[simoncoggins]

Indeed it is. This shows global CO2 and temperature data from the last 400,000 years (several ice ages and interglacials):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/archive/6/63/200611...

Most would agree that they appear to be correlated.

This shows a close up of the increase in CO2 since the industrial revolution (time axis reversed from other plot):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Carbon_Dioxide_400kyr.png

The sudden CO2 increase is consistent with the quantity of CO2 output from human sources.

It is not hard to understand what is happening. I work for the British Antarctic Survey and my girlfriend is an atmospheric chemist. Many of my friends are climate change or environmental scientists. Let me tell you there is as near to complete agreement about what is happening as it is possible to have in science.

Of course it is possible to find some people who disagree. It would be unhealthy if you couldn't. Science works because of debate.

The post is pretty awful, but what really got me was the claim that because 650 is a bigger number than 52 more people are sceptical than support the IPCC. That is laughable:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Clim...

[kingkongrevenge]

> Most would agree that they appear to be correlated.

Everyone agrees they're correlated. Not everyone notices the warming precedes the increases.

> I work for the British Antarctic Survey and my girlfriend is an atmospheric chemist. Many of my friends are climate change or environmental scientists. Let me tell you

You have to admit you and your associates have certain interests at stake...

[simoncoggins]

I agree, in previous natural cycles it did. Increased temperatures (due to orbital effect) lead to increased CO2, which increased temperatures further, releasing more CO2. A positive feedback mechanism. The problem is that man-made atmospheric CO2 has upset that natural balance (CO2 is now significantly higher than it has been in the last 400,000 years - see second graph). Will that increase global temperatures? Scientists think so, and there is some evidence it is already happening. If so, the results are likely to be very serious indeed. Should we wait to find out?

[kingkongrevenge]

The pattern held throughout the 20th century during massive industrialization.

> Scientists think so

The word "scientist" needs to be banned. There is no such thing as a special class of people called "scientists."

[apu]

So you mean John Q. Public is as qualified to speak about science as people who spend several years of their life learning about all the necessary background in their field of study, and then spend the rest of their lives contributing original research in that field? Or are the latter merely charlatans and frauds?

[mattmaroon]

That's the ultimate way of dismissing anything, just attack the very concept of credibility. It's downright idiotic to say there's no such thing as a scientist. That's like saying there's no such thing as a dentist.

Sure, there's some semantic considerations, and the word means different things to different people and may sometimes be used incorrectly, but there is a such thing as a scientist.

[kingkongrevenge]

Experimental physicist is to dentist as "scientist" is to ...?

"Scientist" is a meaningless word. Knowing that someone is called a scientist tells you absolutely nothing about their qualifications.

[kingkongrevenge]

"Scientist" does not indicate a field of expertise. It's a magic word.

[mattmaroon]

That's like saying "doctor" is a magic word. There are all sorts of doctors. Heart Surgeons, pediatricians, ER doctors. They all specialize in very different things.

But they all have a very strong base level of training in medicine. You could ask a psychiatrist about your back problem, and while he's clearly not an orthopedic surgeon, he can probably give you useful feedback. And if he put a little time into research, he could tell you a lot. That's because he's highly trained to do so.

It's the same with scientists. Sure someone with a PhD in physics might not be as knowledgeable about global warming as a geologist. But they're still pretty capable of figuring out, especially with a little effort. Their opinion is considerably more useful than a lay person, which is why people are fascinated with their thoughts on the topic of global warming.