For those interested enough, there is an article on coal and CO2 in the current issue of The Atlantic, pages 64 - 78, by James Fallows. If this thread gets revived at some future date, that's the December, 2010 issue, vol. 306, no. 5. The article discusses the causes and rate of change and its effects. There is also an article on Freeman Dyson, one of the major climate change deniers.