Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters

by Steven E. Koonin

Precise terminology is one of the most powerful tools a scientist has for reasoning and communicating clearly, while imprecise terminology is just as powerful a tool for those seeking to persuade.

Scientists best serve public policy by living within the ethics of science, not those of politics.

enshrining a certain scientific viewpoint as an inviolable consensus is hardly the role of government

Anyone referring to a scientist with the pejoratives “denier” or “alarmist” is engaging in politics or propaganda.

And using the term “climate change” without distinguishing between natural and human causes signals a (perhaps deliberate) sloppiness in thinking.

Any appeal to the alleged “97 percent consensus” among scientists is another red flag.

Confusing weather and climate is another danger sign.

Omitting numbers is also a red flag.

Yet another common tactic is quoting alarming quantities without context.

Non-expert discussions of climate science also often confuse the climate that has been (observations) with the climate that could be (model projections under various scenarios).

The truth is that real science is never entirely settled—that’s how we make progress;

As President Biden exhorted in his inaugural address, “We must reject the culture in which facts themselves are manipulated, or even manufactured.”