i thought they were smart: Scientists Clueless over Sun's Effect on Earth

www.livescience.com...

While researchers argue whether Earth is getting warmer and if humans are contributing, a heated debate over the global effect of sunlight boiled to the surface today.

And in this debate there is little data to go on.

A confusing array of new and recent studies reveals that scientists know very little about how much sunlight is absorbed by Earth versus how much the planet reflects, how all this alters temperatures, and why any of it changes from one decade to the next.

Determining Earth's reflectance is crucial to understanding climate change, scientists agree.

i thought scientists were smart...

look at this:

"A confusing array of new and recent studies reveals that scientists know very little about how much sunlight is absorbed by Earth"...

this is wierd...

It doesn't mean they're not smart, only that they don't have the information which would allow them to come to a hypothesis on this issue.

Yet, despite that fact, global warming apparently is caused by humans, despite our almost complete lack of knowlege about the effects of the sun on earth, because...Well, because science is now dictated by politics.

Originally posted by junglejake
It doesn't mean they're not smart, only that they don't have the information which would allow them to come to a hypothesis on this issue.

Yet, despite that fact, global warming apparently is caused by humans, despite our almost complete lack of knowlege about the effects of the sun on earth, because...Well, because science is now dictated by politics.

good point...

isn't a hypothesis an educated guess???

they should just GUESS!!!

Originally posted by they see ALL
[isn't a hypothesis an educated guess???

In fact, it is not. A hypothesis is a usable (testable) statement of a theory that you would like to test. So "the earth is a big sponge" is silly and useless as a hypothesis.

they should just GUESS!!!

Why?

It's better to say "we don't know and we are collecting more data" than "whoa! It's ... happening because... uh... COMBUSTIBLE POPES! Yeah! The popes when they die go through instant combustion after 5 days and the heat causes temperature rises."

funny byrd...

i didn't know scientists had flaws

just kidding...

"A confusing array of new and recent studies..."
That part did come off amusing to me

History shall forever repeat itself, and as has always been, the more we discover, the less we realize we really know.

I think a common flaw among people these days is believing that humans, as a race, are omniscient. There are so many events and processes we still don't understand. And then there are all all the events and processes we don't even know occur yet.

For us to constantly evolve as a race, we need to remember that there is no end in sight to what we can know. If, at any point in time, we feel that we have reached the end, than we'll never know what we've missed. And trust me, right now, there is a lot we are missing.

as much as we reside in logic.

there is nothing for the unknown.



wtf are we doing if we cant guess and take action?

ever heard of population crash......

Originally posted by Jamuhn
I think a common flaw among people these days is believing that humans, as a race, are omniscient. There are so many events and processes we still don't understand. And then there are all all the events and processes we don't even know occur yet.

For us to constantly evolve as a race, we need to remember that there is no end in sight to what we can know. If, at any point in time, we feel that we have reached the end, than we'll never know what we've missed. And trust me, right now, there is a lot we are missing.

w0w...

that was DEEP...

great words...

One of the reasons I like science so much is that it's the only place in all of humanity where you can believe something to the very core of your being, have a discussion with someone else, and then know that you were wrong and agree with that person even more adamently than you did in yourself before. And that's natural.

Not knowing is perfectly natural, it's normal, it's healthy. If we knew, then what'd be the point? There'd be no science if we knew it all. After all, -ology means "the study of." What's there to study if you know it all already? We're truly fortunate to be able to say "I don't know" because it allows us to learn.

Oh, and, uh, the Sun is very confusing, the Earth even more so.