The need for more data before reaching a conclusion is always with us. We all fear "jumping to a conclusion" and being wrong. If you are a scientist or a doctor that can be career ending.

But, waiting for certainty can be worse.

Back in July of 2020 I wrote a six month analysis on Covid (This is Going to be Bad - 08) where I declared it to be a airborne virus. The CDC was still saying it was transmitted by droplets on surfaces.

This was stupid on their part because the evidence overwhelmingly indicated that the virus was airborne. But they "had to be 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt certain" that what they said was correct.

They didn't declare the virus airborne for another 18 months. By which time this information was worthless. After two years, we all knew the virus was airborne. They weren't leading, they were following. It was pathetic.

By the time we have "perfect knowledge" of how the Earth's climate system works it will be too late to do anything to save ourselves. As an analyst, who was also a military officer at one point in my life, I was trained to make decisions based on what you know at that instant.

Because doing something is better than doing nothing.