Scientists also use to tell us these things...
1) The Earth Is the Center of the Universe
2) The Atom Is the Smallest Particle in Existence
3) Rain Follows the Plow --- REALLY!!!
4) Phlogiston is the stuff in stuff that makes it flamable... you remember!
5) Heavier Objects Fall Faster
6) Alchemy - Love it! Water to wine and lead to gold (Obama might even back off taxes if he could do that - eh, who am I kidding!!)
Fellow, you really need to study the history of science. Science, as we know it today, did not exist until the last couple of hundred years. Until the scientific method was formalized, these people were call natural philosophers.
The earth being flat, and the center of the universe were church doctrines, not those of natural philosophers. Eratothenes measured the circumferance of the earth in 240 BC.
As far as that other stuff is concerned, it was scientists that did the investigating that demonstrated the true nature of each.
The AGW Theory, Theory in the scientific sense, not the common interpretation of theory, is based on firm scientific ground. GHGs such as CO2 and CH4 absorb energy in the longwave infrared that the ground emits after being warmed by the sun. This was first measured and demonstrated by Tyndall in 1858. In 1896, Arrhenius, a Noble Prize winning Swedish chemist, first quantified what doubling of CO2 in the atmosphere would mean in terms of temperature. His estimates were quite close to those of the scientists of today.
Since then, both the measurements of the absorption spectra of the GHGs, and the effects of increasing the amounts of them in the atmosphere have been refined by many researchers in many nations. No one has falsified the basic premis of AGW in any way.
Now we are seeing the very rapid retreat of glaciers worldwide, the melt of the Arctic Sea Ice, to the point that the Arctic Ocean may be ice free for part of the summer by 2020, and the melting of the Greenland Ice Cap. Our weather is also reflecting a warmer world, with extreme weather events happening much more frequently. These are all real time observations, not computer models.
If there is scientific error on the part of the scientists concerning global warming, it is that they have been far too conservative in their time estimates concerning the effects. In 2000, they were predicting the Artic Sea Ice would be melted completely for part of the summer by 2100. And were being called alarmist for that prediction. By the present melt rate, it is almost certain that this will occur by 2020, if not sooner. The scientists were predicting that we would see a measurable increase in the frequency of extreme weather events by 2050. Swiss Re and Munich Re both state that the freqency of extreme weather events has increased by a factor of two to four in the last decade.
These are the facts, kids. The reality of what is happening right now. You can deny it, and live in your alternative universe, if you like. But it will not change what is happening by one whit, and will put your family and community in danger from your willfull ignorance.
