That is what I believed about 12 years ago.

Cycles.

man is the only species that it would benefit the earth if it was removed

It is true only.I am also stunned to hear that nearly 1000 square miles of Antartica has melted.This is a serious problem and because of this some part of land is going to submerge they say.

The global warming news of the last year has me driving as little as possible and looking for a new, better-mileage, smaller car. I took a new job that is less than half the distance I used to travel. I turned my thermostat way down and bought polarfleece pajamas for me and the family. I should save a load of money and cut my carbon footprint substantially. I want to contribute as little as possible to the mess us humans are making of this pretty little planet.

I agree, we put so much pollution in the air, I really don't know what we expected. With the automobile, and all the paper factories, that emit so much dirty smoke into the air, I tend to believe it, but I can not say that it is fact.

ok lets see...I'm no expert, but my theory is this: Mankind (in one form of civilisation or another, not talking like the earliest species, but from say Cro Magnon onward) has been around for what, about 100,000 years or so, and seen 1 or 2 Ice Ages, the last being about 30,000 - 40,000 years ago as I understand. Between those Ice Ages, the climate warms and the ice melts. Oceans rise and coastlines change. Eventually, the climate cools, the oceans begin to freeze again, water levels drop and coastlines change again. Personally, I think we are near the end of the melting stage, and the Earth will begin to cool again on it's own soon enough. It may take 100 years before it starts to cool, it may take 1000... or more! Who knows?! As I said, I'm no expert, but I can't see that Mankind in his 200 odd years of industrialisation can have done as much damage to the atmosphere as the millions of years of volcanic activity which preceded us (and continues today). Ok, you might say "the temp is rising... what about sea levels... etc etc" and spew forth many well informed facts and figures and I'm sure they are all very accurate... but compared to what? Mankind has only been recording temps/ sea levels/ weather patterns etc for a VERY short time over the lifetime of our planet. Who are we to say what "normal" temps/ sea levels/ weather patterns are?? So, in short, like "cowtipper" said: "cycles". P.S. I remember "Penn & Teller: Bullshit" doing an episode on this very subject. It should be compulsory viewing in educational facilities worldwide.

I'm surprised that it is classed as news! Who or what else could have done as much damage to the planet as humans have done.

I feel anger at all the lying politicians and all the people who've been trying to downplay the threat as if it were just the ranting of some paranoid fringe groups while all the time the damage was allowed to go unchecked as debate after debate wasted valuable time. Now the word is loud and clear!! Scientists from all over the world have come together and stated unambiguously; Global warming is a reality and we need to act NOW!! Already there are signs that we've crossed beyond the point of repair in some areas. Anyone who can still deny it is either a stubborn fool or sitting on data that none of the top scientists in the world have.

The real question is do we need more fuel efficient cars or more hurricanes?

Yeah, that fits my theories.

It was -25 degrees here in Northern NM yesterday, and it is 1.9 degrees tonight...ain't no warming going on here...

If you look back through history scientifically you can definitely see the progression of global warming starting with the industrial revolution. Coal using factories would belch out smoke into the atmosphere.Technology advanced with the automobile,airplane,etc.For at least 70 years people were driving big gas guzzling cars that had no pollution restrictions on them.In these years massive amounts of greenhouse gases were immited.The world has been very aware of global warming for decades,but it has been downplayed. The cycle of storms,unusually warm and cold weather,excessive rain,draughts,that are happening at an increased rate shows the effects of global warming.Global warming is complex and must be studied by each of us before we quickly dismiss it.If you were able to look at weather patterns of the earth between the 1800's and1900's you would not see the climatic effects that you have seen in the last decade.

I thought we all knew this years ago. It wasn't until coming on AB that I realised how many people didn't even believe in it, most of them Americans, which astounded me and quite frankly p*ssed me off considering America is the biggest contributor towards it.

If you look at Chicago from a distance, you will see a brown cloud over the city, just from how much crap is put into the air. But personally, I think it is human's falt to a small degree, but mostly I think it's earth just going threw cicles. Yes that's right, I just disagreed with 1000s of scientists. And like I said before, I think we will die of nukes before global warming.

Relieved that our governments are no longer in denial and will now HAVE to get off their collective butts and do everything in their power to start to turn things around. I know it will be like pulling in big ship with a little rope but if enough of us keep the pressure on and do our bit .. we will make a huge difference and we CAN initially slow and reverse this destructive direction we are headed in. Governments will have to stop cowtowing to big industry and put huge penalties on the polluters. We must, and easily can, move to alternative energy sources. I'm excited that we are actually moving as one, as collective 'people of the world' on this issue!!!

I thing Roger is going to come around here and denounce their findings as liberal propaganda.

I wasn't aware that mankind's resposibility for global warming was news. I thought it was fairly obvious that any global problem was caused by humans. I mean, who else would do it? Grizzly bears?

So before we were on the planet, we also caused global warming all those OTHER times? What, did we time travel back in time? We may be excelerating the process but nature has its cycles as does everything in nature.

First, my credentials. I have degrees in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, worked as a Weather Officer in the USAF, have authored several dozen papers, and am a member of the American Meteorological Society. (Just so that you don't think I'm BS'ing) There is no doubt that the industrial revolution, which is still growing in China and 3rd world countries, has increased emissions of CO2 and other gases into the atmosphere. To deny this would be to deny the industrial age. However, there is no direct evidence to support the burning of fossil fuels with global warming, although there is statistical evidence that there seems to be a relationship. A few thoughts to consider: * There is evidence that the oceans have been absorbing some of the excess CO2. (good) We don't know how close to saturation the oceans are. (bad) * Climate changes occur naturally as well. For instance, the hole in tbe ozone layer over Antarctica, which was big news a decade ago, is now back to normal - did that happen naturally or did our mostly feeble efforts to control chloro-fluorocarbons have an effect? * Direct observations of the earth's weather go back only about 200 years, and most of that is surface observations only. There is no doubt that the earth's surface temperature has risen over those 200 years, but so has the amount of asphalt laid over that surface, replacing vegetation. Asphalt absorbs and stores heat. Upper air observations are only about 60 years old and global observations less that 40. The Jet Stream wasn't even discovered until World War 2 bomber pilots stumbled onto it. OK. So there may be no direct evidence linking emissions and global warming. Does that mean we still can't develop and use efficient, renewable energy sources, more efficient autos and homes, and otherwise use sane conservation methods?