Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On 13 Dec 2006 08:21:43 -0800, "Varis" wrote:

Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

I might also point out that this isn't the first time Arctic fields
have retreated - a little historical research on your part would find
that it might be part of a natural cycle stretching over hundreds of
years.
Maybe. According to Wikipedia - I know, it's the epitome of scientific
knowledge - we are currently living in an ice age that has lasted for
50 millions of years already. That is, we have large ice caps and
continental ice. In contrast, there have been long periods in Earth's
history where almost no perennial ice existed.

What is causing the current retreat of glaciers? It is very probable
that global warming is to a large part caused by greenhouse gases in
the athmosphere. How convincing is your evidence that the retreat is
not linked to global warming?

You should note that during the previous retreats, greenhouse gases
have likely been one contributing factor. Does this in turn prove that
you are incorrect, and the current retreat is ultimately caused by
greenhouse gases as well?

Hmmm - let me see - the Bering/Western Asian land bridge was submerged
by the melting of the Arctic Ice Cap because the nomadic peoples of
Western Asia drove too many Hummers across to populate North America.

Yep - makes perfect sense to me - Al Gore was right.

And I don't use Widipedia for much at all - how silly of me.
Tom,
The global warming and cooling, including the 3 major ice ages were
caused by many factors, including changes in land mass caused by
tectonic plates, and the resulting changes in water currents, change in
the salinity of the water due to increases and decreases in the amount
of ice, increase of CO2 caused by natural means, and many others
reasons. All of this does not mean that our current global warming is
not being aggravated by an increase of C02 caused by burning hydrocarbons.

The question is how much aggravation. If it is 0.0001% of the total of
green house gases it is not a problem, however, if it is 10% then it is
a problem. Which is it?

There are so many reasons why we should find ways to reduce pollution
and increase the efficiency of the energy we use, why do you think this
debate always focuses on an US vs THEM mentality?

Because we are the most advanced society on the planet.