Imagine one were to be transported back in history to when people believed the earth was flat. Imagine further that one were to have a conversation with a common resident and tell them that the earth was not flat, but in fact round. The resident would vehemently protest, I can see the earth is flat with my own eyes! No amount of rational debate or introduction of evidence would change this persons mind. Now imagine we were dealing with flat earthers right now, and there was some kind of "debate" with one side saying the earth was flat and the other side saying it was round. These round earthers would sensibly try to show images from NASA showing that the pictures of the earth showed it was round. And the NASA astronauts can also say they have left the earth and can see first hand that the earth is round! How could the flat earther's react? They could simply say the evidence was fabricated by scientists with a liberal agenda, and they knew for a fact that the earth was flat based on the reasoning of the common resident. They would say the images were doctored, or that we didn't really ever go to the moon and it was all a ploy to get research funding and to overturn God's holy word. Why is this relevant you ask? Well the situation we are not facing is the same with regards to global warming. Since about 1960 the earth's temperature has been rising rapidly as the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere has become more and more pronounced. The average global temperature at this time was around 59.3 degrees F. As of 2000 the temperature was 59.7 F. Small degrees of change can have devastating results. Glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising. To deny this is to deny all the scientific evidence, including from major organizations like the National Academy of Sciences, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, NASA, and 97% of climate scientists. If 97% of Thoracic surgeons (A thoracic surgeon is a medical doctor who performs operations on the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. This also includes surgeons who can be called cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiovascular surgeons, general thoracic surgeons, and congenital heart surgeons) said smoking caused lung cancer, I think I would listen. And it is also denying the Greenhouse Effect, which is pretty well documented. The climate deniers use the same sort of arguments the flat earth person did. They claim the evidence is fabricated, that scientists have a liberal agenda, just want research funding and the like. This denial has to be stopped and action must be taken. If it is not, the scientists will win the overall debate, but with devastating consequences. And that is not an overall win for any citizen of the earth.
