Sagan Disbelieved Man-Made Climate Change

Or so he would have, and I cite this paragraph from one of his books I have read many times …


I had been interested in the possibility of extraterrestrial life from childhood, from long before I ever heard of flying saucers. I’ve remained fascinated long after my early enthusiasm for UFOs waned – as I understood more about that remorseless taskmaster called the scientific method: Everything hinges on the matter of evidence. On so important a question, the evidence must be airtight. The more we want it to be true, the more careful we have to be. No witness’s say-so is good enough. People make mistakes. People play practical jokes. People stretch the truth for money or attention or fame. People occasionally misunderstand what they’re seeing. People sometimes even see things that aren’t there.

- The Demon-Haunted World, pg. 69, © 1995 by Carl Sagan


Now, forget the references to UFOs and flying saucers. This paragraph, written from one of the premier scientists (or at least one of the most well-known) in the modern era, is a double-edged sword. While Sagan wrote it to cut against pseudo-science from an “uninformed” or “superstitious” point-of-view, as a tool it must be used from pseudo-science originating from a scientific world-view.

Think on just a few of Sagan’s words:

Everything hinges on the matter of evidence
The evidence must be air-tight
The more careful we have to be
No witness’s say-so
Mistakes
Stretch truth for money
Misunderstand
See things that aren’t there

Now, I’m no expert on man-made global climate change, but my b.s.-meter goes into overdrive whenever I read or listen to proponents of this belief. Does all the research behind MMGCC meet Sagan’s own rigid criteria, that of the remorseless taskmaster of the scientific method? If yes, why hasn’t this been clearly disseminated to the public? Why is there such massive dissent, even in the scientific community?

Just something that struck me while laying in bed sick, reading.