If this is the standard of scientific enquiry in this country, we should all be concerned. Global warming is occuring - trust us. We had more storms this year than in the 50's...blah blah.

Other gems of note "What is causing climate to change? The answer, in large part, is us. Most of the global warming of the past 50 years is due to human activities. "

This begs the question - what is causing global warming in small part that IS NOT US?

Even before the Industrial revolution, thriving societies, Carthage springs to mind, were destroyed by the effects now attributed to global warming. 6000 years ago, much of Northern England was heavily forested, but global warminging has changed the landscape and reduced the forestation in that part of the world.

Perhaps the question the CSIRO (wasn't there a scandal about them talking about this in public not long ago?) should be raising is why is the earth so cold during this period. 20 Million years ago, Antarctica was covered in vegetation (http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1685513.htm), and it's movement has been minimal. For carbon to be deposited in oil and coal it must at one time been free.

There is more to this than we are being told.

I'm in two minds about global warming - not that its occurring of course, but whether it is such a bad thing. Great climate fluctuations in the past have casued the extinction and rise of species and perhaps this is just more of the same. If it is being caused by us (and our plague-like numbers) then perhaps it is time the eath became far less hospitable to the human race, which may go down in the fossil record as one of the most short-lived and destructive species to have inhabited our planet.

It is impossible to educate people who are already convinced they know it all. Economic fundamentalists and their well rewarded apologists will continue to resurrect long dead red herrings (see Narcisist, Bob Carter, IPA etc), and with fat-arsed Australia continuing to vote for Thatcher-lite its obvious who they choose to believe.

The immortal faith that progressives have in reason and dialogue is just another rationalisation for doing sweet f. all as they too benefit from wars for oil and sh*tting all over the future. Relax, you're soaking in it.

I don’t think were ever going to be wiped out, short of a complete global catastrophe which wipes out all life on this planet (except for maybe the cockroaches and bacteria).

There is evidence to suggest that yes, we are causing global warming, and that yes, it is a bad thing. However, there is also evidence to the contrary, suggesting that the earth has fluctuations in its mean temperature and that the temperature rises and falls like the tides.

We are about 10,000 years over due for another ice age, which ironically will be one of the first major noticeable effects of global warming (since the gulf stream will stop, thus warm waters from the tropics / equatorial regions will cease to warm the north Atlantic)... so this could in fact be evidence that we have minimal effect on the planet as a whole.

Should we cut down on our carbon emissions? Of course we should.
Should we stop using so much fossil fuel? yes.
Do these factors contribute to the rise of global temperatures? There isn’t enough evidence either way to make assumptions

Paul,
We have the technology we know what should be done, the only thing lacking is the political will.

Well, on the lighter side, if we have global warming - how come it's so darned cold today!
Seriously, the world is now overpopulated. We all pollute- just by being here. We all need to realise that, and stop further increases (wordwide!) before the whole world is living in poverty - then what use was all that 'economic growth', or all those statistics mentioned in the article above!
An example is farming marginal land in Australia, such as the Mallee. Fantastic returns for a few years, but it couldn't be sustained.