MR, I know you were half joking....but..Concerning Al Gore as scientist...well, first I meant that the data he was showing are from scientists. Al is really being a journalist (unlike Michael Crichton). Was Al a journalist early in his career? I think so. But, I may define scientist a little differently, and I would be willing to call Al Gore a scientist. I listed my courses on the subject because it is not what Inusually post about here, so may not have built up any credibility on the subject. But, I don't think you need a particular degree to be an amateur or professional scientist. Gore clearly did take a class with Roger Revelle that heavily influenced his life, according to the movie. He has learned from many of the best scientists in the subject in the world, and it is clear just from watching the film that he knows a lot of science on the subject. He knows a lot more than I do there, but I know enough to be able to judge if he got it right. And, he is probably making money off of this, at least enough to meet his expenses, so that makes him a professional climate scientists in my book. He has presented his science presentation 1000 times, and I have presented mine maybe only a dozen times orally. So, he is two orders of magnitude more scientist that I am. I consider some of you to be amateur scientists...those who are knowledgable and present things in a more or less scientific way here..
Chris