keeping warm...

 — Stephen L, nakedcapitalism.com

"[...] Humans are currently emitting around 30 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
Oxygen levels are falling as if carbon is being burned to create carbon dioxide.
Fossil carbon is building up in the atmosphere. (We know this because the two types of carbon have different chemical properties.)
Corals show that fossil carbon has recently risen sharply.
Another two observations show that CO2 is trapping more heat:
     Satellites measure less heat escaping to space at the precise wavelengths which CO2 absorbs.
     Surface measurements find this heat is returning to Earth to warm the surface.
     The last four indicators show that the observed pattern of warming is consistent with what is predicted to occur during greenhouse warming:
     An increased greenhouse effect would make nights warm faster than days, and this is what has been observed. If the warming is due to solar activity, then the upper atmosphere (the stratosphere) should warm along with the rest of the atmosphere. But if the warming is due to the greenhouse effect, the stratosphere should cool because of the heat being trapped in the lower atmosphere (the troposphere). Satellite measurements show that the stratosphere is cooling.
     This combination of a warming troposphere and cooling stratosphere should cause the tropopause, which separates them, to rise. This has also been observed. It was predicted that the ionosphere would shrink, and it is indeed shrinking
     Often one hears claims that the attribution of climate change is based on modeling, and that nobody can really know its causes. But here we have a series of empirical observations, all of which point to the conclusion that humans are causing the planet to warm."
— Skeptical Science
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the new dark ages

"Sen. John Barrasso is no stranger to science. The Wyoming Republican is an orthopedic surgeon who earned his medical degree from Georgetown University. His rigorous intellect won him Washingtonian magazine’s designation last year as the 'brainiest senator,' based on an anonymous survey of Capitol Hill staffers.
     Which is why Barrasso’s reaction when a reporter recently asked his views on climate change was so telling. On his way to the weekly Senate GOP luncheon in the Capitol building, Barrasso paused in an empty hallway to chat. When a reporter said, 'Senator, can I ask you a question about climate change?' he fell silent and his eyes narrowed. 'I’m busy,' he snapped, before turning sharply and striding away.
[...] recent reports from the National Academy of Sciences show that the data and consensus on the principles of climate change are stronger than ever. The reports have concluded that increasing levels of carbon dioxide, produced primarily by burning coal and oil, are trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.
     A November scientific report by the Nobel Prize-winning United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes those rising temperatures will, over the next century, bring an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves, heavy precipitation, hurricanes, droughts, floods, and rising sea levels. [...]
     Freshman Rep. Allen West of Florida, a leading voice in the House’s Tea Party Caucus, was also unequivocal: 'I believe in climate change—winter, spring, summer, or fall,' he said. 'Do you believe climate change is causing the Earth to become warmer?' he was asked. 'No,' he responded firmly."— Coral Davenport, NationalJournal
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