As is often the case, I found my inspiration for this article in the comments of someone else’s article.

Physicist Retired is a prolific contributor of excellent articles on a variety of scientific topics. His recent seed about the FRONTLINE documentary, “The Climate of Doubt” highlights efforts to discredit the overwhelming scientific consensus that Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is one of the most serious problems we face today.

While I do have an engineering background, I have no expertise or training in the area of climate science, yet I agree with the findings of the vast majority of scientists. I feel AGW is a very serious problem. In the course of the discussion on PR’s article I said this…

I am not a scientist... merely an observer. I don't need to measure the amount of CO₂ we add to the atmosphere to establish my ideas about the impact mankind has on the planet. I simply open my eyes and look around. I also study history a little. It is plain to see we are taking more resources from the planet, using them more rapidly, and producing more waste than we or any other creature in the history of the planet ever has. For every person alive the day I was born there are 3 consuming our planetary resources today. For every person alive the day Jesus was born there are more than 40 consuming our planetary resources now. The problem is not simply that there are more of us, but each individual uses far more on average than any individual prior to the time of the industrial revolution. I don't have any figures on the per capita rate of resource consumption today or in the past... but simple observation reveals it is vastly greater today than it once was. Put in the simplest terms, there are too many people and we are doing too much stuff… AGW is one of the results.

To my statement, “I am not a scientist... merely an observer”, I received this reply…

Then MalamuteMan, you are not sufficiently learned or capable of determining…

That person had a great deal to say about my capabilities, PR’s capabilities, and his own capabilities. That served as the inspiration for this article.

Perhaps the most discouraging observation I've made about human nature is our propensity for molding our beliefs to suit our desires. The scientific credo aspires to discover truths without regard to how they may or may not suit our desires. This does not mean scientists are not susceptible to the same temptations of belief the rest of us have, only that they work hard to avoid that pitfall. They devote their lives to discovering the truth with precision and integrity. When those truths repudiate practices enabling the comfortable and prosperous lifestyle we enjoy, or even the ideas we find comforting, then many of us are tempted to find fault with their discoveries. We become easy prey for dubiously crafted public relations tactics commonly used to mold public opinion.

I assert that 100% of the opposition to AGW stems from a resistance to change. Profiteers resist the prospect of profit limitations, and so fund those “dubiously crafted public relations” efforts. The rest of us resist limitations to the comfortable lifestyle we enjoy, and so gobble up the propaganda the profiteers feed us. If accepting AGW did not inherently suggest change and sacrifice as a necessary part of the remedy, there would be no challenges to it whatsoever!!!

While this article was inspired by the commentary in another article on the topic of AGW, AGW is NOT the primary topic of this article.  If you wish to leave a comment, I ask that you stick to the following topics…

• The question posed in the title of this article: I’m not a scientist... merely an observer. Does that disqualify my observations and conclusions???
   
• Do you believe we all are tempted to mold our beliefs to suit our desires???
   
• Do you believe profiteers fund “dubiously crafted public relations" in an effort to protect their profits???