Summary Of Climate Of Complete Certainty By Bret Stephens

In “Climate of Complete Certainty”, Bret Stephens asserts that the scepticism towards climate change results from the total certainty scientists impresses onto the public about global warming, despite scientific errors (Stephens, 2017). He criticizes the scientific community for being misleading with data that he claims has not been thoroughly investigated. With that, it is evident what Stephens neglects to understand is how the scientific community operates and why there is scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. Climate science does not claim total certainty, but the interpretation of the present empirical evidence points towards anthropogenic climate change.
Contrary to Stephens’ accusation that scientists claim with total certainty, the theory of climate change, like all scientific theories, does not portray itself as a universal truth. Scientific ideas are
Science utilizes empirical methods, like observations and data collecting, to remain objective (The Nature of Science, 2016). The observations in the 1970s of drought-related famines in Africa and Asia, the Soviet Union crop failures, and the drought in six African nations can be blamed on climate change wherein the small change in temperature and precipitation affected their total productivity (Oreskes & Conway, 2012). As such, Stephens’ claim of 0.85°C as “modest” undermines the large and rapid effects it has caused to the climate. He fails to realize that a near 1°C increase in global climate temperature is substantial and affects weather, agriculture and ecosystems. Again, while some climate change data is uncertain and based on probabilities, the empirical evidence does support that anthropogenic climate change is