[quote]SexMachine wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
So what about May 2011? Is that too old too?
A 2011 paper from George Mason University published in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, ?The Structure of Scientific Opinion on Climate Change,? collected the opinions of scientists in the earth, space, atmospheric, oceanic or hydrological sciences. The 489 survey respondents ? representing nearly half of all those eligible according to the survey?s specific standards ? work in academia, government, and industry, and are members of prominent professional organizations.
97% of the 489 scientists surveyed agreed that that global temperatures have risen over the past century. Moreover, 84% agreed that ?human-induced greenhouse warming? is now occurring.? Only 5% disagreed with the idea that human activity is a significant cause of global warming.
?There was greater debate over the likelihood of substantial warming in the near future, with 56% seeing at least a 50?50 chance that temperatures will rise? 2 degrees Celsius over the next 50?100 years.
?When [survey participants were] asked to rate the effects on a ten-point scale from trivial (1) to catastrophic (10), the mean response was 6.6, with 41% seeing great danger (ratings of 8?10), 44% moderate danger (4?7), and 13% little danger.?
The researchers conclude that the findings ?provide little support for criticisms that scientists? views on global warming are based on workplace pressures or desires to further their own careers or expand their public influence. We found disagreement over the future effects of climate change, but not over the existence of anthropogenic global warming. Indeed, it is possible that the growing public perception of scientific disagreement over the existence of anthropocentric warming, which was stimulated by press accounts of ?Climategate? [the 2009 hacked emails controversy] is actually a misperception of the normal range of disagreements that may persist within a broad scientific consensus.
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