Let me see if I get this right. Polar bear numbers are at record numbers compared to 50 years ago. The oceans haven't warmed for at least the last 5 years according to buoys used to measure the numbers. We have at least reached a plateau of warming and temps may be declining slightly. Even warming scientists are predicting cooling due to PDO. Global sea ice is at record levels after a record decline in 2007. The current sunspot cycle (24) is late in starting and NASA says it will not start before 2009 at the earliest. Lack of sunspots correlates to global cooling. Solar scientists say the sun has a 300 year cycle and that the start of this cycle happened in 1850 so we could be in for 150 years of cooling. And yet "Scientific" ... More »

A story that uses real figures to describe effects of global warming. Researchers evaluated 829 geologic phenomena, including glaciers, and almost 30,000 changes in plants and animals. They found 90 percent of the incidents match predictions about how global warming will change the earth. For those who believe global warming is a real danger, it's scary stuff. But to neocons it's all pseudo science and the greatest fraud ever foisted on mankind. Gondolas on Fifth Avenue, anyone?

This opinion piece has little journalistic merit. The author is promoting a point of view and did not include (or perhaps is unaware of) numerous studies published in Nature and Science and other journals that contradict the claims made in his short piece. Worldwide temperature have not gone up during the past ten years and many experts expect them to show a downward trend for the next ten. The scenarios in the first paragraph are presented as fact when they are part of a scenario that may or may not happen. The polar ice masses grew during the past year. Etc.

Interesting speculation about the impact of global warming on various organisms. But hardly science. Where is the skepticism that drives scientific inquiry? This is an all-too-typical political piece masquerading as science in Sci Am. That's why I dropped my subscription in the mid 90's after 30 years as a subscriber. Unfortunately Discover is only slightly better.