When does something become a fact?

A friend recently said that her daughter had to write an essay on climate change - there was no option for her to dispute it.

This raises the question 'When does something become an accepted fact?' The debate around climate change has been raging for years (since the 1980s at the very least). Has it slowed down? Have the skeptics been silenced, overwhelmed by science? Does this mean that children or people should no longer bother looking at the arguments for and against? The answer to the last question is yes. As with philosophy which is famous for arguments (or should I say, intellectual debate), some things become accepted and are no longer disputed. This saves time and allows people to argue about something more disputable and important to progress.

I for one believe in climate change (accept it as a fact) and have done for a long time. Perhaps I have never debated it but always had 'blind faith'. If we can stop arguing about its existence, then maybe we can get on with doing what we can to keep our world liveable for all living beings. However, being who we are, this seems unlikely. I pray that I will never have to say 'I told you so'. Bring on whatever change in consciousness 2012 is purported to create (providing it is sustainable)!