Disagree- because my science teacher said that in the polar regions of the earth the temperature changes naturally and not because of pollution. plus there is no way that scientists can prove it. But I do think that we should look into new ways to make the air cleaner because putting polutants into the air is gross if nothing else.

If one reads actual science literature (e.g. Scientific American and other journals written and read by scientists) as opposed to politically-flavored science, it seems clear that the consensus is overwhelmingly in favor of (a) C02 levels are rising and causing excess global warming and (b) human consumption of fossil fuels are a major factor and (c) the projected effects are full of unpleasant possibilities. I'm not a scientist, and I'm not qualified to evaluate the details of everything on this topic. But I do have the sense that those who are disparaging the prevailing wisdom have a lot more non-science "agenda" than those who agree with it. SciAm pointed out a couple of months ago that there have been something like 900+ peer-reviewed articles on climate change in scientific journals over the last 13 years, and not one of them has disputed the majority view. So it sure seems like people who claim there is no consensus have a lot of tide to hold back.

Thank God for global warming or we would still be in the ICE AGE

I agree at 85%. I'm not a Professor of History; but even history can be veiwed as a longitudinal study of cause and effect relationships. Do I agree that global warming is cyclical? Its possible. There is substantial archaeological evidence to support both views. Let me ask you from a historical perspective. What do you think created the prehistoric ocean that covered a third of the United States?

Disagree completely. Firstly, how do you monitor the Earth's surface nayway. Well, what the "advanced" countries have been doing is using accurate surface thermometers for about 100 years monitoring the same spots; however, we have been monitoring prodominently populated urban areas. Areas which have grown considerably in 100 years and due to the levels of asphalt and other materials have caused the temperature around the city to rise therefore of course the thermometers are going to read that. Secondly, now some will argue, "well, what about the new satellite technologies?" Guess what...the satellites do not favor global warming. If you take into account the temperature raises caused by the cities getting bigger you would see that the temperatures have stayed pretty constant and have recently actually dropped a tad. Also, many will argue, "What about the increased hurrican activity?" Once again you would see hurricanes were up in the early 1900s dropped in the 50's and raised again now...almost as if it is a pattern, like everything else in nature. Global warming is an overemphasized theory which doesn't have enough solid evidence to be proven. And by the way most noteworthy climatlogist actually disagree with global warming such as Lindzen, from MIT, often referred to as "The most renowned climatologist in all the world."

i don't agree

What says we haven't been through this before. It's been so long ago that it was never recorded.

84 degrees the other day here in texas, how can you deny it.

I have been asked to put in my $0.02 on this. There are actually three questions here: 1. Is global warming occurring? 2. Is it caused by man? 3. Does it matter? The answer to #1 is pretty solid - it is occurring. Even some of the skeptics are now agreeing that it is happening, and the evidence, as Stableboy has pointed out, is overwhelming. *All* the major scientific institutions accept it. And in answer to Mr.McClister, scientists are not so stupid as not to notice the towns growing; the measurements they use are taken at that sites that are still isolated. Or, more certainly, use indirect measurements like isotope ratios in coral and Antarctic ice. The fact of warming is beyond reasonable dispute. #2. Is it caused by man? People point out that the world has been both warmer and colder in the past. Maybe it is just the sun, or something to do with the earth's orbit, or a regular cycle, or something else. This is a comforting thought, because (a) there is nothing that we can do about it, so we don't need to worry and certainly don't need to change our habits, and (b) whatever the effect is, it may have stopped, so we can stop worrying about it going any further. The trouble here is that no-one has come up with a convincing case for any other theory. The case that warming is cause by CO2 emissions is not quite as strong as the case that it is occurring at all, but it is pretty good - and it is the only working theory in sight. If a policeman finds a body and a man standing beside with a smoking gun, he doesn't think that it might be someone else who had rushed out of the room - he arrests the man with the gun, and they can sort it out later in court. Burning fossil fuels are the smoking gun in this case - there is a very strong case to answer, and we need to act on it until something else is found and demonstrated to the same level of conviction as the greenhouse effect. #3. Does it matter. Hey - throw away your parka and buy a new pair of Ray Bans - summer is a-coming! Well, it doesn't work so easily. The problem is not so much the absolute temperature as the change in temperature. Give enough time, the Earth will stabilise in a new pattern - as, detractors point out, it has so many times before. True - but that time is measured in thousands if not tens of thousands of years. And during the change a *lot* of damage will be done. In the natural world, thousands of species will go extinct. Of course, in a few thousand years, their ecological niches will be occupied by new species - but there is a gap when the world ecosystems will look significantly more battered. And the effect will be worsened because of man's other effects on the environment. When forest is felled, the seeds left in the ground will be the wrong kind to grow in the new climate, so man's harm to the environment will be increased. And for the man-made word, lots of systems and structures designed for the world as it is now will malfunction in the new environment. Hurricane Katrina was an example of the sort of thing that will become more common. Of course, New Orleans was uniquely vulnerable, and Katrina may have occurred without warming (or may not), but weather systems will continue to attack the chinks in our armor ever more aggressively. And 200 million people may be made homeless when most of Bangladesh disappears under water. More subtly, the wheat growing belt of the US Mid West may move north, so that wheat can only be grown near the Canadian border or north of it. Farmers will have to change crops. For US farmers, this is handleable. OK, the wheat growing equipment becomes obsolete and they have to switch to other crops. This means that all their customers have switch as well - wheat bread may become a luxury. But we in the developed world can handle it. But in the poor world, without agricultural advisers and crop research institutes, their crops will fail and they will have no substitute. And they will start moving, because the alternative is death. If you take the outer space view, in ten thousand years it will all have settled down - and with 6 billion of is, there are already too many. The human species can lose a few hundred million without being at any risk. But if you take an earth based view, those ten thousand years are the ones we, or children, grandchildren etc. have to live through. And those few hundred million people, if not ourselves, are our fellow humans. Normal human decency demands that we take action.

I believe that global warming is a real phenomenon. However, I don't think it's quite as much of a threat as some people make it out to be. I also don't think it's the government's responsibility to pass legislation to curtail global warming. Please understand that I am an environmentalist, and that's just my current, possibly ill-informed opinion.

The question is wrongly posted: It's not a question of agreeing since the global temperature is increasing. That is a fact. What can be discussed is "what if anything should we do about global warming". Further correction: A "theory" does not mean "speculation". "Theory" means a description of something that matches observation of that same thing. A theory which does not match observation is nothing if not "fiction". Think StarTrek here. An explanation that matches what we see is a theory. Think Einstein and General Relativity, of Newton and Gravitation (easier).

Agree. Consider the following. In the Artic region, if the ice continues to melt an ecological chain of events will undoubtably continue like this. Seal populations will drop. Polar bears, having less food already are less fit and their reproductive rates have already fallen. The Aleut tribe report that the pelts of northern fur seals are getting much thinner. Near St. Lawrence Island, the walrus are not as fat. Seal hunters have to travel farther out to find ice thick enough to hunt on Global warming is likely to produce a significant increase in the intensity and rainfall of hurricanes in coming decades, according to the most comprehensive computer analysis done so far. By the 2080's, seas warmed by rising atmospheric concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases could cause a typical hurricane to intensify about an extra half step on the five-step scale of destructive power, says the study, done on supercomputers. And rainfall up to 60 miles from the core would be nearly 20 percent more intense. Other computer modeling efforts have also predicted that hurricanes will grow stronger and wetter as a result of global warming. Those are just two results from global warming.

I agree. check the temperature of the north and south poles for the last 20 years. the icepacks are slowly melting.

How many times have you heard a meteorologist say," This is the warmest november since 1926" does that answer your question?

Yes, but I think it's more attributed to being a natural phenomina that human contribution. The Earth is in constant change.

It's real...I live in NJ and it was 60 plus degrees today on December 1. I am 25 and when I was young up until my teenage years we almost always had freezing weather and snow by thanksgiving. It's almost unheard of to have temps this mild this time of year here!

Before anyone reads this, I'll warn everyone, It's is a very strong rant. I personally do not care whether global warming is provable or not. The fact is enough scientists are concerned about it that it is worth considering. And what are thes scientists asking us to do to fix it? Clean up our air, our water, and the fithy industrial habits that are polluting our earth. They are asking us to do things that we ought to be doing anyway, regardless of global warming. Yeah, they are asking companies and the government to do extremely expensive things to accomplish this. SO WHAT??? Is money worth more than life? Even if global warming is not happening, there are enough other threats resulting from our filthy habits. Would you rather wait until it's proven before we do something? At that time it will be too late. The purpose behind the alert is to get people to do something before it's too late. Have any of you ever been to your local dump? Were any of you there at the same dump twenty years ago? Thirty years ago? Have you ever studied how long it is expected to be before the land used for dumping will be usable again? If you can see the full picture of what is happening with our solid waste alone, and cannot see that we are slowly destroying our planet, then you have no eyes. So what if there is no global warming? What if the rainforests being destroyed is not having any effect on our global oxygen supply? What if there is no acid rain? What if all of these threats are unprovable? SO WHAT????? It's simple common sense that allows us to look at billows of toxic smoke eminating from factories, exhaust from our cars, household trash in our dumps, twenty to fifty year old toxic waste dumps, etcetera, etcetera ad nauseum, and say to ourselves, "*THIS* *IS* *WRONG*!" AND "WE NEED TO CHANGE!" As far as I am concerned anyone who can look at all that and then turn to another human being and say "it'll cost too much, and besides it hasn't really been proven any damage is happening" can go suck an exhaust pipe! Then I want them to tell me how refreshing it is. Edit: I feel I should mention that my remarks are not directed at anyone in particular here on AB. After reviewing this it almost looks like it is. I realize there are different opinions on global warming. I'm responding to attitudes I have heard elsewhere, not on AB. So please don't take this personally. It's a response to an attitude I am reminded of by the question itself and other responses I have heard. Most noteably that of Rush Limbaugh.

I agree it's happening. There's proof, the ice caps are melting. Simple as that.

Jim100: And please tell me what caused the 10,000 other ice ages before man came on board? (Which means that there was GLOBAL WARMING between them). Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mm. Try the FACT that the earths orbit goes from an eliptical orbit to an almost perfectly round one(far away from the sun and cool), and when this coincides with the wobble of the axis tipping away from the sun(cool) it freezes! Both factoids given knowns! These sometimes coincide, thus the ice age, which we are now comming out of. Is your defense going to be there was a lot of fires that caused the co2 to skyrocket from a lightning bolt!? (before man)Thank God that before man the bacterium passed laws against farting and caused the ice ages thus saving the planet!)

Yes humans have created much technology and grew in population rapidly, and this must be effecting the Earth in some way.

With the insane 70 degree weather and tornadoes in New Hampshire December 1st, I think the concept of global warming hit home for me (finally). When you add it all up, the climate is rapidly changing, and it does have a lot to do with our CO2 production. I'd always kind of believed the global warming theories, mostly because I consider myself to be on the more liberal end of the spectrum. But I was just jumping on the bandwagon without knowing why. Then the snowless winters started happening in my state, when we should easily have had 3 2+ foot snow storms in the season. Then there were this November and December, both record-breaking for most of the country in terms of average high temperature. Finally, to cement my "new" belief, I watched An Inconvenient Truth. And cried for hours on end. To put it bluntly, we are so screwed if we don't get down to business NOW.........

I agree. It's a rare thing when scientists speak out on any issue so loudly and distinctly. The evidence for global warming as being an issue pertinent to our continued comfortable existence on this planet is overwhelming and really indisputable. Surely, the planet goes through very natural phases of warming and cooling, but these temperature variations and the climactic changes that result occur over a much longer time frame than what we are currently experiencing. The temperature increases that we have witnessed over the past 100 years normally would take millions of years. This has been well-documented in research into geological records. Scientists are able to do look at different rock strata within the Earth's surface and look for CO2 levels that occur in different concentrations in different layers. Increased CO2 brings with it increased temperatures, because of CO2's ability to trap radiation (such as solar/light) as heat. The extreme rate of increase we have seen over the last century has not been found in ever throughout this geologic record. Really, the evidence for global warming is only disputable by those who choose not to use actual, empirically gained data. These people are either ill-informed or are choosing to disregard impartially presented truthful evidence in favor of ulterior motives which are harmed by these facts. Personally, I would ALWAYS choose to listen to what scientists present over what politicians and oil executives say, mainly because scientist's work and research is open for scrutiny and can be challenged if found to be false. Politicians need to get elected, and pay for the campaigns to do that, and oil executives are beholden to their bottom lines and their shareholders. Who would YOU rather listen to, to get unbiased truth?

Check out this load of actual facts at this website. http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/ice_ages.html CO2 makes up only 4/100ths of ONE percent of our atmosphere, or 368 parts per million. Of the 186 billion tons per year released of CO2 only 6 billion are from human activity, and if you burn a tree for heat, it would have deteriorated into CO2 anyway within about 20 to 50 years on it's own. Once you read that website's facts you can REALIZE how duped you have been by political agenda. Clinton told the UN we have to convince the american people that global warming is real. This website is a must read for anyone who speaks about global warming to not make an idiot out of themselves. http://www.clearlight.com/~mhieb/WVFossils/ice_ages.html Here is the fightening quote found on above website showing another source of the FALSE info: "We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we may have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest." Stephen Schneider (leading advocate of the global warming theory) (in interview for Discover magazine, Oct 1989) WOW. I think this says it all.

I think this virtually snowless Canadian winter would answer the question.

The thing that gets me is why "they" are so sure it will all be bad? Of course, they don't know crap. Let's look at the last few weeks - millions of dollars and less oil being burned (hence, less greenhouse gasses!). This is due to warmer weather in the Northeast. Meanwhile, the West is freezing, people are dying cattle and oranges are dying and ruined, etc. - which would YOU rather have? It ain't all bad (so which of you goes to the arctic in favor of a warmer climate?). I know that's simplified, but I'm SO sick of the doomsday cult that has appeared thr last several years - THEY get the press THEY get funding for research. It's a sham. They still can't say why it has drastically warmed and cooled (look at this writjng - they just gloss over it without real evidence or facts! They just evade it. I welcome the warmth over cold ANY day!

Actually, it's PROVEN that hirricanes have DECREASED the past 40 years over the longer term average. It's bunk.

I agree. Its not a theory, its a fact,...the real question is,...How long until we start seeing the effects of it,...If we already aren't, and what can we do to stop it?

If anyone can explaing why the Earth has warmed and cooled (without man) MANY times, let's hear it. No matter how much the "experts" say, they simply gloss over this VERY important fact ...

But weather has ALWAYS done thgis - name a period when oit HASN'T caseuyd floods, blizzards, droughts, etc. READ SOME HISTORY!!! (BEFORE you make such "informed comments!)

Tell that to my firend freezing his Nut$ off in Denver. Or my cousin in vegas. Or to the orange growers in California where more than half the crop has been dstroyed by cold for the THIRD time in less than 20 years! Weather fluctuates!

How mnay times? And did they keep good records for all that long? Sure, it's warmer, but is that BAD? That's the freakishness here. Who wants to FREEZE?!? I left Michigan for Florida and would NEVER go back. I am not alone either ...

Yes, eco freaks have all this "proof" but when you ask where/what, they just state more incorrect "facts" - they just believe ...

And record ice and snow over Denver would anser the other side ...

But eco freas HIDE form facts - they just SAY they have facts but fail to say anything real. I have been reading and researching more and more on this topic - so many interesting things on both sides. Like usually, both are so politically motivated. I loved this one: In the 1970s concerned environmentalists like Stephen Schneider of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado feared a return to another ice age due to manmade atmospheric pollution blocking out the sun. Since about 1940 the global climate did in fact appear to be cooling. Then a funny thing happened-- sometime in the late 1970s temperature declines slowed to a halt and ground-based recording stations during the 1980s and 1990s began reading small but steady increases in near-surface temperatures. Fears of "global cooling" then changed suddenly to "global warming,"-- the cited cause: Too funny ...

You don't agree, but where are YOR facts and figures. See, you just WANT it to be true.

In all seriousness (I find this amusing on both sides): I would never say there isn't some global warming. However, I contend that it's been politicized and the left is putting out facts that are really just seedling theories. And, they are using doom and gloom scenarios for political gain. That isn't right no matter how much of a jerk you feel Bush is, or how much you disagree with the right. And, another big point is that we have no idea whether or not this warming trend will be a good thing overall - no one knows. Both sides seem to say whatever and use flawed arguments and I am fascinated by their followers. To me, when people get too caught up in sides and, especially these two parties, they seem to fail to see the big picture and start saying things that simply aren't true just to "hurt" the other side. It pretty much seems like self brainwashing and I find that a curious phenomenon and see it constantly. Just as bad (and interesting) is the "we're not as bad as they are" defense. If we do what these eco freaks want (and most all of the Democrats, starting with Al Gore), we'll have a recession like none other in human history and it will prevent progress and make the third world a far worse and deadlier place (all in the guise of "helping"). Meanwhile, the right will just pollute everything to make money. Fairly rational people are caught in between. The bottom line is: When you brainwash people then pander to get their vote, it can get ugly. Hitler did it well, and it could easily happen again somewhere, sometime - especially if the economy goes. We NEED CHEAP energy. People have to understand that. Without it, I guarantee there'd be huge wars that make Iraq a grain of sand on the beach in comparison. People who were dead set agaisnt nuclear energy are now finding it "good" - it's so funny! They suddenly don't think there won't be danger and the then public outcry if nuclear power goes up to 50% or more of our electricity generation? What about the radioactive waste everywhere with an ungodly half life? The global warming crowd would just switch targets and it would be a quick switch (and I am more afraid of radiation than 2 degree temp changes in winter time - especially with all the terrorists running around). Do you honestly believe the eco freaks will not fight us on using liquefied coal because it MAY get 2 degrees warmer on average in 50 years? They have everyone talking hybrids now and it's bunk and the auto companies know it (they'll just use it to sell whatever they can). There's no savings and a whole lot more pollution around. I could go on and on. I think we'll turn to alternative fuels on our own - in time. We needn't make these wild statements to scare everyone and come up with economically damaging and false "solutions." And I can't understand how anyone even fairly well read on the subject of energy could deny that the eco freaks and Democrats are a huge reason we're dependent on that region. They have crippled domestic exploration while the rich corporate types smile and put up a false fight for appearances. BOTH parties are and have been miserable failures, not just one or the other (I think I've said this many times). I see no real difference (in tactics, hiding truth, etc.) from either and I find both dangerous, just in different ways. The middle class and working flk will continue to get hosed by the left and right. Deal with it and enjoy what little time you have on this planet!!

So far this winter: the price of oil is down from lack of heating oil demand up north, so there is some good news the past few weeks, but boy has it been terrible. Up to 75% of the orange crop in California was ruined last week. This is the third time since 1988 that the crop has been ruined due to cold. I bet Gore left that out of his movie. "This is one of those freezes that, unfortunately, we'll all remember," said A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Sounds grim. I'm actually thinking of writing an article on global cooling (and here's a few excerpts): ... And with less oil being used for heating, we're losing precious greenhouse gases which experts say will result in untold catastrophic cold fronts causing even more problems until it spirals out of control. Computer models show a hockey stick point downward which indicates a catastrophic loss of temperatures which will result in all tropical fish, parrots and other warm-loving creatures extinct by 2050 ... Experts are now calling on all people to drive as much as possible and open their windows and turn up the heat - it's the only way to save us ... The unusually cold weather the past several months out west has also been hard hitting for the town of Las Vegas. "The blue haired old ladies are just too stiff to pull on our one-arm bandits," said Guido Pimento, pit boss at the Mirage.

You state non facts as facts - Katrina was cause by global warming. I could just as easily say (and it's an indesputable fact!) that we burned MORE fossil fules since then and had no big hurricanes the next year, so it HELPS. See how your "facts" are false? Of course, what I say is false, but so is your "fact"!

The fact is, the eco freaks have no REAL facts and disagree with all the facts that are presented - they just don't BELIEVE. This is called being brainwashed. If we do what they call for, there will be a crash in the world economy unlike anything ever seen before - they just don't get it. The "catastrophic" warming will pale in comparison to wars, famine and collapse casued byt these zealots. You can't aruge with a cult mentaltiy ...

It has not been proven

I see bits and pieces of the problem in the answers of others here. I'd say yes...global warming is going on. And, yes, we are, in some way, contributing to it. Whether our contribution is greatly significant or not may still be debateable. If we hastened it by 50 years, that would be small in some sense, but a generation of people that would suffer...does that count? But there is more here...something I just want to mention. Do you ever listen to the talk news shows on the radio and TV? I hear a lot of time (and money) being spent, on both sides of the issue, disseminating opinions on who or what is to blame, but precious little is being spent on what we could do to survive another ice age (because that is what happens every time we go deeply enough into one of these warming cycles, or suffer some natural disaster). There have been ice ages in the past...some deep and cataclismic (sp), others last only a few years, and keep crops from growing. History has recorded some fairly recent small ones, such as "The Year Without A Summer" which happened when volcanoes blew their tops, such as Mt. Penetubo. So they do happen. Period. How can we get early detection so that we might prepare ahead and survive. Is it possible to survive? I think so. What do you think? All the rangling about cause is masking what might be a much more productive discussion centered upon survival. They will happen again...then what?

Global Warming is not something that you can agree or disagree with.... Global warming means the temperature of the earths oceans and in its atomospher has risen. They have. That is a documented fact. That Global Warming is occcuring is not a belief or a hypothethis or a theory of any type. It is a documented fact. IF you want to debate the causes of this rise in temperature, then that is theory, hypothesis and conjecture...some with more and some with less factual data to support them. When the temps in the oceans and atomosphere rise climate change occurs. This change is not just warmer temperatures. It causes tornados and hurricanes/typhoons to occur more frequently and to be more violent. It causes more rain and flooding in some areas. It causes less rain and droughts in other areas. It cause more snow and colder temps in some areas. It causes less snow and warmer temps (which can also have detrimental effects) in other areas. In short Global Warming causes climate changes. If you want more info on what Global Warming is (and isn't) here are some sites for info: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming http://www.climatehotmap.org/

Of course I agree. It has been proved by scientific evidence. If in doubt check the relevant info at http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

I agree and believe it's aggravated by man.All the carbon was put into solid form over millions of years and taken out of the atmosphere and made into fossil fuel.At that time the earth WAS HOT and experienced a greenhouse effect that's why there are coal deposits in artic regions.NOW we are putting the carbon back in the air and will return to the prehistoric conditions.

global warming does happen. the question is why. looking through history we have had "ice ages" and itense heat. going back to dinosaur times that is. it is occuring cuz we are losing the polar ice caps. but we just need to ask if human beings caused it.? i think we are helping but we are not totally to blame. the gasses they say that cause damage are naturally occuring anyway. i just think we helped to speed it up slightly. and sending shuttles and satalites into space does not help. the real question is why do we send shit into orbit and spend billions to do it, rather than convert to solar power and other helpfull things. does it matter that we can see a time lapse video of the ice caps melting over a period of twenty years, NO. just help to stop them from melting. does it matter we can see how much rainforest is being cut down by topographic map, not really. STOP CUTTING THE TREES DOWN. end of transmisson!

I'm still in two minds, but am leaning toward the opinion that global warming is not caused by mankind's consumption of fossil fuels and CO2 emissions, or if it's just a natural consequence of mankind existing. I'd suggest anyone interested in this subject should read State of Fear by Michael Crichton. It's a great story, but has a lot of scientific detail which will get you thinking.

Well, I will start off my answer by saying that I do, in fact, "believe" in Global Warming. I do not know where to start, so I will start with some facts. 1. In the last 900 (and change) articles written by qualified scientists, 0% disagreed with global warming, and 0% disagreed with human caused global warming. 2. Global Warming is cause by the atmosphere becoming thicker. As humans emit CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) into the atmosphere, it thickens. Because of this, more heat gets trapped into the atmosphere, thus making it hotter. More on the CO2 effects on the heat of the Earth: The sun emits radiation and the Earth absorbs some. Then, the earth reflects some of the radiation into Outer Space. The problem is that because of CO2, more of the radiation cannot leave the Earth. This means that more heat stays inside the Earth We do also know that humans are causing global warming. In the last 650Million years, the CO2 parts per million has NEVER been above 300. This includes ice ages and the intervals of time between them. Today, with our industrialized nations spitting out CO2 by the ton, we have a lot more than 300. To be exact, we have about 382 CO2 parts per million We can know this because of research. Scientists study ice that has been around for a long time (let's say, Antarctica). The ice traps air bubbles, and from that, we can know accurate measures from far back. For those of you who are disbelieving that CO2 causes global warming, take this fact. Within the last 650Million years, the CO2 levels have ALWAYS been codjacent with the rise and fall in temperatures. And, just pointing out the obvious, 650Million years is quite a large sample size. Global Warming is quite a scary happening to our World, and we must, as a society of humans, take action against it. The temperatures could get drastically higher, and many scientists believe that in the next ten years, the damage can become irreversible. Thank you for taking the time to read my answer and at http://www.paramountpictures.co.uk/aitemail/ you can receive ten easy ways to help our planet and our way of life. http://youtube.com/watch?v=GlmdhoERVgo

yes, i do think there's global warming. in fact, there's global warming in Minnesota right now. The weather has been cold and it's snowing in Apirl. Gobal warming is caused by the gasses let out in the greenhouse.

Well, Al Gore did have a pretty good documentary on the topic.

Of course I concur.It is a real problem which the humanity must face to solve it.Please see http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM107/GlobalWarming/GlobalWarming.html to understand the facts.

I agree.

Honestly, I agree with people who believe that Global Warming is taking place. How can all those hundreds of scientists be all wrong at the same time? Are they a bunch of knuckleheads? I believe that those who disagree are just politically motivated, they ignore the science in favor of their economic and political interests.

It's pretty obvious given all the pollution in today's world, plus the melting of the polar ice caps.

I sure do believe in it...and I think there are many contributors to causing it...we may not be able to control the natural ones...but we sure as chit can do something about the ones that WE are causing...and we'd better do it soon!

I agree.Global warming is a real phenomenon

here in europe they seem to be taking it pretty seriously. i know having come from the US there is a lot of debate but here it is quite overwhelming. i feel like in the US there is a lot of censoring happening especially on the television and major newspapers. we need to educate ourselves and look for alternative ways to reach that information relying on the mainstream will lead us nowhere and fast.

ImAlec's answer was great. No dispute that global temperatures are not constant and never have been. Are human's impacting the warming/cooling cycles? No one has proven conclusively one way or another. Al Gore is full of sh*t and a hypocrit regardless....but I digress.

omg! yes,yes,yes! this is not a joke. people need to stop being so selfish and start giving back to the environment.

The hockey stick graph? hahaha Chicken little is right man... dude the sky is falling fast we gotta make some drastic changes. We should try to work toward new energy sources, watch The Global Warming Swindle it's a good documentary that has some good points.

if you recall in the past we had an ice age, yes, 70% of the earth was coverd in ice. the earth is still recovering frome the ice age. that means it is getting warmer. humans in the past 100 years are definatly adding to the warming afect but this is something that has been going on for thousands of years.

YES. And i think that we need to find a way to reduce our emitions.

Global warming...Global warming! I agree that global warming is happening. Frankly I don't really care. What I do care about is the fact that we are about to have enough weapons on this planet to do significant damage to the earth if anything happens. Global warming won't, as some put it, destroy the planet. The weapons we will have in greater quantities will. Sure, Global Warming might kill us. So could a blackhole that moves across space. So could a gigantic meteor. So could a lot of things. The earth will go on and so will life. I care a tiny bit to my life's continuation than to the continuation of life itself. A universe without life might be beautiful, but life-form would be there to appreciate it. I've gone a little off topic, anyways, Global warming might be happening, but we need to research a little longer to determine the source of it.

100%

I absolutely agree. Anyone who says it is not real or is "made up" by Al Gore is delusional. I was first taught about global warning like 3rd grade. In Canada. Where Al Gore is completely irrelevant.

DISAGREE. My Uncle is a climatologist at a local university here and he told me when he first got his degree and started working the main thing everyone was afraid of was global cooling, now all of a sudden global warming....its a cycle people its no going to be the end of the world or flood out states like CA or FL. This is just a lie by the liberals and liberal media. They are extremly desperate to get the Americans back on their side. Now my Uncle told me April's average temperatures were the lowest in history in the United States. So how can global warming be happening but those temperatures were the lowest in April?

Global warming is not a theory but a fact as we can see it all around us.Humans are destroying this planet out of indifference to future generations.We should ask ourselves,why are we knowing leaving a environmentally destroyed planet because it might cause us some inconvenience to change our habits of wasting energy sources.

I agree with the theory. We are eventually going to destroy ourselves.

whether or not it is occurring..we are still altering our environment drastically....who knows what the final out come of that will be.

it should get a name change, im getting colder winters in australia, as well as hotter summers, so im fairly sure theres some kind of effect

Of course I agree. But when I hear people talking about small stuff like changing light bulbs to help I go crazy, the one thing we need to start with is to set new rules for how much co2 industries can let out. After that we need to get rid of oil and other fuels containing a lot of co2, then we can change light bulbs if we want too!!

Newsflash..... The Earth goes through ice ages and periods of tropical temperatures..... Humans appeared at the end of an ice age.... so, of course it is warming up!!! The theory is flawed, this is a natural process. However I do agree that for the planet and our own health we should find ways to pollute less. I think we should respect our planet and clean it up.

Watch An Inconvenient Truth and that will answer your question.

I agree with it. I think there are definite signs which point to the truth of it.

Yes, global warming is real. The argument among scientists is basically, "How much is natural cycles of earth and how much is being caused by us. I am not that much of a scientist, admittedly, to say. I don't know. But I do know we are a filthy generation which has dumped enormous amounts of hydrocarbons and unnatural PCB's into the atmosphere in the last few decades. Who of sense can say that this is not harmful and must not be allowed to continue unchecked?

Well, even if it weren't happening I still wouldn't want the environment to suffer anyways. So to me, it doesn't matter if global warming is true or not, I'd still say we need to research more effective uses of energy. Still though, it is happening, the question is why.

I'm pretty sure that the theory is correct. In any case, nobody can convince me that the fact that we are pumping all those chemicals into the air has no effect.

Of course. We're in big trouble. What should I do with my oceanfront condo in Florida?

according to my father (age 82)global warming is a crock..."every winter i have to put on more clothes to keep warm"...age does have its wisdom!

yes, but its natural we ware still warming up from the ice age.

I agree that the clobe is warming up BUT its done it before in the past , yes we are making an impression but not as much as some would have us believe

It is not a theory..It is true. Have you been to a greenhouse? It is warmer inside right? That's what happening now. Ü

people people people... years ago everyone was concerned of another ice age now a heat wave. If the weather men can not tell us the correct weather for the week how are they going to tell us the weather for the next centuries. It is all about astronomy. Our sun being a star and in the middle of its life will eventually die billions of years from now it will expand to become a giant star then entirely engulf earth and the solar system. The sun has not been getting any hotter these days. Still bound by nuclear fusion and our atmosphere is entirely un penetrable.

I do believe that global warming is happening but I do not believe the politico-scientists on this one. Yes over the last 100 years CO2 levels are rising because of fossil fuel consumption but, I have studied and listened to various theories on the subject and believe it is mostly caused by natural occurrences . The last Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago as most every one agrees on. Several theories state that the warm an cold cycles last for 10s of thousands of years. We are in the warm cycle. Remember that the cycles were pronounced since the asteroid strike on the Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago which moved the Earth off it's original orbit by a few hundredths of a degree and stopped the rotation by .000001 of a second. When the tip of the asteroid touched the planet the back end was still 5 miles high. We must remember that even though the changes sound too small to matter when you take into consideration how many millions of miles of space we deal with a few thousand makes a difference. So I believe the cycle effect is running it's course no matter what we do to stop it.

I definitely agree. it's happening, some people don't believe it but i do. just look at the major temperature increase over the past few years! there hasn't been that amount of temperature difference over that amount of time (not sure on the exact figures) since the last ice age!

I totally disagree with it since they have no actual evidence of anything except they are trying to sell "green" stuff. Huxters, that is what the enviro-nuts are. Don't buy into the hype, that is what I think. If it is happening, driving a damn Prius is not going to stop it, you might as well prepare for it instad of trying to stop it because it is happening on it's own not by man's hand. IT is insane to even discuss it, it is a myth. We might as well discuss the Loch Ness monster with the same theory based information.

I think Global Warming is real. People are polluting the air, cutting down forests and creating concrete jungles. I think more people should car pool, we shouldn't cut down trees and lets keep our Earth GREEN!

yes i agree!

I do agree, but global warming is not a theory, it is a reality.

How can you disagree with the obvious, the cause is another matter!

There is no doubt it is happening, but the earth goes through cycles every 20,000 years or so .Do you think since we puny mortals arrived things would change in that aspect?

Theory??? Global warming is not a "theory," it is a fact.

I agree and it is not a theory. It has simply stopped snowing in winter and summers are way hotter than ever. When else did you hear of 10.000 french people dying in the heat of summer.

not in disagreement, however the cause is minimally man made. the earth goes through cycles every 20,000 years or so wether humans happen to populate the earth or not. Al Gore is a phony. has his own interest at heart.

I believe we are in global warming. However, even if I didn't, I would do what I could to try to stop global warming. If we aren't in global warming, trying to stop it won't hurt anything. But if we are, it will hopefully make a difference.

Its a cycle; humans have little to do with it, it would still occur with us or without us!

nulinvoid. my car is running, it has dual exhaust, git r done!

yes global warming is happining!!! 1. it has been a trend in earths history that the planet warms up. 2. No one has proved that we are to blame for more than unheathy air 3. al gore should never have gotten a nobel peace prize for restating a fact that most everyone was aware of

YEs it exist - tottally - The world went into a great Freeze before and now its time for a giant ass Heat, we'll be living in giant Bio Domes to protect us from UV's And all the cars will run or Kerosene() or some other non polluting fuel

i disagree

i agree studies have shown loss on ice around the polar ice caps due to golbal warming and strange weather in a mixture of place