Whilst I'm all in favour of everyone using fossil fuels as economically as possible, and reducing as much as we can the pollution of our planet, I find the intolerant attitude of global warming enthusiasts towards other people who are not true believers rather disquieting. The implication that they have all the answers displays a remarkably arrogant approach to the issue.
Computer models of the climate do not take the indirect effects of solar activity into account when calculating the change in global climate. Human activity counts for about 5% of carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere each year, yet the sun accounts for all of the energy striking the Earth and driving it's climate, ocean currents and atmosphere.
There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support the argument that the main driver of global temperature is solar activity. When Erik the Red founded his settlements in Greenland over 1000 years ago the temperatures there were considerably higher than in the present day; this coincided with high levels of sunspot activity. Likewise, the "little ice age" of the late 17th century occurred when there was remarkably little solar activity.
Despite what the climate change industry would have us believe, we just don't know how the Earth’s climate really changes over time, nor how changes in solar activity drive climate change. From a scientific point of view I find the intolerance towards alternative opinion totally unacceptable.
Oh, and the recent VW scandal shows how obsession with only one aspect of pollution (CO2) can lead our political masters to encourage us all to drive diesel cars, totally ignoring all the other (maybe far worse) toxic pollution that they produce.
I started out many years ago as a AGW skeptic, and as time has gone past I have become more and more persuaded by the weight of the evidence.
I always found it disturbing that many of the denialist/skepticarguments seemed to me to be driven by an unwillingness to change or to consider treading lightly on the planet - something which always seemed to me good engineering practice.
The solar activity argument is interesting. If solar activity is driving the proportion of atmospheric CO2, what is the mechanism that causes this to increase whilst total solar output has been decreasing, which is what is happening?
But we all have our own stances on this, whatever we as individuals do is likely to have no overall effect, and so the way I see it we just have to find a path through life that allows us to sleep at night with a clear conscience.
