If the facts are contrary to any predictions, then the hypothesis is wrong no matter how appealing.
However, the models also predict unambiguously that the atmosphere is warming faster than the surface of the earth; but all the available observational data unambiguously shows the opposite!
It is absolutely essential that one should be neutral and not fall in love with the hypothesis.
Truth in science is always determined from observational facts.
It is disappointing and embarrassing to the science profession that some Nobel Laureates would deliberately use their well deserved scientific reputations and hold themselves out as experts in other fields.
One finds the truth by making a hypothesis and comparing observations with the hypothesis.
As a physicist, I can state that none of the 18 physicists who signed the Statement works in this field; nor to my knowledge has ever published a paper on this subject.
Indeed, scientific truth by consensus has had a uniformly bad history.
On the whole, the evidence indicates that model trends in the troposphere are very likely inconsistent with observations.