My view on Climate Change is pretty simple but it still baffles some people. I hope the deniers are right. I want to believe that it's as much of a hoax or myth as they say…but I don't see that they have any significant amount of science on their side or anything resembling proof. It's just about all on the side that says our weather is changing — and not for better — and that humans have a lot to do with it. That's where almost all the real meteorologists come down and where all the scholarly study leads…and the deniers are left with things like, "How could there possibly be Global Warming when it was cold enough to snow last Tuesday?"
This is not a 50/50 argument, at least if you're counting people who know something about our climate. It's more like 98/2 with the "2" being those who don't believe in Climate Change. They remind me of this guy who writes me from time to time to tell me that actor Dave Coulier sometimes filled in as the voice of Garfield on the TV series, Garfield and Friends. I used to write him back and tell him that wasn't true and I knew that because I directed the voices on that show and I never hired or directed Mr. Coulier.
My correspondent would write back that he had a source (one he never named) that said Dave Coulier had filled in…so at worst, it's an Open Question. One source said yes, one source said no. The two sides cancel each other out or make it a "push" or something. Never mind that one source might actually be in a position to know for certain.
In the case of the Climate Change debate, the consequences are so severe if so many scientists are correct that even if it were a 50-50 chance, we should take action as if it's a certainty. I mean, if one person told you your house was on fire and another person told you it wasn't, you wouldn't sit there and say, "Well, someone else says the 'house on fire' guy is wrong, I guess I can ignore him." Especially if the guy yelling "Fire!" was the Fire Chief.
Here's an interview with climatologist Heidi Cullen on this very topic. I hope she's wrong but I don't think we can afford to take that chance.