I don't have time to go into anthropogenic CO2 as a cause of Global Warming at length. There are basic misconceptions of the IPCC bureaucratic report and the media hyperbole. I could provide hundreds of sources, but let's just go to the man who was lead author of the 3rd IPCC UN Report on Climate Change John Christy, who built the data set and worked with many of the models that the media and government bureaucrats misrepresent. I could swamp you with Earth geology and facts about climate and the so called consensus (non-existent). I am fully aware of man's adverse effect on the environment and our successes and failures in policies toward our own habitat. You have to separate scientific fact from media fiction to set good policy and make informed decisions, none of this is going on now. Keep in mind ecology and climatology are new sciences. Also be aware that with increased technology sharing and globalization man will continue to progress in the "green" economies of tomorrow. This link below is "a little dry and sciencey for my tastes"... but from pretty much one the world's preeminent climate scientist who works on all the reports, developed the data sets and models, lead author in 2001.
http://www.uah.edu/News/climatebackgroun...
“A fundamental point that needs to be understood is that if any of these proposals (including the Kyoto protocol) are implemented, they will have an effect on the climate so small that it cannot be detected.”
On the climate the effect will be so small... on society, the effect will be enormous if we chose costly and destructive policies that will hurt national economies and deprive much of the world of needed energy...
Globalization and markets are regulating our greenhouse emissions... drop in demand for oil, viable clean solutions coming online... let it happen... don't get world government bureaucracy involved... we see how they run things... Natural Capitalism is happening now... globalization of markets and sharing of technology has prove to be cleaning up past mistakes of industrialism in what is now being called the 3rd Industrial Revolution... I know a time when rivers caught on fire in this country not long ago.
http://poneke.wordpress.com/2008/07/18/w...
John Christy... the guy who built the data set for the IPCC says they were incorrectly manipulated and the conclusions were baseless. The IPCC manipulated the CO2 levels in the models by a factor of 10 times the known amount of yearly added C02 to the atmosphere to reach their "conclusions" There has never been a consensus because he as the "Chief Scientist" on the reports he never even agreed with many of the conclusion of the bureaucrats present. None of the material in the report was actually peer reviewed in the correct manner. People who wrote sections of the report, reviewed their own material in some cases and everyone who worked on the project or contributed in the debate in any way was listed as a scientist on the report. Many were not climate scientists who studied causation but impact. Some people sued to have their name removed from the report because none of their detracting sentiments were included, but the UN put their name on the report anyway despite disagreeing with the entire conclusion. I heard some former politician won an Oscar running with it as well. The bureaucrats were the ones who fed the company line of man-made CO2 was the cause of any warming occurring, and it's falling apart. Have you seen the petition of 30,000 scientist against Kyoto right? The American Physics Society rejects it and it has distinguished members such as Steven Hawking and Albert Einstein of yore as members. This group has people who know a thing or two about planetary properties and the physical forces of nature, even planetary geology, maybe not climateology. Here is what they say.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andre...
http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread...
This is about the 4th assessment, Christy was lead author on the 3rd assessment that really started all the hype big time. But same tactics of dubious conclusions and review process, and the sketchy application of the scientific method are present.
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/sppi_o...
Many of the things, consider geologic climate trends, and that model are not scienctific observation, and that is what the conclusions were largely based on.
http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/Carbon...
http://www.scotese.com/climate.htm
Most important quote:
"Earth's climate and atmosphere have varied greatly over geologic time. Our planet has mostly been much hotter and more humid than we know it to be today, and with far more carbon dioxide (the greenhouse gas) in the atmosphere than exists today. The notable exception is 300,000,000 years ago during the late Carboniferous Period, which resembles our own climate and atmosphere like no other. "
The Cenzoic Ice age was not going to last forever be sure to present