Could "we" be wrong about global warming?

[Glenn]

And the scientific community calls it "climate change"

Correct, climate change refers to any real or potential change in the atmospheric column...average temperature change up or down, changes in average gas content, changes in average precipitation or severe weather, etc.

while some areas are going up in temperature, others are going down. Bills snow shovelling might be a sign of that. Our own cold wet summer in New England may also be, too soon to tell.

Here is a map showing this very dicotomy:

The blue shows parts of the country that have experienced a decreasing average temp over the past 100 years, while red shows increasing average temp. There is a similar map for the entire Earth, I'll try to find it next chance I get. These highlight the complexity of trying to model a single global temperature.

Shifts in weather can have horrible consequences, look at the dust bowls during the depression.

And the "Little Ice Age". The problem is factoring out the natural changes to determine any anthropogenic ones. That is where the challenge is, particularly when it comes to providing convincing proof on such a politicized issue. Are we affecting climate? Probably, we effect everything else. But 'probably' is not good enough to base policy changes on.

[Glenn]

Here is a global map from the EOS site that shows how one year (2008) compares to the 1950-80 average (the image is too big for me to post here):
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=36699
Note that some areas, particularly in the Pacific, were cooler than normal, while other areas, such as unfortunately the Arctic, experienced warmer temps. This is only one year though, not particularly significant to determining long-term trends.

The maps at the NOAA site, though course resolution, show the trends better. Below is a sampling, showing different time periods and seasons. Basically the northern hemisphere is experiencing greater warming while the southern hemisphere is experiencing less warming, and in recent decades some cooling. Which brings us back to what started this thread 5 pages ago: Climate is temporally and spatially very variable, trends and changes in trends take a long time to determine, and the causes of any changes are very difficult to model.

[f.Channell]

Good charts Glenn.
They point out the problem areas to warming, Greenland etc....
I think most people can agree we are affecting climate change, question I suppose is can we adapt and live with it, or make changes to stop it from happening? And which is our better choice given our current abilities.
And at a later date (beyond our lifetime) when we control climate, who decides which region gets the desirable temps and water?

F.

[Valkenar]

I think most people can agree we are affecting climate change, question I suppose is can we adapt and live with it, or make changes to stop it from happening?

I'm guessing no. Too many people are terrified of the Chinese having nicer cars than us.

[JimHawkins]

Ahhh those sleek lines.... I know I'm jealous....

Or for that retro look