At the end of 2006, CO2 levels were at 381 or 382 ppm, per the World Meteorological Organization or NOAA, repsectively. (See an article describing the WMO report here, http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSFLE36103820071123?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews and see the EPA reference the NOAA data here, http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/pastcc_fig1.html)

CO2 levels have risen 36 percent since a pre-industrial value of about 280 ppm, per the IPCC report and the Reuters story about the WMO cited above.

As you can see in this graph of CO2 levels over the last 650,000 years, this 36 percent spike is much higher than the cycles preceding it (http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/pastcc_fig1.html). Scientists have measured CO2 levels in ice cores going back 650,000 years, and also directly from stations on Mauna Loa in Hawaii and in Antarctica since 1958.

Even though CO2 and other greenhouse gases comprise a small percentage of the air, they are essential for keeping the planet warm enough for habitation. Without them, surface temperatures would be 60 degrees Fahrenheit cooler. (see http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/kids/greenhouse.html)

The key point here is that carbon dioxide levels now exceed the natural range of the last 650,000 years. At the same time that CO2 has spiked up by 36 percent, temperatures have also risen by 1.3 degrees F.

The main source of CO2 from human activities in the last 250 years has been from fossil fuels.

The 2007 IPCC report concluded with “very high confidence” (which means 90 percent certainty on their scale) that “the globally averaged net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming.”

For a good overview of climate change, see this EPA site, http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/index.html

For a graph of the Mauna Loa record, see http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.html

For info about the composition of air see http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth’s_atmosphere

The earth has warmed and cooled for eons. It will continue to do so. In fact, according to the data I find, we have been cooling for a few years now. Statistically there are no more and certainly no more violent hurricanes, tornadoes or any other type of storm than in the rest of recorded history.

Climate is. Weather is. We have insufficient data and tools to even get a grip on climate. In addition, we have no clue as to what the climate “should” be like. A little warming would be a boon to agriculture. A little cooling could spell disaster. We as humans are likely to experience a bit of both in the next thousand or so years.

Making economic and regulatory policy based on voodoo non-science will be a complete and total disaster. Millions will die and the culture we know will cease to exist.

Does anyone actually believe that folks like Al GOre and Barak Obama and Hiilary Clinton and George Bush and John McCain actually have any clue as to what the scientific method is? Or that they know how many bushels of wheat will be needed nexxt year? Or what heat will be “needed” next year in a factory in Moline? All of these folks are political hacks that will say and do anything to maintain power. They have little or no knowledge of any real subject and are not interested in learning. They are interested in hubris, ego and power. That is the nature of the politician.

There has never been, nor will there ever be, a successfully managed economy. And be sure you all understand, that is what all this is about. To frighten folks into accepting tyranical rule.

So once again I will do the math for you.

20% of 400 ppm is 80 millionths total effect of all CO2 in air (max).

Most of these AGW/AGCC guys claim that CO2 has gone up 100 ppm in the last hundred years.

If the earth is 1 degree warmer today than 100 years ago, guess what … 20 millionths of that can be attributed to the increase. (100 ppm * 20% * 1 degree)

Debunking the whole Man Made CO2 thing, really, is no more complicated than that.

I’m not sure what you mean by “high climate sensitivity,” but we can’t ignore the fact that CO2 levels are the highest they’ve been in 650,000 years — and that we’ve pumped those levels up mostly in the last 250 years. And that CO2 levels historically correlate with temperature.

Also, I’m not sure which papers and events you are referring to.

RW