I have two specific issues with the "Global Warming" discussion, and a number of things that I would agree with. Essentially, I am not questioning the data, but the interpretations.
Agreements:
1) Yup, the world seems to be getting warmer.
2) Yup, it's gotten a lot warmer, a lot faster then in the last 200 years then in the previous few thousands.
Disagreements or concerns:
1) The data set used for this analysis is too limited. For example, it only goes thousands of years. Here's an example of a graph that supposedly proves mankinds influence on global warming:
or this...
Now Compare that data with this chart:
Note the difference in scale. All of the global warming charts are in 1,000's of years, Global climate is measured in 1,000,000's of years, while the Earth itself is about 4,500,000,000 years old.
So I don't see a strong link between mankinds actions and the climate change. That being said...
Yes, the world is getting warmer. What are we going to do about it. It's not clear of the best strategy is to try to roll-back the temperature to the "correct" temperature, because it's not even clear what the "correct temperature" is, nor if we have the capability to actually influence it. That being said, a reduction in emmissions (of all sorts) and consumption of non-renewable fuels can only be a good thing.
Personally I think that it would be prudent to assume that the world is going to be getting warmer -- now what?
- Should development be curtailed in low-laying regions?
- Should storm contingency plans be improved?
- What areas are expected to become more or less arriable? How can we manage them correctly.