Originally Posted By jonvn What's your opinion on gravity? Does it exist or is it just some crazy idea?
Originally Posted By tiggertoo I think it’s a crazy idea, because I bought a balloon at Disneyland once and when I let it go, it flew away. Explain that one Mr. Newton!
Originally Posted By jonvn it is allowed. You just are going to get told that if you say something ridiculous, it is ridiculous, and hopefully why.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Fine you guys win, I'll accept global warming because I'm told to.< No, no, no, no. Good grief. You shouldn't accept global warming because we tell you to. You should understand there is broad scientific consensus on it (which doesn't mean unanimity); both on the fact that it's happening and that human activity is partly responsible. <I won't read additional findings on this because clearly those are wrong. > One cold month in one city does not constitute an "additional finding." Do you really not get that?
Originally Posted By Dabob2 DAR, no one's saying that. You do react rather illogically sometimes. But it's worth noting that some people will look at a fairly brief cold snap in their own locale and try to say that global warming must not be happening. That just doesn't follow.
Originally Posted By DAR You're right I shouldn't look at this cold snap as proof that we are not in a warming period.
Originally Posted By jmoore1966 <<"Additional findings" that are peer reviewed and authentic will not tell you any different.>> I'm curious as to what the definition of this actually is. I take it from your repeated use of this phrase that there are no differing viewpoints that have passed the "peer reviewed" test?
Originally Posted By mrichmondj ^^ You didn't look at January's "warm snap" as proof that we were in a warming period, so why should you react differently to a cold snap?
Originally Posted By DAR Let me clarify at best that's what the temperatures were. A few days above freezing. We didn't have all these 50 and 60 degree days, but then again what do I know.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 The point is, it doesn't matter if ONE place on the map had a slew of 50 degree days, a handful, or none at all.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 It's fine to keep studying this. That's how we learn. However, we should recognize that there is a scientific consensus on this, and part of that consensus is that there are steps we can and should be taking now to help allieviate the problem.
Originally Posted By jonvn From Wikipedia. There is more at the site on the process and such. This is a basic summation: Peer review (known as refereeing in some academic fields) is a process of subjecting an author's scholarly work or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the field. The peer review process aims to make authors meet the standards of their discipline, and of science in general. Publications and awards that have not undergone peer review are likely to be regarded with suspicion by scholars and professionals in many fields. Even refereed journals, however, can contain errors. A rationale for peer review is that it is rare for an individual author or research team to spot every mistake or flaw in a complicated piece of work. This is not because deficiencies represent needles in a haystack, but because in a new and perhaps eclectic intellectual product, an opportunity for improvement may stand out only to someone with special expertise or experience. Therefore showing work to others increases the probability that weaknesses will be identified, and with advice and encouragement, fixed. The anonymity and independence of reviewers is intended to foster unvarnished criticism and discourage cronyism in funding and publication decisions. In addition, since the reviewers are normally selected from experts in the fields discussed in the article, the process of peer review is considered critical to establishing a reliable body of research and knowledge. Scholars reading the published articles can only be expert in a limited area; they rely to some degree on the peer-review process to provide reliable and credible research that they can build upon for subsequent or related research. As a result, significant scandal ensues when an author is found to have falsified the research included in an article, as many other scholars, and the field of study itself, may have relied upon that research.
Originally Posted By jonvn A more formal description: <a href="http://www.library.uiuc.edu/alx/peer.htm" target="_blank">http://www.library.uiuc.edu/al x/peer.htm</a>
Originally Posted By jonvn And another: <a href="http://valinor.ca/peer-review.html" target="_blank">http://valinor.ca/peer-review. html</a> This is not exactly hidden information.
Originally Posted By jonvn "I take it from your repeated use of this phrase that there are no differing viewpoints that have passed the "peer reviewed" test?" A study done recently by one researcher took a sampling of about 10%, which is quite large, of all recently written peer-reviewed climate papers. What was found was that the percent of scientific papers containing a viewpoint other than the consensus is 0. It's no longer debated in scientific circles, if that is what you are asking.
