My opinion:

Somewhere between 2 and 3. Global warming is a problem, but far more serious are issues of disease, poverty, injustice and war. Try to imagine the absolute worst case scenario that global warming will produce, and the "first world" countries will still be much better off than the current state of many people in Africa and parts of Asia.

Of course, one could argue that those other problems are even harder to fix.

Yeah, He does--it's somewhere in the back.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

I think all agrees that global warming is a fact. All scientists seem to agree on that now a days.

There can be a little doubt whether it is caused by human activity or not. The United Nations (UN) says in their report that there is a 90 % probability that is it caused by human activity. That it good enough for me.

Yesterday there was a 2 hour program on Danish TV about global warming where experts and politicians discussed the issue. An American scientist doing research in glaciers on Greenland said that the development they see and monitor on Greenland goes faster than even the most pessimistic models predicted.

So the discussion is not so much whether global warming is a fact or not (it is) and it is not so much whether global warming is caused by human activity or not (it most likely is). The discussion is, do we want to do something about it or not? And if we want to do something about it, what can we do?

In my opinion of course we must do something about it, we have to because all climate models shows that in 100 years it is going to be really bad if we don’t do something, but what can we do?

The politicians talk a lot about reducing CO2 emission. But that is very difficult to achieve because most countries are not willing to reduce economic growth to emit less CO2.
Another option it do increase funding for developing new technology using less carbon based fuel, to develop more efficient alternative energy sources like wind energy and solar energy, to develop hydrogen engines for cars etc. Yet another option could be simply to plant more trees since trees use CO2.

I guess a mixture of the above options is needed, to do what we can to reduce CO2 emission, but also invest in developing new environment friendly technology.

Wrong.

As a matter of fact, many people dis-agree.

Climate change, yes; but not "global warming" as is being postulated by so very many people around the world.

Wrong.

As a matter of fact, many scientists dis-agree that what the Earth is currently experiencing is the "global warming" theory that so many people are trying to convince the rest of us as being the "truth."

But, you don't hear as much from those scientists because many of them are being bullied into keeping silent by the "global warming" people.


Chess Fan

It may be too late to stop the greenhouse effect by simply cutting CO2. To stop it, we may need to erect some sort of space-based sunscreen to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting the earth.

We could take something like a mylar sheet and stretch it out to some massive distance and let it float in orbit over some place like Greenland. It wouldn't need to create a solar eclipse, just block a percentage of solar rays reaching the atmosphere. Put enough of these in orbit and the greenhouse effect would be slowed.

Of course, the problem is cost-effectiveness, which can only be known if we know the size of damage done by global warming.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

@Chess fan

That the average temperature of the planet is increasing is a documented fact. That is global warming to me. If you prefer to call it "Climate change" that's fine with me. In Denmark the last 11 years are all on the top 12 list of the warmest years ever measured.

A few years ago I was sceptical my selves, many people, especially politicians were completely hysteric about the greenhouse effect without having sufficient evidence.

However the last few years' evidence has been piling up, so much that it no longer can be ignored. Many sceptical scientists including the most sceptic of them all a Dane Bjørn Lomborg (who often has been quoted by George Bush) has changed their opinion and admit that global warming is a fact and that it is most likely coursed by human activity. However Bjørn Lomborg still doesn't think it is the most important problem on the planet.

A group of Danish scientist some years ago suggested that climate change was caused not by the greenhouse effect but by increased cosmic radiation. This theory seemed to fit the data very well and at the time I thought they were right. But the last 5 years or so cosmic radiation is decreased while the average temperature is still increasing. Those scientist also now admit their theory do not explain the temperature increase.

@Ed Yetman

Yes, I agree, it is probably too late to stop the greenhouse effect by simply cutting CO2. Cutting CO2 is damage control. Other means are necessary too; sending a sunscreen in orbit is an interesting option.

RF:

The Earth has gone thru cycles since its creation. There was period warming between 900-1300; it was followed by a period of cooling from 140-1800. It would seem we were just due.

No one disputes global warming is fact; the cause is in dispute. Even the NSF"s report on the subject says so, if we read it.

This appears to be natural; the best we can do is slow it down we cannot stop it

The scientists that study global warming (which should not be loosely defined as an increase in average global temperatures - but unfortunately as a theory that presumes an escalation of temperatures like the planet has never seen with apocalyptic consequences for all) do not know which much certainty at all what the consequences will be over the long term. Fine, let them speculate; but for now, we don't know if it is a problem or a godsend that postpones an inevitable iceage for a bit longer.

It is the responsibility of government to try to protect its' citizens from threats - domestic or global. If global warming is a problem and is found to cause much dismay among humans, then I predict 0% of governments will manage to affect the outcome.

It is my responsibility to voice my opinion. Global warming may or may not be a problem. The earth and our human lifestyles will probably be just fine for a long time to come. Or, global temperatures may rise enough to change the earth drastically. It's funny though, the earth has seen much more drastic changes in the past than those predicted by many 'global warming experts' for our future.

Those foil hats are great, not only for keeping out alien thought-rays, but for keeping moisture in turkeys when cooking them.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com