Scientists may modify their claims as new research and information become available, but that doesn’t mean they were initially wrong.
PORTLAND, Maine — NEWS CENTER Maine meteorologists are responding to a series of common myths about climate change. We take a common claim, investigate it, then present the findings supported by research.
Claim: Scientists often get it wrong
Science isn’t always perfect, but many of the “mistakes” people notice come from their own perceptions. For example, with weather forecasts, we might see clouds at the start and end of the day but forget about the sunshine in between while we’re stuck inside at work. This can make it seem like the forecast was wrong, even though it wasn’t.
Science evolves as we learn more. This is why forecasts improve as a storm gets closer or why information changed quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientists start with the best information they have, then adjust their reporting as new information becomes available. That doesn’t mean they were wrong at first but were doing the best they could with the data available at the time. Science is always evolving with new information.
How does this relate to climate change? It may seem like scientists haven’t changed their opinions on it, and that’s exactly the point. Even as new data comes in, climate change remains undeniable.
Climate change data has been debated for decades.
From 1965 to 1979, scientists were divided on whether we were heading for an ice age or a warming planet. A 2008 study by Thomas Peterson and his team found that, despite media stories focusing on an ice age, only 10 percent of scientists predicted cooling, while 62 percent predicted warming. But which headline grabs more attention or sells more newspapers? Ice Age sounds a lot more “clickable,” I’ll admit it.
These days, 97 percent of climate experts agree that global warming is manmade. This consensus is supported by John Cook and his colleagues in their 2016 peer-reviewed study, which compiled opinions from a plethora of climate scientists.
The study also found a direct correlation between lack of expertise in climate science and the disbelief of manmade climate change. More expertise equals a greater belief.
We have decades of research that continues to support climate change as a real and ongoing issue. It’s not that the science is wrong. This is one of those times where the evidence has been proven again and again.
If you remember your middle school Scientific Method lesson, when a hypothesis is repeatedly supported, it moves from being a theory to a fact.
Therefore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, has stated that climate change is an established fact.
Yes, there are occasional inaccuracies in science that get corrected as new evidence comes in. No, scientists are not often wrong. They carefully gather data, test their hypotheses, and only speak out when they have enough evidence to support their conclusions.