[BB_Eye]

Nobody is saying that the surface temperature of the Earth doesn't fluctuate naturally, but I'm pretty convinced there is a strong correlation between the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and the Earth's surface temperature. There is probably not much to be gained from us debating it though. None of us are geologists. But I would rather take the side of caution, given just how potentially dangerous and destructive global warming could be. Our Earth is the only possible source of intelligent life for a radius of at least 4 light years (the distance of the nearest star system from ours, Alpha Centauri). And that's before we can even think of just how unlikely an accident we are. Destroying ourselves would be an unimaginable tragedy and not merely on a human scale.

Even if I were wrong, there are plenty more reasons to look for renewable energy sources. We are living on borrowed time, because of our dependence on fossil fuels not only for electricity generation, but also for plastics, make-up, etc. Once we run out, say goodbye to our current comfortable lifestyles.

I personally don't buy the skeptics' conspiracy theory anyway. It's the sort of thing that sells papers and earns money for half-arsed newspaper columnists and bloggers and protects the reputation of international energy companies, but that's just my opinion.