First and foremost, understand that we're talking about effects by greenhouse gases on long wave infrared radiation coming from the Earth. It has very little to do with incoming radiation from the Sun. Do some research on the Greenhouse Effect and tell us why that is the case if you like.  It struck me as amazing that some people were happy to talk about climate change but they didn't grasp that one basic fact.

You could try the sticky thread on this board.

Then there is Stephen Schneider's Site:

http://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/

and Real Climate: (edit - I guess I'd better give you the url)
http://www.realclimate.org/

If you really want to get immersed in the mathematics, there is a climatology textbook online too. Let me know and I'll find it for you. You don't really need to get into that unless you want to understand things like radiative forcing and general circulation modelling in depth.

We've also had many lively discussions on here with people who have been sucked in by the climate astroturfing industry.

Wow, thanks Muso. Do you know any good books for a Global Warming greenhorn such as myself as well? I'm really interested in understanding the fundamental principles that the science is constructed upon (perhaps not as in depth as to comprehend the actual mathematical models), because I want to see if the arguments made by many of the skeptics actually match up with the science, and don't just obfuscate and misrepresent, as is so common with the sciences that I am primarily interested in (evolutionary theory, HBD and psychometrics).

Here are some of the arguments I've heard frequently from skeptics:

1) Urban Heat Island

Something like, the actual measurements of temperatures in various regions are skewed, because urban areas generate heat and the stations used to measure temperatures are often located in urban areas.

2) Positive/Negative feedback

Climate, like most known systems in the Universe, is one characterised by negative feedback. It is stable and temperatures will not spiral out of control because of this.

3) Fluctuations in solar activity is resulting in a warming planet, not human activity

4) It snowed yesterday.. in Mt. Isa?!?! How can the planet be warming up if this is the case?

The last one is particularly absurd; if I understand the principles better, maybe I'll find why the other arguments are ridiculous too. I'm sure if there really is a "urban heat island" though, its effects would just be corrected for.

This is a unique situation for me, as I'm rarely on the side of liberals. Then again, I'm rarely on the side of "conservatives" either, and I don't see any reason why we should sideline the truth; even if doing so may compromise the ideological paradigms we desire to apply to the world.

Awesome, checking out the Amazon.com reviews now. You can always get a laugh by reading some of the */***** reviews of books on Amazon.

It is not always a liberal issue, Muso; indeed, it should not be a political issue at all, but the reality is that it has become one. From my experiences, those that identify as politically conservative tend to be doubtful of it as an actual phenomeon, or at least one being driven by human activity, while "liberals" believe the opposite. Conservative opposition and denial may stem from some perception that its acknowledgement may compromise their existing ideological paradigms. Maybe 'conservatives' are just more likely to accept the arguments of the skeptics because of these internal biases? I think most, if not all, people pick their arguments this way. I know I do.. just a little

Figures show hottest June on record

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded on Earth, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said overnight.

The combined global land and ocean surface temperature data also found the January-June and April-June periods were the warmest on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Centre, which based its findings on measurements that go back as far as 1880.

In June, the combined average for global land and ocean temperatures was 16.2 degrees Celsius, 0.68C more than the 20th century average of 15.5C.

Temperatures warmer than average spread throughout the globe in recent months, most prominently in Peru, in the central and eastern United States and in eastern and western Asia, according to NOAA.

In contrast, cooler-than-average conditions affected Scandinavia, southern China and the US north-west.

The Beijing Climate Centre found that Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Jilin experienced their warmest June since records began in 1951, while Guizhou saw its coolest June ever.

Spain's nationwide temperatures made June the coolest in 13 years, according to its meteorological surface.

Global ocean surface temperatures averaged 0.54C above last century's average of 16.4C - the fourth warmest June since records began. The Atlantic Ocean saw the most pronounced warmth, NOAA said.

The average land surface temperature that month was 1.07C more than the 20th century average of 13.3C.

Meanwhile, sea surface temperatures were declining throughout the equatorial Pacific Ocean, in line with the end of El Nino, a climate pattern that lasts an average of five years during which unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean move east.

NOAA's Climate Prediction Centre forecast that La Nina conditions, where ocean waters in the east-central equatorial Pacific are unusually cool, would likely develop during the northern hemisphere summer this year.
Link -
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/16/2955397.htm?section=justin
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muso wrote on Jul 16^th, 2010 at 9:16pm:


In my opinion, humble or not, if we do not take suitable measures (quickly) to mitigate the risks that the majority of scientists are telling us about, then it is very possible that we may un-necessarily endanger future future generations & perhaps even the human species!

We willingly pay insurance premiums, to mitigate the worst affects of some known risks that are relatively minor, compared to Climate Change.

But, for what may well turn out to be our greatest crisis, we are greeted with what borders on total in-action.

Isn't human nature wonderful?

But, for what may well turn out to be our greatest crisis, we are greeted with what borders on total in-action.

Isn't human nature wonderful?
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I bet it is for the same reasons  behind as  to why we idealize the 'wrong' people and their  'lifestyles' sadly.