One of my pet peeves is when people refer to warmer days as evidence of Global Warming. Global Warming refers to change in climate, which is not something that you will notice because there are is a week or two of warm weather, especially since the average temperature is only projected to increase somewhere between 5 and 12 degrees by 2100.

You don't notice global warming because it is warmer outside.

A potential effect of global warming that you could notice is increased variability in the weather, which could explain why it changes  between hot and cold so quickly, and why the climate is less variable.

To add to this comment, can one trust scientists?  Yes there are scientists that have an agenda and they may pick either side of the argument (yes there is global warming, no there is not global warming).  I personally hate the term global warming, I prefer climate change.  There well be part of the earth that can get colder. there well be areas that will get dryer or wetter, etc.  Scientists a hundred years from now can look at todays weather and determine if it was part of a 'global warming' trend or an el nino trend or part of the 23 million year temperature cycle, etc.  

In the case of the NOAA scientist, I believe that he is right.  Of course I will never know if he is right or wrong because I will be dead long before the hundred years are up.

Umbra did a very eloquent job of describing the scientific method.  If you are interested in how science works as an institution, you should read the classic book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn.

Umbra - Thanks for the discussion of the scientific process. It seems a good portion of the general public does not understand the rigor of science; progress in the field relies acutely on peer review. An idea won't make it far unless it: a) has substantial quantitative support and b) is supported by independent efforts by other scientists. However, a confused understanding of science is perpetuated by the mainstream media, which thrives on generating the illusion of controversy (e.g. both sides of a scientific issue are given equal weight even if 99% of scientists accept a theory and the 1% of dissenters are not even trained in the relevant field).
As for the NOAA scientist, depending on what he said precisely, it is more correct to attribute this season's weather patterns to El Nino. Climate change is a broader-scale trend that really cannot be invoked to explain single weather events. However, scientists have predicted that climate change is/will be characterized by more frequent, more intense ENSO (El Nino/La Nina) cycles. That said, it would be disingenuous to disallow that climate change is related to ENSO events given results of current research. For those interested, realclimate.org is a site run by climate scientists aimed at disseminating climate science, not politics, to the general public. That is more than NOAA can do under the current administration.

The good thing about Global Heating is that will put more fresh water into our environment.   This will make all today's pollution seem trivial.

The only way that 9 billion people can inhabit the Earth is for all those glaciers to melt, and vast new arable land become available.

We should all buy bigger cars or just let the lawnmower run overnight to increase CO2.  

Luckily, it has nothing to do with us...yet we will benefit.

"As a greenie/leftie I got angry,"

Why are statements like this tolerated?  Comments such as this one are upsetting, and I thank Umbra for setting WAW straight.  Far, far too often, liberals that I interact with have nothing more sophisticated than knee-jerk reactions to current events and modern issues.  Again and again, I hear Bush, Rupublicans, business, etc. are bad - end of story - while anything anti-Bush, Democratic, or "green" is praised and there is no actual consideration of the facts or background story.  Debate is a necessity of our civil society and those who vociferously jump to conclusions without being informed interfere with rational decision making.  Ignorant, extremist rhetoric on the left is no more palatable than it is on the right.

So, rather than whining about imagined right-wing conspiracies in the media, educate yourself about the issues so you don't waste your time on non-starters and are ready to speak up when your knowledgable voice is really necessary.  And leave the science to the scientists.

Tim Bartholomaus

Boulder, CO

That el nino may be causing warmer temperatures here is pretty accurate, but to say global warming isn't causing them?
There's no proof it isn't. The warmer temperatures don't prove global warming, but nobody has proven they are not caused in some way by it. To say there is no evidence they are caused by global warming, or that they've seen no evidence they are caused by it, is one thing - but to rule it out as a cause can't be done conclusively.