Line o' the Day: It's (not) settled

 
Edmonton Journal:

Only about one in three [of 51,000] Alberta earth scientists and engineers believe the culprit behind climate change has been identified, a new poll reported today.

The expert jury is divided, with 26 per cent attributing global warming to human activity like burning fossil fuels and 27 per cent blaming other causes such as volcanoes, sunspots, earth crust movements and natural evolution of the planet.

A 99-per-cent majority believes the climate is changing. But 45 per cent blame both human and natural influences, and 68 per cent disagree with the popular statement that "the debate on the scientific causes of recent climate change is settled."

A mere 51,000 specialists -- licensed to practice by the Association of Professional Engineers, Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta -- were surveyed.