Cosmology and Climatology

The latest Scientific American has a couple of articles online that I want to point out.

First there is this article on cosmology. When I finish reading it, I hope I'll have a clue.

Second is this article dealing with Michael Mann, a climatologist. The article discusses the controversy over his "hockey stick" graph, and his involvement with the blog realclimate.org. I've visited the blog a few times, but I get quickly overwhelmed. I hope one day to get a better handle on the topic.

Concerning global warming and whether humans are contributing, I am a cautious believer. When scientists report their findings--especially when there is broad consensus--I think we need to take them seriously. However I am not ignorant of the fact that funding and other issues could color their interpretation. And even if it is established that humans are responsible for much of the warming, what to do about it is another issue altogether--much of it economic. I don't know what the answer is, but I'm pretty sure that neither "abandon civilization" nor "the earth can take whatever we do to it" are it.