Quote:
Originally Posted by johnycarcinogen  The Earth has warmed and cooled for billions of years. We are in a generally cool period, it will get warmer, then cool again. 15 million years ago it was so warm here that the ocean stretched to Washington D.C. (polar ice melted away). Other times we would have hundreds of feet of beach (probably marsh/grass areas) beyond the current coastline. It just happens, it is a cycle. |
I'm not disputing that global temps are cyclic. What I believe is that the rate of warming is accelerating. All you have to do is look at the receding glaciers worldwide to see that.
The IPCC concludes that "most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-twentieth century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic (man-made) greenhouse gas concentrations" and the vast body of scientists knowledgeable in the pertinent fields are in consensus with those findings.
Consensus isn't "proof." It means they believe that the data is valid enough to convince them. There is still disagreement on some of the details but the overall theory is substantial enough to make knee-jerk naysaying a dangerous response.
I say "dangerous" because the natural global phenomena, to which man-made effects contribute, are positively reinforcing. One example: ocean water warms, hold less dissolved carbon dioxode (just like your beer), the gas is liberated to the atmosphere where it traps more heat, the oceans warm more, hold less dissolved carbon dioxide...