The new global warming report of the International Panel on Climate Change is reported to make the case stronger, based on research and evidence, that the atmosphere is warming in substantial consequence of human activity.
Andrew Revkin, who has written on this issue on Gather, reports in the International Herald Tribune:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/21/news/climate.php
The Chairman of the IPCC has been reported to say for some time that the science on global warming will be more conclusive as this new report is published in stages throughout 2007.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L29873341.htm
"Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said an increase of research on global warming had added weight to the group's upcoming report, which is considered a mainstay for environmental policy-making."
"'Some of the uncertainties that we had in the scientific evidence will be reduced. Our evidence will be far more robust,' Pachauri told Reuters in a telephone interview."
The last IPCC Report presented strong evidence that global warming was occurring, and that human activity "substantially contributed" to that warming.
At the time, the newly inaugurated Bush administration was dubious about the IPCC Report, and so asked the U.S. National Academies of Science to weigh in on the issue. The National Academies supported the findings of the IPCC.
In the wake of those reports, many business and religious leaders, as well as politicians, have begun to move toward solutions. The new IPCC report, according to Dr. Pachauri, will further increase the momentum in that direction.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Solar_Activity_Proxies.png
Then again the sun is the exclusive heat source on earth so to assume the sun isn't responsible for temperature fluxuations is ridiculous.
Scientists blame sun for global warming
The Sun is more active than it has ever been in the last 300 years
Climate changes such as global warming may be due to changes in the sun rather than to the release of greenhouse gases on Earth.
Climatologists and astronomers speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Philadelphia say the present warming may be unusual - but a mini ice age could soon follow.
The sun provides all the energy that drives our climate, but it is not the constant star it might seem.
Careful studies over the last 20 years show that its overall brightness and energy output increases slightly as sunspot activity rises to the peak of its 11-year cycle.
And individual cycles can be more or less active.
The sun is currently at its most active for 300 years.
That, say scientists in Philadelphia, could be a more significant cause of global warming than the emissions of greenhouse gases that are most often blamed.
The researchers point out that much of the half-a-degree rise in global temperature over the last 120 years occurred before 1940 - earlier than the biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Ancient trees reveal most warm spells are caused by the sun
Using ancient tree rings, they show that 17 out of 19 warm spells in the last 10,000 years coincided with peaks in solar activity.
They have also studied other sun-like stars and found that they spend significant periods without sunspots at all, so perhaps cool spells should be feared more than global warming.
The scientists do not pretend they can explain everything, nor do they say that attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should be abandoned. But they do feel that understanding of our nearest star must be increased if the climate is to be understood.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/56456.stm