This guy:

http://youtu.be/5nESaZSQFtg

This is the reason why America is falling behind other countries in education and especially in science. I know in Kansas they would love to use the Bible as a science book. Dumbing down of America...

Fixed it for you. What do you think is the root of the USA's education problems?

@Elubas, the thing about science is you don't so much believe in it, as you just recognize that it is the most likely and accurate explaination of the data that is currently available. When the data changes you are expected to change your view.

When you have a 97% consensus you can generally say that the motives and biases are just those that are found everywhere in a particular era. 

On the specific subject of climate change the basic case for a layperson is that 

1. The earth is hotter than it otherwise would be at this distance from the sun. This is do to CO2 and other green house gasses in our atmosphere. This is well established and demonstrated chemistry.

2. We are pumping more CO2 into our atmosphere. This can and has be clearly measured as well.

3. Thus we expect this will increase the tempature of the planet. Which has obvious effects like reduced glaciers and increased sea level.

Things get more complicated when you want to consider the various positive and negative feedback effects, and want to quantify it. Which is why people get PhDs to study this kind of stuff. But the basic 3 points are pretty clear.

Post #31: It's probably not that bad. I'd be more worried about people understanding concepts rather than remembering specific definitions like "amphibian." You might laugh, but knowing that word doesn't really tell you anything if you already know the associated animals -- it just makes it easier to communicate.

                     I beleive in global warming. Its cause & effect. The icebergs are melting, which causes the animals of that environment to go elsewhere for food, which causes something else in the bio-eco-sphere to change, etc.

"Things get more complicated..."

Well, that's my point :) I mean, if I had to pick, what's the best explanation for what's going on, I'd say climate change, but then again, I could just say I don't know.

                I don't have a lisence to drive an amphibian vehicle, but I know there's 2 kinds of animals. Some have eyes in front of their head, and some have eyes on the side of their head.

http://youtu.be/cjuGCJJUGsg

Watch: John Oliver and Bill Nye Show Why Cable News Climate "Debates" Are So Ridiculous...

                  So we have 2 kinds of animals.  Old, and Older.

The public school system in the U.S. has been deliberately dumbed down for political reasons. Everyone must be made to feel like they learn at the same pace, obsorb the same information, have the exact same mental capabilities. All anyone has to do to see why is look at the evidence, the history, & give it some honest thought. Shhh, it's not ok to speak along these lines, people might riot. Must..........walk...............on...............eggshells. Must............coddle............. pamper............bow down to. Shhh..................... 

                     I haven't read it but, we have a thread about Global Warming. It has over 400 posts.

An argument presented by a 70 year old should be heard, since the elder has the benefit of experience.

However, the "debate" about global warming, and the climate change that is happenning should be past the stage of debate. The earth is getting hotter, and there are significant changes that are occurring.

Arguments about religion (specifically) usually go nowhere. But, when there is scientific evidence about the planet warming, migratory patterns changing, glaciers melting, the jury isn't out.

My concerns are more about why the Earth has been warming -- is it due to humans, or would it have happened anyway? Yes, probably the former, but things aren't always as they seem and so I keep some scepticism.

Germs are small. Bacteria are smaller, but viruses are smaller than both of them put together

There's always something to be more worried about, that doesn't excuse the problem from being a serious issue. Sure it's 'just' a word, and it 'just' makes it easier to communicate, but these are big issues.
Although I don't necessarily buy the argument that people misuse simple terms while understanding the underlying themes. In the example case the cited person clearly understands neither the word, nor the themes of what they are trying to communicate.

I'd agree with one of the above posters. It seems from what I've heard that the USA's education system is failing due to social influences, resulting in making school easier or 'fairer'. Although I'm sure other factors such as lack of funding and poor training for teachers plays a key role as well.

I guess it's not so applicable for this particular issue because of the consensus, but it does remind me of how people will always get overjoyed when they have an article that says they're right. Only problem is, what do you do when someone else who also is into "science" writes an article that says the opposite? Just pick the one that feels nice? Science doesn't mean godlike people with no emotions doing everything perfectly -- they have biases too; they use some imagination when drawing their conclusions from ambiguous data. The difference is that these people tend to be more familiar with the subject matter and do experiments; while this helps, it doesn't necessarily guarantee anything depending on the complexity of the issue.

"Sure it's 'just' a word, and it 'just' makes it easier to communicate, but these are big issues"

I don't know, you're putting "just" in quotation marks but I don't see how that turns it into a big issue. My previous argument still seems pretty good as is.

"In the example case the cited person clearly understands neither the word, nor the themes of what they are trying to communicate."

"Neither" is bad :) But just the latter I would say is not so bad.

A fair point. As you have basically stated, we, as humans, do not know everything that is happening. But, you must concede that CO2 has contributed to atmospheric changes that have impacted climates around the world.

This planet has cooled & warmed long before humans arrived (the same scientist that mention global warming tell us so) just like our sun does. It will continue to go through warming & cooling stages long after we're gone. We have went through ice ages & came out of them. How do we come out of an ice age? Global warming. How do we enter an ice age? Global cooling. The other planets around us also go through global warming & global cooling just as the sun does. 

Edit: This isn't to say that we shouldn't strive to take care of our world because we definately should. Our actions are important but we should look also at the broader picture & not go screaming "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

Or we can run to Mars!