Nice review of the current global warming debate at Uncommon Descent, which I’ve broken down into an outline by inserting bullets. You should also read through the comments at the link above – very instructive:
- A great many scientists have claimed that global warming is a fact (it is) and
- while conceding it is cyclical to some degree (it is)
- they say that human activity is accelerating it (it is).
- The problem is there’s no consensus on what we need to do to stop it (or even if we can stop it at all), what it will cost to stop it, who will bear the economic cost of stopping it, and what it would cost if we did nothing and just dealt with the consequences as they arose.
- We don’t have enough information to make an informed economic decision.
- Scientists might think it’s okay to run off half cocked like Chicken Little saying the sky is falling and throwing any money they can beg, borrow, or steal at the problem but businessmen don’t think it’s okay to do that. They need to know the cost of action, the cost of inaction, and who pays those costs. President Bush in his great wisdom has said as much. We need better information to make an informed decision about what to do.
