R. Gates
Wisely stated Just think how much more we will all know in 10 years…and then again in 20 about the relative strength of solar and anthropogenic forcing
This is precisely the point I was trying to make to Chris.
We simply DO NOT KNOW whether it will continue to cool slightly as it has over the past 11 years, or start warming again.
We don’t even know WHY it has warmed and cooled slightly in roughly 30-year half-cycles over the long-term record.
We think we know (but aren’t sure) why there was an underlying warming trend of around 0.6 degC per century – but IF it continues to cool slightly over the next several years despite ever-increasing CO2 levels, we will have to revise our theory on that, as well.
Yes. It is an exciting time for climate science – actually much more so than the much-ballyhooed IPCC late 20th century “poster period”, because we will get a real-life test of the CAGW hypothesis and assumptions, which are principally based upon that period.
Max