Exc. post Bob. I too have friends mentioned on the Forecast the Facts page, but I still feel that this campaign is not helpful. Education and separating the scientific reality of the problem from the political question of doing something about it is the better way forward.

Nicely written. I do question why you have picked the arctic Ice coverage and not mention the Antarctic ice coverage or Total ice coverage. Also, the chart of CO2 concentration really should have a different scale. It starts at 310 rather than zero. The one additional thing that I would have be interested in seeing is proposed 'next steps" are needed to confirm or disprove Global warming - man-made or otherwise. Too many people think the science questions have been all answered.

Scientists = skeptics? Don't scientists believe in theories which they hold to be true even if they are not proven? Almost ever one I know realizes that there is global warming, it started some 12,000 or so years ago. We will all be extremely when the scientists finally finish finding new meaningless tests and accept that the earth is in a warming cycle. It's not that I disagree with the fact that carbon dioxide is contributing to global warming, I'm sure it is. Consider this, what is likely to heat the surface air more. A. A more transparent atmosphere 10 miles above the surface or B. Darkening the actual surface upon which the sun shines. Personally I would go with B. Consider the rise in temperatures and compare that to the amount of increased surface which has been being turned black over the last 100 years. Roads and roof tops not only act as heat exchangers during the day but they continue to heat the air during the night. With all the factors working together I am sure that our planet is getting warmer faster than ever before. It is also possible that it will get warmer than ever before. My point is that reducing our carbon output isn't enough, we must make a change to our building materials as well.

Superb article, Bob! I totally agree that FtF is well intentioned but its approach is overkill and likely to backfire in terms of unnecessarily increasing the degree of polarization. That being said, I believe the AMS should have a role in insisting that broadcasters (at least those with the AMS Seal) do not deliberately misrepresent, distort, or bias scientific "facts" to suit some personal agenda - regardless of which side of the"debate" they are on. One can agree, disagree, or be "agnostic" with interpretation of the totality or individual components of available empirical and model based evidence (for or against), but must be open minded with regard to all new information regardless of wherever it might lead. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, some would not accept the reality of global warming - as I've said before - you could fry an egg on the pavement of Fairbanks - in winter. Now that's a Fact!

Loved the information but isn't it a bit short sighted? I mean this global warming thing is a cycle isn't it? When does it end and global cooling start? I can't wait for longer winters with more snow so I can get more use out of my new snowboard.

Well the warming sure is not a straight line and "natural" factors sure are part of what is happening. However the general trend is heading in one direction as are observations such as the increasing concentration of CO2, increasing ocean acidification and decreasing arctic ice extent. These observations do confirm some of the earliest climate projections from the 1960s.