Are we heading for an ice age or global warming.?

Question

10 years ago these 'experts' were telling us that we were heading for an ice age.

98% of the world's carbon dioxide is produced by ocean creatures.

Who's right?

Answer 1

CO2 is 30% higher than it has been for 650,000 years. Methane is 130% greater. These are two of the main pollutants humans put into the atmosphere in excess, and they are two of the primary greenhouse gases.

Look at the 'hockeystick', which shows a dramatic warming since 1950 after a fairly stable climate for 1000 years. In fact, the 10 hottest years in recorded history have all happened since 1990, with 2005 being the hottest, and 2006 is shaping up to maybe break that record.
(see links below)

How's that for proof of man's fault in this? There is ample proof, any real scientist will tell you that.

There has NEVER been an article doubting man's influence on global warming published in a peer-reviewed journal. A recent study of almost 1000 proved that.

Yes, the earth naturally heats and cools, but the rate and amount we are warming now is unprecedented in the recent geologic past. We are doing this, and we must stop it. This is not some political statement or rhetoric. This is science trying to educate a crass, ignorant public of the damage they are doing. The magnitude of temperature increase ALREADY is about 10x that of the 'little ice age' of the middle ages, and rate and amount are only going up.

Just to be clear, glacial and interglacial cycles are mainly controlled by astronomical fluctuations, but we have a detailed record of the last 7 cycles, and what the climate and CO2 is doing now is way different and extreme. The rate of increase is much higher than in the past AND the value itself is much higher.

HI CO2:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4467420.stm
HOCKEY STICK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5109188.stm
General climate stuff:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3897061.stm

Answer 2

If you are going to quote a figure like "98% of" you should also give the source of your figures!

Also, it is not "either / or". Global warming can lead into a resulting ice age:

"There are 14 or more temperature "spikes" in the time between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago recorded in the glacial ice of Greenland and the Antarctic. These spikes all show a warming of about 10 degrees C in a about one decade followed by a plateau of up to 20 years and then a dramatic cooling of about 20 degrees C in about one to two decades. Some spikes are greater or lesser and exact time values vary, but all are major spikes compared to the stability in the recent 8000 to 10,000 years. We have had less than 2 degrees C maximal change and that over several decades, with generally century long trends rather than any such extreme and rapid changes. "

Check the link for further discussion. My husband, an ecologist working with The Nature Conservancy, says it is actually "Catastrophic Global Climatic Change" -- but that just doesn't have the "ring" of Global Warming, so that is what everyone tends to call it.

Answer 3

More than likely, global warming. I saw on the news a few days ago that holes in the ozone layer are getting as big as Australia.
This means that more of the suns rays will penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. Thus, it will get hotter.

That's my opinion.
Hope that helps.