This is very, very interesting;
In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change. Examining peer-reviewed papers published on the ISI Web of Science database from 1993 to 2003, she found a majority supported the “consensus view,” defined as humans were having at least some effect on global climate change. Oreskes’ work has been repeatedly cited, but as some of its data is now nearly 15 years old, its conclusions are becoming somewhat dated.
Medical researcher Dr. Klaus-Martin Schulte recently updated this research. Using the same database and search terms as Oreskes, he examined all papers published from 2004 to February 2007. The results have been submitted to the journal Energy and Environment, of which DailyTech has obtained a pre-publication copy. The figures are surprising.
Of 528 total papers on climate change, only 38 (7%) gave an explicit endorsement of the consensus. If one considers “implicit” endorsement (accepting the consensus without explicit statement), the figure rises to 45%. However, while only 32 papers (6%) reject the consensus outright, the largest category (48%) are neutral papers, refusing to either accept or reject the hypothesis. This is no “consensus.”In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change. Examining peer-reviewed papers published on the ISI Web of Science database from 1993 to 2003, she found a majority supported the “consensus view,” defined as humans were having at least some effect on global climate change. Oreskes’ work has been repeatedly cited, but as some of its data is now nearly 15 years old, its conclusions are becoming somewhat dated.
I have to say that I would like to read more researches like this (it is a bit premature to draw conclusions on just one research), but if this confirmed by other scientists / researchers, we should stop talking about the global warming consensus immediately, or we should at least nuance that statement a bit. It seems to me that certain factions have hijacked the global warming debate, and have run away with it and have used it for their own political benefit. The result is that the entire debate has become increasingly polarized and that those who advocate change are considered some kinds of prophets or even Messiahs, and that those who say that perhaps it is not all so clear are treated as and considered to be devils, outcasts and greedy businessmen (which is sometimes most certainly true, but often than not, regular people have read a lot on this subject and doubt Gore’s conclusions with a sincere heart).
Personally, I do believe that human activity increases global warming (quite significantly), and I also believe that we can do something about it. But lets not pretend that the world is about to come to an end because some people prefer to drive SUVs. Lets keep it in perspective.
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