Shiptracks or vapor trails from the exhausts of ocean-going
vessels and jets over the eastern Atlantic. Some scientists
suspect pollution-generated clouds may contribute to drought.
NASA PHOTO: MODERATE RESOLU TION IMAGING SPEC TRORADIOGRAPH ON THE AQUA SATELLI TE
Science is not a collection of facts; it is a specific way of
forming an explanation of events based on testing known
factual evidence rather than on guesswork, myth, and innuendo.
The processes involved in scientific investigation lead
to a unique way of knowing: one based on observation,
experimentation, and the analyses of data to form ideas
and explanations about the world. It is the only way of
human thinking that is based on tangible, physical evidence. Additionally, it is a self-correcting process that
results in a continually changing data base where newly
gathered data may cause old ideas to be reevaluated. As
a result, errors are found and corrected resulting in a
continual reexamination of the topic and previously
gathered information as well as newly gathered data.
The difference between the public misconception of
science and the actuality of the process should be obvi-
ous. Scientists don’t implicitly believe in global warming;
instead, they believe that global warming is the best ex-
planation of the climate data gathered so far. Although
by now it is very unlikely, it remains a possibility that
some new data will change the interpretation that the
climate is changing and that burning fossil fuels is the
cause. On the other hand, it is very likely that new data
will result in changes to the projected effects due to glob-
al warming. This is not surprising, as more is learned,
and as modeling becomes better, the projected effects
will become more accurate.
GLOBAL WARMING AS A GOOD EXAMPLE
OF SCIENCE IN ACTION
Looking back over the last 50 years, or so, of the history
of the concept of global climate change shows the validity of the scientific method in determining what was occurring and why. The first effects of climate change were
noticed, primarily, by field ecologists in the 1960s. There
were quite a number of widespread and disjunct reports
of changes in the timing of such things as the first flowering of plants, or the arrival of migratory birds. These
events interested a lot of people who undertook differing, and unconnected, projects examining small individual questions about the changes. Initially, a scien-
