So, there IS a correlation between temperature increase and the amount of greenhouse gasses being emitted.
This would seem to indicate that greenhouse gases have vastly increased the rate of temperature increase. Of course, there is also a possibility that there is some other unknown factor that is causing the temperature increase.
We always need to be careful about confusing correlation with causation. (I see it happening all the time in news reports
). They are very different, and as you point out, there can be a factor that is causing both.
I always remember the statistically significant correlation my statistics professor used to illustrate this point: the average street temperature in New Delhi, India, and the infant death rate in Brooklyn, New York City. Statistically significant correlation of higher street temperatures with higher infant death rates. As he asked the class: does anyone think the street temperatures in New Delhi caused the increase in death rates in Brooklyn?
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