Skepticism, Science & Pseudoscience

The facts of climate change are completely mixed. Note that I am not saying that climate scientists have always been wrong, merely that evidence suggests we do not really understand climate well enough at this point to be confident in 100 year predictions. When you look at how various predictions have compared to reality, it becomes obvious that we have a great deal to learn. For example, climate models predicted that temperatures would increase on average 0.03 C a year--but they have been flat for nearly 15 years. On the flip side, climate models predicted that Arctic sea ice would remain intact through 2050, but current trends indicate we may see ice free Arctic before 2020. We hear a lot in the news about how climate change is suppose to cause more extreme weather events (hurricanes and tornadoes), but the actual data shows no trend for either. Predictions about how much sea levels will rise vary wildly, ranging from 18cm to 6m.

When you look at the facts, its is clear that the science is anything but 'settled'. If we are honest, we have to admit that we do not understand the planet's climate nearly as well as many have claimed. In the mean time, many other problems that are well understood and have known, proven solutions (e.g. clean water and sanitation) suffer from lack of attention.