Joseph and ZionGate,
I am not saying that we always must follow chachmei umos haolam. If their conclusions or reasoning are keneged Torah, we don’t follow them. But in the case of Climate Change, their studies and theories are not keneged Torah, so I would have expected the bulk of frum Yidden to presume the validity of their conclusions. There are certainly some arguments against the mainstream positions by other scientists, and there is some evidence of some scientists trying to downplay or hide contradictory data. But such arguments aren’t Torah-based arguments, but rather the typical arguments one hears on conservative radio or websites.
I submit that the reason why the majority of frum Jews land on the skeptical side despite the large majority of scientists on the man-caused Climate Change side, is because they are primarily exposed to skeptical side on conservative radio or websites.