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I see this said a lot in regards to climate science. I suspect that I have a bit more faith in the predictive powers of current climate models than you do, but

I see this said a lot in regards to climate science. I suspect that I have a bit more faith in the predictive powers of current climate models than you do, but I do understand that it is a subject that is complex far beyond human understanding and our models are inherently limited. Rather than think of this as meaning that we can endlessly fuck with the climate as much as we'd like with no consequences as many seem to believe, I tend to think we should tread carefully since it is the human habitability of the Earth we are examining. Obviously I'm in the minority, but that has always surprised me.

titzer 3y ago
Well said. If anything, the geologic record of Earth's history having wild swings between different climates, and not gradual, shouldn't suggest that it's a "robust system", but rather a fragile, sensitive system that could get kicked into a very different equilibrium under unknown circumstances. We are currently undertaking a massive experiment in altering the composition of the atmosphere and there is NO indication that that will be good.