Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Scientific consensus, hmm?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling
I said consensus was
leaning towards global cooling. I didn't say the overwhelming majority of scientists had bought into it. The consensus at that time (
whatever the percentage might have been) wasn't influenced by environmental concerns or political pressure, so the whole thing turned out to be a relatively short lived flash in the pan.
This
should go without saying, but public consensus usually doesn't match up with consensus within a science community. Unless someone is a part of an actively involved science community, they probably aren't going to have an accurate assessment of whether something is actually being taken seriously, or if it's just some interesting idea being kicked around for the fun of it.
I believe the consensus in favor of global warming today (whatever percentage that might be) is highly inflated, and mostly reflects an unwillingness of many scientists to go against a highly politicized movement to reduce the burning of fossil fuels. I seriously doubt if
anyone was worried over losing their job back when global cooling came under some real scrutiny. But this is just my opinion, so there is no need for anyone to get their shorts twisted into a knot over someone expressing their opinion on a message board... at an internet game site. 😕😛