There's nothing unique about your skepticism regarding Bible stories, Little Hawk. Nor does it necessarily show any great insight.

There are, indeed, Christians of the more fundamentalist nature who insist that the Bible is literal history, but it's not difficult at all to show that that position goes against all other evidence and simply defies common sense. This, of course, doesn't deter the "believers."

For every Christian I know who takes this literalist position, I know hundreds (yes, hundreds—some good friends, many just acquaintances) who hold that stories such as the Garden of Eden et al, Noah's Ark, Moses parting the Red Sea, and the whole repertoire, including such things as the virgin birth of Jesus and the physical ascent of Jesus to heaven are ALL allegories, metaphors, mythology, and folk tales. And this includes all the ministers, pastors, and a couple of bishops, whom I know personally. They base their Christianity on "What did Jesus say?"

Preachers on television? I give them about as much credence as people like Bill O'Reilly and others who have their heads up very dark places.

As to the subject of this thread (global warming), I read a lot of very bad astronomy on this thread. I'm appalled at the level of ignorance of things such as axial tilt, procession of the equinoxes, orbital mechanics, not to mention oceanography and meteorology and the other earth sciences, and the way people are blowing right past known facts to justify their skepticism, or simple refusal to consider global warming.

For example, variations in solar radiation and the increase in sunspot activity. The sun has an eleven year sunspot cycle. The cycle is approaching its maximum (2012), after which, it will ebb. The last maximum was in 2001. The next maximum will be in 2022. The sun has been doing this for billions of years. Nothing strange or unusual. And not related to global warming, which has a different cause.

I'm not a scientist, but science has been a hobby of mine since I was old enough to read, and I have taken a lot of science courses as electives in college. And I read a lot and stay current.

Years ago, the late Jacques Cousteau said that the plankton in the oceans is dying—being killed by pesticides washing into the oceans. Man made. And it may be of some interest that about 70% of the oxygen we breathe is made by the plankton in our oceans. That's only one of the detrimental effects that un-toilet-trained humans are having on the planet. We are fouling our nest.

The earth will survive. But will we?

That depends on what WE do. And within the next few decades.

Don Firth