There are a lot of folks out there who believe that global warming is some new phenomenon and that due to mankind's burning of fossil fuels, the world will heat up and make life here very uncomfortable. They also believe that there is something (costly I might add) that we as humans can do to slow it, stop it, and/or reverse it.
Consider this: The fact that the earth has been warming for quite some time now is nothing new. About 15,000 years ago, if you were sitting in West Central Ohio, the ice above you would be between one-half and one mile high. We've been warming ever since. At that time, the world was about 30% covered in ice. It is down to 10% now.
For most of the 6 billion year history of the earth, it was mostly a very hot place. It ranged from a very inhospitable place to a not-so-bad climate. We are now living in one of the few spells of the latter. In the last 2.5 million years (that's only four one hundredths of one percent) there have been no fewer than seventeen severe glacial episodes. We can expect several more. At several times during earth's history, the entire planet was nearly entirely covered with ice, and was nothing if not one big ice ball. This is according to Bill Bryson, author of A Short History of Nearly Everything.
None of the aforementioned episodes had anything to do with mankind's interference.
So, weather happens. There isn't anything we can do to stop it.
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