Is that banner they're carrying in the picture made of plastic? I think that's made of a non remewable product called oil. That's OK an art major and a philosophy major don't need to be concerned about the science or economics of the subject which they completely left out. Too much math.

It's not wise to mock the zombies, especially right before Halloween. You're just playing with fire. Zombies don't like mockery, they don't like it one little bit. You are warned.

To Less Gov,

Thank you for raising a valid concern. This will be taken into account in the future actions of our group. The banner was donated and is most likely made of vinyl of which the main chemical components are chlorine (derived from salt) and ethylene (derived from natural gas). Our other banner was canvas. All of our banners are reused as many times as possible and every effort is taken to recycle them. If these issues are important to you I urge you to take action to bring about the change you wish to see in the world.

It looks like the sun has stopped global warming for you by entering a hiatus for sunspots ten years ago, leading to a plateau of global temperatures. I hope you left the back of your banners blank so that you can write your new slogans to stop global cooling.

I've heard the sun spots theory before and due to your criticism have decided to do a little research.

Sun spot activity fluctuates irregularly over 11 year periods. New data has indicated that sun spot activity is on the rise.

Sunspots: End of Cycle 23/24 solar minimum?

However, more research has suggested that the effects of sun spots on climate change are negligible. More direct correlations are found between greenhouse gases and temperature than solar radiation.

Climate myths: Global warming is down to the Sun, not humans...

So, not only is solar activity transitory and non-anthropogenic, but it is insignificant compared to the climate changing effects of greenhouse gases.

If greenhouse gases change the climate, why do scientists say that carbon dioxide increases AFTER a warming period, rather than before? The atmopshere holds only a tiny portion of the Earth's CO2. Most of it is held in the earth and oceans, not sky. When the Earth warms up, as it does naturally due to solar activity like sunspots, the oceans degas. It's something like warming a pot of soda on the stove, which takes the fizz out of the pop because the heat degasses the carbon dioxide out of the liquid. More carbon dioxide FOLLOWS a warming. CO2 doesn't cause it. That's Al Gore propaganda which has been debunked.

Your claim that sunspots are on the rise is nonsense. There is only one tiny sunspot on the sun right now, which you can view in this photo of the sun taken TODAY. It's been this way for the last ten years, which is why temperature has plateaued. That's why there have only been two hurricanes this year, due to a cooling ocean.

And really, the Earth regularly experiences hot and cold cycles and has done so long before humans so recently arrived, billions of years before mass industrialization and SUVs. Venus and Mars went through companion warming when Earth warmed in the 90s. Do you think our coal plants were boiling them, too? Or is it obvious that all three planets were being warmed by a common source, like the sun?

CO2 levels in the atmosphere can be accurately measured dating back hundreds of thousands of years by measuring the levels trapped in air pockets in ice sheets near the poles. Accurate data on temperatures at the time are non existent. They must be extrapolated from the concentrations of deuterium in water molecules near the air pockets. However this data is highly suspect. Scientists have a hard time drawing conclusions from phenomena that can be directly observed so you can imagine how difficult it is to draw conclusions from phenomena that is indirectly observed and hundreds of thousands of years old, if its even possible.

Climate myths: Ice cores show CO2 rising as temperatures fel...

Secondly, nobody is arguing that the sun does not play a role in temperature changes but it is in no way the only player. CO2 traps infrared energy. That is undeniable. We are increasing the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. Also undeniable. 97% of climatologists agree that the climate change we are experiencing is caused in part by human activity.

Steve, what happens when solar activity does increase and concentrations of greenhouse gases are as high or higher than they currently are? That's right, its going to get warmer. Are we supposed to rely on decreased solar activity forever, a factor we have absolutely no control over?

Instead of citing highly controversial scientific claims to justify your disbelief in a phenomena that is empirically visible today and agreed upon by a majority of the world's scientists, you should approach the subject a bit more objectively.

I applaud your skepticism, but its time you started applying it to some of your own theories.

If greenhouse gases change the climate, why do scientists say that carbon dioxide increases AFTER a warming period, rather than before? Steve

What scientists say that? Atmospheric CO2 has been increasing for a long time. Even if warming causes CO2 to escape from ice, the warming that caused the CO2 to escape was probably caused by an accumulation of total greenhouse gasses.

"Since the Industrial Revolution in the 1700’s, human activities, such as the burning of oil, coal and gas, and deforestation, have increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. In 2005, global atmospheric concentrations of CO2 were 35% higher than they were before the Industrial Revolution."--EPA

Moreover, CO2 is not the only greenhouse gas. Methane "is more abundant in the Earth’s atmosphere now than at any time in at least the past 650,000 years"--IPCC

Nitrous Oxide "has increased approximately 18 percent in the past 200 years and continues to increase. For about 11,500 years before the industrial period, the concentration of N2O varied only slightly. It increased relatively rapidly toward the end of the 20th century"--IPCC
www.epa.gov/...

Yes, CO2 is released from the surface after warming caused by greenhouse gasses. See 350.org