Can Climate Forecasts Still Be Trusted?

I think the media have done a poor job dealing with the issue of the science of global warming. Too often we have treated those such as Al Gore and John Hansen of NASA as prophets instead of imperfect people dealing in a complex science -- which is about probabilities. We don't believe others who claim to be able to predict what will happen decades from now, yet we are told time and again that the debate is over about what will happen decades from now to our climate. Does that make sense? Is a debate in science ever over? If a scientist came up with clear and convincing evidence that suggested the theory of gravity was wrong, real scientists would try to duplicate the findings, and if they do, they'd actually dump the theory of gravity. Science doesn't have the luxury of declaring debates over and it never should. Having said that, ABC News has done a recent piece on growing concerns about climate forecasts. It's worth the read, as is a piece by conservative columnist Cal Thomas on the subject. I usually disagree with Thomas and don't agree with all of his conclusions in the piece, but he backs up most of what he writes. I'm not a global warming denier or advocate. I'm a journalist who believes that consensus is not science and that given the nature of science, the voices of the few should not be ignored because of the shouts of the majority. As history has taught us -- remember when most scientists thought the earth was flat and at the center of the universe? -- sometimes the majority is wrong.