So Loren9 says I am a climate change "denier". Loren needs to apologize on that. I never said the climate wasn't changing--It's always changing. A better word to describe me without using a loaded, insulting term is a climate change skeptic--I am skeptical of the "science". Having a scientific background, I often spot shoddy science, "studies" that proclaim results or conclusions not supported by the actual data "studied". And there are plenty of assertions of climate science that are not supported by science. For many parts of their models they had to make assumptions and those assumptions are sometimes questionable.
I reviewed a recent IPCC report, much of the 2558 page text as well as the entire 52 page executive summary and 40 pages of literature citations (some of which were questionable). Literature cited is very important as dependence on shoddy research can lead to invalid conclusions. The executive summary was written before the report was finished. The summary, which is all the reporters read, if they even read rather than skim a document is an activist statement, not a summary of the evidence and it did not list uncertainties that were recognized in the actual report.
I never said population won't become a problem. As a forester I am quite aware that there are limits. An acre will only support so many trees of a certain size and species although changes in nutrients and moisture might change that somewhat--or may not--it hasn't been studied to my knowledge. But predicting when limits will be reached in a world where technology is always advancing is little more than a guessing game as there are too many unpredictables a evidenced in "The Population Bomb" and "The Limits to Growth" which were alarming to a large number of people.
For a perspective on climate change predictions, see:
A brief history of climate panic and crisis… both warming and cooling | Watts Up With That? Just as now, scientists cited who predicted warmer or cooler climate were likely working with the best info they had, but neither then nor now do scientists have all the answers or info needed.
As that great philosopher Yogi Berra is quoted as saying, “It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” And climate predictions too often focus on the world in the year 2100, which at this point is just nonsense and folks should be more amused than concerned.
I have a book printed just after WWII that predicted all kinds of wonderful technological developments as a result of WWII scientific advances in the next decade or two. Hardly any of them came true.
For far too many people, including many scientists, current climate "science" is more of a political activity than a scientific endeavor and we need to recognize it as such.
I know I'll never convince Loren, just as he won't convince me. It will be decades before we'll really know, even though many think they know now.
