If this were a topic in my field and I wanted to make a decision on what I thought about it I would construct a meta analysis. In this analysis I would include the last certain number of studeis (depends on how many had been done in the last year or two,) by people I consider experts in my field. I would have to constrcut the question depending on what the studites looked out. Constructing the questions has a great effect on the validity of hte analysis. The problem with the deniers is they dont look to the real experts in the field. I would not consult a physical thearpy study aobut a respiratory problem in most cases. That is why there is a body of knowledge in every field and experts in that field. Of course Kerry screwed it up, but using his screw up as some bit of evidence to reiforce the weakness in the argument is not relevant in any case. I still think if it wasnt for big oil mey there woudl be no question about the science.
The problem is, Mak, that too many of those doomsday situations predicted by those experts simply didn't happen. The ocean has not risen by 10 or 200 feet. Polar bears are not drowning due tod lack of icebergs in the Artic. The worlds temperature has not risen significantly over the recent past. The world is apparently not running out of fossil fuel just yet. The list goes on.
Now, instead of saying we screwed up, the models they designed must be wrong, but if you give us more money, we can fix them.
Now the experts appear to be doubling down on stupid. A recent Yahoo article reports that researchers have found some glacier is melting at a doomsday rate due to warm water melting it from below, where we can't see it happening and will increase the ocean level by 10 feet in a few years. Even an uneducated non expert such as myself can spot the flaws in this report. Even if the entire glacier melts, the resulting water results in a rise of less than an inch. Plus, no explanation as to how warm water gets under a glacier, which by definition is bedded on land. If ocean ice is melying, then there is exactly zero increas in ocean level. FWIW, a similar expedition last year got stuck in the ice and had to be rescued.
There are many more similar situations, and many newer predictions that need to be funded and studied.
I'm not buying it.