[Gráinne]

I am a geologist by major. My thoughts:

"Global warming" can either mean the natural warming of the planet or the hypothesis that man is destroying the atmosphere and warming the planet by our own actions.

Earth has always had climate change, either cooler or warmer, most obviously in the Ice Ages. The Mesozoic era, when the dinosaurs dominated, was actually warmer than we are now.

Skipping way ahead to the early Middle Ages, before 1300, they too were a warm period which was historically marked by the first few Crusades, and great journeys and a general leap forward for civilizations. But starting about 1300 and certainly by 1340, we entered what is called the "Little Ice Age". The LIA was much cooler and damper. The poor climate and failed crops left Europe's population a sitting duck for the Black Plague, smallpox, syphillis, and you name it.

As an aside, the ravages on society due to these epidemics led to great social change as feudalism collapsed and a new middle class emerged. The Roman Catholic church, though very powerful, found competition in the rise of Protestantism due in part to people's disillusionment with a church powerless against disease. The roots of later revolution in France, the Holy Roman Empire, and ultimately Russia were sewn by governments failing to respond to people in crisis. Obviously, all of these effects had other causes but the climate factor is interesting.

The LIA lasted until about 1850, and we've been warming ever since. Realize that the Industrial Revolution, which got going about the same time, only affected a small part of the planet as a whole-western Europe and northeast America. Even today, we actually have more wilderness land in America than we did 60 years ago. Car and industrial emissions are much more tightly regulated than in the 1950's and 60's.

So, in short, we are warming but it's my belief that man is not the great influence on it. Call me cynical, but it's worth looking into just what the "scientists" are saying, and following the (big) money involved. I'm all for recycling and using our resources responsibly, of course, but climate change in itself is natural and our main responsibility is not to build in hazardous areas (easier said than done).