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You certainly are a well read and informed person in this area, full of links and graphs and articles supporting the "man made global warming" theory. I can't debate the suns effect on the planet, or the cause and effect of various gas and water vapor with you - I don't read enough material on this subject to be a worthy debater. I assume by the sheer volume and rapidity of your responses that you have an agenda, but I don't know what it is.

I'm wondering if you can humor me. Can you answer two questions, without links to external sources?

1. Has the Earth ever been warmer on average than it is today?

2. Does the Earth go through hot and cold cycles and is it possible that this warming trend is just another cycle?

Thanks

I assume by the sheer volume and rapidity of your responses that you have an agenda, but I don't know what it is.

Helping FReepers to have an informed opinion of this issue, which I'm interested in.

1. Has the Earth ever been warmer on average than it is today?

Sure, it has been a lot warmer. There used to be no ice caps, if you want to go back that far. In the recent past, it appears that the peak of a couple of the previous interglacials might have been slightly warmer.

Does the Earth go through hot and cold cycles and is it possible that this warming trend is just another cycle?

The Earth clearly goes through warming and cooling cycles, glacial/interglacial periods being the most recent and most significant. The Holocene has been very stable with little evidence of a strong cyclical influence. The preponderance of evidence indicates that the current warming trend which began in the mid-1850s (about when the Little Ice Age terminated) is not predominantly part of a natural cycle, particularly the warming since the mid-70s. The elimination of natural cyclical influence as part of the cause of the warming is one part of the attribution to human activities.