The_Doubter:
They are only looking at the current solar cycle. There could be other
cycles unknown because their periods might be thousands of years

Such cycles would leave a record in ancient vegetation, ancient ice,
and other markers. Those studying climate change have hundreds of
thousands of years of data to support their conclusions.

and one of
those cycles could be causing heating here on this planet. I don't see how
anyone can say for certain that global warming exists because of man since
truly accurate records have only been kept for the last couple of hundred
years.

Wrong. See above. And see exhibits at http://tinyurl.com/temp-history
for a 600,000 year record of temperature and atmospheric gases. Could
it be a coincidence that unprecedented changes took place
coincidentally with the unprecedented increase in the burning of fossil
fuels that began immediately after World War II and that continues to
this day? Yes. Is it a coincidence? No, because we're not ignorant, and
if there were another cause for global warming we would know it by now.

...over say several million years, you
then might be able to make predictions about future climate, but basing
findings on one period only (the last 100- 200 years), makes for
inconclusive findings and therefore a weak example of the scientific method.

600,000 years of data is sufficient to give a reliable picture of what
is happening.

Science deniers have opposed fluoridation of drinking water,
vaccination against disease, and every other scientific advance that
does not fit your ideology.

No matter. We have answered the question "Is the earth getting warmer?"
and have moved on to "can we do anything about it, should we do
anything about it," that sort of question. History always leaves
bewildered and dejected ideologues in its dust.

Davoud

--
I agree with almost everything that you have said and almost everything that
you will say in your entire life.

usenet *at* davidillig dawt cawm