What isn’t evidence for global warming? asks Brett Stephens in the Wall Street Journal, 1 July 2008. He writes: “The Arctic ice cap may be thinning, but the extent of Antarctic sea ice has been expanding for years. At least as of February, last winter was the Northern Hemisphere’s coldest in decades. In May, German climate modellers reported in the journal Nature that global warming is due for a decade-long vacation. But be not afraid, added the modellers: The inexorable march to apocalypse resumes in 2020. This last item is, of course, a forecast, not an empirical observation. But it raises a useful question: If even slight global cooling remains evidence of global warming, what isn’t evidence of global warming? What we have here is a non falsifiable hypothesis, logically indistinguishable from claims for the existence of God. This doesn’t mean God doesn’t exist, or that global warming isn’t happening. It does mean it isn’t science.”
Editorial Comment: Stephen’s comment reminds us that it is not just enough to discuss evidence in controversial issues, it is also essential to understand the world view, or pre-suppositions, of people you are trying to communicate with. The same applies to the creation/evolution issue. We have asked many of our critics what would be evidence for creation and they usually insist that there isn’t any, so they refuse to accept any evidence that is offered. As such they are arguing from faith, not science. (Ref. philosophy, climate, theology)
Evidence News 13 August 2008