In a phenomenon as old as global warming, the media, specially well-written journalistic jokes like The Economist, have always talked about scientists who do not agree with the science of global warming. What the media, any media, rarely mention is that most of these scientists happen to be either professors of business schools or the like, who rarely have any credentials in any aspect of global warming. A Ph.D. does not necessarily make someone an authority on something so far removed from their expertise.
Forget the professors and experts. Lets just use our common sense. We all know how different the planet has become because of human actions. We know how the rivers were and are being ravaged, plants and animals are still facing extinction, and the earth is still being scarred from the quarrying and mining. In short, planet earth certainly is not the lush paradise, teeming with all sorts of life and beauty that the ancients said it was. This has also been confirmed by studies in history, anthropology and paleontology. We all can see that earth has been impacted by human action.
I guess global warming is harder to understand because we don’t see the atmosphere. If we use our logical skills then it makes sense that the smoke plumes, the nineteenth and early twentieth century symbol of industrialization, (still seen in every continent except the poles) did affect and alter the atmosphere.
The change in the atmosphere in turn messed with the way sunlight reached the planet which affected the water and so our climate has been messed up.
Atmosphere change
↓
amount and type of sunlight received changed → temperature of earth’s crust changed
↓ ↓
temperature of water changed → amount of water evaporated changed
Now how hard is that to understand?
Now the global warming deniers have become organized and have an association called climate science coalition. Let’s see – less than three dozen scientists from fields which have something to do with climate. The rest are from business, statistics, humanities etc. So in a world populated by thousands of scientists, fewer than hundred or maybe a couple of hundred believe – are you ready for this – they believe the world is cooling!
Undoubtedly they also regard the melting of glaciers as a figment of imagination – what did you say satellite photos and actual evidence! Their explanation is that climate is not stable – Six thousand years is stable enough for me!
