Being new to the site I am impressed by the general politeness of most of the members evenwhen there is disagreement. Very interesting thread. When I was a kid, I was told by a scientist that came to my classroom that the Earth was going to go through another ice age.
My concern is what will be done with the belief in "Global Warming". Governments make policy decisions that impact their citizens. At the begining of the 20th Century most scientist believed and supported the idea of eugenics. Governments gave grants to study it, research institutes provided "proof" supporting it. Dissenting scientists were cast out by their peers. Great thinkers around the globe declared it as fact. Leaders of industry and society spoke as if the debate was settled. Populations were screened and people sterilized against their wills and sometimes without being informed in hospitals and public institutions in most Western countries. When the concept of eugenics was adopted by the Nazis the reality of the belief had to be confronted and it has since fallen out of favor. But for over 60 years it was accepted as fact with no room for debate at all levels of society.
The study of global climates is still new. The system God created very complicated. We should be good stewards of what wehave been given on this Earth. At the same time, we need to be a bit humble in the face of something we otherwise admit we have not fully explored and in the grand scheme of things not really studied systematically for more than a few decades. The interplay of the sun, man-made gases, naturally released gases, ocean currents, melting ice, magnetic fields has not been comprehensively looked at. We know the climate has changed both warmer and colder than it is now. What is normal? What is best? No matter what that answer is it will mean change from the current status.
