Yes, the Earth has natural climatic cycles. Yes, it’s possible we're just on the warmer end of one.
but......................
The greenhouse effect is scientifically proven, and CO2 is the major contributor. Atmospheric CO2 is at record levels on a geologic time scale. The fossil fuels that we burn (coal, oil, and natural gas) store carbon that took millions of years for the earth to sequester naturally. We have released and continue to release this carbon in the blink of an eye geologically speaking, a couple hundred years. The planet cannot sequester it fast enough to keep up. Thus, we have a net amount of CO2 and global warming.
The difference between this natural climatic cycle and ones previously is that we are contributing to it and most likely accelerating it.
It is likely that even if we were to stop releasing CO2 entirely today the Earth would continue to warm. Think again of a green house. Say you built one and then stopped maintaining it. It would continue to stand and warm the environment inside, but eventually it would deteriorate, glass would break, the structure would fail and it will eventually lose its ability to warm the environment inside. It could just take a long time depending on how well the green house was built. That’s why we need to stop improving our green house now.
Most people choose to ignore a problem that doesn’t have a simple answer and is not yet affecting them. There is no easy answer to global warming but we will see action in the near future. There have been major advances in carbon sequestration technology, which basically means pumping CO2 (mostly from coal fired power plants) deep into the ground where it originated. The problem is that the energy industry hasn’t been given the proper governmental push required to ensure change However, most of our fossil fuel based CO2 originates from automobiles, and no one can argue which country is number one in petroleum consumption per capita. In 2005 the US consumed nearly 25% of the world’s petroleum production. We like our big cars.
The fact is global warming is real and our actions contribute to it. The question is, how much will it really effect us and do I give a $@!#.
I do.
Nick