When I was a kid we were told we were heading into an ice age...
When you were a kid you were told "it seems to be getting colder, we're not sure why", all of which was true.
... and that it will lead to an ice age in the northern hemisphere but a melting of the ice caps? not sure how that can be?
Who told you that? That's certainly not the "mantra". In fact, in recent decades, the North Pole has been warming while the South Pole has been cooling.
... THis means that the average of averages is more and more accurate and may in fact be hotter or colder than say the averages of any ten year numbers globally 200 years ago.
The warming trend attributed to global warming has been ongoing for a few decades. I'm not sure why you think temperature measurements from 200 years ago are critical to the debate. We also have temperature samples from the past 800k years through ice cores.
Again, places like NYC and ATL create their own weather systems.
So it's a good thing that we measure temperature at points all over the global, including ocean temperatures.
There is even evidence that for instance upstate NY is now colder than it was overall and that NYC is hotter.
That could very well be. Nobody is claiming that every point on the globe is warmer every year than the year before. Some parts of the globe are warming, some are cooling, but as a global average, there is warming.
... we specifically do know that a single burp of a major volcano can and has put more "greenhouse" gasses into the air than man has since the industrial revolution began.
That's factually inaccurate. Humans generate more greenhouse gases than volcanos do:
Our studies show that globally, volcanoes on land and under the sea release a total of about 200 million tonnes of CO2 annually.
... while 200 million tonnes of CO2 is large, the global fossil fuel CO2 emissions for 2003 tipped the scales at 26.8 billion tonnes.
... We also know that variations in the heat from the sun and and solar flares make more difference than the changes to ozone.
Why are we talking about ozone?
Bottom line.. we are on a planet that is designed to repair itself and constantly evolve at the same time.
The planet doesn't care very much, it will happily transition to a new equilibrium point with warmer temperatures, higher sea levels, and more volatile weather. But people with farmland or waterfront property might care.
It is my belief that the earth is designed to be the perfect space craft for us and that yes..we "could" destroy it, but it is designed to resist our destructive tendency and maintain itself overall.
Our "designed spacecraft" isn't in danger of being destroyed, but I think it's pretty clear that no "designer" steps in to prevent us from changing how habitable it is.
-harry
