Man Made Global Warming - A worldwide conspiracy?

The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen will be presented with a very bleak view of our future.
Global warming, primarily caused by the greenhouse effect of the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by man's burning of fossil fuels to drive our industrialised economy, is rapidly killing our planet.
From the melting glaciers of Antarctica to the arid scrublands of Africa the globe's all time high temperatures are being recorded as the carbon crisis creates a microwave which is destroying our environment.
Whole species are being wiped off the face of the earth, sea levels are rising and coastlines that have stayed stable for generations are eroding.
For the doomsayers though, these are mere harbingers, an early warning that Armageddon is at hand.
Former Vice President Al Gore has been ridiculed by many in the US for his outspoken support for the climate change lobby.
But his Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, has had a major impact on the collective conscience, and spurred millions to go green by recycling, reducing their energy usage and devoting their time to the campaign against climate change.
Gore's vision is the one often invoked by those who demand immediate action on global warming.
If we do not change our ways, man will be responsible for killer tsunamis, flash flooding on a biblical scale, whole nations and cities being submerged by rising seas.
A string of natural disasters around the world have fuelled the fear that climate change is set to cause apocalyptic weather conditions.
Almost a quarter of a million people lost their lives in the devastating Indian Tsunami, as waters ripped through Indonesia and Thailand on Boxing Day 2004.
In 2005 the US was rocked by the impact of Hurricane Katrina, a category five storm that claimed 1,800 victims and tore apart the presidency of George W Bush as the residents of New Orleans were left floundering in the wake of the tragedy.
Two years later Britain was struck by some of the most devastating floods on record with Hull, Gloucester and Worcester suffering two months of rainfall on just one day, resulting in billions of pounds of damage and 13 deaths.
It's events like these that lead climatologists who believe in man made global warming to claim that the debate is over.
But could this all be coincidence, could the planet just be going through a normal, historically consistent, period of change.

To deny that man is responsible for global warming is seen as something akin to a war crime.
In the UK it amounts to political suicide to question the science that underpins the theory that man's CO2 emissions are driving the increase in worldwide temperatures over the past decade.
But the scientific community is not as united as you may believe.
Some point to global temperatures stabilising over the past decade, and even falling in 2008.
Others say that CO2 and global warming are not linked, certainly not to the point where levels of CO2 drive climate.
Still more believe that even if the temperature is rising, and it is linked to CO2, man has such a small impact on levels of the gas that we can do nothing about the phenomenon.
Historically the earth has had much greater levels of CO2 in its atmosphere than it does in 2009, more than three times as much, without any impact by man and without any affect on climate.
Professor Ian Clark, from the University of Ottawa, argues that changes in the earth's temperature have always been linked to solar activity rather than levels of carbon dioxide, and that CO2 is only a minor greenhouse gas.
His claims caused a furore in the UK as part of the Channel 4 documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle, which led to huge criticism of the broadcaster and bitter anger among climate change advocates.
The programme cast doubts on the independence of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), pointing to divisions, resignations and political allegiances.
This level of passion and zealotry, which became almost a witchhunt against climate change sceptics, alerted conspiracists eager to sniff out a scam.
When you examine the environmental movement from an economic perspective, the financial motives for a potential scam become obvious.
A multi-billion pound industry based on a scientific belief as powerful as any religion has taken root, and many of the world's biggest polluters are preparing to plunder the spoils of the green economy.
The real losers in this scandal are the very people whose best interests the liberal supporters of the climate change movement claim to be looking to protect.
The climate change economy directly disadvantages the developing countries of Africa and Asia whose prosperity depends on the freedom to use fossil fuels and carbon to create wealth and industrialise their economies.
With motive established, the conspiracy theorists are also searching for evidence of a cover up, something which appears to be slowly emerging.
Just last week the University of East Anglia (UEA) revealed that hackers had stolen data from a decade's worth of records from its Climatic Research Unit.
Kevin Trenberth, a well respected atmospheric scientist who contributed to the IPCC report, was quoted in one of the emails as saying: "we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't."
The University's leading authority, Phil Jones, wrote that he had used a "trick" to "hide the decline" in a chart detailing recent global temperatures.
This has been evidence enough for many conspiracy theorists, and has done huge damage to the respectability of the scientific evidence behind climate change.
All the ingredients are there for a classic conspiracy; an over arching control mechanism that allows government and big business to run our lives using cover ups and scare tactics to oppress the poor developing nations and curtail our liberty.
So is climate change the end of the world as we know it, or a huge and complex scam?

- Climate change may not be linked to CO2, and even if it is CO2 levels may not be heavily affected by human carbon emissions.

- Historical evidence about changes in the earth's climate presents an inconsistent and incomplete body of evidence for the theory of man made global warming. The argument that the earth is undergoing a natural period of warming which would have occurred irrespective of human activity can be supported just as strongly as the theory that we are responsible.

- The leaked emails scandal offers strong proof that scientists, at least at the University of East Anglia, are working to prove the theory of man made global warming, rather than examining the facts and seeing where they lead.

- Scientific evidence, including whether or not climate is driven by CO2, is hotly disputed by several senior academics, politicians and researchers. Whatever the truth, climate change activists have exaggerated the scientific backing for their theory.

- Responding to the UEA leaked email scandal, Kevin Trenberth, of the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Colorado responded by attacking those who hacked the emails, rather than defending his theory and refuting the alleged cover-up.

- In a 2005 House of Lords inquiry into the science behind global warming the report's chief Lord Lawson of Blaby found that the evidence to support man made climate change was "surprisingly weak".

- Hurricane Katrina, flooding across Europe, an increase in forest fires everywhere from Australia to Greece and scientific evidence that the hottest years on record have all been recorded in the last decade offer powerful proof that global warming is a real danger, and is linked to extreme weather conditions.

- Very few scientific theories are supported 100 per cent by every scientist on the planet, there will always be dissent and debate. The majority opinion, though not as overwhelming as some claim it to be, is in favour of the idea that man is responsible for the CO2 increase that has led to global warming.

- The leaked email scandal does not prove a global conspiracy, just the frustration of scientists who are unable to prove a theory. Kevin Trenberth said his quotes came from a paper he wrote about the need for better monitoring of global warming to explain the anomalies. Phil Jones also denies manipulating evidence and insists his comment were misunderstood. Relying on hacked emails released on a website is not the stuff of thorough research.

- Graphs showing the rise in CO2 levels since the industrial revolution next to the rise in worldwide temperatures are compelling evidence that man may well be responsible for both carbon dioxide increases and climate change.

Climate change has become THE political issue of the 00s. But the assertions from both sides of the debate that they are backed by scientific fact has created a major rift in the academic community and confusion among the public. What is for sure is that the apocalyptic version of global warming presented by those who claim climate change is a product of man's carbon emissions is not the air tight scientifically proven dead cert that many in the media present it as. The truth is that scare tactics have been used to convince the majority that climate change can be tackled if we all act together. It may be true, but it is a long way from being a scientific fact. The conspiracy theory suggests that it is in the vested interests of government and big business to use the green economy to bleed us dry and control our lives. When you look at the obsession with climate change and the ire poured on those who raise legitimate academic criticisms of the global warming lobby's evidence, you begin to see that the conspiracists may be on to something. The debate is by no means over...