Climate change: what's it all about?

[Brian Ellis]

I'm frequently asked what climate change, global warming etc. mean. To dumb down a very complex series of scientific subjects is so difficult as to be impossible for me to do, at least to a Joe Public level. I have made an attempt to clarify them to a Joseph Highschool level. This has resulted in a rather (too) long page, which has been peer reviewed. My hope is that this will clear up some of the messy terminology left by Al Gore and other politicians, as well as the media. The page in question is designed to explain only what these subjects are all about, but it does not include any suggestions for mitigation of the problem nor any prognostics for future effects.

I've published the page here,

[Brian Ellis]

I've added another page, less scientific perhaps, Climate: the future

[NetSnake]

"That Newton was able to discover this in the 17th century is rather amazing and is a tribute to his genius, but no one has yet been able to discover why gravity exists, what causes the actual force. For this reason, gravitational force is a theory."

Allow me to disagree with that sentence, although I am not saying that it is wrong. If you think about it, what in Science is NOT a theory? Is there any aspect of the physical world that we know everything about? Science has abandoned the term "Law" (in most disciplines) to describe a phenomenon a long time ago, instead the term "Theory" is used.
I am sure you know all that better than me but the bottom line is that the "averageJoe" has trouble understanding the difference between a "scientific theory" and the word "theory" as used in everyday life. By giving an explanation of why scientists call the "gravitational theory" a theory the averageJoe's mind will definitely default to the everyday meaning of the word "theory".

just a theory

Also, "Quod erat demonstrandum"? For the average Joe? you gotta be kiddin'