“To understand the whole global warming debate you have to understand that it is not about any dramatic warming of the Earth. The Earth has been warming since the end of the last Ice Age with time out for some mini-Ice Age episodes,” according to professional skeptic Richard Lindzen, whose assertions formed the basis of a recent piece in The American Daily.

The assertion is contradicted by more than a few facts: 

* Not only is the pace of warming accelerating, according to scientists, it is on a “fast track” to serious heating, according to a paper presented recently to the American Academy for the Advancement of Science. In fact, four million years ago, with the same amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, the planet was 3* C warmer and sea levels were 25 meters higher.

* Scientists now forecase more frequent and intense heatwaves, they are also recording marked changes in the timing of the seasons.

* Scientists also note that the rise in greenhouse gases is unprecedented in the last 800,000 years  and that methane, the most powerful heat-trapping gas, is escaping five time more quickly than previously thought.

To put it in perspective, Sir David King, Britain’s Chief Scientist, has said that a 3*C increase is virtually inevitable.  That increase, according to researchers, will indeed be catastrophic.