Climate Change: Leave It To The Experts

Science is playing an increasingly bigger role in our lives.

Whether it's about increasing crop yields to feed our growing world population; making our computers/devices faster, smaller, more powerful; Improving the fuel efficiency of our vehicles; or developing cures for diseases, we have become dependant on science.

Yet much of science has moved beyond our understanding, with no hope for us to catch up.

That's just something we've all got to get used to. I don't have to understand how my netbook works to use it, and if it breaks down, I take it to an expert to repair it.

Same goes if I get ill, I go to a doctor.

We rely on these experts to tell us what's going on and how to put it right. We may not like what they tell us but we'd be fools not to take their advise. That doctor's got years of specialised education and experience to call upon to make a diagnosis.

So, why do we question what climate scientists have to say? They've got years of specialised education and experience themselves. 

• They know that the climate is getiing warmer by measuring the temperature on land, out to sea, and from Space. 
• They know CO2 levels are rising by sampling the atmosphere, 
• They know CO2 is a 'greenhouse gas' i.e. Let's sunlight through but absorbs heats going back the other way (Discovered by John Tyndal in 1861). Without it, this planet would be in a permenant ice age.

They also tell us that, because of the increased CO2 levels, more heat is being held in the atmosphere, leading to the increasing temperatures. And the reason for the increasing CO2? Because we humans are creating CO2 faster than the planet can absorb it.

Could they be wrong? Well, individual scientists are as fallible as the rest of us. However, we have here literally thousands of scientists from a range of disciplines (physicists, chemists, climatologists, glaciologists, and biologists to name a few) from all over the World, who give the same message: The planet is warming, Humans are the cause, and we need to deal with the problem very soon.

How could all of those experts be so wrong, whilst a bunch of right-wing politicians, bloggers, and newspapers have it right!

It's like your doctor's telling you to cut down on the booze because your liver can't cope. You don't like what he's saying, because you like drinking, but you don't want to risk your life either.

Do you take his advise, or that of your drinking buddies, or the bar owner, or the brewery? The last 3 have all got a vested interest in keeping things the way they are, regardless of the cost to you.

In the end, the answer's obvious: You take the expert's advise and end up healthier, richer, and with a future.

The same can be said for that drink problem too.