Global Warming is just a theory.....?

Yes Global Warming is more than 'just' a theory (in the regular sense), it's a scientific theory.

And no I don't think many people understand what a scientific theory is, as shown by most of the 'answers' here so far.

But to be clear, here's a quick rundown.

A scientific HYPOTHESIS is a scientific educated guess, based on observations and some research. This is what most people believe the scientific term of THEORY is (in the case of Global Warming anyway...)

A scientific THEORY is a Hypothesis that has been repeatedly and consistently researched and confirmed to be true. A Theory CAN be disproven if contrary evidence is produced, but until then is accepted as being true and correct.

A scientific LAW is something without question (such as gravity) and is the only scientific term that is true fact that cannot be disproven.

I'd bet that more than 2/3 of the population don't understand that a theory is an unproven fact. They believe it to be a scientific fact.

There is absolutely no doubt that global warming is a fact. There are more than sufficient meteorological records to show that the Earth is warming. What is uncertain is if we have made a significant impact on the warming or is it simply normal variation of the climate due to changes in the suns output. I remain unconvinced that is us or that it will be catastrophic. The atmosphere and radiation back into space has kept the environment within reasonable bounds for hundreds of thousands of years. I think it will continue to do so for the next 50-100 years by which time we will have used up all of the oil and coal deposits on the planet and will have converted to solar, wind, and tidal energy sources. I am horrified at the thought of widespread nuclear and the 50,000 year half life of nuclear waste.

I don't think most global warming alarmists understand what a scientific theory is because they tend to believe the disinformation from web sites trying to make some money out of selling carbon credits.

If you look at scientific dictionary, there are a number of meanings of the word theory in a scientific context, one meaning is a hypothesis which isn't necessarily supported by evidence. In the case of anthropogenic global warming, most scientific evidence indicates that that human activity isn't significantly affecting the climate.

Many scientific truths are technically theory, gravity, evolution, relativity.

In this context theory just means that the mechanics are not 100% proven, not that they are incorrect.

Unfortunately those that disagree use the fact that they are theories to claim there is no proof of them.

For those of you who keep saying global warming is a fact can you prove it is a fact? or can we actually prove it is not a fact, when we see the truth from Nasa's satellites.

Global warming IS a theory, based on a scientific model, but the facts are that the satelleites have been monitoring earth's temperature, and this has shown NO significant increase over the last 20 years, in FACT, the general trend is DOWN.

http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/essd06oc...

Here's The Truth. Im no expert But Im not An eco warrior for no reason.

Global Warming Isnt A thoery A few people grouped together and one of there memos leaked that said they were trying to replace the fact as theory. its true and the majority of the world agrees

Most people don't. They don't distinguish between a scientific theory - which has to be supported by scientific evidence or it's quickly disproven - and a layman theory which is basically the same as a scientific hypothesis. When people say "I have a theory", it means they've got an idea which has not been tested. A scientific theory is tested constantly. The fact that there continues to be such consensus among scientific experts that AGW is correct tells you how strong of a theory it is.

No. Most people do not understand what the word means and often confuse the word "Theory" with "hypothesis". A scientific theory is generally robust and accepted as an explanation.

We use scientific theories as fact all the time in science now. Mainly in the form of generally accepted formulas that always work out fine but can never be indefinately proven.

Theory is a deceptive word.

No. You only have to visit the R&S section and see the number of people who try and dismiss evolution as 'only a theory' to realise that most people equate it with a hunch or idea, and have no notion of what 'theory' actually means in a science context.