Why we should believe in the science of climate change?
As humans we believe in a great many things. Belief can be described as “an opinion or judgment in which a person is fully persuaded.” So, can we be persuaded by science to believe in climate change?
Naomi Oreskes of Harvard University thinks so. She researches the history of science and climate change. Professor Oreskes has found that trust is a big part of the answer. Trust via the process of skeptical inquiry (as a group) that puts the burden of proof on the person proffering the idea (i.e. anthropogenic global warming).
Consensus is another big component — taking time to build it, and allowing time to challenge it. Science-based evidence then, can be believed in through a process that can and does incorporate incorrect assumptions, but through revision and strengthening produces a theory which is the best possible, based on current knowledge and group consensus (given that there is no independent source for verifying truth).
NASA, which employs experts in climatology, states that “97 percent of climate scientists are convinced, based upon the evidence, that human-caused global warming is happening.” The Consensus Project has found that 97% of climate papers stating a position on human-caused global warming agree that global warming is happening and that we are the cause.
With this “authority of the collective” — and thousands of experts on climate change from all over the world that are in agreement — should we not then take action against the identified cause (i.e. humans and their use of carbon-emitting fossil fuels)?
The Citizens Climate Lobby (CCL) has a common sense, revenue neutral solution in a carbon fee and dividend. It places a fee on fossil fuels at the source, returns 100 percent of the net fees to American household on an equal basis and places a border tariff adjustment on goods imported from, or exported to, countries without an equivalent price on carbon. For more information on this solution, go to www.citizensclimatelobby.org.
Tim Thomas
Durango
