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Originally Posted by flstf
The glaciers in Glacier National Park are shrinking. I have ridden over the "Going to the Sun" pass several times over the years and can see a dramatic difference. I read somewhere that they will be gone in about 30 years.
I don't think the question is if the Earth is warming up so much as what is causing it, natural cycle or human activity.
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Very good point, this news is pertinent to it:
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El Nino not responsible for US heatwave
This is hot off the presses - a new study shows that human emissions of greenhouse gases made it 15 times more likely that the US would see record-breaking temperatures in 2006.
In the event, temperatures were not the hottest, but the second-hottest since records began in 1895. The hottest year ever was 1998, which was also marked by a powerful El Niņo. Scientists have widely attributed the record-breaking temperatures to El Niņo.
So when data revealed that 2006, also an El Niņo year, was the second-warmest year ever, Martin Hoerling at NOAA in Colorado and his colleagues decided it was time to find out if this was mere coincidence, or if El Niņo was responsible for the warmth.
Looking at data from 10 El Niņo events since 1965, they found that El Niņo tends to cool US temperatures slightly - not warm them.
The team have also used computer models to check this effect. They simulated US climate with and without El Niņo and again found a slight cooling when El Niņo was "switched on". Further computer models were used to look at the effect of greenhouse gases and aerosols on US temperatures and showed that they tend to warm US temperatures.
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http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/