Originally Posted by
misanthropist
You know, I don't doubt that climate change that results directly from the burning of fossil fuels is real. In fact, I'm fairly convinced that the amount of heat energy that can be stored in the atmosphere does increase when you increase the CO2 content, and that the resulting increase in stored energy will have complicated results that include a subtle general rise in temperature, and more energetic storm behaviour, while still allowing for localized cooling trends that might confound people looking for a clear pattern. I get all that and I don't have a problem with it.
Here is where it begins to break up a little for me: I think our understanding of the inputs and outputs of the system is extremely poor. We have no idea what built-in mitigation factors might exist, but for sure there are powerful ones because the earth keeps self-balancing even when subjected to much more severe conditions.