…we are not that comfortable with it.

There is clearly a disconnect, between the scientists and the public on the global warming theory; the science is difficult, it is multi-threaded, it does not lend itself to a black and white picture. Think about the CFC /Ozone Layer issue – nice, easy and one dimensional. You carry on emitting these chemicals, then the Ozone thins and eventually we all die of skin cancer. Satellite pictures even showed the ‘hole’ forming over Antarctica.

Global warming and associated climate change is a very different proposition. There are still a lot of ‘ifs’, ‘buts’ and ‘maybe thens’ and the time scales are relatively long ones. The average person will not read IPCC reports, still less the scientific papers that stand behind them. Public opinion is being formed on these matters by the press and other media. As the underlying science is not easy to grasp, this leaves the field open to the popularisers and the demagogues.

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