Not a real easy question Tim.... As far as im aware its melting glaciers and ice in the north and south, since the warming effect is more profound the closer you get to the poles. there are probably many factors the take into account, from ice cores all the way up to the atmospheric composition. The one thing that causes run away warming is methane, which is something like 10 times more potent of a greenhouse gas then CO2. Methane pockets have already begun to pop.

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/081203/full/news.2008.1275.html (2008)

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21830-release-of-arctic-methane-could-accelerate-warming.html

http://phys.org/news186920485.html

[I really want to warming to continue. 😀

Me too Tim, im agree with these graphics. But like Canadianplant said, we don t know the effects of these raising temp. in the upper atmosphere . And does all these amount of fresh water du to the melting ice will change the gulfstream pattern. I hope not. Hope that all these ppm of carbon dioxide and methane will reduce the cooling 😕
Ben

As usual... 😆

http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=18761.0

All you have to do is look at the graphs, even the ones Tim posted. The temps, even when going cold, or warm never do a simple drop or rise in a straight line. There will be deviations from the norm as extreme highs, as well as drops to a relative normal. One year does not reflect the last 50 years of the warming trend when you graph the temps. This is the most "normal" year ive seen in the last 15 years or so here

I'm a firm believer that we don't understand the cause(s) of climate change yet. The CO2 theory is just a theory in my opinion. Just because the CO2 theory 'makes sense' doesn't mean it's the cause of global warming. I think there are other factors we just don't understand yet.

Things to ponder.....
I've noticed that the Dwarf Alberta Spruce's in our area are breaking mutation and going back to the 'normal form' all over the place....................hmmmmmmmm............what's causing that? It was a rare sight to see them breaking mutation 20 years ago. Could this be the same cause of climate change??? 😕 Pehaps it's the excess CO2? or is it something else like type/amount of radiation penetrating our atmosphere?? Could it be all the nuclear bombs which were tested?? hmmmmmm.....makes you think. 😕

Dwarf alberta spruce have a tendancy to revert. Since most plant we grow are clones, it isnt going to take long before a not so common problem, becomes so.

Even if the planet is naturally warming, that does not mean out CO2 output means nothing. If anything, our CO2 output is making any natural warming worse. We are constantly pumping it into the atmosphere and its increasing every year worldwide. There is also a difference between natural wobbles in the earth causing glaciation or volcanoes ending a snowball earth and us burning fossil fuels like they have no end and degrading ecosystems which cause a rise in CO2. Even if you take our machines that run on petroleum products out of mind, you still have the fact we have cut down roughly half the worlds forests, and those that have regrown are generally secondary growth, (not as productive). One of the main users of CO2 is pretty much half working.

It is an unfortunate truth that the odds are we wont know how the climate works completely. We also dont fully understand gravity, yet we can still escape its grasp and get to space. All evidence points to warming in general, and I should add I write ths after 20cm of snow, and -10C temps! Plant and animal species are already moving further up mountains, or further north and ice caps are melting faster and moreso than anytime after the end of the last ice age.

There are definitely factors we dont know yet. No scientist would disagree (me either 😀 ) but the evidence our activities are affecting the climate is piling up more and more. Again, there is no argument that the climate is changing (generally warming), the real argument is why. I think the problem may be there are many things causing the change, and we seem to be trying to pin it on 2 or 3.