Climate milestones: Key discoveries on global temperature change (http://www.cnn.com/interactive/tech/0502/timeline.global.warming/content.1.html)

If you don't like the temepture just wait 12,000 years it's sure to change
http://www.envirotruth.org/myth1c.cfm

Here's another by a respected U.S. scientist, Sallie Baliunas

http://www.marshall.org/pdf/materials/136.pdf

The earths temperature went up 2%C by the time that one downloaded

I'm curious, is the temperature on the other planets getting warmer too? Perhaps it is outside our control?? Perhaps with all the solar explosions on the sun lately, something else is going on? I know this past month in Calgary, it has definatley been warmer than normal. Yesterday it was 20 degrees here, in the middle of March??

There is no global warming. (Republican stance)

Everything on envirotruth.org about climate change seems to say its all rubish. Dig deep and find out about this site, its as bias as the global warning side can be. Maybe we are somewhat responsible for global warming or maybe natural causes now and in the past are responsible. How about if we put that debate away and find ways to increase efficiency of energy use in cars and at home so we can all breath cleaner air.

I doubt either side is correct. The answer is somewhere in the middle. I believe factors like El Nino and sea surface water temperature are just being understood. But we all agree that there is a problem with the climate. Whether it is natural, manmade or a combination of both. So rather than place blame we need to be figuring out how to stop it (yes even if it is natural).

Personally, I believe what the majority of the scientists do. Afterall they study this stuff for a living and I don't. I get my facts from them not a politician. If and when popular opinion among scientists changes then so will my opinion.

Factoid: The ocean currents for the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic are in a very delicate state right now due to increasing cold water currents from Greenland. I won't explain the consequences here but I am sure you can find out if you want to.

Calgary...it was 20 degrees here, in the middle of March?? When I was moving to Calgary in early1981, I was running in my shorts almost every week all winter. Chinooks are not Global Warming. The following winter, it didn't get above -20C for 3 months...

Any momentary (daily, monthy, yearly, decade) change in temperature is considered "an anomaly", until the data has been gathered for decades. Then you can see the effect. The effect is more pronounced near the poles were temperatures have increased more dramatically than at the equator.

I'm currently in the process of reading The Weather Makers (http://www.theweathermakers.com/) by Tim Flannery.

This book is well researched and from a scientific perspective, the results are irrefutable. The parts about positive feedback on the climate are simply devastating.

What is so disturbing is what little anyone can do. The author proposes solutions but since I'm a cynic.

The change in human behavour required to turn this around is so massive that I believe human society will simply bury its collective head in the sand and will only address the issue thirty or forty years from now.

Equally depressing is that the earth will lose so much in the next 30 - 60 years and by that time the we will have lost so many species, coral reefs etc.


To the Naysayers

Anyone who doubts the negative impact of Global Warming will never read this book and will clearly try to deny the books observations but the science is just too compelling.

Those who say this is the Club of Rome all over again or that they predicted ice ages thirty years ago, simply doesn't understand the science presented in the book.

Hugh, your timing is impeccable:

From this week's TIME.

Polar Ice Caps Are Melting Faster Than Ever... More And More Land Is Being Devastated By Drought... Rising Waters Are Drowning Low-Lying Communities... By Any Measure, Earth Is At ... The Tipping Point
The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame. Why the crisis hit so soon--and what we can do about it

Feeling The Heat
Global warming is already disrupting the biological world, pushing many species to the brink of extinction and turning others into runaway pests. But the worst is yet to come
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/0,9263,7601060403,00.html

http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2006/0603/gwtippingpoint0326.jpg

http://img.timeinc.net/time/covers/20060403/poll/Poll_2a.gif
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1176975-2,00.html

Yeah, I read the Time article yesterday.

Most people are probably correct in saying its a problem for future generations. The worst is expected to kick in after 2050 so I'll probably be dead by then or so feeble it won't matter.

All I keep thinking about when reading this stuff is Blade Runner or Terminator type scenarios. I honestly don't believe humanity will do much before tremendous damage is visible and that could be 20 to 30 years from now.

I think the faster our species becomes extinct, the better it will be for life on this planet.

I take some comfort in the fact that the massive extinctions that have occurred in the past have been followed by periods of increases in diversity of life.

While we have caused the extinction of many species, our extinction may open up opportunities for yet greater diversity.

Not that I am hastening my own particicipation in the extinction of our species. I'm driving a Prius, using greenhouse-gas-neutral heating, planting trees and taking my vitamins. :)

Long term, I am optimist. 20 years ago no one cared about this issue. Now that we know we have a problem, we will for sure solve it (alternative fuels, clean energy - fusion). Anyways, oil and coal are running out.

Long term, I am optimist.

I was too until I read the book!

Still plenty of coal OS.

Long term, I am optimist. 20 years ago no one cared about this issue. Now that we know we have a problem, we will for sure solve it (alternative fuels, clean energy - fusion). Anyways, oil and coal are running out.
I used to be optomistic about this. But I think the global warming issue is sort of like level crossings at railways.

Some people are confident about beating the train. When they see they are mistaken, they hit the brakes. But by then, it is too late. All of the best intentions at that point are meaningless.

I think that people generally consider their individual interests above the collective interest. I think we are likely to pursue our individual desires for more and more, including our SUVs, until we either choke on our last breath of polluted air, starve from having destroyed our farm land, drown in rising flood waters, or freeze in front of advancing glaciers.

And how has your day been so far? :)

I don't think that Global Warming will destroy humanity but extrapolating what the author is saying, combined with the many studies, I can't see how 200 years from now, the population of the Earth won't be significantly less thatn it is today.

Severe droughts, destruction of our food sources etc will take a devastating
toll on the poorer nations and Europe (if the Gulf Stream decides to shut down later this century or next!).

Wow it is doom and gloom but hey to pretend like its not happening is not an option!

I think the faster our species becomes extinct, the better it will be for life on this planet.
Unfortunately, I agree. We are certain to reach that point as long as greed for something that isn't even "real" (i.e. money) continues to trump the realities of life in this universe.

Clean air/water, good soil, healthy food. All the billions of dollars in the world won't do you the least bit of good once that chain gets broken.