Over 95% of climatologist now believe that human activities are playing a significant role in the warming of planet and the changing climate. Many of the scientist who were doubters years ago have now come on board as Sue indicates. the evidence is becoming very one sided that Humans are at least partially responsible for the changes we will be seeing. There really is little debate in the scientific community anymore. Only in the political world, where agendas and not science are king, do people still fight about this or bring up old data that was unreliable.
Cleaning up the US has little impact as China and India are more than making up for any decrease you might see in the US or Europe.
I agree with old timer there needs to be some common sense here, targets set and goals reached over the next 10 years or so. But it has to be a worldwide effort. Unless China and India come on board with the West we won't see a lot of progress and the future looks to be pretty rocky for many in the underdeveloped countries and along the coasts.
Many are kind of like an alcoholic. The first step is to admit there is a problem. I want off Oil simply because I no longer want to fight wars in the Middle East and believe the only way to fix the US economy is to become energy self sufficient. We can never do that while we reamin on Oil as much as we do. we simply can't drill anywhere near enough to fix this even if it was smart to do so.
Reducing Oil use only has double positives for the West. The transfer of wealth from the US to OPEC is something we simply cannot afford any longer. OIl is not going away for a long time but I would love to see significant reductions in imported OIl over the next few years. Only way to do that is to begin the move to alternative fuels and funding of significant research. That is my hope as a solution to both the economy and the climate issue.
I really like the Pickens plan to move to Natural gas as a fuel but the political lobbies will not let it move forward.
Here is a great Quote
Doran and Kendall Zimmerman conclude that "the debate on the authenticity of global warming and the role played by human activity is largely nonexistent among those who understand the nuances and scientific basis of long-term climate processes." The challenge now, they write, is how to effectively communicate this to policy makers and to a public that continues to mistakenly perceive debate among scientists.
Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090119210532.htm
