A good answer from a knowledgeable person. Posted here on July 31, 2011.

Spent several hours with a retired director of NOAA’s Climate Services division. I asked about man-driven climate change, if that were real or a myth. He said there were several answers. The scientific answer, he said, is that climate change is real and unquestionably man caused.

He added there was the answer needed by the existing energy interests, and they have decided there is no human influence on the current climate matters. Their conclusions are money-driven and they fund questionable “studies” and interest groups. Much the same techniques which put off recognizing tobacco as a cause of heart and lung problems are in use by these folks. They have virtually unlimited funds at their disposal.

Then a third group, the fundamental Christians, who simply don’t want to believe this is a problem and might affect their standard of living if precautions were introduced. These people carry the same logic into the discussion as they do into creation v. evolution. They will and do believe anything.

He said what is undecided are the consequences of climate change. No one can tell yet, could be more fresh water, less, and so on. The people who are predicting that are simply guessing so far.