Ask500

Type in "global warming" in the search box at the to[ right of the page. You will find reams of material already posted on this site about this question.

I do think that people are polluting the atmosphere and creating global warming, but I also think that the world is going through a stage of heating-cooling that it has gone through since the begining of time. Example: Ice Age. But ultimmatley I think that people are giving off too much carbon dioxide and causing this.

I was more skeptical in the past, but having seen much of the evidence I now accept that AGW is the most likely explanation. The strident cries of "fraud" and "hoax" only serve to turn me away from the denialist argument, because baseless accusations are the last refuge of the ignorant. If people have dissenting opinions and evidence to back them up then there is a mechanism by which they can be heard, it's called "publishing in peer reviewed journals". Odd, I don't see them doing that.

Climate has become a highly politicised issue, making it nutritious fodder for the media machine which, a brief perusal of many media outlets will show, often creates controversy by poor reporting and misrepresentation. And I don't mean just anti-AGW media. By reducing the complexities to the lowest common denominator, by reporting as fact mere conjecture, by focussing on dire worst case scenarios they paint scientists as guessmaking doomsayers. Which is not to say scientists are entirely blameless; they need to communicate more effectively to non-experts both their methods and findings. Without understanding it's easy to be taken in by things which sound all sciency and shit - case in point: AiG.