as a complete scientific novice it appears to me , from the ammended graph of the last 600 years or so supposedly based on tree rings ,that there is a strong possibility that the climate is about to get colder again in the short term .Also in the longer term we could well be at the top of the 100,000 year temperature cycle and about to start heading back down any time from now on.As far as the next 3 million years is concerned I think that asteroid collisions and major volcanic events probably constitute a far greater risk to the human race than global warming.I live in the north of Scotland ,an area potentially very vulnerable to any change in the gulf stream otherwise known as the atlantic conveyor can any readers tell me of the short term prognosis regarding this natural phenomenon.Finally I think there is a considerable political angle to this whole debate and this is an area that has not been aired much.For example the anti globalisation movement that would like to see import barriers to protect their farmers, labour markets , and top heavy governments would find the global warming thesis manna from heaven..

We are in the middle of a 'fear culture' at the moment. Kids as young as 11 are openly petrified that the world will overheat and burn up in 30 years. I teach maths and science at secondary level and even the dullest GCSE student (UK) realises the presentation of facts regarding man-made global warming don't stack up. We know CO2 is a very heavy gas; it is only 0.03% of atmospheric gases; water vapour is far more influential as a greenhouse gas than CO2 will ever be; we all know that kids during Henry VIII reign would have experienced a 10 degree F rise in tempereature. As one not - very - sharp kid said to me ' how come the ice age disappeared?' Answer. The planet warmed up. People are seriously confusing global pollution with man-made global warming and there is far to little accurate presentation of facts. Ask anyone in the street how much CO2 is in the air and they are influenced by computer graphic images of a thick blanket of gas surrounding us ( yes, thanks for nothing, David Attenborough for your outrageous programme on global warming in UK ). It's time to fight back and present facts, not computer generated models. I hate to admit it but perhaps President Bush is right