I found a recent article on MSNBC about the rapid melting of icecaps.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14681922/

The world is definitely heading toward much warmer temperature. I also notice the winter temperature in canada has risen several degrees over last 20yrs. There is much less snow in Canada than previous decade. If I want to see lots of pure white snow, I would have to drive far upnorth 8hrs from Toronto.

The recent record temperatures, the devastating drought and a host of other phenomenon have many former naysayers changing their viewpoints. Things may get pretty tough, and the solution and resolution probably won't be realised until well into our children's lives. But it can be done, starting now, realising that all of us, from vegan environmental activist to the guy driving his SUV 100 meters to the convenience store are all part of the problem and solution.

If you think news of the melting icecaps sounds bad, and it is very bad, do some reading on the plight of the Amazon Rainforest. The situation has become very dire down there in the lungs of the world. It's kindling, ready to go up in flames.

I hate to think what will happen if there's another dry rainy season Rainforest.

Coincidentally, there was a documentary on one of the science channels that said we are on the brink of another ice age. Everyone has a theory.

That's because they think all of the fresh water from the glacial melt will trigger a shutdown in the Atlantic halocline which makes most of the eastern seaboard temperate and keeps jolly ol' England warm and moist as well. Not only will it vastly change local temperatures (including the tropical ones where the cool water no longer returns) it will change salinity and pH, all of which are not conducive to fish stocks and coral reef and such.

So, it might be that the current trend of global warming is indeed a buildup toward the hard freeze. But like you said, everyone has a theory. I daresay it's hard for anyone to ignore the evidence now. But I find it fascinating that our pollution might be our salvation if it keeps things artificially warm enough to prevent an ice age from starting. (note: that doesn't mean I think we SHOULD continue to pollute)

People, people people!

It is arrogant of us to think that we could have such a dramatic direct impact on the function of this planet short of global thermonuclear war. Even at that, life goes on. It melts, it freezes, it melts again; this is nothing new or unusual.

Change is inevitable. There's nothing we can do to stop it, and foolish of us to try. That's not to say we should disregard unnecessary risk and just be fools about the situation. Rather, we should look at the real cause and effect, and decide how we as a race intend to respond to the inevitability of change.

Ours is the first generation ever to actually have the ability to avoid, prevent, or mitigate natural catastrophe, and yes also to generate one ourselves. We are on a threshold of mankind's existence, if we dare to make use of the gift we've been given. The greatest asset any of us has is our ability to think, to reason, to solve the problem, and the next is hope. Now that we've advanced our technology sufficiently, we can choose to work with nature to adapt to the changes, or we can rage against the night.

Yes, it is a good thing that we can finally recognize that our world is a dynamic, evolving repository of life, with limited resources working to balance the equation constantly. If we aren't intelligent and reasonable about how we respond, we can only make matters worse for ourselves, thus letting the next species to have a whack at it millenia from now, probably some form of insect to be sure.

So, are you saying I shouldn't plant a tree and then hug it? <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

<rant on>

I find it ironic that the very people (politicians, media, talking heads, etc.) who enjoy telling the masses that we need to conserve more or else face doom 'n' gloom are themselves horrible stewards of the environment.

I turn off lights when they're not in use. I keep my electric usage down and heat as little as needed in winter. I try to keep my driving around town to a minimum and combine trips. I suspect that most of us do similar things, as we can't afford to do otherwise.

When was the last time you saw Al Gore driving a Honda Civic? Or John Kerry installing solar panels on the many, many homes and vacation retreats he (or Teresa) has? I wonder how the ELF terrorists got to their Hummer dealership arson targets? I doubt they walked.

I say do what you can reasonably do, but don't lose any sleep over it. Global warming (or cooling), no matter how it's caused, won't be going away soon. Those that constantly remind us about how dire the situation is should try taking a few steps themselves...

Just my .02

</rant off> <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Ben, you make a good point. Even if the current climate change is our fault (plenty of reason to think it is), we won't kill the planet. We might mess it up to the point where we mostly wipe ourselves out.

Remember, it isn't about saving the Earth, or the whales, or the ozone, or the rainforest. It's about saving the humans. Which means, save the ozone, the rainforest, the plankton, et. al. Save the whales if for no other reason they cool to listen to, and might actually be as smart (or smarter) that we are.

After all, who wants to take third place after the rats and cockroaches duke it out?

WATER is responsible for 90% of the earth's greenhouse effect (water vapor and clouds). The remaining 10% is caused by CO2 and other gasses. Humans are only responsible for about 3% of the CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere each day.

My point is that all this focus on CO2 is irrational. The effect of H2O totally swamps out any pitiful human contribution of CO2. What are we gonna do? Cover the oceans?

Notwithstanding the difficulty and dubious usefulness of trying to measure the global average air temperature accurately, a half a degree C change in over 100 years is not exactly what I would consider catastrophic. The local temperature here changes over the course of a single day by at least an order of magnitude more than that.

The climate of the earth is not static. Nor should it be. I'm convinced that had they been alive at the time, some people would be shouting for us to save the dinosaurs from extinction.

Source: http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/