Hanh mitakuyapi. Recently, I have seen many letters to editors and posts on various Internet boards asking for proof that global warming is real. To me, the definitive proof of the reality - and awe-inspiring danger - of global warming is photographic. Specifically, satellite photos of the polar ice caps.
Moreover, because the 'proof' is photographic, it is irrefutable. Before any of you start hollering about the possibility that photographs are tampered with, let's ask, "how would it profit anyone to tamper with satellite photos?" The answer is, "It wouldn't". Hechetu ye - End of discussion. That one, at least.
If you go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency site, www.noaa.gov, you can click on "polar ice cap photos" in the menu. There you will see such things as the January 2008 photos of the northern polar ice cap, and compare them to January photos going back quite a number of years - and you will see that in January 2008, there was 40 miles of open water where in the very recent past, there was 40 miles of polar ice pack. The polar ice pack is where polar bears hunt seals. Polar bears are powerful swimmers, but no one can routinely swim 40 miles for a meal.
The polar ice pack photos will prove that over time, the polar ice pack has been shrinking. This is the most basic proof of global warming, and the most un-nerving. If it's warm enough for the sea water to not freeze at the poles, how much warmer must it be south of there? The average winter temperature at the poles is ordinarily in the -50F range - without wind and associated wind chill factor. Sea water freezes below the +32F we are used to down here in the lower 48 states, but not all that much.
Still, even if sea water froze at +32F like fresh water, the rise in temperature from -50F to +32F is a whopping 82 degrees Fahrenheit!! Anyone who wants more proof than that is a fool and a greedy self-centered arrogant one at that. Hechetu ye. End of discussion.