 These conclusions about detection and attribution align with, if not constitute, the “consensus” position regarding the reality and causes of recent climate change. The extent to which there is a scientific consensus on these matters, however, has itself become a topic of debate. It is often reported, for example, that 97% (or more) of climate scientists agree that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are causing global climate change (Cook et al. 2016). Analyses of the scientific literature, as well as surveys of scientists, have been conducted to demonstrate (or challenge) the existence of this consensus. This focus on consensus can seem misguided: what matters is that there is good evidence for a scientific claim, not merely that some percentage of scientists endorses it (see also Intemann 2017). Yet consensus among experts can serve as indirect evidence for a scientific claim—an indication that the scientific evidence favors or even strongly supports the claim—at least if the consensus is “produced in the right manner” (Odenbaugh 2012). A consensus emerging from a process that gives free rein to shared bias or groupthink (Ranalli 2012), or that does not require that those surveyed have relevant expertise, might have little evidential value. By contrast, a “hard won” consensus—one that emerges despite the reluctance of independent-minded and critical parties, after “vigorous debate and a thorough examination of the range of alternative explanations” (ibid.: 187) might be significant; the indirect evidence provided by such a consensus could be useful to non-experts who are not able to evaluate the scientific evidence themselves. Ranalli (2012) suggests that parties on opposite sides of debates about the reality and causes of climate change generally hold similar views about what makes for a reliable scientific consensus, but disagree over the extent to which the climate consensus meets the standard.