Just take a gander at that photo on the right. Amazing! This group of dedicated public servants had the tenacity to battle harsh, cold winter weather to gather at the U and with 2 feet of snow on the ground outside and were able to keep a straight face through the entire meeting.

Although that woman with her hand over her mouth may need to have a few more sips of the global warming Kool-Aid.

Talk about your fear mongers.

Their is no evidence that mankind's activities are creating global warming. There is concrete evidence, however, that the earth has experience temperature fluxuations periodically--even when man wasn't an industrialized influence. For example: In the 1300s the earth was warm enough that Greenland was quite green and Scotland enjoyed a long growing season. How do explain that historically documented rise in temperature when mankind wasn't even industrialized at the time?

Remember in the 1970s the media and politicians were warning us of an impending new Ice Age?

The Truth: the current global warming movement is merely an effort by those in government to sieze more control

Hmm, that's weird. Only the most liberal mayors in Utah were on the panel. Do you see a correlation? The only surprise is that the Park City mayor wasn't on there, or Mapleton. Where were the mayors of Sandy, Provo, Orem, Vernal, Cedar City, Logan, Monticello???

If our Wise and Virtuous Mayors are powerful enough to stop anthropogenic Global Warming, then perhaps they are powerful enough to restart the sunspot cycle.

Because if Russian scientists are correct, we will be in another mini ice age by 2050, due to decreased solar radiation caused by lack of sunspots.

To GlobalWarmingisaHoax -

Yea, it's a vast left-wing conspiracy! The commies are trying to take over! Environmentalism is their religion! You don't have a clue what "the truth" is.

Man-caused climate change is probably happening.

Yes, the earth has experienced fluctuations, but at a significantly slower RATE than what we are now experiencing.

Not believing current science because of past scientific blunders is not a wise strategy. Additionally, there was very little data to support global cooling, but there is quite a bit of data to support the idea that humans are changing the temperature of the earth and weather patterns.

Is that really so hard to believe? You can go nearly anywhere on earth and see evidence of humans. Collectively, we have the power to completely change our local environment (deserts to cities, valleys to lakes, forests to farmland).

If enough local environments were changed, why couldn't that add up to a global change?

For example, everyone knows that cities are hotter than a surrounding suburban area, which is hotter than a nearby rural area; the bigger the city, the larger the variation between the city and the nearby rural area. If, in the future, there were enough cities, then one could expect a net temperature increase.

In the past, there have been many examples of human activities causing surprising and unexpected changes (good and bad): chlorofluorocarbons and the ozone layer; mechanized agriculture and the dustbowls of the 30's; the Korean DMZ becoming a huge nature and wild life preserve; cities and industrial areas causing poor air quality.

Finally, I’d just like to point out that the earth is essentially a closed system, at least when it comes to most human activities. We have the power to convert oil to gasoline to CO2 (and other compounds) but all that “new” CO2 has to go somewhere.

Maybe it really isn’t a problem now, but what in 100 or 200 years? I think any reasonable person can realize that at some point we’re going to have to move on from the 20,000 year old technology of burning stuff for energy. Why not start trying to do that now?

It really scares me to see comments like the ones here. Climate change is a fact; there is no longer any doubt that it is happening, and our use of fossil fuels is causing it. The biggest danger is people who won't take the time to become educated and understand this. Climate change has nothing to do with daily weather fluctuations; it is the entire earth's climate as a whole. The CO2 emissions are causing an overall increase in temperature, and this is causing disruptions in the climate. It is also hurting ecosystems, entering the oceans and making it more acidic. We may lose many species there, and reduce the amount of oxygen that ocean life provides to us. Please, don't hide you head in the sand and call this a hoax... it is real, it will affect us and our children. Take the time to learn about it - and do what you can personally to reduce your emissions in the process.

Sorry that you're Worried. Perhaps you could do a little homework, become informed, and stop believing the rhetoric that "there is no longer any doubt" that mankind is causing temperatures to change. That's just fearmongering that certain folks use to gain money and power. There IS significant doubt. In fact, the entire basis of the global warming scare--that CO2 levels are the primary cause of temperature changes--is unproven. There is also significant doubt about temperatures themselves, with increasing evidence that land use changes and urban heat islands bias the dataset. NASA just published a report in December that the Arctic warming of recent decades was caused by a shift in Arctic Ocean circulation patterns, not by global temperatures (they made that point explicitly).

Besides, the "warming" of the past century is only 0.7 C, and half that occurred before 1940. It's barely detectable, and now we know the big component of it in the Arctic has nothing to do with atmospheric composition.

Natural rates of temperature and atmospheric gas changes in the past HAVE indeed been faster and larger than today--just not in the relatively small 2000-year window some choose to examine. That's too short to show natural trends.

Worried,
Temperatures have not risen in the last decade. Recorded temp. increases from 1980 to 1999 were based on readings from stations all over the world except the ones that were shut down with the demise of the old Soviet Union, you know.... where Siberia is. You are being hoodwinked by a large group of people who want to shut down economic and industrial progress in the world because they believe in their hearts that it is bad. There are numerous valid refutations of made made global warming available. Do yourself a favor, read a few. Start with "Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years" by Avery and Singer. Do it and you won't worry so much.

I shouldn't read the comments section after articles any more. I get depressed reading how stupid so many utahns appear to be. It makes me sad to realize so many people are dragging their feet to the idea of living a life where we conserve energy, have adequate water for our needs, and live without problems like asthma. Am I the only one sick of our air quality when it doens't rain or snow??? I love it here. I dont understand why wanting to act to save what we have and make it a better place is so bad? Whats wrong with wanting to be a good steward of the land?

To "worried":

You tell us, "Climate change is a fact; there is **no longer any doubt** that it is happening, and our use of fossil fuels is causing it."

Actually, as is graphically proved on this very forum, there is considerable doubt about it.

You continue with, “The biggest danger is people who won't take the time to become educated and understand this.”

Considerable time and education has produced people with diametrically opposed opinions on the subject. Like most unprovable hypotheses, the “indubitable” one that you are worried about is far from conclusive, no matter how many people line up on the side of the advocates.

Like the 2006 and 2007 forecasts of numerous and deadly hurricanes that seemed assured following the devastating 2005 season, the best models and predictions are very often worthless! Not too surprising really. The simple, truly indisputable fact is that the future is and always will be UNPREDICTABLE!!

So, my recommendation to you is to do what you can to lead a simple, energy efficient life and take it all a bit more calmly. Odds are very good that all the predictions of global climatic calamity are, in fact, just so much hot air.

Worried,

I get depressed that so many people are stupid enough to swallow the whole man made global warming theory without questioning it. Any time a politician tells me his opinion is fact and not debatable sends up a red flag. I think it is great Utahns are thinking for themselves and not blindly following the global warming rhetoric.

I don't use as much energy as most americans and I buy wind power for my home because I believe energy conservation is a good thing but I don't do it because of global warming. My main motivation is to become independent of wacked out countries that profit from fossil fuels. And I enjoy living in a clean environment.

Sensible Scientist: What often gets lost in the climate change debate (and whether it's worth potentially hurting the world's economy to curb potential causes of climage chage) is the fact that it's not the only reason to stop using fossile fuels.

Every gallon of gas a person buys is indirectly funding terrorism. OPEC is not or friend.

Oil is a finite resource. It will eventually run out, no matter whether we start using oil shale deposits or not.

Automobile use is responsible for the majority of air pollution in American cities. Poor air quality causes asthma attacks and cancer.

50% of CO2 emissions in the US comes from burning coal to produce electricity. That's 4,000 year old technology; seems like we should be able to do better than that.

As for 0.7C/100 years being insignificant, I'd like to see a credentialed person make that statment. My understanding is that is a dramatic increase.

An additional complication lies in the fact that particulate matter in the atmosphere (almost all of it human-cuased) is apparently relfecting sunlight. The areas that have been tested have been shown to have a reduced amount of sunlight hitting the earth.

Thus, paradoxically, it is possible that particulate pollution has been protecting us from more dramatic climate change.

Looking at the comments here, of people who are obviously not scientists, I am really, really worried. Sorry, I don't want to get anyone upset; but your comments show you don't understand the science. Short term weather patterns won't show this; long-term climate science does. It's not the government trying to control your lives, or people trying to scare you. It's just the truth... most people are starting to understand it. There are, unfortunately, still many that try to hide from it.

Botchedexperiment: The increase since the beginning of the industrial era isn't that unprecedented, nor is it unusual.

But even if the particulate concentrations in the atmosphere have been declining, that doesn't explain why global mean temperatures have been declining since the 1998 peak.

In fact, this winter is on track to be the coldest in the Northern Hemisphere since the 1970's, and last winter was the coldest in the Southern hemisphere since the 1960's.

Unless the Northern Hemisphere has a scorching summer, 2008 will be the coolest year globally in 25 years.

Worried,

Lets pretend you are right and global warming is an absolute truth. Even then there are other truths that people hide from that are more of a concern than global warming.

Just want to make a salient point: I personally take serious measures to conserve electricity and fuel. I drive very fuel efficient cars--in fact, I had a 1985 Chevrolet Sprint that got 55 MPG for the 213,000 miles I drove it, and it always passed the most stringent pollution checks. How many global warming alarmists used as little fuel as I did for those 10 years? I use low-wattage light bulbs and keep lights off when not needed. I conserve water. I recycle and try to minimize waste.

Why? Not because I'm scared of CO2, and not because it is politically trendy, and not because some pundit or politician says I should, but just because of personal, gut-level beliefs. I think efficiency is a good thing. You don't have to think we're killing the planet to believe that.

It IS possible that all the “global warming” is a natural occurrence. We just don’t have enough data to prove one way or the other. Global warming is a theory, not a fact.
It is wise to create a better environment by conserving fossil fuels. We have enough data (facts) to prove dinosaurs no longer roam the earth.

Battling global warming is the same as battling the rotation of the earth.

People want us to spend trillion of dollars in taxes on something that in hundred years will have only the smallest negligble effect.

Its a wasted effort and the time and money can be better spent on things that can make a difference like building nuclear reactors which is the cleanest and most practical source of energy.

Honestly does using our food for energy really make sense?

We've only been using fossil fuels for about a hundred years longer if you count coal, and we've had higher co2 levels and more global warming in the past, the far past.

Using your brains and common sense tells you it's 99.9% natural. And anything we do is insignificant.

All that being said we are still the stewards of the earth, and must take care is best that can, but only in ways that make realistic and practical sense and economical sense.

Deseret News commenters really need some basic science knowledge. Do any of you know the difference between 'theory' and 'fact'? 'Global' and 'local'? BYU, one of the most conservative universities out there, offers some great science classes. Even if the U of U scares you off, I highly recommend you guys get a basic science education, and there are plenty of great safe conservative places to get that.
Until then, your ignorance is showing.

That guy spews more "gases" into the atmosphere in one day, then my whole family does in one year. And he wants me to walk to work in the snow, while he travels in his private jet, all in the name of saving the earth.

To: Timj | 9:30 p.m. Feb. 2, 2008
There was a time when everyone "knew" the world was flat. It was not a theory but a fact. Just because some of the scientists agree does not make it a fact.
They are working with incomplete information and general assumptions just like when the earth was flat.
We do need to take better care of our stewardship of this earth. We just don't have the power to change the tides or adjust the climate.
Didn't Al Gore also invent the internet... lol