Daily Kos: "Land of Enchantment" weighs in

[Q] Of all the issues on the Democrats' agenda for America, which one would you most like to see progress on?
[A] Climate change. All the other uglinesses---war, famine, rape, plunder, annoying neighbors, athlete's foot, torture, etc.---are terrible, but they've been with humanity throughout all of recorded history. I spent quite a bit of time scuba bumming around the Caribbean in the 80s. Witnessing a few episodes of coral bleaching put me on to it, before Al Gore's Earth in the Balance was published. That's a pretty good book to recommend even now. By the way, how come zero environmental diaries made the Daily Kos Rec List on Earth Day?

A Grand Experiment « the Air Vent

If the earth cools suddenly at the same time we’re cutting back on our fuel sources, you can bet there will be a few red faced politicians sitting on their brand new cap and trade money redistribution scam, it will be one more disaster to befall our already stretched to the breaking point global economy.

Imagine the world wide strife a little ice age will inflict when it returns (as it inevitably will). We’ll be sitting here with no nuke plants to keep us warm, an aged and near defunked petrochemical industry taxed to the brink and frost bitten crops which are far less mobile than tree lines or flocks of migrating birds. In that situation, one certainty is that everything will be in line with updated computer models showing global warming underlying a strong cooling signal and politicians who claim to have warned us so the ignorant brainwashed masses will vote for them.

Jennifer Marohasy » Pondering Problems with Computer Climate Models: A Note from Michael Hammer

The most reliable data is of course the most recent. Over the last century, from 1900 to 1940 we had significant warming with very little increase in carbon dioxide levels. From 1940 to 1975 we had strong cooling while carbon dioxide levels were increasing rapidly, from 1975 to 1998 both carbon dioxide and temperature were increasing significantly and now from 1998 to 2009 we have cooling while carbon dioxide levels continue to increase. That represents 40 years of no correlation, 46 years of negative correlation and 23 years of positive correlation. What possible rationale justifies claiming 23 years of positive correlation proves the AGW theory while ignoring 86 years of negative or zero correlation.

There are many others who are going back further into Earth’s historical record with more skill than I have. The reports I have seen suggest firstly that current temperatures are in no way abnormal, secondly that current carbon dioxide levels are also in no way abnormal and most importantly that the historical record shows little cause and effect between carbon dioxide level and temperature. This is significant evidence that needs to be evaluated carefully with a cool unbiased head. I would also suggest that the theoretical analysis from first principles can give very high quality answers and also warrants more attention.