If you ever want to take charge of a global warming debate...state the following scenario and watch their reaction.
Suddenly today, GW and 140 of the world leaders jump up and admit global warming. They start an immedate program to reverse the trend. Over the next 12 years...at great economic cost to all nations...we reach the goal desired as a perfect "model"...then the next year...we actually exceed the model trend by 2 percent. The year after that, we exceed by another 2 percent. The third year...another 2 percent. Suddenly, you have a great worry that global cooling is on the way, and we must reverse that trend. Does the good gentleman that you are debating with....have a plan for the "over-fixing" of the environment? Can the nations of the world, suddenly go into overdrive, and save the earth from global cooling? And if so, how much oil and resources must be used to do so? And the final question...what model and perfect global trend does the gentleman want to utilize (realizing that over 300 models likely exist today)?
Watch their face as you finsh the last question...and it'll be worth a $100. They envision the earth as a car, with parts. A typical car has well over 2,500 parts. The earth has trillions upon trillions. Which parts do you want to tinker with, and why only those? Your mechanic hates Italian cars for a reason...ask him why. The reason is...they have 10 to 20 percent more parts than a usual car. The engines are works of wonder...but its not performing at 100 percent...its a nightmare for him to figure out the malfunctioning item...and get to the part...and replace it. In the earth's case...its an Italian-made car...that you've got to have an true idea of what is wrong before climbing underneath.
Thank you. Someone other than me gets it.
Some day someone is going to have to go to one of these meetings with a sign that says, "STOP GLOBAL COOLING"
Seeing how it will probably take centuries to return greenhouse gases to their prior levels, noboldy is worried about "global cooling" and I'm guessing that would stop a debate only long enough for everyone to get their chuckles in.
If climate is a Ferrari, then a more apt methaphor is that right now we're not tinkering, we're banging the engine with a sledgehammer while assuming that everything will be all right.