I think that we all have something to lose by global warming. Don't you think that there is legitimate research out there that gives good arguments
for both sides?
Here, I'll do some now.
Let's start with the dramatic changes in global climate that have taken place billions of years before humans (and even life) existed. Everyone knows
about the Ice Age, right? Well, the misnomer that people usually use in talking about the Ice Age is the word "the". There have actually been as
many as four major ice ages (one of which covered the entire planet with miles of snow and froze the oceans solid) and innumerable "Little Ice
Ages", the latest of which lasted from about
1400 to
1800 and covered only the northern hemisphere.
In contrast to Ice Ages, the earth has "
warm periods". I wonder what kind of genius it
took to come up with that name?
Radical global changes can happen quickly or slowly and with greater and lesser magnitude depending on which variables are involved. One of the
biggest variables is the Earth's closeness to the sun which changes due to
"
Milankovitch cycles". Obviously the Earth's closeness to the sun is
a factor as we see it every year during the different seasons. Now, there is one major cycle that lasts for about 100,000 years. It has been 10,000 or
20,000 years since the last major ice age ended (or it is still ending, depending on which geologists you talk to), leaving us another good 30,000
years for the earth to heat up before it starts getting cold again.
Another factor is atmospheric composition. Now, this is where scientists with special interests will disagree. Scientists funded by oil by however
many degrees will insist that CO, CO2, and methane in the air are at levels which aren't dangerous. There is a
new gas, just discovered that traps energy 18,000 times as effectively as CO2, however. Scientists
don't know exactly where it comes from (though they assume that it has something to do with human actvities). Depending on how you present the data
(or omit some like that "new" gas) will determine your official stance on global warming.
It should be admitted though that climate changes in between ice ages and warm periods are based on variables which are mostly unpredictable (see
"little ice age" link above). The reason that global warming alarms have been raised is that our average global temperature is 1.5 degrees higher
than other temperatures in the past 5,000 years. Our current temperature is not even close to the maximum temperature that the earth has held, nor is
it as hot as the average temperature the earth has had since its conception.
The Carboniferous Age
"Similarly, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Early Carboniferous Period were approximately 1500 ppm (parts per million), but
by the Middle Carboniferous had declined to about 350 ppm -- comparable to average CO2 concentrations today!"
There are great differences between then and now, however. For one the earth was covered with jungle then and now it's covered with cities. Also, the
oil we're using now was being created back then. There was, however, more volcanic activity and a much higher concentration of sulfur in the air.
Sulfer isn't a greenhouse gas, but it has been known to change o2 and o3 into s2o2 and so3 (if I remember chemistry... which I don't).
Here is a
good
link with information on climate change and the ice age with several more good links on it.
What can I say about all of this? I don't have much of an opinion... it would seem that we've all been well educated on greenhouse gases and global
warming. And it does send a good message about conservation and recycling. But it seems that whoever's been running that campaigns to help stop
greenhouse gases (and who'd want to disagree with them and be labeled an "earth killer"?) failed to mention the number of other environmental
factors which could be responsible and which we have no control over. I wouldn't call it a conspiracy, but there is something to be said for the oil
company who promotes the idea of global warming in order to artificially raise the prices of oil. Even companies that provide electricity. Have you
heard that we're having an "energy crisis" over here in California? It's simply not true. However GE and the state are making bank off of the
increased prices. What qualifies as an "energy crisis"? And why are we not all urged to put solar panels on top of your house? I know there are tax
incentives for those with energy efficient houses but I'd scarcely say that the government is promoting them seeing as how very few people even know
about them... or know where to get a solar panel put on their house... or know anyone else with a solar panel on their house.
In my humble opinion, logically, we are responsible in some degree to contributing to global warming. We create millions of tons of greenhouse gases a
day. That's not disputed. However, the climate change has been so small, and one can't say greenhouse gases are the only factor in global warming
that I'm convinced that we'll run out of oil long before we've done any irreversible damage to the atmosphere. (Australia, I'm hoping that hole in
the ozone will heal)
It would seem that both sides have special interests. One side wants to make the masses conserve more energy and scare us into thinking we're going
to run out of every energy source one day (impossible) and the other side wants us to believe that using THEIR resources isn't harmful to the
environment and let us believe that oil and other combustible fuels will last forever (impossible).
-S
). 
hilip Morris funded the creation of JunkScience.com. Milloy was registered as a lobbyist with the EOP Group in 1999, with the American
Petroleum Institute and FMC Corp listed as clients. He is also an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute(see above) and a commentator on Fox News. 
