I had written a whole big response full of links to evidence and reasons why global warming is, in fact, real. And then I threw it all away.
Why?
Because I'm not a climatologist, and it's unlikely that anything I say will change what you already believe to be true. Besides, I'm frustrated that our society approaches every topic as though the answer were black or white, when that is rarely (if ever) the case.
Instead, here's my plea: It doesn't matter if global warming (or global climate change, whatever you want to call it) is real or not. It doesn't matter if it's humans are the primary cause or not. There is no doubt that greenhouse gasses, in sufficient quantities, can cause damage to our planet. There is no doubt that our global petroleum supplies are finite. There is no doubt that humanity will never fully cease to rely on fossil fuels. So with all that in mind, it doesn't hurt to ease our dependence, does it?
Third world countries need to experience the same industrial growth that first world countries have.
Future generations will need fossil fuels to run machines that, for whatever reason, cannot use other fuel sources.
The planet will never be short on CO2, but too much of anything is still too much.
So who cares if it's real and if we're the cause? Easing our reliance won't hurt the planet (and may actually help), whereas continuing down our current path may be our undoing.
