Two years ago, they sent me an evaluation of an article on the effects of climate change that had been submitted to the journal Impact, in which they asked if I had indicated the current process of climate change as a working hypothesis in the confirmation stage. I have recommended deleting this expression because according to the evaluator, current climate change was a fully proven thesis. Never change my initial wording. I published the article in another journal. Today I still use the expression “working hypothesis” in my work on climate change. Because I consider the verification of hypotheses, the divergence of opinions, the multiple readings on a question, and the necessary critical view of the facts essential in every scientific process. Nobody doubts that something is going on with the Earth’s climate. And the manifestations of this change in some regions, such as the Mediterranean Sea, seem contradictory. And that human participation in these differences seems certain. The key to everything, as we have commented on several occasions, lies in the adjustment of the planetary energy balance and in the role that anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions may play in it. geographical Jose Carlos Gonzalez Hidalgofrom the University of Zaragoza, provides a useful article for understanding what climate change really is (Why do they call it a flag if it’s something else?, McGrohill); To learn to directly calculate the radiation values that make up the aforementioned energy balance; to understand the carbon cycle, its lifetime, and its impact on our planet’s atmosphere; To understand two major aspects of the current climate change process: radiative forcing and climate sensitivity. For the final assessment of the role of natural and anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the current process of climate change. And above all, to have strong arguments that avoid being carried away by the fashion that has become the official climate change thesis championed by the IPCC and which is mistakenly believed to be the only possible one. And all this by providing data, high-level research findings, and critical thinking. In short, a book written by a powerful climate scientist, an excellently documented critical review, and unrelated to the political and media discourse that has gripped this issue. I admit that this book is the best book I have read recently on climate change. José Carlos González Hidalgo’s work reconciles us with the main mission of science: to verify working hypotheses, to use own data and compare them with values obtained through external investigations of all kinds, in order to arrive at the truth. Or in any case, present to the reader all the scientific opinions, based on the data, that allow logical conclusions to be drawn. González Hidalgo went to the root of the hypothesis, opting for a critical review of the data being dealt with and distancing himself, from the science, from the organized media “hype” around the issue. It is an essential reading book for all weather and climate researchers. And for all citizens who wish to well document themselves on the current hypothesis of climate change due to human-caused greenhouse effect. Because it really continues to be a working hypothesis with uncertainties in its causes and effects, it must be resolved.
