It's the old, media misunderstanding science story again.
Definitions of 2 words by a scientist;
Hypothesis: I have this crazy idea about something....
Theory: My Crazy Idea has some experimental evidence that makes me think I am right I will continue to look for more evidence maybe I am still wrong but it looks less likely.
Definitions of 2 words by a politician/media type;
Hypothesis: The scientist is muttering again, lets point and laugh unless it gives weight to something we already said, then we will take it as gospel truth.
Theory: This time its got evidence its definitely right and beyond question.
The longer a theory stands and the more evidence proving it isn't wrong the less likely it is that it will be wrong (relativity has been tested many times but its still a theory just a very likely one)
Kelvin had a theory that the sun was less than 25 million years old and had experimental evidence that showed there was no way the sun could have burned for any longer than that, there was also a lot of evidence that the earth was older than 25 million years so his theory didn't last.
The point is there is plenty of evidence to support global warming but there is also plenty of evidence to the contrary, none of this makes it right or wrong as a hypothesis.
**parks bum on fence**  |