warming trends...coincidently, global CO2 levels and temperatures have changed as well. There are theories as to why those fluctuations have occurred (e.g. Milankovich Cycles...Google it), but what's clear in all is this...
>CO2 is a greenhouse gas
>CO2 levels...for the last several hundred thousand years...have not exceeded 300ppm,
>Our ecosystem has established a natural input/output flow (with obvious variations) during that time...involving the biosphere, oceans and atmosphere
>Starting with the dawning of the modern industrial age...humankind has continually accelerated the injection of CO2 from fossil fuels into the atmosphere
>It takes about 30-50 years to 'remove' ~50% of the CO2 from the atmosphere through natural means...the remainder can take 200-500 years...
>Our current CO2 concentration level stands at 412ppm...and it has been rising steadily.
Bottom line...CO2 is being steadily added to the atmosphere by the burning of fossil fuels, in excess of our ecosystem's ability to process it out of the atmosphere...so the level increases and temperatures rise (Google "Roy Spencer"..."UAH/RSS global temperature data"...to get satellite data that is not disputed)...these changes are exceptionally rapid when compared with the rates of the last several hundred thousand years, and portend serious consequences (e.g. Hurricanes 'feed' off warm waters...warmer waters beget more and larger hurricanes...etc.).
This is one of those issues that affects everyone, regardless of party...we really need to come together (at least to the level of a "critical mass" (pun intended) on a solution (set), so try to minimize the political content.