Firstly, I'd like to make a clarification:
I think that many opinions opposing climate change are based on the fact that recorded temps have been lower recently, and that, in their minds flies in the face of global WARMING.
In my opinion, their reasoning is flawed for this reason: the term "global warming" is in fact a misnomer. What will happen in this "climate change" theory, is that certain parts of the world will in fact get COLDER, while other areas will get WARMER. Cetain other areas that have high levels of rainfall may experience even higher levels of rainfall, whereas areas with drought problems will experience greater drought problems.
So, the "climate change" theory, does not claim that every place in the world will become warmer. It claims that there will be more temperature extremes and these extremes will inadvertently affect our crops, property, lives etc., with a NET AVEREAGE increase in GLOBAL temperature.
With that beeing said, of course there were, are, and always will be, large temerature fluctuations as part of the normal cycle of earths climate.
The question thus becomes: how much, if anything, is man contributing to this "climate change".
My opinion, which I've stated elsewhere is this:
I neither know or care about the answer to that question. Mankind, in an ideal world, should be contributing 0% to it. More important than reducing pollution to avert climate change, in my opinion, is the immediate reduction of polution in order to STOP human illness and Death directly related to air, water and food pollution.
The area I currently live in currently is in the top 10 in terms of highest cancer rates in the US. We have lots of Steel-mills, a couple of refineries, some of the most travelled highways in the country, etc... Move you say? Good idea. But what happens when everyone else in the more polluted areas has the same idea and also moves away... many of them to the same "cleaner" area I've moved to? So the solution CAN'T be to run away from the problem. It must be confronted. And by confronting the problem by reducing pollution, and thus reducing the immediate short-term dangers of pollution, we also, as a side-effect reduce any POTENTIAL contribution man may have to the climate. And even IF that contribution is in fact 0%, then no harm done - we've made the world a HEALTHIER place to live in.
Thoughts?