and....point is.....

I think the point is: Told Ya So.

Okay, I don't know much about global warming. I realize that Antarctica is getting warmer, but the US has been gripped by record breaking cold spells in the past few years. HOW is that global warming? Am I missing something? I'm not saying Global warming doesn't exist, I'm saying I don't understand it.

For those that aren't scientists, or don't want to research all the global warming studies etc. out there, I get it. Its not something you want to think about. I'm wondering why can't we just err on the side that this is really happening and its a bad thing and work to solve the problem? Lots of the solutions to global warming would not only help the planet but would have many other added benefits.

For those that will fight and fight that global warming is a myth this study isn't going to change their minds.

"I'm wondering why can't we just err on the side that this is really happening and its a bad thing and work to solve the problem?"

Any time something goes wrong (weather, temps) it's blamed on global warming. I think people are getting sick of hearing about global warming.

Being sick of it doesn't make it go away.

That's my issue. It's not that I don't think it's real. I DO think we are undergoing some sort of warming. I just don't think that they can blame every little thing on it like is currently being done. Too hot this year? Global warming. Too cold this year? Global warming. Your dog went insane? Global warming.

That's my issue. It's like the boy that cried wolf. They've blamed so many things on it that now I don't know what really IS attributed to it and what isn't.

I agree with you clarabelle, it has become the go to excuse for lots of things. That's ,I think, a product of our sound bite media culture sadly.

Citing cold snaps to refute climate change (or global warming) confuses daily WEATHER with overall CLIMATE:
The National Climate Data Center says that nine of the top 10 warmest years on record have been since 1995, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that 2008 tied with 2001 as the eighth-warmest year on record.
John Magnuson, a UW-Madison professor emeritus and internationally respected lakes expert, says: "Climate change is a relatively slow process, at least so far, and some fail to see it because PEOPLE REACT TO THE SHORT-TERM CHANGES IN WEATHER," Magnuson said.
Magnuson found that the average time the lake has been ice-covered was 2.5 months in recent years, down from four months 150 years ago.
Jon Martin, a UW professor who chairs the Department of Atmospheric Oceanography, said that denunciations of climate change come every week that it is cold and snowy.
"It is a little more complicated," he said. Martin says that the average global temperature has risen steadily over the last 150 years -- a jump of 2.7 to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. "The increase is at least partly the result of industrialization."
The global temperature will continue to increase, even while extreme weather intrudes.
"The Earth's atmosphere is still quite able to develop quite cold air masses over Canada that can be tapped and dragged down," Martin said. "Winter will still be winter and occasionally brutally winter, like this past week."

I think it's pretty clear there is climate change going on; what isn't clear is the cause. It could very well be the normal ebb of flow of the earth, or it could be caused by humans. I don't think that's something we can know for sure. My stance on it is that it doesn't matter if it was caused by humans or not because there are so many other reasons to clean up our environment acts. I feel like constantly falling on the crutch of global warming to advance environmental policies is a cheap scare tactic.

With that, I'm totally with you Mariner Mandy. We should know to clean up our messes whether they cause permanent damage or not. The Global Warming Debate has just given people an excuse to say they won't.

Stephley and Mariner Mandy, I agree. While I still don't know if the "global warming" thing is true or made up, that doesn't matter. I still recycle, ride my bike more and do "green" things because it's responsible. Everyone SHOULD do that, global warming or not.

steph - I agree. Being sick of it doesn't make it go away, but people tune things out they are tired of hearing about. I just think when global warming does become an unignorable problem, then people won't care. Like clarabelle said, "It's like the boy that cried wolf."

clarabelle - I couldn't agree more. 'Going green' is something we should do reguardless of global warming or not.

I think instead of people turning it out, should just become more aware and do what's possible not to continue to escalate the problem

The earth goes in cycles this has probably happened before (hence whey there's no more dinosaurs and such) and humans aren't going to be on the planet forever, however while we are here we need to make sure that we don't shorten our inevitable demise.

and...point is...that we need to pay attention to what's happening to the planet so we don't all die.

"I still recycle, ride my bike more and do "green" things because it's responsible. Everyone SHOULD do that, global warming or not."

Yes!

We are currently in between ice ages. Eventually, the tilt of the earth and the distance from the sun will be be perfect for an ice age, and that's what we will get. It's been the case three times and we are just centuries away from the conditions being perfect again. This is, of course, according to the history channel.

Hey, maybe we'll at least be able to finally see what's under some of that ice!

I am with those that say do what you can regardless of global warming climate change whatever you want to call it these days. But here is the thing. It is just a theory. And to act as if it is fact an written in stone is where the problem lies. I too recycle, ride my bike, wash everything in cold water, line dry. I don't do it because of global warming at all. I do it because I want a clean earth. Because I want to minimize my effect. But all of this environmental protections can not be forced at the expense of hard working americans. It took us a long time to get in the habits we have and it should take a while to reverse them. Bankrupting the coal industry or making mom and pop shops close down because they can't afford new regulations is counterproductive to the effort. You have to have money to clean up your act and if you don't have that money, we can't reinvest it in other more sustainable efforts.

I have a feeling I'll be the only one who remembers global warming in about fifteen years.

Remember global cooling from the seventies?

Hainan you make a good point. The same issue is going on with dry cleaning- mom and pop dry cleaners can't afford the greener alternatives to perc (the chemical used in dry cleaning that has been proven by the EPA to lead to health hazards) - and expecting them to switch with no assistance because of mandates will cause many of them to shut down. This is when government must step in and provide tax breaks to owners that switch, education on new technology and chemicals; and provide assistance where there is need - all of this following a reasonable sunset date for switching. I feel the same when it comes to energy. That being said- There was/is less research to prove the benefits of greener dry cleaning alternatives compared to the research done on global warming - yet the EPA has mandated every dry cleaner stop using perc by a certain date. I think arguing that global warming exists defeats the point of ensuring we are doing what we can to minimize our impact. I commend you for taking steps to do that- and while you say you are doing it for a clean earth and not global warming- the result will be the same.

This?

"The supposed "global cooling" consensus among scientists in the 1970s — frequently offered by global-warming skeptics as proof that climatologists can't make up their minds — is a myth, according to a survey of the scientific literature of the era.

The '70s was an unusually cold decade. Newsweek, Time, The New York Times and National Geographic published articles at the time speculating on the causes of the unusual cold and about the possibility of a new ice age.

But Thomas Peterson of the National Climatic Data Center surveyed dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles from 1965 to 1979 and found that only seven supported global cooling, while 44 predicted warming. Peterson says 20 others were neutral in their assessments of climate trends."

I see we decide science democratically, then?

No, and nor do we suggest that global cooling was a big deal in the 70s.

That would depend on your opinion of a big deal.

"The '70s was an unusually cold decade. Newsweek, Time, The New York Times and National Geographic published articles at the time speculating on the causes of the unusual cold and about the possibility of a new ice age."

"Scientists announced in the July 21, 1999, edition of the journal Nature (peer reviewed) findings that suggest that global warming can sometimes lead to cold weather or even a worldwide freeze."

But, don't worry. Even if things get colder, global warming is still at fault.

I could use some global warming...last week schools were cancelled because of the risk of frostbite when students waited 10min for the bus! INSANE!

No the point is, that the earth has cycles......

Org, that's the kind of comment that led many people on this thread to say we wish 'Global Warming' had never become a big deal.

Just clean up the messes we make, wherever we make them. The earth can do what it always has done, and we won't have to wonder if we've complicated matters.

Well it was 78 here in Dallas today. I am no meteoroligist but I am pretty sure that is not normal for January.

Yeah, it's going to be 81 here in Austin tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure it's awesome.

One study that one agrees with trumps all other studies that you don't agree with? Like that there is more ice in the poles now than in the 70's when a second ice age was the fear of the day? I see.

And yay, Yoda's back!

I mean:

Yoda's back happy it makes me.

and sexy, why don't you tell how we are expected to be in the low 30's this weekend. I don't know how old you are, but that is common in Texas.

You don't like the weather here, wait 15 minutes.

1. I hate u ppl in Texas...deeply hate u! My fingers freeze inside ugly thick gloves driving to class!

2. GS, you have to wait a whole 15 minutes!?? It's a lot quicker here! (only when its warm, the cold seems to last forever)

Yeah, but everyone stays sick because it can range 40 or more degrees in one day.

GS I am thirty and have lived here all my life. I am very aware of the weather here in Texas. It is unusually warm this winter.

Just for the last 5 or so years. They were talking about it on the radio. There were 6 winters warmer in he 80's. The record was like 1912.