Hi All,
Yes the warnings in the popular media about AGW are becoming more strongly worded and dramatic.
Consider this quote (emphasis added) and how it applies to the Scientific Method:
"On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but — which means that we must include all the doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands, and buts. On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we'd like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climatic change. To do that
we need to get some broadbased support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This 'double ethical bind' we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both."
--Stephen H. Schneider author of the book Global Warming (Sierra Club), in an interview in Discover Magazine, October 1989.
He (Schneider) is a Coordinating Lead Author in Working Group II IPCC TAR; and is currently a co-anchor of the Key Vulnerabilities Cross-Cutting Theme for the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). During the 1980s Schneider emerged as a leading public advocate of sharp reductions of greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming. In 2007 the IPCC shared the Nobel Peace Prize with former US vice president, Al Gore, "for efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."
Reproduced from Wikipedia
It would seem that “being honest” is no longer the test of a good scientist. It must be balanced” with “being effective.”
Who do you believe? Good Question!
Best,
Les D