Originally Posted by Mahasattva

There are many (like Al Gore and some on this forum) who have made the assert that the science for man-made global warming is settled and we should act know. I disagree and there are many others who disagree and I shall proved a list at the end of this post.

Those who do not agree with the Algoreans , are those who accept global warming but do not believe human activity is the cause, it is a natural cycle or naturally occurring; there are those who believe that there is global warming but believe its effects will be positive rather than negative; and there are those who recognize that there has been a warming trend, but do not believe that this can determine future warming or cooling. I am talking about scientists not lay-persons.

One thing most of these individuals do agree upon is that any kind of policy like Kyoto or a Kyoto II or those recommended by the most recent IPCC would not stop global warming and would be very damaging to the world economies. Accepting policies like carbon caps or other dragonian restrictions to reduce carbon emissions would put a strangle on world economic development and will be strongly resisted by many nations. Both India and China have said that they will not accept any restriction that slow down their own growth. This is probably wise since the current understanding of the effects of these policies are that they will either not do anything to stop warming trends (if they are occurring) or will only delay the predicted warming of 2100 by 5 to 6 years. When we understand that this is at a cost of trillions for either nothing or a delay of 6 years, we must ask ourselves -- Can't our money and time be put to better use? I say yes.