Yeah, Doug, I remember the prediction of a new ice age. There was an article about it in Smithsonian Magazine some years back. Rather than due to alterations in atmospheric conditions, it was an astronomical phenomenon—the procession of the equinox, which is a 26,000 year cycle. If nothing intervenes (which is bloody unlikely, unless we can figure out a way to change the 23 degree inclination of the earth's axis, which wouldn't really be a good idea, considering the other effects this could produce), we can expect the onset of a new ice age in approximately 6,000 years. With than much advanced notice, we should be able to make more than adequate provisions for the eventuality. Provided we don't just sit around for the next six millennia saying, "The jury is still out."   

But the current evidence for global warming is manifest, and if allowed to continue unabated, the inevitable result is the runaway greenhouse effect. The questions are, how much momentum has it got so far, and can it even be stopped if we take immediate action?

I recall an animated cartoon I saw some decades back:   I think if was pre-Roadrunner, but it definitely had the Chuck Jones touch. The protagonist was Bugs Bunny, and the villain was either Wile. E. Coyote or his twin brother. The coyote is sitting in a dynamite shack, preparing booby traps for Bugs. He's hollowing out a bunch of carrots and he's stuffing them with dynamite. So intent on his task is he that he doesn't notice that, outside, Bugs has hitch a tractor to the shack and is dragging it into a position where it's sitting on railroad tracks. As the coyote bores a hole in another carrot and prepares to stuff a stick of dynamite into it, he hears a train whistle. Close. Very close! He goes to the window, looks out, sees the headlight of a locomotive bearing down on him very, very fast! He looks out at the audience with a wimpy little expression as beads of perspiration pop out on his forehead, then he reaches over and pulls the blind down. KA-BOOM!!!

Some folks are very much like that coyote.

Don Firth