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Wed 28 Sep, 2005 12:16 am
I learned that the global CO2 concentration is increasing and the global average temperature is currently increasing, too. And i think the change in temperature correlated with the change in CO2 concentration. But this is the problem, if two quantities are correlated, does this necessarily mean that one causes the other? where this is not the case. What additional information would I need in order to determine whether one causes the other?
It clearly doesn't mean that one causes the other. City A has more policemen than City B. City A also has more crime. Does that mean that policemen cause crime? But back to your question. You can't make this correlation. The system is too complex and you can't control any of the variables. To prove a correlation in general, you would have to limit your data collection to control all of the other causes of temperature rise and just vary CO2 concentration. You clearly can't do this. If you could, the debate over global warming would be over by now.
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