A customer is talking to the owner of the coffee shop I'm in at the moment. He's a global warming denier. He keeps on saying stuff like, "How do we know what conditions in the world were hundreds or thousands of years ago?" So he's basically saying there's no evidence for it.

I had a similar experience! It was very distracting.

It's the offline version of yesterday's xkcd comic.

"How do we know what conditions in the world were hundreds or thousands of years ago?"

Oh, I know this one! Ice cores and tree rings.

newsflash - ebay is not so helpful with OCD. SHOCKING

Oh, I know this one! Ice cores and tree rings.

Yeah, the cafe owner brought both those up. Then he went on some other tangent on how there's been a series of ice ages in who knows what caused those, so who knows what causes any long-term changes now.

I have a feeling this guy listens to conservative talk radio....

Oh well. He's gone, and now I'm back at work. I have chocolate chip scones!

To be fair, I have heard from scientist friends that we're not absolutely sure the warming trend is due entirely to human industry rather than a natural continuation of coming out of the last ice age. But the actual rise in average temperatures and melting icecaps and such are pretty hard to argue against, whatever their causes.

Sure, but there's a huge gap between "due entirely" and "not happening at all", which is what the more whackaloony whackaloons seem to latch on to.

Which, umm, is just what you're saying. Not arguing with you, but with the non-present whackaloons, iow.

I'd like to state for the record: lisah is capable of msbelle-ish levels of dangerous ideas.

lisah is capable of msbelle-ish levels of dangerous ideas.

heh

can't wait to meet you.