Its one thing to form a hypothesis, and another to demonstrate that it is correct, especially when there are alternatives (in this case, sublimation was one.) W

Its one thing to form a hypothesis, and another to demonstrate that it is correct, especially when there are alternatives (in this case, sublimation was one.) Where climate and ecology are involved, it takes some time to gather robust data, and there is no suggestion that this was a massive study over that period.