I think there is growing understanding about global climate change in the scientific communitybut there are problems there as well.
1. One issue is which science are we using. Al Gore (and others) have relied primarily not on climate scientists but rather on biologists, environmental scientists etc. The question posed to them is often - "assuming temperatures were to rise this amount or assuming the polar ice cap recedes this amount --- what would be the effect" There answers may be based in science but they are responding to the results of a hypothetical.
2. The advancement of scientific knowledge - publication of scientific results has its political issues as well. When there is a prevailing view (e.g. global warming), scientific evidence that runs counter to that view is frequently dismissed or lacks "publishability". It requires a tremendous amount of momentum in contrary findings to break through the prevailing views. Scientific reviewers are humans with egos. When you present findings contrary to a particular scientist (or group) there is always backlash. In short, there are gatekeepers to the publication of scientific knowledge. (as one who lives by publish or perish, I've seen it first hand).
3. Funding likewise suffers from the gatekeeper phenomenon as well. The recent actions of Rockerfeller and Snow? attempting to squelch funding for research that disputes some claims of global climate change is a pretty frightening occurrence. It is true that funding coming from those with a stake in the outcome (e.g. oil companies) should be highly scrutinized but to try to eliminate it is going too far.
In short, I believe most climatologists (sp?) would agree that there has been and will be global climate change with the trend being a rise in temperatures. The story gets murkier when you attempt to predict the extent of the change and the mechanisms behind it (a recent article in Science point to cattle as a major cause). Further, when you then extrapolate the results of GCC you take another step into the unknown since these outcomes are based on hypothesized changes and results of changes which are not known.
k:
