From a discussion on another board:
Global Warming is a FACT.
...and it is happening because it is SUPPOSED TO.
We are receeding from an Ice Age. The glaciers are supposed to be melting.
the earth has gone through at least half a dozen warming-cooling cycles....and we are not going to change that.
here's the last one:
Paleocene Epoch
65-55 million years ago During the Paleocene, the vast inland seas of the Cretaceous Period dry up, exposing large land areas in North America and Eurasia. Australia begins to separate from Antarctica, and Greenland splits from North America. A remnant Tethys Sea persists in the equatorial region.
Eocene Epoch
55-34 million years ago Plate tectonics and volcanic activity form the Rockies in western North America. Erosion fills basins. Continental collisions between India and Asia culminate in the Alpine-Himalayan mountain system. Antarctica and Australia continue to separate and drift apart.
The climate is subtropical and moist throughout North America and Europe.
Oligocene Epoch
34-24 million years ago Tectonic plate movement is still very dynamic. Africa and Europe nearly collide, closing the Tethys Sea and leaving as a remnant the Mediterranean Sea. Volcanism and fragmentation of western North America is associated with the emplacement of major ore deposits.
The southeren ocean forms and the climate is generally temperate. Glaciation begins in Antarctica.
Miocene Epoch
24-5 million years ago Modern ocean currents are essentially established. A drop in sea level near the end of the Epoch isolates and dries up the Mediterranean Sea, leaving evaporite deposits on its floor.
The climate is generally cooler than the Oligocene Epoch. A cold transantarctic ocean current isolates the waters around Antarctica, and the continent becomes permanently frozen.
Pliocene Epoch
5-1.8 million years ago The emergence of the Isthmus of Panama changes ocean circulation patterns and coincides with the formation of an Arctic ice cap. Plate tectonic interactions result in the uplift of the Sierra Nevada, formation of the Cascade Range, and onset of strike-slip faulting on the San Andreas Fault. In Europe, the Alps continue to rise.
The global climates become cooler and drier.
Pleistocene Epoch
1.8 million-10,000 years ago This epoch is best known as the "Great Ice Age." Ice sheets and other glaciers encroach and retreat during four or five primary glacial periods. At its peak, as much as 30% of the Earth's surface is covered by glaciers, and parts of the northern oceans are frozen. The movement of the glaciers alters the landscape. Lakes, such as the Great Lakes in North America, are formed as ice sheets melt, and retreat. Global warming begins after the last glacial maximum, 18,000 years ago.
Holocene Epoch
10,000 years ago to the present
The Holocene Epoch may be an interval between glacial incursions, typical of the Pleistocene Epoch and therefore not a separate epoch in itself. However, it is a period marked by the presence and influence of Homo sapiens. During this time, the glaciers retreat, sea levels rise, the climate warms, and deserts form in some areas.
Personally, I would agree that there are natural cycles, but that we are accellerating the problems.
I just thought I'd ask here and see what people thought. To me the time period of the previous periods, versus the modern one would seem to be a hint. Also, I feel that I don't understand why it would be a bad idea to try to live more cleanly on renewable fuels, even if Global Warming is 100% natural.