atmosphere that matters and 2. Human nature means the cessation of burning of fossil fuels will happen when cold, dead hands are pried off the pumps ...then I'm of a similar mind. I've always liked Hansen's position on fee & dividends, but I suspect it too doesn't go far enough to forestall CO2 emissions quickly enough. Your STATS survey of climate scientists is a bit dated now. In light of current events, most on the fence will be re-thinking just how uncomfortable that position has become. But what the heck do I know? Not a climate scientist. Just some guy on a blog with degrees in the Earth Sciences... The Yooper
  20. #270: "if you're going to use consensus as argument" The consensus in question in this article is "demonstrated by the number of scientists who have stopped arguing about what is causing climate change – and that’s nearly all of them." Thus there is general agreement among serious scientists that global warming is happening and we are causing it. "you have to have consensus on the important part of the issue - what to do about it" That's a separate question and wildly off-topic. The Hansen op-ed you linked in #270 calls for stronger measures than cap and trade: "There is a better alternative, one that would be more efficient and less costly than cap and trade: 'fee and dividend.'" However, in the US, conservative talking heads have basically killed any hope for any action with their 'cap and tax' hot air. Don't conflate lack of consensus on what to do, which is mired in political rhetoric, to consensus over what is happening. If you want to continue discussing what to do, go to Solving global warming. "the consensus breaks down the more you dig into it." No, it does not. First of all, the survey is older than the Hansen article, so 'the more you dig into it' doesn't make sense. But more importantly: Based on current trends, 41% of scientists believe global climate change will pose a very great danger to the earth in the next 50 to 100 years, compared to 13% who see relatively little danger. Another 44% rate climate change as moderately dangerous. That's 85% in the moderate to very great danger camp. Makes you think that the folks shouting down any ideas for change are the ones causing the problem. Which side are you on? Yooper, I also have some earth sci degrees somewhere in my distant and checkered past. Knew there was something I liked about you.
  21. Re: StyleDoggie BTW, consensus is an ever-evolving narrative, adapting (one way or the other) to emerging understanding over time. Much has become known since 2008. That makes the study you cited dated. As my one lone example showed (had you read the link). The Yooper
  22. Re: muoncounter (273)
    "Yooper, I also have some earth sci degrees somewhere in my distant and checkered past. Knew there was something I liked about you."
    Early 80's, Central Michigan University. Diploma can be found somewhere in the paleo record. :) Appreciate the sentiments; likewise. Based on many of your comments, you received a better grounding in energy budgets than I did. My instructors taught me other things, like shotgunning whiskey into (many) beers... The Yooper
  23. #274 - Claims of settled science and scientific consensus have been around since at least 1989 - here's a reference from the NYTimes. But NOW, there REALLY IS a consensus. I see. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEED61E3CF937A25750C0A96F948260
    Response: Please refrain from using all caps. Use italics or, if really necessary, bold.
  24. " "Do you think human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures?" (Doran 2009). … 97.5% of climatologists who actively publish research on climate change responded yes." That is exactly 75 people. "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics"
  25. @NQoA: what's your point, exactly? That we should trust experts on a particular matter because there's relatively few of them? I know deniers usually aren't motivated by logic, but you sir take the cake.

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