Data had been collected that indicated a great cooling trend, including shorter growing seasons and smaller crop harvests. This led some scientists to believe the Earth was entering a new ice age, the effects of which would change--or, in the worst case, destroy--human habitation.

Fast-forward to 2005: We are told global warming is the new threat to mankind. Further, we are told that human activity is the cause of this calamity; if we don't make extreme changes--immediately--to basic human activities, the world as we know it will end.

Puzzled? Me, too.

Consider this quote from the aforementioned Newsweek article. "To scientists seemingly disparate incidents represent advance signs of fundamental changes in the world's weather. The central fact is that after three-quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the Earth's climate seems to be cooling down."

Then comes renowned scientist Al Gore promoting just the opposite viewpoint. The Earth is warming and catastrophe is right around the corner.

I have followed scientists on both sides of the issue, and I am convinced that no one is absolutely sure what is going on climate-wise. Activity on the sun's surface has more to do with our planet's climate than does any other variable. And, by the way, data are in that indicate that not only has the global climate not warmed over the past eight years, it has entered another slight cooling period.

TAKING ACTION?

Back to the 1975 article. It stated: "Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for climate change, or even to allay its effects. They concede that some of the more spectacular solutions proposed, such as melting the Arctic ice cap by covering it with black soot or diverting Arctic rivers, might create problems far greater than they solve."