The "new" page to “Answer This Question” includes a box to facilitate research...

Question

Do you think that this will improve the quality of answers in the global warming section? Personally, I’m annoyed by wild claims that lack any supporting evidence, or that their only sources are right- left-wing “think tanks”. It really is not difficult to find a reliable source, and preferably one from peer-reviewed literature.

Answer 1

I think Frito Bandito's answer is a good example of why it won't make a difference.  Most people will just ignore the feature and continue to give incorrect answers based on ignorance, like calling climate scientist Gavin Schmidt an astronaut.

http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=4...

People who make unsubstantiated and false claims aren't going to start doing research just because YA made it a little bit easier for them.  They're not interested in the facts to begin with.

Answer 2

There has always been a way to search the net to research your Q&A. It doesn't really mean that people will use it,or 'believe' it.

The IPCC report is a fine example of a "peer reviewed" scientific paper.

Unfortunately, the oil companies have falsely introduced statements and claims that are not "peer reviewed" at all!    There are a lot of scientificly ignorant people in America. I call them,"flat earthers"! What they understand about science is ONLY  what they can see just in front of them,not the bigger picture.  If the "debate" was about the Earth being round or flat, the argument would be similar.  They would say that the the Earth is flat because anybody can see that it is from their perspective. That the 'roundness' is just the mountains. People seem to think that the weather is just what happens in their neck of the woods. Every weather event is affected by every other weather event on the planet. It is all one !  

Answer 3

No.

In the past, anyone that wanted to could have easily done research (while answering questions) in another browser tab or window.  But the vast majority of answerers either post no supporting links to their assertions or link to sources that obviously lack any credibility (e.g. personal blog of non-scientists, political based think-tanks, Op-Ed pieces, etc.).

The explanation (first mentioned, I believe, by gcnp58) is that most posters demonstrate the Dunning-Kruger effect. In that situation, they are simply unaware of their own ignorance/incompetence, so they see no reason to support what they "know" is true with credible evidence.

Answer 4

Ken has raised an interesting point and even provided a citation about how people tend to selectively reinforce their pre-conceived ideas.

This of course is a two edge sword that applies to AGW believers just the same.

Anyone whose opinion is based on such nonscientific sources as Gore's book, or Gore's movie, or Gore's lectures is guilty as charged by Ken. I'll bet that is a lot of people. It will be difficult to change their now tainted pre-conceptions.

Answer 5

Doubtful.  If people actually DID a little research, they'd discover the Sun is responsible for the recent warming trend labelled global warming.  There'd be no NEED for this section at all!

Hope this answers your question...

;-)

Answer 6

You are presuming that most people can actually distinguish a reliable source from a random person spouting off wild ideas and have any idea of how to find/read/interpret peer-reviewed literature.  

A lot of very intelligent undergraduates in college still seem to think Wikipedia is a reliable source, in my experience, so I'm not hoping for much.  I've had to teach them how to find scientific journals when they're working for me, and then figuring out which ones are actually relevant to the topic at hand is another skill entirely.

Answer 7

If they didn't do it before they won't do it now, no matter how easy Yahoo Answers tries to make it for them. (I notice this from both sides of the scientific debate.)

Answer 8

Hopefully it will provide better answers that 'Gavin Schmidt, a NASA astronaut believes global warming is real, so everyone should believe it's real also'

Statements like this just show the lack of evidence that global warming is real.