The National Academy of Sciences is arguably the most prestigious scientific organization in the world. The following is a statement from the academy regarding the nature of science, “Scientific theories, therefore, are accepted only provisionally. It is always possible that a theory that has withstood previous testing may eventually be disproved.“ (Search “2 Scientific Principles and Research Practices”) And to quote noted physicist, Stephen Hawking, “Any physical theory is always provisional, in the sense that it is only a hypothesis: you can never prove it. No matter how many times the results of experiments agree with some theory, you can never be sure that the next time the result will not contradict the theory.”

In his letter of August 15, 2021, Monte Heil criticizes me for stating that science provides provisional explanations and doesn't actually prove anything. As for his erroneous claim that science “does prove things,“ search for “Common Misconceptions About Science I: Scientific Proof.” As usual, Mr. Heil reveals a poor understanding of the principles of scientific research.

Virtually all (97%+) practicing climate scientists agree that anthropogenic warming is strongly supported by an abundance of confirmatory evidence. Eighteen prominent scientific organizations worldwide concur. (Search “Scientific Consensus: Earth's Climate Is Warming”) The scientific community has confirmed that the probability AW is now occurring is extremely high. If Mr. Heil is making the claim that the overwhelming scientific consensus regarding AW is mistaken, it is his obligation to provide evidence to support that claim. (See the fallacy: “Slothful Induction.”)

JACK DeBAUN

Dover