Is Information about Climate Change Believable?
Many people are skeptical about climate change, thinking it is either impossible, not related to human activities, or that it is a hoax. Skepticism is justified and healthy. Information about climate change is based on the scientific method, which itself is based on skepticism. Some say they do not believe information about climate change. Science does not ask us to believe. It is based on validated facts that are subjected to continual critical and transparent review. We can always “see the numbers.”
But isn’t it all a hoax? We would love to see validated facts that show climate change is a hoax! But to imagine there is a conspiracy between thousands of scientists across the entire world, over decades of research and validation is a far stretch.
The figure below outlines the process by which scientific information is created and validated by independent critical reviewers. Science does not “prove,” it only disproves. It does not claim ultimate truth because it recognizes that new data may disprove the current understanding.
Science has served us well for more than 200 years. The scientific method is credible because it is always skeptical. It looks for the reasons our ideas are wrong rather than looking for ways to support them. If a hypothesis is found to be wrong, it is rejected.