All the cool scientists are talking about it. What's the big deal?

Our planet's climate has cooled and warmed for millions of years. It happens on a regular basis, such is the testament of the fossil record. It's a cyclical occurence, like the seasons.

Why are scientists so worried? Since the industrial revolution mankind has awoken to the fact that we greatly change our local environments by pollution and wiping out entire species of plants and animals. Now scientists are worried that our environmental impact has global impact. Examine the facts: we have increased our human population six-fold in the past one hundred fifty years. Our appetite for natural resources like land, water, and petroleum is consequently much bigger now than it used to be. And because of sheer numbers and our technology, as a species we pollute a lot more than we used to.

So is humanity collectively responsible for bringing about a possible climactic shift in the very near future? Possible. But so what? Even if global warming happens in the near future, what's all the fuss? The earth will continue to spin, the Sun and the Moon will stick around, the vast water oceans will continue to boil and teem with life.

Basically we're worried about impending disaster. Climactic change may dramatically alter the coasts (where most people in the world live) and increase the occurence and severity of storms like tropical cyclones and monsoons. Local climates would shift dramatically. Forrests become desert; desert become grassland, etc. This would all have happened anyway, whether had people ever lived or not.

But we do live, and we live here. It's all about survival at this point in the game. With global warming definitely happening in our front yard. Can we survive the vast environmental and social changes that will occur? Water shortage, famine, plague, mass migration, and war are knocking on our door. Can we adapt to a brand new world?