I am skeptical about the theory of *man made global warming* (surprise surprise) I don't pretend to be an authority on it, but I am skeptical. One reason is that pop culture gets obsessed with "fad disaster scenarios" every decade or two. Of all the hype you hear about global warming today, thirty years ago the exact same scares were about global overpopulation.

This can be seen in the science fiction movies of the time --- go rent Soylent Green or Logan's Run. Or watch Star Trek's "Mark of Gideon" (old series) By 1995 the Earth was supposed to become so overpopulated, we could not feed ourselves. This theory was discussed with the same seriousness by groups of experts on all sides of the issue.

If my memory serves, Thomas Malthus theorized that population grows exponentially while the food supply grows as 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 and so on.

Overpopulation and hunger were big debates of the 60s and 70s. Looks like the early 21st century is about global warming. And time pretty much disproved the concept of a malthusian nightmare.

Another example, people on the board have pessimistically noted that gasoline prices are mysteriously falling right before the election. One reason for this is because there weren't any hurricanes. There were news articles this Spring on the subject of how this year's hurricane season would be WORSE then last year's. And global warming was supposed to have warmed up the oceans so that severe hurricanes would be an annual coastline event.
Lesson here - don't overreact.

Just remember there are lots of things that we know from science, and there are also things that we don't know. Recognize that. We may learn them one day, but for now somethig like the theory of manmade global warming is still just a leap of faith.

Steve