Human-induced global warming?
Let us, of all people, be scientific about this.
This is a hypothesis that has not met experimental tests (see data presented in web links below), but which has been politicised beyond belief.
The apparently-diminishing temperature of the Earth in the 50's and 60's led to a similar but opposite political push - the forthcoming new ice age! (I remember it - I was around then.) The solution was to reduce hydrocarbon production - exactly the same 'solution' as now proposed for the opposite effect - global warming (GW).
Unlike the 60's, GW has developed into a quasi-religion embraced by ratbag 'enviros' and mediocre 'scientists' with an eye to research funding. The 'global warming' angle must, it seems, be worked into every investigation.
All of this nonsense is compounded by the media beating everything up. For example, Hurricane Katrina (and the record number of storms) in 2005 was damning 'evidence' of GW. However, data on Atlantic hurricanes since 1900 to date show that there has been no increase in frequency or average intensity over the period. The newspapers were very quiet last year, which provided the lowest number of land-fall hurricanes on record.
What makes the whole thing worse is that we apparently now have to change the way we generate power. Many have become instant 'experts' on energy production, believing solar and wind power will be our saviours. You only need to look into the physics and economics (free of artificial, politically-motivated taxes) to realise that these 'piddle power' solutions are useless for providing round-the-clock base power to a modern, industrialised society.
Here are some links to some thought-provoking, scientific views on the GW business:
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Ken Ring's website (he's the NZ long-range weather forecaster):
http://www.predictweather.com/global_warming/index.asp
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Paper: Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm
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Global Warming Lecture, Dr. Arthur Robinson (7.5Mb download; 52 min. running time; needs RealPlayer)
http://www.oism.org/oism/s32p686.htm
The picture quality of this video is very poor, but the sound is OK. The lecture also covers data relating to another aspect of the GW religion, sea-level rise.
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Global Warming Petition (related to above paper):
Research Review of Global Warming Evidence
http://www.oism.org/oism/s32p31.htm
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Letter from Frederick Seitz (realated to above paper and petition):
Research Review of Global Warming Evidence
http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p41.htm
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Another take on the GW business from Anthony Watts (specialty: weather instrumentation) noting the effects of the change of paint types on Stevenson Screens over the years, also the direct correlation between temperature fluctuations and solar activity over the centuries:
http://www.globalwarmingindex.org/gwi_essay1.htm
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And while we're about it, here's Ken Ring's views on the 'ozone hole' religion as well (funny we haven't heard much about it lately):
http://www.predictweather.com/ozone%...tion/index.asp