Just to throw in my personal opinions, there is no controversy regarding global warming. Global warming is, indeed, a fact. The controversy is in the causes. The so called liberals (for lack of a better term) are quick to blame everything on mankind and the industrial nations. The conservatives (another lack) are just as quick to deny that. The truth, I believe, lies somewhere in the middle.

Let's start with the ozone layer. Heard much about that lately? I can't say that I have. Know why? When scientists found that hole in the ozone layer some immediately started screaming about chlorofluorocarbons destroying the ozone layer. Despite the fact that they had virtually no knowledge of the mechanics of the ozone layer and despite the fact that NO ONE has been able to come up with a valid method for introducing CFC's into an atmospheric level that high. The damned things are heavier than air! They drop to the ground. Then came the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines. That one eruption blew a hole in the ozone layer 5 times the size of the one over Antarctica! Mankind's fault?

What about greenhouse gases? True, industry and personal uses of oil and such are contributing. But how much, really? The so-called environmentalists will readily display data showing how many TONS of CO2 and methane are dumped into the atmosphere each year by mankind. What they don't generally show you is how small that total is compared to NATURALLY occurring gases. Again, a single volcanic eruption can put out more CO2 in a single DAY than man does in a year. And a large part of that CO2 is absorbed into the ocean where it is used by marine plant life to produce ... wait for it... OXYGEN!

The planet is warming, no question about it. But the scientists haven't been studying this kind of phenomena for very long, in a geologic sense. Data they have recovered from ice cores and ocean bottom cores shows that what we are seeing now is not that uncommon. So why must we blame ourselves?

I remember when Hurricane Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans, all of the TV reporters where asking any scientists they could corner whether global warming could have caused Katrina to become so strong. EVERY weather expert they asked scoffed at the idea, saying that the increase in surface water temperature was not high enough to cause a SIGNIFICANT increase in wind speeds, not more than one or two MPH. Then someone got the brilliant idea to ask an "environmentalist" and guess what he answered? "ABSOLUTELY! There's no question that global warming made the hurricane MUCH stronger." From that point on the ONLY quote you heard on the mainstream news was that one!

The following year all the "environmental experts" were preaching doom and gloom about the monstrous hurricanes which were going to be heading our way. The weather experts hedged there bets and predicted an above average number of hurricanes. In reality, the total was significantly BELOW average. And remember, the number of hurricanes which are counted to get that average includes ONLY those which were discovered. Before satellite imaging many hurricanes which never came near land went totally unreported.

So, can we do anything about global warming? In all likelihood, damned little if anything. Sure, we can cut back on our consumption of fossil fuels. What shall we use instead? Any kind of energy manufacture is sure to upset someone. By far the cheapest and most efficient is nuclear. Just try getting THAT past the greens! Wind power can provide some energy, but it's unreliable, expensive and nowhere near capable of providing enough power for man's needs. The same goes for hydroelectric. And in the end, chances are it will do precious little good.

Mankind may be heading for it's own version of the KT boundary. Whether through his own doing or through nature's the end may be closer than we think. And to be honest, some days I believe it can't get here soon enough.