Simply put, global warming is the increasing of the average worldwide temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and bodies of water. The term "global warming" in and of itself does not insinuate what is causing that warming to occur. There is no doubt whatsoever that global warming is currently taking place.

The next question we need to answer is, "How much is the Earth warming?" Reasonably dependable measurements have been made of global temperatures for about a century. During the last 100 years, the average global temperature has increased by 1.3° ± 0.32° Fahrenheit (0.74° ± 0.18° Celsius). Obviously, this is a very small change. In addition, global temperatures have been much warmer than today at many times in Earth's past. These factors account for the skeptical attitude on the part of some about whether global warming is really a problem or just a natural cycle. Again though, there's no doubt that the Earth has been warming for the past century.

Next we have to ask, "Are the activities of mankind causing global warming?" The answer to this question is difficult. There are many other factors besides mankind's activities that contribute to global warming. Many of those factors vary from year to year, decade to decade, century to century. And they don't all change for the good or bad at the same time. That makes determining their influence very difficult. Computer models have convinced the majority of scientists today, however, that mankind has significantly contributed to recent global warming.

So is the current level of global warming something to worry about? Well, there are some things we know for sure. Relatively small increases in global temperatures can cause significant changes in weather. The past decade, for example, has seen an increase in the strength of hurricanes. There's some evidence that ocean life is being harmed due to warmer water temperatures. Some species of land animals that are particularly sensitive to climatic changes are in danger of extinction. Rainfall/snowfall has been substantially greater in some parts of the world that already get too much and substantially less in parts that need the moisture desperately. There's no doubt that the polar ice caps have decreased in size, adding to the oceans' levels. This translates into the loss of coastal lands. These effects would, of course, be dramatically increased if global temperatures continue to rise.

In conclusion, the majority of the world's scientists believe that there is significant reason to be concerned. More so, they feel that action must be taken now in order to ensure that the situation does not become disastrous in the future. While the evidence that global warming might destroy our world is not conclusive, it is substantial and the potential harm is just to great to not take any action at all!

What's the worst case scenario? We only have to look next door to see an example of global warming gone wild! The planet Venus is the textbook example of the "runaway greenhouse effect". Venus' atmosphere is composed mainly of carbon dioxide, the very gas that mankind is adding to Earth's atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Venus' surface temperature is more than 750° Fahrenheit (400° Celsius)! Not very hospitable to life due to that factor alone! The "runaway greenhouse effect" has the potential to do the same thing to Earth. As the amount of carbon dioxide goes up in the atmosphere, heat is trapped and can't escape to space.

Up to a point, that effect is a good one. Without it, the Earth would be too cold for life as we know it. But as the percentage of carbon dioxide increases, so does the temperature. At the same time, the water on Earth would evaporate more intensely and the cloud cover would increase. Clouds also hold heat to the surface of the Earth, further increasing the surface temperature. At some point, the temperature goes wild and the Earth joins Venus as a planet like hell.

That's why we must take global warming seriously! To do otherwise would just be foolish. If we are wrong and global warming was not at all due to our actions, we simply hastened the day when we will use other sources of energy, recycle everything, and stop chopping down all the trees. Those things are likely to be done anyway, so why not speed it up a bit?

If our effect on global warming is substantial and we do nothing, there truly will be "hell" to pay!

Update:

There are now only a tiny spattering of scientists who don't agree that artificial climate change is taking place. Many of that teensy group admit to being on the payroll of an oil company, coal mining company, etc. Even as far back as 1994, the database at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI) was searched using the phrase "global climate change" and rendered 928 science articles that were published between 1993 and 2003. Not a single article out of the 928 disputed that global climate change was occuring. Where were the skeptic scientists' papers? Don't any of them publish? More likely there is no valid scientific data that shows global warming is a myth.

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