Prev
Date:
The previous KDnuggets Poll asked:
Your opinion on Global Warming / Climate Change
While over 75% believe that climate change is real, about a third of them doubted that human activity is a major cause of the climate change. This was one of the more controversial polls, with many comments.
In particular, a few people commented that there should have been an option "climate change is real, but not caused by human activity". My mistake - I did not include this option.
I know that there are people who doubt climate change (especially when it snows in their neighborhood).
However, among people who follow the science and see that climate change is real, I was surprised that so many think that human activity is not a major cause.
Of course, climate is complex and scientists are not claiming that human activity is the sole cause of climate change. However, there is strong consensus that human activity is one of the major causes, according to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - produced by scientists from almost all UN countries. It is a fact that humans burning fossil fuels are adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere at unprecedented speeds, and greenhouse gases usually cause a warming effect. The uncertainty is over the size of that effect and time.
Here is a comment from a reader who disagrees:
Based on a scientific examination of gases captured from an ice core sample from Antarctica a few years ago, scientists reported results that 2% of the estimated total global warming that has occurred over the last hundreds of thousands of years can accurately be attributed to human activity. To me, it is clear that we are witnessing natural climatic change. Some scientists project that we actually are heading toward the next Ice Age.
Here is
KDnuggets Poll: Your opinion on Global Warming / Climate Change
Comments
GregoryPS
It is a fact that humans burning fossil fuels are adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere at unprecedented speeds, and greenhouse gases usually cause a warming effect.
Of course, climate is complex and has many causes, but the great majority of scientists do believe that human influence is a major cause.